Michigan State basketball: 3 observations from tough win over Oakland

Michigan State Basketball: 3 observations from hard-fought win over Oakland

Dec 21, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans forward Marcus Bingham Jr. (30) guard Max Christie (5) forward Malik Hall (25) and forward Gabe Brown (44) walk to the bench during the second half against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

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Dec 21, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Oakland Golden Grizzlies forward Jamal Cain (1) drives to the basket against Michigan State Spartans forward Joey Hauser (10) during the first half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The 3-point defense looked sluggish

Oakland might have only had 10 made 3-pointers on 27 attempts, but most of these were clean looks. Michigan State was biting on the help side defense so much today they were leaving way too much space for shooters to hit a big shot.

Not only were they biting on the help side defense, but they were also playing off the ball by a few feet and falling for pump fakes. With some of those Oakland shooters, they do not need a ton of space to get a good shot up from deep. This was happening all night long. They were playing off, not stepping out on screens or running over the top of screens.

The way Oakland was able to get clean looks from deep was a little concerning.

The Spartans need to take those deep shots away. If they are ever in a situation where they are not shooting well or cannot answer like they did every time Oakland looked like they were going to make a run, they will lose these hard-fought games.

They need to close out and avoid surrendering clean looks from deep.

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