Players who can play three and four positions, multiple line-ups and have the ability to successfully play at a fast or slow pace define a versatile team.
All those things define the No. 5 MSU men's basketball team.
"We have a lot of versatile players who can play a lot of positions, which makes it better for us to mix and match guys on the floor," junior guard Kelvin Torbert said.
Mixing and matching is just what head coach Tom Izzo has been doing over the Spartans' first four games of the season. Even with freshman point guard Brandon Cotton out for 4-6 weeks with a stress fracture, Izzo still has 12 players he can rotate in and out.
Breaking down the team, there are seven different players who can play point guard, shooting guard and small forward, and five players will see minutes at the power forward and center positions.
Being young up front with three freshmen big men, Izzo has used his more experienced players, most notably the guards, which has created some different line-ups over the past couple games.
Going small and using those experienced guards is something he will continue to do with the line-up against Duke, a team who also likes to go with smaller players for most the game. Izzo, however, can now match any line-up, small or large, with his players.
"We do have some versatility," Izzo said. "It should be interesting to see the different chess games that will be played, and hopefully we'll make the right moves."
Izzo said substitution patterns and foul trouble can dictate what types of combinations are on the floor.
Three juniors, forward Alan Anderson, guard Chris Hill and Torbert, all can play at least two positions.
Anderson heads the list of versatile players on the team, with the ability to play the point guard, shooting guard, small forward or the power forward position.
"That's one of the biggest advantages this team has, especially on the perimeter," Hill said. "We do have a lot of guys that can play a couple different positions.
"Alan's good enough that he can guard a bigger player on defense, and they'll have a lot harder time guarding him on offense, so that's going to be something that we can hopefully take advantage of. It's just going to be a matter of getting that feel for one another."
Anderson is not the only player who can play multiple positions, as Torbert has played three positions this season, and Hill has played both guard spots. Sophomore guard Maurice Ager and freshman guard Shannon Brown have seen time at both the shooting guard and small forward positions as well.
"I think there are going to be times during the year where we can go to a four guard line-up that could cause teams lots of trouble," Hill said. "Our first objective is to run, and we would like to get out and put a lot of points on the board."
MSU not only has individual versatility, but has the ability to play different styles. Even when the Spartans are unable to get out and run, their versatility to play within the half-court has allowed them to have success in either a low- or a high-scoring game.
The Spartans already have proven themselves both ways, beating DePaul, 89-81, on Sunday in an fast-paced game and beating Bucknell, 64-52, in a slow-paced season opener.
"The way we're successful a lot of time on the break is by getting stops," Hill said. "In case if we're not playing well or the other team is taking away our break, we are capable of winning a lower scoring game."
