3-2-1 on Michigan State basketball media day
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State has depth, experience, and talent entering the 2023-2024 basketball season. And during Spartan basketball media day on Tuesday, Tom Izzo made it clear that he believes his team has banner-hanging potential.
Continue below for Three Things We Learned, Two Questions, and One Prediction from Michigan State basketball media day.
Three Things We Learned
1. Strength coach Lorenzo Guess got results that Izzo wanted
Bringing strength coach Lorenzo Guess into the basketball program looks to have been a smart move. Guess, a two-sport athlete at Michigan State during the Nick Saban era in football and basketball, has a unique perspective as strength coach given his background.
During his first off-season working with the basketball program, Guess got good results, that should help Michigan State this season. Mady Sissoko has added strength and power without sacrificing athleticism. And with 10 additional pounds of lean muscle, Jaden Akins now has a physically mature body. He’s stronger, more explosive, and has gained self-confidence as a result of his body transformation. The same is true of sophomore centers Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler. Those guys put in the work under the supervision of Guess and the results are self-evident.
Based on what we saw in practice on Tuesday, Michigan State players are stronger and more physical collectively. And they have made those gains without sacrificing leaping ability or losing lateral mobility.
Akins and Sissoko were concerned that gaining weight would hurt their athleticism. Those concerns have proven to be unfounded thus far.
“Those guys did not want to gain weight and were worried that they were going to lose their athleticism,” Izzo said. “Now, it’s the greatest thing that they did. It’s still hard to convince guys to do things that they don’t want to do. Jaden has had a phenomenal summer shooting the ball. A phenomenal summer in the weight room. He’s just a different kid.”
2. Xavier Booker needs time to develop into an impact player for Michigan State
During the off season a lot was written about the impact potential for Booker as true freshman at Michigan State. Some publications went as far as projecting Booker as the starting five for the Spartans entering the 2023-2024 season. That’s a problem because the five-star forward isn’t playing the five for Michigan State. He’s playing the four.
I am not mentioning those projections to embarrass the individuals that made them. I am simply pointing out the fact that much of what has been written about Booker has been speculation based on perception of his skillset.
During his press conference on Tuesday, Izzo made it clear that he believes that Booker has a bright future at Michigan State. He also made it clear that Booker has plenty of work to do before he’s an impact player for the Spartans.
“He has got a ways to go,” Izzo said. “He’s got to get stronger. He’s got to get more aggressive. But since school started he has really started to take a step in the right direction.”
Players develop at different rates. Jaren Jackson Jr. made a significant contribution as a freshman before being selected No. 4 overall in the NBA Draft as one-and-done prospect. Others like Adreian Payne and Xavier Tillman needed time to develop into NBA draft picks.
As a consensus Top 20 prospect in the Class of 2023, Booker, through no fault of his own, has received hype like Jackson did coming into the Michigan State program. If Booker fails to make the impact that Jackson did as a freshman, nobody should hold it against him.
“For me, being a freshman in this program was one of the hardest things that I ever went through in my basketball career,” senior Malik Hall said. “Being a part of a program like this and playing for Coach Izzo, there are a lot of things that can pile on you all at once. Especially for a guy coming in ranked high, there are a lot of people who are going to be in his ear saying this or saying that. My job as an upperclassman and a leader is talking to him and giving him the knowledge and wisdom. You don’t have to accomplish it all in one day. What you have for yourself isn’t measured by what other people have to say. People probably told him that he’d be one-and-done, but if you have to stay two, three, or even four years, there is still greatness in that. It doesn’t make you any less successful.”
3. Fears showing true leadership ability
At media day Izzo compared Fears to former All-American point guard Mateen Cleaves. He also said that Fears has an ‘it factor’ as leader for the Spartans that few others have had at the same stage of their development.
For his part, Fears is just trying to be himself. As a point guard, he has always embraced the leadership role built into the position. He has continues to do so despite his lack of experience at the college level.
“Mostly, just keep leading,” Fears said. “We have three other freshmen, so I can help them and help some of the sophomores, and still try and give pointers and tips to the upper classmen on staff that I see.”
Fears has never been afraid to hear his own voice. Speaking up and speaking out, however, and leadership are sometimes different things. To this point in his time at Michigan State, however, Fears has shown himself to be a natural born leader.
“He’s a real leader,” fellow freshman Gehrig Normand said of Fears. “We figured that out quick. He’s here to win. He’s got that Mateen Cleaves to him. When we see Mateen here, he is always talking us up and just enjoying his time together with us. That is what Jeremy is like. He really pours himself into his teammates. He is a great leader for us as freshmen, and most of the team as well.”
Two Questions
1. Can Michigan State replace Joey Hauser’s production at the four?
Hall has been back on the practice floor since August, and some of the skills that may have eroded during significant time that he was away from basketball while convalescing after off-season foot surgery appear to be returning. It remains to be seen, however, whether Hall, Booker, or anyone else that logs minutes at the four can effectively replace the face-up scoring that Hauser gave Michigan State during his final college season. Seventy-seven threes is a lot of production to replace.
Hall has totaled 58 career threes, which is 19 fewer than Hauser had last season. The good news for the Spartans is that Hall or whomever is at the four doesn’t need to match Hauser shot-for-shot. At the four, Michigan State would, however, benefit from a reliable face-up scoring threat to stretch the floor and help create quality looks for teammates in the process.
Having a capable stretch four isn’t mandatory for Michigan State to contend for Big Ten titles or make a run to the Final Four. Historically speaking, however, the Spartan offense runs at peak efficiency in the halfcourt when it has a stretch four.
2. Can Spartan coaches keep players content with their minutes?
Izzo has said one of his biggest challenges this season will be shuffling minutes among Michigan State players on one of the deepest rosters he has had in recent memory. Looking at this roster, I could make an argument that as many of 12 players on this team are potentially worthy of some type of role.
That doesn’t mean that all 12 of those players will be regulars in the playing rotation for the Spartans. It is going to be awfully difficult for freshman Gehrig Normand, to get regular work on this team, even though he is one of the best shooters on this team.
The same may be true for more established players, including Tre Holloman. At media day, Izzo described Holloman as one of his most consistent players. Anybody that has watched Holloman this fall can attest to the fact that he is also one of the most improved players on this roster.
At 6-foot-2, and possessing a 6-foot-8 wingspan, Holloman earned valuable post-season minutes last season because of his ability to run the team as a point guard and also play quality defense. Will those same minutes be there for him this year? That remains to be seen.
With everyone but Hauser back, and competition for playing time fierce across the entire roster, Michigan State players understand what is at stake every time they hit the practice floor.
“Everyday man, you’ve got to bring it, and if you don’t’ bring it, you are going to look bad,” Holloman said. “There’s nothing else you can do but bring it.”
Izzo has been willing to play with a large rotation in years where he has had outstanding depth across multiple positions. And in some of those instances, Michigan State has done things like playing full-court defense or contesting further out on the perimeter as a means to exert energy and get more substitutions into the game with players getting tired faster.
There is also the transition game, with depth in the backcourt and frontcourt alike, Michigan State should be able to get its running game going on a consistent basis. That’s something we haven’t seen for a while. Even if Michigan State pulls out all of the stops and tweaks its playing style to accommodate a deeper roster, keeping everyone happy with their minutes will be an ongoing challenge.
One Prediction
1. Rebounding should be better this year.
I am not going to predict that this Michigan State team will a vintage rebounding team by program standards. I do not, however, think that the Spartans are going to let themselves get pushed around the glass by too many teams on their schedule this season. Getting the transition game cranked up is going to be critical to getting the type of scoring distribution that will keep everyone on this team happy. To do that, Michigan State needs to get more rebounds.
The foundation of Michigan State’s improved rebounding will be at the center position. Sissoko, Kohler, and Cooper each put in transformative work in the weight room during the off-season, and that will pay dividends on the glass.
Coen Carr, a 6-foot-7 wing, will be an X-Factor for the Spartans on the glass. Carr can spark the team as high-energy rebounder off the bench the way Draymond Green, Xavier Tillman, and Kenny Goins did as emerging players early on their Michigan State careers.
With Malik Hall likely playing more minutes at the four than he did a year ago, when he began the season at the three, Michigan State should be better on the glass as a result. It will also be interesting to see what 10 pounds of good weight can do for Akins as a rebounder.
With improved depth and greater competition it would be disappointing if Michigan State weren’t better on the glass this season.
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