Michigan State Basketball: Can the Spartans overcome their treacherous postseason loss?
Mar 18, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo looks on during the first half of the first round against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
What three questions does Michigan State basketball have to answer in order to rebound from last year’s NCAA Tournament upset?
When we last saw the Michigan State Spartans, it was after one of the most surprising tournament upsets of all time, as they dropped their first round match-up to Middle Tennessee State. The Spartans were a trendy pick for a Final Four run and potential national championship, but went down in flames in a 90-81 upset to the Blue Raiders.
It was an abrupt and disappointing end to the careers of Denzel Valentine, Bryn Forbes and Matt Costello. The departures continued with freshman forward Deyonta Davis declaring and getting selected in the 2016 NBA Draft, freshman wing Javon Bess transferring to Saint Louis and talented but inconsistent sophomore Marvin Clark Jr. moving on to St. John’s.
Just like that, 4/5th’s of their starting lineup were gone and potential rotational pieces exited the program.
For the first time in years, legitimate questions have arisen about how good Michigan State can be?
Luckily for the program and its fans, Tom Izzo is an ace recruiter. Michigan State will bring in one of the best recruiting classes in the country in 2016. That class, along with senior guard Eron Harris and UNLV graduate transfer Ben Carter, make the Spartans look re-loaded for 2016-17.
Let’s look at some of the questions that could remain for the young, talented and unproven Michigan State Spartans team.
Mar 18, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo looks on during the second half of the first round against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
3: Will there be a hangover effect on 2016-17?
Kind of the elephant in the room, right?
The program had all the momentum in the world going into its first round match-up against 15-seed Middle Tennessee State. Denzel Valentine was playing out of his mind, the Spartans were on a nine game win streak, they just won the Big Ten Tournament title and everything was lining up!
And then, they suffered one of the top three upsets of all-time, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Tom Izzo, himself, called it the “hardest loss” of his tenure. This isn’t a coach who takes any loss easy. He still shoots 100 free throws a day and carries around the newspaper clipping after missing the front-end of a 1-and-1 and “costing” his team a high school championship in 1972!
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That loss is going to be hard on two groups of people: the fans and Izzo.
For the fans, if Michigan State can quickly get back to Elite Eights and Final Fours then it will be marked down as an aberration. After all, that loss was the first time Izzo has been downed in the first round since 2006.
But, if the team suffers another early exit from the tournament, questions might start creeping up. That could add pressure to the new players in the program.
As much as he may not want to admit it, the loss will impact Izzo. You could tell he enjoyed coaching that team and thought it was one of his best ever. To have it taken away so quickly and shockingly, has to stick with him – especially given how competitive he is.
Here is guessing that Izzo will be able to compartmentalize it and focus on the challenges and potential of his new group of Spartans.
Feb 14, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Eron Harris (14) reacts to a play during the second half of a game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Question 2: Is Eron Harris ready to lead?
The main holdover from the team last season is senior guard Eron Harris.
The Indianapolis-native spent two years at West Virginia before transferring to Michigan State. While at WVU, Eron Harris topped out at 17.2 points per game with 42.2 percent shooting from deep in his sophomore campaign.
Harris didn’t have to carry the load as much in his junior season at Michigan State. His minutes decreased from 31 to 20 and Harris averaged 9.3 points per game. His three-point shooting improved to 45 percent, but Harris seemed to disappear at times.
With the seniors gone and the youngsters in at East Lansing, this is Harris’ opportunity to lead this season.
Expect his minutes to increase to close to his West Virginia sophomore year numbers. If he is able to reproduce the production level, Michigan State will be in good shape.
The outstanding freshmen class will look to him this season to set an example on how a Tom Izzo-run program operates. It is a new position for Harris, and we’ll see if he is up to the task.
Michigan State could potentially need him the most early on in their non-conference slate. As usual, Michigan State has an extremely difficult non-conference schedule. This year’s challenges include introductory games against Arizona and Kentucky, an ACC/Big Ten Challenge match-up at Duke and potential Battle 4 Atlantis tournament games against VCU/Baylor and Louisville.
Where Michigan State will need Harris early on is in those key big moments when the Spartans need a basket. His experience and calmness will be a guiding force in how the young Spartans respond to tough atmospheres and big moments.
Harris has made big shots before, but time will tell how he responds to this new challenge.
Mar 30, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; From left to right McDonald’s All-Americans Miles Bridges (0) and Joshua Langford (25) who both will be attending Michigan State pose for a group photo before the McDonald’s High School All-American Game at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
1: How will the freshman fare?
Ultimately, the success of Michigan State’s 2016-17 campaign will rely on its freshman class. 6′ 6″ small forward Miles Bridges, shooting guard Joshua Langford, point guard Cassius Winston and power forward Nick Ward all bring their own sets of skills and fit together really well.
Langford and Bridges both scream athleticism. Langford can play and defend multiple spots on the floor and it will be interesting to see his minutes with Eron Harris there as well. Bridges has the potential to be big-time. He’s a human highlight reel, as evidenced by this tape.
Winston will be given the keys to the offense from game one on. The Michigan Mr. Basketball winner and 6’2″ guard can do it all. He can score, distribute, get the basket – he is a perfect fit in the long line of great Tom Izzo point guards.
Ward is a bruising 6’9″ forward who eats rebounds, has a nice post-up game and a decent lefty touch from mid-range. He’ll be the type of player in which it looks like it hurts to play against. He’ll need to turn some of that weight into muscle, but the potential is there for him to be a double-double machine.
With Bridges, Langford, Harris and Winston, Michigan State’s guard and wing play will have its most depth in years. The bigs could be a couple years behind, but the potential is there for this team to be explosive and offensively powerful. There could be some kinks to work out in the early non-conference slate, but in the middle of conference play – look out.
The 2016 – 17 Spartans ooze with talent and potential. Last year’s team was so reliant on the amazing play of Denzel Valentine, but this year could possess more balance and options to score.
Izzo is a master at getting his team to play together during the stretch run of conference play. There might be some growing pains and head-scratchers, but the sky is the limit with this team playing up to its potential.
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