Michigan State Basketball: Report card for non-conference play

It’s not actually fair to give the freshman guard a grade just yet, so his default will be a C. Why isn’t it fair to give Josh Langford a grade through non-conference play? Well, I just don’t think we’ve seen a healthy player yet and he’s just now starting to look more comfortable.

Right before the season, he suffered a hamstring injury that looked to be nagging him through the first part of the season and through about two months, he has been playing gingerly. Although his conditioning has improved, we have only seen bits and pieces of what he truly brings to the table.

Langford can do it all and he’s played well in the short bursts in which he has looked like his McDonald’s All-American self. There’s a reason he was a five-star recruit and one of the best high schoolers in the country and we are just waiting for him to break out.

One thing that has impressed me is his shooting, though. Early on, he didn’t get much of a chance to show off his sharpshooting ability because he was always getting into foul trouble, but now that he’s adjusted to the way the game is officiated, he’s in long enough to get some shots up.

Josh is averaging just 6.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.3 minutes per game, but his 54 percent shooting from the field and 46 percent from three-point range will come in handy down the stretch.