Over the years, it's felt like Michigan State basketball has needed an alpha to get it out of some tough times. During cold stretches back around 2009, it was Kalin Lucas, then it was Denzel Valentine and then Cassius Winston. But now, the Spartans need someone to get them out of a cold spell ahead of a gauntlet of a schedule.
Michigan State is 19-5 on the year after losing 3-of-4 and the presumed leader of the team, Jeremy Fears Jr., hasn't quite been effective on the offensive end of the floor like we all expected.
Following a 0-point performance in a shocking home loss to a bad Indiana team, the criticism of Fears grew to new heights. He was bashed for not showing any willingness to drive and score at the rim despite having numerous open lanes. Instead, he decided to dish it out to the perimeter where the Spartans shot just 4-for-23 against the 2-3 zone.
Fears finished the game with no points on 0-for-2 shooting with two assists, two turnovers, and three fouls. It was a forgettable game for "The Floor General".
And it made fans realize one thing: this team will go nowhere if its point guard doesn't want to be a major part of the offense.
Sure, there are guys like Jase Richardson, Tre Holloman, and Jaden Akins who aren't afraid to shoot and kind of take that scoring role but Fears needs to play more like a Cassius type than a Tum Tum Nairn type. We don't need a guy who is out there to simply just pass and who defenses can't respect to score on his own. That's a detriment to the offense as a whole. It ruins the whole half-court game.
Fears can still be a great passer and find his own shots. Cassius is the Big Ten's all-time assists leader but he could still drop 20 points on any given night.
While I know Fears is not Cassius and it's not fair to compare the two, it's time he steps up his offensive game and makes defenses respect him. Being a plus defender and passer is nice, but if you're out there dribbling for 20 seconds and passing to an open guy who's just going to brick the shot, you're not doing enough for the offense.
Tuesday's loss to Indiana should act as a wake-up call for the redshirt freshman.