Michigan State Basketball: Projected starting lineup, minutes for 2019-20

Michigan State basketball is one month away from tip-off and the starting lineup may be on everyone’s mind. Who will be the starting five?

We are officially one month away from the tip of the basketball season. Midnight Madness was announced for Oct. 25 and the Spartans have an exhibition game on the 29th and then the first official game against Kentucky on Nov. 5.

These Spartans have lofty expectations for the season and we will see how they perform.

We know the roster, but who will be the starters and how many minutes will they be playing each night they take the floor?

Starters

To answer this question is tricky because Tom Izzo likes to look at how players gel early in the season. So do not be surprised if the starting lineup projections are right for some games but not all the time.

Izzo likes to see how his teammates will play together because injuries happen and the team needs to know how to adapt to certain situations. He also expects a ton out of his players. If they do not live up to those expectations and fail to do their job on the court, he has no problem pulling them.

So let’s get started.

Cassius Winston will obviously get the nod here. He’s the true leader of this team — this team will go where Winston takes them. He’s most likely play around 30-32 minutes. Last year, Winston was called upon heavily and that might be the case this season, too, but with a year of experience under Foster Loyer’s belt and a high-ceiling freshman in Rocket Watts, Winston will be able to get more rest throughout the season.

They will need Winston to get more rest so his legs are not dead come March when the Spartans are in search for their third program title.

Winston can do it all: Shoot, take it to the hole, pass — pretty much anything. He will lead this team to another Big Ten Championship and hopefully national title in March.

Josh Langford will start at the two position. He was out for most of the 2018-19 season so all eyes will be on him with how he performs post-injury. Before his injury, though, Langford could defend, shoot the triple and take it to the hole, but his most favorite was the mid-range game. He would dribble drive, stop on a dime and then pull up from 10-15 feet away for the easy buckets. Will he be able to bring that game back?

It appears he is back at full strength and good to go but we will see. Regardless of his production, he is still a leader of the team. It is his senior year and we will be able to provide valuable help for the incoming freshman and how to work on their games. Langford will be a big contributor receiving around 25-30 minutes a game to start to make sure he’s back to 100 percent.