Michigan State Basketball: It’s time for Tom Izzo to change his philosophy

Michigan State basketball is struggling mightily for the second straight season. Tom Izzo’s philosophy needs to change for the Spartans to improve.

Michigan State basketball was just humiliated for the second game in a row this time coming on the road to Columbus. While MSU is still firmly in the tournament, it’s clear that any chance this team had at making a run is dead. This marks the second disappointing season in a row for the Spartans and at this point, there is only one man to blame: Tom Izzo.

Now saying Izzo should be fired would, rightfully, have State fans furious and ready to tear me limb from limb on social media. I’m not at that point yet and still think  Izzo is more than capable of turning the program around.

First, we have to recognize that there are some serious problems within this team as well as Izzo’s philosophy in the current college basketball landscape.

The most obvious problem to me would be the shots this team is taking and not taking.

Statistically, Michigan State is one of the better 3-point shooting teams in the conference. making 38 percent from deep in Big Ten play. Despite this, the Spartans average just under 19 attempts per game. This style of offense does not make any sense with how basketball is played in 2022. Michigan State is borderline elite when it comes to the most efficient shot in basketball yet takes relatively few 3-pointers.

Now there are other ways to be an efficient team on offense without taking a ton of threes. We see it with No. 1 ranked Gonzaga. To make up for the lack of 3-point attempts, they take the next most efficient shot that being at the rim. Throughout the season, the Zags have taken over 100 shots more at the rim than MSU despite playing in three fewer games.

If MSU isn’t taking their shots at the rim and they aren’t taking very many from the three-point line, that means a lot of its shots are coming from mid-range.

While I’m sure this is drilled in most basketball fans’ heads at this point, mid-range shots are the most inefficient in the game of basketball. Most of the time these shots go up and it’s a win for the defense, yet it still feels like a staple in Izzo’s game plan.

This is not a recipe for prolonged success and if Izzo doesn’t change soon, the program may fade into mediocrity.