Michigan State Basketball: Miles Bridges is back, but still has to improve

Miles Bridges announced that he would return to Michigan State basketball for another season, but he still has to improve for the Spartans to go anywhere.

As we spend the next few months celebrating the future National Championship for Michigan State, we might as well look at how it might happen. Miles Bridges is back and that’s about everything that’s needed for the Spartans to be pumped up to 10/1 title odds for the 2018 championship.

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There are still a few things that could happen for the team next season, whether that’s Brandon McCoy or Mark Smith (I’m done talking about Brian Bowen), but we have a good sense of how most of the lineup will look and Ben Carter would be a bonus at this point.

The best comparison I can think of for Bridges and next year’s MSU team is that of Justin Jackson and North Carolina’s title-winning 2016-17 season. While Jackson wasn’t an expected lottery pick like Bridges, he returned to school, worked on his game and is projected to be a first-round selection in the upcoming NBA Draft.

The Tar Heels had a ton of size (Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks, etc.) and while the Spartans won’t be at that level, they’ll be close with Nick Ward, Gavin Schilling and Jaren Jackson. The hope is that Cassius Winston can be close to the player that Joel Berry was, although with passing a bigger part of his game.

Tum Tum Nairn can be the point guard off the bench that gives the team a jolt when needed (Nate Britt) with Joshua Langford the team’s do-it-all Theo Pinson – a player that does the dirty work. Matt McQuaid and Kenny Goins may find a role at some point throughout the season, but it’s hard to see either of them being a difference maker unless McQuaid becomes the next Bryn Forbes (let’s be optimistic and leave the door open for that).

But the biggest and most important comparison is between Bridges and Jackson. The 6-foot-8 Jackson had a size advantage in almost every game last season playing as a small forward. Other teams often had guys that were two or three inches shorter than Jackson guarding him and that in turn led to a lot of easy looks for him.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be all rainbows for Bridges and the Spartans next season. It can’t be overlooked that Jackson was also one of UNC’s best defenders in the run to the National Championship. In fact, he was called upon to lock down point guard Nigel Williams-Goss for a good portion of the title game and that was a main reason the Heels eked out a win.

As any Spartan fan knows, Bridges has some work to do on the defensive end. While he held his own in the post against bigger guys for much of the year, he struggled to keep quicker guards in front of him on the perimeter. If Bridges can make a small improvement to where he could stop a guy like Williams-Goss, that would be huge.

On the offensive end, it’s a little harder to project what’s going to happen with Ward expected to get more time and Jackson’s ability to stretch the floor as a four (that’s the hope). As long as Bridges sees a size advantage and doesn’t become shot happy from beyond the arc, things could look real good, real fast.

When dealing with a smaller defender last season, Bridges rarely took advantage of that in the post. Even if he becomes a better shooter, it would be nice to see him beat up defenders a little more on the block, especially when Ward isn’t in the game clogging up the paint. Of course, Jackson’s role is still up for debate and he could become another post presence, but if Bridges is going to have plus-matchups, getting easy buckets in the paint could be an every-game occurrence for this team, almost the opposite of last season.

Bridges is back. National Championship is on the tongue of every Spartan. But can these guys improve individually and collectively? That’s the question now and for the next few months. At the least, Michigan State has the pieces to make a run next March… and hopefully April.

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