Making Like Janus

I think Coach Izzo depends on versatile players like Anderson, Morgan, Walton, Thomas, etc for his scheme to be successful. He didn’t have that this year. The loss of Byrd was an underrated factor in the struggles IMO. There was no player that you would consider a big wing or SF type player. Even if he would’ve struggled to hit shots, which we hope he won’t, his presence would’ve helped them avoid having Summers, Green, Roe guarding guys they can’t cover. I feel like Appling was forced to be a defensive stopper out of necessity but at the cost of offensive aggression. Thankfully he’s a pretty good defender. I feel like the incoming kids will bring versatility back to the table and the team will be more successful.
I just hope we’re past that silly class system now where all success or failure depends on a Big 3 like the rest of the team didn’t matter. I think players understand when they’re a role player but might not necessarily like being called that in public, they all think they’re stars. You win and lose as a team. Let all players do what they do best. Sherman is never going to thrive as a banger/rebounder, he’s a scorer. If you’re going to play him, use him.
Can’t wait til October 15.

KJ, thank you for this site. It is the BEST, and all the best to you.
To Pete, LVS, Con-T, SpartanDan, intrpd, patrick and any TOC contributor that I missed, Thanks for getting me through the season. You’re all great!
I’m hoping for lots of hoops content through the summer but I understand if you have other things to do.

That’s the major question mark for me next season. What MSU really loses in Lucas (amongst other things, surely) is a guy who can go one on one and create his own shot or drive to the basket, either making a lay-up or drawing a foul. There is no one on the MSU roster returning who has shown he can do that. I think Appling has had flashes and maybe be (probably is?) a better athlete than Kalin. If he can do that, drive and attack the basket, I think we’ll miss Lucas less.

One huge difference between next year’s team and other “rebuilding” years under Izzo (‘01-02 and ’06-07) is that we’ll have rock solid senior leaders in Green and Roe. These are two guys who have unquestionably dedicated themselves to the program, won titles, and gotten to the promised land. They are also vocal and emotional leaders and appear to embrace that role. I also get the impression that the younger players look up to them. So, even though we’re adding a whole bunch of new pieces to the puzzle, I have confidence that those 2 are perfectly suited to bring them into the fold and we’ll be hearing a lot less talk about “chemistry issues” and “distractions” next year.

so my expectations aren’t that high for next year. I see potential, but we’re going to rely a lot on guys that didn’t play a minute this year. We will have more length and more scholarship players, so depth should be better. Given the exodus of senior leadership this year the league will probably be a little down, so that will help. Purdue, Illinois, and Wisconsin all have major holes to fill, and if the two guys at OSU go pro they will be thin as well, given who they have graduating.

Depending on what happens with Sullinger and Buford I like Wisconsin as the favorite, because Jordan Taylor will be back. They’re like the Borg – you can kill one, but similar model keeps coming right at you. Michigan could challenge them, and maybe Purdue if Hummel comes back healthy and they have a good class coming in. This all assumes Buford and Sullinger go pro – if they’re back along with Craft then they’re my favorite. I suppose if everything falls right for us we could be there, but guys will have to improve and freshmen will have to play significant roles. I expect us to finish in the top half of the league but am guessing 3rd through 5th rather than 1st or 2nd.

next year is to see the explosiveness that MSU used to have. MSU has usually been incredibly fun to watch, even when they lost. You could tell that the players genuinely enjoyed playing together, where this team just seemed at odds, most likely because of the dissapointment of not living up to expectations in the slightest, but also I think chemistry played a factor. This years team was brutally painful to watch because literally NOTHING ever worked the way it should. Hopefully the influx of athleticism will allow the team to play an uptempo style so at least they are entertaining, despite the low expectations.

Early Player Expectations:

Draymond Green – 15 PPG, 9 RPG, 5 APG, 1.5 BPG I think we’ll see alot more ‘Beast Mode’ now that Kalin is gone. Say what you will about Kalin but especially near the end of the year he was a class A ballhog (admittedly there weren’t many other options to pass to)

Delvon Roe – 5 PPG, 6 RPG, 1 BPG Kinda given up on Roe ever developing to even half his potential. His injuries mixed with a huge lack of touch just don’t bode well for offensive improvement. He’ll be a stopper again and maybe have 3-4 big scoring nights.

Adreian Payne – 8 PPG, 5 RPG, 1 BPG I don’t think Payne will be fully developed, mostly due to the fact that Dwayne Stephens is a garbage coach at developing bigs on time if at all. I think his junior year will see him break out, but this year I expect him to be a good offensive threat will some nice post touches, and he’ll probably have some huge games round tourney time. Defensively he better hold his own, but the addition of muscle oughta do it for him.

Derrick Nix – 6 PPG, 3 RPG Nix’s time, like Payne’s will come the season after this, there is just too many players for him to get enough minutes to be a double digit scorer. The most encouraging thing will be if he actually gets his act together and loses the weight for good. I could see Nix breaking out IF he is in good shape and improves his decision making, but it probably wont happen.

Garrick Sherman – 3 PPG, 1 RPG There just isn’t room for Sherman this year. Payne and Nix have more potential and will almost certainly take away minutes from Sherman. Lets hope he improves his handling and defense. He’ll be the Idong Ibok of the team, solid minutes to give others a rest.

Alex Gauna – 1.5 PPG, 1 RPG If he reaches even these numbers Ill be suprised. He’ll compete with Sherman for garbage time. Hopefully he’ll give solid help on D, but as already stated, theres just so much competition that he’s going to have to wait to become a regular contributor.

Russell Byrd – 8 PPG, 2 RPG, .5 APG Basically expect Byrd to attempt 5 to 7 threes a game and make around 3. He’ll have big games and he’ll have games where he’s a nonfactor. But hopefully he’s familiar with the system after redshirting.

Keith Appling – 11 PPG, 3.5 APG, .5 Steals Appling has some big shoes to fill. I think he’ll be a bigger distributor than Kalin and have some monster games. I don’t expect him to be a huge scorer just because most that onus will fall to Green, but he still should be a solid PG who can hopefully create his own shot. From what I’ve seen he could stand to gain some speed and work on his handle. If he controls the ball effectively and gets the Spartans up the court quick I think the Spartans will be very succesful.

Branden Dawsen – 8 PPG, 3.5 RPG I’m basically giving Dawsen the same stats that Maurice Ager had as a freshman. Dawsen oughta score and finish but he’ll still be raw and make a lot of mistakes. No one and done here, but he’ll rebound well and have some chemistry with…

Travis Trice – 2.5 PPG, 2 APG I don’t think Trice is going to create much for himself but he seems smart and will probably get a couple dimes and throw some alley oops to Dawsen.

Brandon Kearney - 2 PPG, .5 APG I think we may see Kearney get some time at the point since apparently he’s a fantastic ball handler. He’s gotten a lot of flack lately by recruiting services, so don’t be suprised if he or Dwaun Anderson redshirt (I think one of them should personally. You don’t need both, since they’ll basically give you exactly what Austin Thornton already can. Why waste a year of eligibility?)

Dwaun Anderson – 2.5 PPG Anderson isnt a good shooter and I could see him redshirting for that reason, but also he can DUNK. So who knows, lets just hope he gives us some nice plays on the fast break and keep an eye on his development, because he’s a big question mark, even with Mr. Basketball under his belt.

Austin Thornton – 2 PPG, 2 RPG, 4 PF per Game (thats half a joke) Thornton wont be starting much next year, but I think he’ll get minutes because he’s solid on D, can shoot when open and has experience. The question is do you give him minutes over a frosh, when they clearly need the minutes to develop? I say no, so expect maybe 5 minutes max.

This should add up to about 78 total points per game. That might be high, but most the players excepting Roe seem to be better at offense than defense (or at least equal). Expect a lot of high scoring, close games.

I’m just looking for a fun season as I previously said, and I think Izzo will thrive under the low expectations. Lets say… 23-11 with a sweet sixteen run at best? This is very early but as a basketball fanatic i already can’t wait.