One word sums up MSU's basketball team - potential.

And that, my friends, is an ugly word.

Sure, the Spartans have three wins under their belts and have added more useless hardware to their trophy case after sweeping up at the Coca-Cola Spartan Classic.

But Tom Izzo's team has begun each game in a slumber. It's as if someone is slipping Valium pills into its pregame meals. Eventually, the Spartans wake up and produce a halfway-decent effort, as evidenced by the past three games against Kansas, Penn and DePaul.

So what does all this mean? The Spartans' "elite" team isn't. The team is overrated because it's overstocked with talent.

Sophomore center Paul Davis is sputtering through more than a second-year slump - he's plunging without a parachute. What happened to all the preseason hype? Where's the all-around game he developed overseas this summer? Why isn't he playing like a Wooden award and All-Big Ten candidate? And most importantly, who's going to help him out in the post?

After Erazem Lorbek bolted back overseas, MSU is lacking in skill, size and, most notably, depth at the power forward spot. Senior Jason Andreas, redshirt freshman Delco Rowley and freshman Drew Naymick can handle themselves against the likes of the Quakers and Blue Demons, but what about Duke? Or Oklahoma? Or Kentucky?

MSU is full of All-American-caliber talent. The problem is, all that talent should be playing at the 2 or 3 spot. And, aside from the recent blooming of junior guard Kelvin Torbert, those who can score cannot play "D," and vice versa.

I have no doubt that this team will win plenty of games this season. But the Coca-Cola Championship will be the only time the Spartans taste tourney success if they don't get their act together.

But perhaps the problem isn't solely the players. Perhaps the puppeteer himself, Izzo, is the problem.

I don't disagree with the wily coach calling his team soft. They are. And they should be.

Izzo has called this team his most athletic, so let's see this athleticism. When Torbert, Ager and Brown are flying around the court, space is freed up for Hill and Davis, who have constantly been double-teamed in the half-court offense.

The Green and White needs to remain consistent and stick with what works and wins.

It's a little late for Izzo to be retooling his lineup as his team prepares to run the gauntlet.

The Spartans can't afford to give up quality when they stick should-be bench-warmers in at the post positions. But at the same time, the losses will flow if they think they can outrun teams with four guards. Eventually, the turnovers and lack of size in the paint will wear them down after they run down weaker teams.

The most alarming thing about this team is the fact it doesn't have a point guard, and it doesn't care. It thinks it will be fine without a true pass-first man at the point. But guess what? Point guards not only win games, they win championships.

Remember Mateen Cleaves? Eric Snow? Scott Skiles? Magic Johnson? Those point guards led their teams to championships. Who's going to lead MSU? Not the only two true point guards on the roster - the erratic senior Rashi Johnson and inexperienced, not to mention injured, freshman Brandon Cotton. Anderson and Hill are too talented as scorers to be dishing the ball, so they shouldn't see as much time at point guard as they are.

Problems, problems, problems. The stress is turning Izzo into Bobby Knight right before our eyes.

But maybe that's not the only thing Izzo is changing. He's also turning his team's stomach inside out.

One second he's talking up his championship team, the next he's bashing their skulls in with the toughest nonconference schedule of all time.

Where is this all leading?

MSU will limp into March with a few more losses than they would have liked. But they also will have experience in their heads, revenge in their eyes and, most dangerously, something to prove in their hearts.

The best thing the Spartans can do now to help them in the long run is lose. Lose to Duke at home. Lose to Kentucky in front of basketball's biggest audience. Lose that top-five, even top-ten, ranking.

Then, and only then, will these Spartans wake and play to prove they can win, not because they are supposed to.

Staff writer Jon Malavolti can be reached at malavol2@msu.edu.