Michigan State Basketball: 3 takeaways from Battle 4 Atlantis showing

Michigan State basketball entered the Bahamas with some things unknown. The Spartans did not know who they could rely on consistently, they had turnover and point guard issues, and they even had questions about whether they could turn the page and beat really good programs this year.

Well, the Battle 4 Atlantis helped show us some of these things while making some of these question marks bigger.

Here’s what the Battle 4 Atlantis taught us.

3. Consistency will be key to the season

Michigan State has only had two consistent players throughout the seven games they have played this year: Gabe Brown and Marcus Bingham Jr.

Brown has been attacking and aggressive on the offensive side of the ball. He is looking for his shot early. He has slowed down in forcing shots up when he does not need to. He goes to his spots and he hits those shots. Gabe loves to attack and dribble to the right and pull up quickly at the elbow for a smooth jumper. He can do this going left as well and he loves this move and shot.

Fans who watched saw Brown do this time and time again during the tournament. The Spartans will need him to do more of this continuing into December and into Big Ten play. Brown also has been consistent in the energy category. This will not be seen on paper but he is the captain and the soul of this team. He brings the energy to the floor and he gets other players hyped up as well in order to stay energized throughout the game.

Bingham is the only other player who has been consistent on the floor, especially on the defensive end of the court. He is averaging 3.1 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. He has been a terror down low for opposing guards to drive on. He is even using his body by not letting the opposing bigs get in position to make a move. He is pushing them off the block and making them work for every point. This is something we have not seen from Bingham through his first three years.

Other than these two players, we have not seen consistency. Tyson Walker and AJ Hoggard are not off to a great start but more on them in a minute. Joey Hauser can not find his shot and he just looks timid going to the basket. He even looks timid pulling up for a wide-open three that he misses off the rim. He needs to find his confidence and his consistency.

Malik Hall also is not showing consistency. The Spartans saw him have a huge game against Loyola Chicago when Brown was in foul trouble. He shot 9-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the line. He finished with 24 points and he was just doing everything. Tom Izzo refers to Hall as an OKG (our kind of guy).

However, in their next two games against UConn and Baylor, he was in the shadows hiding with two points and three points, respectively, and was not looking for his shot at all. He looked like he wanted to take the back seat and these Spartans need him in the driver’s seat going forward.