Why MSU Needs Kohler to Break Out of Recent Slump
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Michigan State needs its season big man to return to his old form a bit.
Jaxon Kohler has had some struggles recently. Across MSU's last five games, he's averaged just 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 38.6% from the field and 18.2% from beyond the arc. Before that, Kohler was at 14.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
Explanations for the Slump
One reason for the drop in the numbers was that Kohler was dealing with an illness during Michigan State's trip out to the West Coast. MSU grabbed wins at Washington and at Oregon, but Kohler only scored seven and two points in those games, respectively. Those are the only games this year where Kohler has been held below 10 points.
Another reason is that Kohler hasn't gotten as many post touches or looks inside the paint lately. Through 17 games, Kohler had attempted 5.6 shots per game from inside the arc per game. Over his five-game slump, he's only tried 4.4 such shots. Three-point attempts, on the other hand, have gone up from 3.8 per game through 17 contests to 4.4 across the last five games.
That hasn't necessarily been by design from Michigan State. Teams have been sending constant double teams whenever the team has given Kohler post touches, forcing Kohler to make a quick decision, something big men don't usually want to do.
"The problem is, everybody [has been] doubling him, and he [has] panicked on that a little bit," Tom Izzo said on Monday. "But if they're doubling him, that's OK. There's going to be openings for some other people.
"I don't think we've maybe done a good job of that, because he needs the ball on the block, because he's valuable down there, because he still can pass the ball. He just gets a little anxious with it, and that's, I think, caused some of the turnovers, too."
That's one reason Kohler has been forced to the perimeter a lot. Somehow, MSU has to find a way to isolate him more on the post or make his decision easier when teams send a double team his way.
Necessity of Kohler
The normal arrangement for Michigan State at the beginning of the season was an ultra-balanced scoring attack, where nearly anyone could step up any given night. Kohler was the Spartans' leading scorer for much of the season, but that wasn't because MSU was force-feeding him the ball simply because that was his role. Someone has to be the leading scorer; it just happened to be him.
That hasn't really been the case lately. Jeremy Fears Jr. has had to take on a scoring load that may be a bit of a hyperextension. Michigan State's point guard has been the Spartans' leading scorer in five of the team's last six games. Kohler needs to step up to take some of that burden off of Fears' back.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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