The MSU men's basketball team is just past the halfway point in its season and that calls for a progress report. The Spartans are on a three-game winning streak after Wednesday's 73-61 victory over Northwestern.
But the Spartans (8-7 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) have done all but live up to preseason expectations. MSU was tagged No. 3 in the preseason and is arguably the biggest flop in all of college basketball. Forget talks about cutting down the nets in San Antonio - something saved for the National Champion - MSU's main focus is just trying to make the NCAA Tournament.
overall: c+
Winning the last three games by playing exceptional basketball is a nice way to close the first half of the season, but it is like flunking the first two exams only to ace the third one - the hole is already dug. That is where the Spartans stand now.
The "it doesn't matter how you start, it's how you finish" cliché is extremely important in college hoops. And, let's say the Spartans finish the Big Ten season with a 14-2 conference mark; That definitely carries more weight than a 5-6 nonconference record. Still, just four games into the Big Ten season can't erase the early-season slip ups.
Case in point: This team hasn't lived up to expectations. It does, however, look like the Spartans are on back on track to becoming the great team everyone expected to see.
Baby steps - that is what Izzo has this team taking. As the steps get larger, the overall grade will undoubtedly improve as well. But for now, a team's record is slightly above average gets a slightly above average grade.
coaching: a
The only reason MSU head coach Tom Izzo would get anything lower than an A is because of the brutal nonconference schedule he put his troops through. But, the ninth-year coach admitted with Erazem Lorbek leaving early, he figured the desired 8-3 or 9-2 start before the Big Ten season was in jeopardy. "In my wildest dreams, I didn't imagine we'd go 0-6 in it," Izzo said.
Still, he has worked through injuries and a team with only two seniors (both nonstarters) to keep the Spartans' heads high, and at 8-7 for a team like MSU, that's not an easy thing to do.
When March rolls around, Izzo will have his guys playing at a very high level of basketball and all the talk about the flopping Spartans will disappear. That is a talent some of the nation's best coaches possess. Is there any doubt Izzo falls in that category?
frontcourt: c-
Sophomore center Paul Davis is MSU's frontcourt. And, criticism has been chucked his way all season for inconsistent play. Senior center Jason Andreas is blossoming into a nice counterpart, but not fast enough. Freshman center Drew Naymick was going to be redshirted before Lorbek left early last season, but because of the Slovenian native's departure, he has been thrown into the fiery mix. It's pretty easy to notice a true freshman playing before they are ready.
Redshirt freshman Delco Rowley could be the answer to the frontcourt woes. Watching and learning all last year, he was poised to make an impact this season. Then he sprained his left knee and has been out for more than a month now.
If someone, anyone, can become a running mate for Davis, MSU's inside problems should disappear. At the moment, however, there are no clear cut favorites to do that.
backcourt: b
Junior guards Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert and freshman guard Shannon Brown have paced the Spartans' backcourt. Hill leads the team in assists (4.1 per game) and is MSU's second leading scorer with 13.5 points per contest. Torbert has been riding a roller coaster season, but he's beginning to assert himself both as an outside threat and a slasher who won't think twice about throwing it down.
Brown doesn't grace Dick Vitale's "Diaper Dandy" list, but he should. He might not get enough minutes to be called one of the premier freshman in the nation, but he is quickly maturing and becoming an immediate impact player for the Spartans. Funnier yet, Brown said he hasn't lived up to his expectations. If those expectations are much higher, who knows where Brown will guide the Spartans.
offense: b
Izzo said he wanted a high-powered offense and the players he has are delivering it. There is no arguing that MSU's offense could be the most potent in the Big Ten. Name a player and he can score: Hill - 3-point threat. Davis - force in the paint. Brown - slasher or jump shooter. Anderson - slasher or jump shooter. Torbert - slasher or jump shooter. And those are only the starters.
MSU is loaded with offensive potential. It has shown, as MSU is shooting 54.4 percent in its last six games (4-2 record). There will be times when MSU will miss a shot and people seem shocked. That's because they don't seem to miss many.
defense: c
Right through this entire paragraph should be the word "weakness" stamped in red ink. What happened to the "no one is going to push us around" attitude that has described MSU basketball for years. Opponents don't seem to have any problems scoring, especially in the paint.
As the Big Ten season continues, however, the Spartans seem to have found the answer on the defensive end. Northwestern shot a high 47.6 percent against the MSU defense, but the previous two Spartan opponents shot a combined 37.1 percent.
Grading the last three games would be easy; MSU would get an A. But discounting games against Duke, Kansas, Syracuse and DePaul can't be forgotten.
bench: a-
Sophomore guard Maurice Ager's performance against Northwestern on Wednesday highlights what MSU's bench has done this season. The starting lineup has been changed more times than a toddler's diaper, but regardless who gets the starting nod, nearly every player immediately contributes off the bench.
Andreas dropped a season-high seven points against Michigan; Junior guard Tim Bograkos always adds a spice of hustle and a shot of adrenaline when he runs out on the floor.
MSU's bench has outscored that of the opposition in 12 of the Spartans' 15 games this season and MSU is 8-4 in those games. In the three games MSU's bench has been outdone, the Spartans are 0-3.
leadership: c
Three juniors who all have played and started hundreds of games since they were freshmen are the definition of leadership, right? Well, the Spartans are trying to dig that leadership from deep within Hill, Torbert and Anderson.
As a swingman who has played four different positions, Anderson visibly has been MSU's vocal leader on the floor. He repeatedly will corral the younger players to keep their heads up after mistakes and he'll hand out bundles of encouragement after spectacular plays.
But he can't do it alone - MSU needs more than just one person to be the leader. If there were defined leaders on the team, the Spartans wouldn't have floundered a 17-5 lead against Wisconsin and an 11-0 lead against Northwestern would have never been cut to 13-11.
Hill and Torbert should shoulder some of that weight, but as a senior, Andreas also should get in the mix and lend knowledge to everyone on what it takes to win a National Championship. Don't forget, Andreas is the only Spartan remaining from the 2000 National Championship team.
