Spartan Avenue
Fansided

Michigan State Basketball: Way-too-early backcourt preview for 2017-18

By Adam Zdroik

Mar 9, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Cassius Winston (5) and Spartans guard Lourawls Nairn Jr. (11) celebrate on the court in the closing seconds against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Verizon Center. The Spartans won 78-51. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 9, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Cassius Winston (5) and Spartans guard Lourawls Nairn Jr. (11) celebrate on the court in the closing seconds against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Verizon Center. The Spartans won 78-51. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Michigan State basketball is getting a lot of recognition on a national stage this offseason, however, the backcourt remains a work in progress.

The hype for Michigan State basketball has grown by the day since Miles Bridges decided to return for his sophomore season, but there’s a glaring hole most people are forgetting to point out. The backcourt is still a problem for the Spartans, maybe even more so with Alvin Ellis III and Eron Harris gone.

Must Read: MSU Recruiting: Constructing ideal 2018 basketball class

The main assumption is that Bridges will move from power forward to small forward, which would take away some of the concern regarding the loss of Ellis and Harris. Even if that’s the case, there are still only four players that can be relied on to play in the backcourt: Joshua Langford, Matt McQuaid, Tum Tum Nairn and Cassius Winston. Kyle Ahrens is still around, but no one is going to rely on him for anything unless he becomes a knockdown shooter over the summer.

And even with the four players set to see significant time, someone new will have to step up defensively. Harris and Ellis often guarded the opponent’s best player unless he was under 6-foot, and in that case Tum Tum would do the defending. Again, Bridges will be called on to take up some defensive work, but he can’t be the answer for everything. He’s going to be Michigan State’s best player and one of the top guys in the nation, but for every fault MSU has, the answer simply can’t be, “Oh, Bridges will take care of that.”

When Winston and McQuaid are on the floor at the same time, opposing backcourts will have their way, no matter what Tom Izzo thinks of McQuaid’s defensive ability. When Tum Tum and McQuaid are on the floor, the offense could have scoring issues. Every fan is hoping that the freshmen will all improve, but it was only a year ago that McQuaid regressed in every major shooting category (field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw rate).

If Winston doesn’t improve defensively, Tum Tum remains a liability on offense, Langford stays inconsistent and McQuaid does the opposite of what every fan wants, then the backcourt is a long way off from competing with the best teams in the country. Bridges and the frontcourt should hold their own – more so than a year ago – but with less options in the backcourt, the team could be as unpredictable as last season.

Related Story: MSU Basketball: All-time Tom Izzo era starting five, bench

The goal is to not have Tum Tum and McQuaid reach 30 minutes per game because if that’s the case, then Winston and Langford didn’t improve as much as Izzo and the Spartan faithful would have hoped.

Home/Spartans Basketball