It only took two exhibition games for fans to reach full-blown panic mode, but that’s what happens when expectations are “national title or bust” and Michigan State goes 0-2 in real exhibition play.
It doesn’t help that the biggest roster concern has played right into everyone’s worst nightmare. The center position was already under a microscope with Carson Cooper leaving with no real backup plan in place, but newcomer Anton Bonke has not done enough to eliminate concerns.
In fact, he’s probably amplified them with his lackluster play through two exhibition games.
Michigan State fans were hoping to see a lot more from the center position — namely Bonke — but he played just six minutes against UConn before getting benched for a true freshman and then lost his starting job completely against Marquette and played just a few minutes off the bench. Bonke has fans ready to smash the panic button.
Exhibition play is truly way too early to judge a player or a team, but the way he looked against UConn and Marquette was rather concerning. He looked more like a big man who should be playing for Charlotte rather than starting for a top-10 team in the country.
Not seeing him much after his harshly-criticized performance against UConn was a concern but that could also be an Izzo message. He wants to get more out of his 7-foot transfer and the only way he knows how is to challenge him. Izzo is trying to push the right buttons.
So far, though, it’s not working.
And that’s a concern as we get ready to kick off the season in exactly one week.
What does Michigan State need out of Anton Bonke?
Obviously Bonke is a little more raw than we all expected but no one really thought he was going to be a baby deer in his first action.
Fortunately, it didn’t count and it’s only going to help him improve. But he needs to do more.
Michigan State doesn’t necessarily need Bonke to grow into Cooper right away, but becoming a rim-protecting, floor-running, lob-catching big man would be a nice start. He isn’t going to be perfect as he learns a new system, but it’d be nice if he was at least a plus player who could rebound at a high level, protect the rim, and score on the pick-and-roll with Jeremy Fears even a fraction as much as Cooper did.
For fans to feel better about the center position, Bonke probably needs to average somewhere in the ballpark of 6-8 points, 5-7 rebounds, and 1-2 blocks per game.
That’s not asking for a ton. Basically he’s being asked to be a Szymon Zapala-type rather than an all-world center. Baby steps.
Hey, Zapala did win a Big Ten title and make an Elite Eight as a starter.
All hope isn’t lost for Bonke, but he has a lot of work to do. Izzo is going to make it his mission to squeeze the most he can out of the Charlotte transfer but we’ll see if there’s anything left to squeeze.
Concern is growing, but I’m not ready to hit the panic button unless this continues into December and January.
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