Game one is in the books, and Michigan State basketball picked up its first win of the season in an 80-69 effort that was a little closer than expected against Colgate.
Tom Izzo was not thrilled with how his team played and made sure to call them out in the post-game presser, saying that they’re in for a fun week of practices before facing No. 14 Arkansas at the Breslin Center on Saturday night.
There were still plenty of positives to take away from Michigan State’s win over Colgate (which has made four of the past five NCAA Tournaments), but these are my biggest concerns.
1. No true go-to scorer
While this was also the case a year ago, it felt like the Spartans were getting different guys to step up every night as the go-to guy, whether it was Tre Holloman, Jase Richardson, or Jaden Akins. Someone was always willing to be the go-to scorer and there were plenty of shots to go around.
This year, it’s basically a bunch of solid role players, but the only one who seems to be willing to get shots up consistently is coming off the bench. Trey Fort needs to be the go-to guy.
I’d love if Coen Carr was more aggressive or if Jeremy Fears Jr. took the ball to the rim more, but it has to be someone like Fort who isn’t afraid of the moment. I’d say the two guys who didn’t look scared to take shots were Fort and Jordan Scott. Someone needs to be the guy.
2. Free throws
I will say, I’ve been encouraged by this team’s ability to get to the free throw line. The Spartans shot over 40 against UConn in the exhibition finale and then 37 on Monday night.
The problem? Making those free throws.
Michigan State shot just 65 percent from the line against Colgate, making only 24-of-37. Against Uconn, Michigan State missed 15 free throws. That just cannot continue. If you get to the line, you have to convert. Way too often, I saw Michigan State get a second-chance opportunity at the line and it came away with no points. I just know Izzo will have these guys shooting hundreds all week.
3. Scoring around the rim
Michigan State got a lot of points (24) from the free throw line and another 18 from 3-pointers, but it felt like the Spartans settled for a lot of mid-range jumpers instead of trying to score at the rim.
The Spartans were out-scored 30-28 in the paint against a team that jacked up 30 threes and was out-rebounded by a whopping 22 boards. That’s unacceptable. When you’re dominating essentially every other aspect of the paint, you have to be able to back down defenders and score that way.
I understand that the zone defense made scoring down low a little trickier with an extra defender collapsing down on whichever big caught the entry pass, but that’s where you implement more cutters. I just think this team will only have a few guys who can shoot from deep consistently, so getting the rest of the team to cut toward the basket and score at the rim will be important.
Fears did a really good job of scoring around the rim, now everyone else needs to join in.