Clearly, this team has all the skills to make another run to the Final Four. But to this point, it has yet to capitalize on the enormous amounts of potential that it has. The offense has looked stagnant too often, the defense has not been up to par and the rebounding has been brutal in too many games. Although it is still too early (especially with a Tom Izzo team) to jump off the ship, this team just has not shown enough of the intangibles that are needed to win.
Even with its struggles, this team is not the Titanic. There is no need to abandon ship with an 18-7 record, especially considering the level of competition faced and the amount of road games played. This team is 10-0 at Breslin Center and will spend four of its next five games inside the friendly confines.
What this team needs more than anything right now is just plain consistency.
Overall: B
Backcourt: B+
The vaunted MSU fast break has been stale since the Big Ten season started, which hasn't been a huge surprise considering the much higher caliber of opposing defenses. What has been a surprise, however, is how much MSU's guards have seemed to take themselves out of games.
Sophomore Drew Neitzel has made big improvements since the season started, but he still looks tentative too often. Senior Maurice Ager has been way too hot and cold with his shooting to be a primary scoring option. And junior Shannon Brown has had to create his own offense too much when the rest of the offense isn't clicking.
We know we're being a little nitpicky — the trio does average more than 45 points a game, after all — but they've got to do a better job setting the tempo or MSU doesn't stand a chance against stiffer competition.
Frontcourt: B+
This group is anchored by senior Paul Davis, who is having his best season as a Spartan but has not been the same since taking an elbow to the head from redshirt freshman Idong Ibok in practice last month.
Senior Matt Trannon, when not in foul trouble, is a force on the defensive end, can hold his own on the offensive end and has held down the starting job at an otherwise unstable position since the third game of the Big Ten season.
Bench: C-
Freshman Travis Walton has been a decent surprise with his play on the defensive end and his growing ability to step up and hit an open shot when needed. He is usually the first man off the bench, along with redshirt freshman Marquise Gray, who, like Trannon, can be a force when not in foul trouble, which he frequently finds himself in.
Other than those two, it is slim pickings for Izzo. Redshirt freshmen Goran Suton and Ibok have not seen much of the floor, despite the need for a backup post man.
Junior Delco Rowley has seen his minutes increase, but his production is limited.
Walton has swallowed up many of the minutes for guards off the bench, leaving freshman Maurice Joseph on the outs. When he does get into the game, he's not afraid to shoot it, but often cannot find the bottom.
Coaching: B+
Izzo did a tremendous job keeping his team's psyche together after it opened the Big Ten season with two losses, and he's going to have to pull a similar rabbit out of his hat right now.
He's still tinkering with the substitution patterns, but there's not a whole lot he can do with only one or two guys off the bench who are capable of contributing.
Priority No. 1 for Izzo down the stretch: Breaking Ager out of his slump. Izzo has said all season that he wants the ball in Ager's hands with the game on the line, so he'll have to do something to get the team's leading scorer shooting like he did against Gonzaga again.
Priority No. 2: Regaining the team's synergy on offense. MSU has looked fractured with the ball as of late, standing around and not getting its best scorers to the free throw line. Izzo has to find some way to re-inject a spark into his powder keg scoring unit.
