Will Tyson Walker Solve Michigan State's Point Guard Issues?
EAST LANSING – Former Northeastern point guard Tyson Walker committed to Michigan State on Saturday.
The Spartans wasted little time in its search for a true point guard, and if you watched any MSU basketball this season, it's easy to understand why.
Michigan State posted one of its worst offensive outputs in the Tom Izzo era, and not having someone like Cassius Winston, who can see the floor, get teammates involved, and still create for himself, hurt the Spartans.
Does Walker solve MSU's problems? Maybe.
He was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year and All-Colonial while averaging 18.8 points and 4.8 assists per game. Walker finished as one of the league's best players.
But the Big Ten is a different beast; it's not easy transferring up.
Now, he may do better than Rocket Watts, Foster Loyer, and A.J. Hoggard.
Watts, who entered the transfer portal on Monday, ended 2020 with the second-highest usage rate but boasted the team's lowest offensive rating. The staff's experiment to move him over from the two failed miserably.
Hoggard showed promise but struggled as a freshman, and Loyer is who he is. He can safely run the offense, but he'll never explode offensively.
Jaden Akins is coming in this fall and looks like a highly talented player, yet Izzo probably won't hand the reins over to a young point guard.
It's irresponsible to expect too much from Walker; he's unlikely to match his stats from last season at Michigan State. However, the Spartans don't need him to score; they need his vision, his defense, his ability to wreak havoc in the lane and dish the rock.
Walker nearly averaged 35 minutes per game for Northeastern and was asked to be the offense's focal point. He shot 36% from 3-point land, 43.4% from midrange, had 2.4 steals per game and an okay assist-to-turnover ratio (4.8 to 3.3), which is acceptable considering his role.
He won't be asked to do the same things at Michigan State.
That's okay, but erase any doubts you have concerning his position on the team. Walker was brought in to become MSU's point guard.
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