Opinion: Michigan State Is Better Than We All Thought
Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo described the Spartans’ non-conference slate as “scheduling the world” before the 2022-23 season began, and the analogy was accurate.
Michigan State has already played two of the country's Top 5 teams, falling by one point to No. 2 Gonzaga before bouncing back to beat No. 4 Kentucky in double-overtime. In those two games, in the season’s first week, we’ve learned a lot about this team and have seen some characteristics this program hasn’t shown in years.
Post-pandemic, we haven’t seen an MSU team play mean or gritty, but this team does. The 2019-20 team had a physical presence with center Xavier Tillman and a wing in Kyle Ahrens who was a vocal leader and played with grit. That Spartan team wouldn’t back down from anyone.
Fast forward to 2022-23, and the roles that Tillman and Ahrens played have been handed down to Mady Sissoko and Malik Hall.
Sissoko developed into the roster piece Izzo was looking for when they recruited the big man. It took time for him to grow into the player he is now, but Sissioko is grabbing over seven rebounds per game as Michigan State’s primary big. Expect that number to go up as the season goes on.
There is a lot of fight in the backcourt as well with Tyson Walker and AJ Hoggard. Getting hands in passing lanes and forcing turnovers was a key part in the win over Kentucky. MSU’s ceiling will be determined by how aggressive the guards continue to play. Walker is best when he is confident, but can be quick to go back into his shell.
Another trait is how fluid the offense is playing. Hoggard has been somewhat of an unsung hero so far, he has moved the ball better than any MSU player since Cassius Winston. Hoggard can be criticized for having a large amount of turnovers, but that is a common theme amongst Tom Izzo teams. The guards can compensate for the turnover issue by being aggressive on defense and being one of the better 3-point shooting teams in the Big Ten.
While there are parallels to the 2019-20 team, this year’s Spartans are also similar to the 2015 Final Four team. Walker has some traits similar to former point guard Travis Trice, who was a huge reason MSU advanced to the Final Four in 2015. While undersized, both Trice and Walker are plus-shooters from deep and can facilitate or play off-ball.
Another parallel between those rosters is the way any player has the potential to be the leading scorer on any given night. There is not one, true scoring leader on this team that will take over at the end of the game. Against Kentucky, Joey Houser was the leading scorer, with Malik Hall having two big dunks to force OT and a second OT. Against Gonzaga it was Sissoko. We saw Walker and Hoggard take games over last year, and there is hope that Jaden Akins will make a jump too.
Izzo praised this squad a lot over the offseason, and we are seeing why. From an outside perspective, the Spartans have already exceeded expectations in the first week, but the tough non-conference schedule isn’t even halfway over. They still have the PK85 tournament, Big Ten/ACC challenge, and Villanova.
Michigan State will host the Wildcats at home on Friday, and a win would surely jump the Spartans into the Top 25.
This MSU team is playing with a lot of confidence. The Spartans may drop a few games over the next couple weeks during this tough slate of games, but they’ve already flashed their potential by going toe-to-toe with two Top 5 teams. For Michigan Stte, winning the Big Ten and making a deep run in the NCAA tournament may be more realistic than we originally thought.
