"He's a phenomenal passer": Michigan State's Tom Izzo compares Washington's Great Osobor to Charles Barkley ahead of showdown

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had high praise for Washington forward Great Osobor before the No. 16 Spartans' showdown against the Huskies on Thursday. He compared the 6-foot-8 senior's passing abilities to NBA legend Charles Barkley while speaking to the media on Monday.

"I don’t know, I mean, he’s got some Charles Barkley in him,” Izzo said. "He’s bigger, but he can pass it. He can score it.

"He is a phenomenal passer. He’s as good a passing big man as I’ve seen in a long, long time. He can do it off the dribble, he can do it off the double team, he can do it out of the post. He can do it with his right hand, he can do it with his left hand."

Primarily known for physicality, scoring and crashing the boards, Charles Barkley had a tremendous knack for passing the ball, making him a versatile player. It's the main reason that despite being a power forward, he was often seen running the offense in transition.

Even 24 years after his last NBA game in 2000, Barkley is ranked fourth on the league's all-time assist leader among power forwards with 3,908 dishes.

Tom Izzo is yet to figure out an approach to defend Great Osobor

Tom Izzo believes that the Washington Huskies forward will be a handful for his roster. Great Osobor will demand a unique approach from the player guarding him and also force every Spartan on the floor to be on their toes because of his court vision.

As Izzo shared that it could be a long game for his bigs, he also indicated that he is yet to finalize a strategy for Osobor.

"Well, our bigs are going to have to guard him," Izzo said. "Hard guy to double because he is such a good passer and it doesn’t phase him. So, it’ll be by committee and then we’ll figure it out. You know, are you going to double him, are you not? You know, different things that you can do."

One of the top players in the transfer portal this offseason, Great Osobor is averaging a career-best 3.5 assists per game. He is also leading the Huskies in points (14.3 per game), rebounds (8.7), steals (2.3) and free throws ( 4.0).