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3 fixes Michigan State basketball must make for the Maui Invitational

By Connor Muldowney

Nov 19, 2024; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Jaden Akins (3) celebrates a three point shot during the first half against the Samford Bulldogs at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-Imagn Images
Nov 19, 2024; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Jaden Akins (3) celebrates a three point shot during the first half against the Samford Bulldogs at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-Imagn Images / Dale Young-Imagn Images
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Five games into the regular season, Michigan State basketball is preparing for one of the biggest in-season tournaments the sport has to offer: the Maui Invitational.

A number of elite teams will be partaking in this annual event, headlined by UConn, North Carolina, Iowa State, and Auburn. Michigan State will have its hands full all week long as it faces Colorado to start and either Memphis or UConn in the following game. The Spartans could face up to two top-10 teams during Thanksgiving week.

As we all know, Michigan State has some work to do and here are three things that need to be fixed for this prestigious invitational in Maui.

1. Re-trusting Xavier Booker

I know this feels wild to say after he had one of the most disappointing starts to a season any star in recent memory has had in East Lansing, but Xavier Booker is still young and he's learning. He seemed to have learned his lesson after being in Tom Izzo's dog house after the first couple of games by providing the much-needed spark against Samford off the bench.

Booker only played about 10 minutes in that game but he finished with seven points and kickstarted the offense when it looked stale.

If Michigan State wants to have any success this season, Booker is going to have to be part of it. Izzo needs to re-trust him this week and let him work his way through some mental mistakes and learn on the fly. He's talented enough where he can make up for the mental mistakes quickly.

2. Three-point shooting (obviously)

How do you fix poor 3-point shooting? Well, the first suggestion would be to take better shots from deep, but Michigan State is shooting when it's wide open. That's not the problem. The obvious solution at this point would to be just keep shooting. And that's what it'll take.

Eventually they have to fall, right?

The 3-point shooting has been horrendous, but that's really the only negative on the offensive end of the floor so far. Sometimes all you need to see is the first one drop -- just look at how MSU fared from deep after an 0-for-9 start against Samford. The Spartans finished 7-for-15 after that.

Just keep shooting the open shots.

3. Avoid the slow starts

Sometimes I wonder if Michigan State likes to play from behind because it gets the Spartans ready for when adversity hits in Big Ten play and March but then I realize how stupid that would be.

This team just loves the slow starts.

But that's almost cost them on numerous occasions already this season. It cost them against Kansas and then it nearly led to a disastrous showing against Samford. Fortunately, they snapped out of it and got hot in the final 10 minutes before halftime against Samford, but that's a trend that just has to stop.

Avoid the slow starts this week and see how nice it is to play with a lead.

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