Michigan State Basketball: Ideal starting 5 for 2021 Big Ten Tournament

EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 25: Rocket Watts #2 and Aaron Henry #0 of the Michigan State Spartans walk onto the court after a time out in the first half of the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Breslin Center on February 25, 2021 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

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Michigan State’s Joey Hauser makes a 3-pointer in front of Michigan’s Franz Wagner during the first half on Sunday, March 7, 2021, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.210307 Msu Um 114a /

I was tempted to give Gabe Brown the nod here to go a little small-ball, Tom Izzo should probably go with the hot hand and give Joey Hauser the starting nod for the first time in what feels like an eternity.

Brown’s 7.4 points and 44 percent 3-point shooting percentage will be perfect coming off the bench and getting 20 minutes but it wouldn’t be a terrible matchup having him in the starting five against a smaller team like Maryland. But Hauser should be getting the time here to start Thursday afternoon’s game.

Hauser is coming off his best game since Illinois as he scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Michigan. He also had five rebounds and didn’t turn the ball over once. He looked like a completely different player than the one we’ve seen in the second half of the Big Ten season and for that, he should be rewarded.

Like Rocket Watts, a lot of Hauser’s game is based on confidence. He usually lets bad mistakes spiral into 2-3 in a row but when he’s on, he’s hard to stop.

Defense needs some work, but Hauser’s potential on offense would make the starting five that much more effective, especially while trying to avoid slow starts.

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