3-2-1 on Michigan State exhibition blowout win against Hillsdale
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State dominated an exhibition match-up, 85-43, over a well-coached but physically overwhelmed D2 Hillsdale, which Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo praised for moving well without the ball. But did the Spartans do enough to prepare themselves for a heavyweight exhibition against Tennessee on Sunday?
Continue below for Three Things We Learned, Two Questions, and One Prediction from the exhibition opener for the Spartans.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Improved guard depth gives Michigan State more options
Having depth and talent at the guard position allows Michigan State to do some things that it couldn’t do a year ago. Defensively, the Spartans were to extend the defense and contest full-court stuff without fear of fatigue. The Spartan defense was also able to play further out on the floor and make tougher to get into plays in the halfcourt. Denying passing lanes is something that the Spartans haven’t done much of during the Izzo era, but can now with a bunch of capable guards.
“That’s what we want to do, Tyson is unbelievable,” said Izzo, of Michigan State’s full-court defense. “We have to rotate our guys. We are going to pressure more. The were playing a lineup with five guards, and that created problems for us some times with (Xavier) Booker having to guard guards.”
Improved guard depth was also apparent in the transition game, which is going to be much better this season provided that the Spartans can clear the defensive glass better than they did tonight (more on that later). Michigan State didn’t need the depth at guard that was on display tonight to dominate against this Hillsdale team. But the fact that the Spartans were able to play with maximum effort for longer periods of time is something that will help this team against good teams.
Michigan State finished with a 24-6 advantage in fast-break points. The Spartans also had several secondary breaking opportunities. Had they rebounded better against Hillsdale, there would have been a lot more transition scoring opportunities.
2. Rebounding needs to be better
Michigan State has plenty of depth and athleticism even with Jaxon Kohler on the shelf with an injury until December, but that did not translate to a dominant performance on the glass. By Spartan standards, the rebounding performance against Hillsdale was lacking. Michigan State had a four-rebound advantage against Hillsdale, 46-42. The ugliest rebounding stat for Michigan State in this game was giving up 17 offensive rebounds to a GLIAC team.
Against Tennessee on Sunday a rebounding performance like this one will cost Michigan State a win. Record-wise it doesn’t matter if the Spartans win or lose to Tennessee. It’s an exhibition game. The Spartans are, however, enjoying the Top 5 preseason hype they’ve gotten. An exhibition loss would probably knock the Spartans down a peg or two in the national conversation.
If the Spartans want to beat Tennessee, they are going to have to rebound much better than they did against Hillsdale.
“The real thing that disappointed me was rebounding,” Izzo said. “We didn’t rebound the ball very well. If we don’t get better by the next game, we’ll get killed, and I mean that.”
3. Carson Cooper was the best player on the floor
Cooper was a revelation for Michigan State in an NCAA Tournament run to the Sweet 16, and his importance to this team cannot be overstated. While Mady Sissoko is also much improved, there aren’t too many teams in college basketball that have as talented a back-up center as Cooper, who has the potential to be an elite defensive player.
Cooper made an impact each of the 20 minutes he played in this game. He made an impact on both ends floor. On offense, Cooper tied Tyson Walker for the team-high in scoring. He was also the leading rebounder for his team. And as a rim protector, Cooper finished with a pair of blocks.
Defensively, Cooper was all over the place against Hillsdale. He was probably Michigan State’s most versatile defensive player in this game. He His improved strength and conditioning was on display every shift he played for the Spartans. The growth that Cooper has shown from last year is impressive. The one thing that Cooper gives Michigan State that it hasn’t had for awhile is a center who can run the floor from baseline to baseline in transition.
“I love Carson Cooper,” Izzo said. “He led us in points, led us in rebounds, and led us in missed free-throw opportunities. Cooper was the star tonight with his play inside. He played really well. Tre Holloman played really well.”
TWO QUESTIONS
1. Will Michigan State have a capable stretch four?
The biggest question facing this team in my opinion is whether Michigan State is going to have an adequate floor-stretcher at the four. Ideally, that guy would be Malik Hall, and perhaps that will end up being the case. In this game, however, there was no indication that the Spartans have a guy at the four that is going to be able to hit perimeter jumpers with the consistency that Michigan State needs at the four. To his credit, Booker was able to knock down a three on the secondary break in the first half, and bury a corner three in the second half against a Hillsdale defense that I need to see evidence that he can hit a face-up jumper in the half-court offense against a quality defense, which Hillsdale wasn’t. We will learn more on Sunday against Tennessee. The Vols will likely take away the easy stuff going to the basket that wasn’t low-hanging fruit for the Spartans against Hillsdale.
2. Will Spartans have consistent back-to-the basket scoring?
Michigan State didn’t really didn’t work the ball inside in the halfcourt for most of this game, and they didn’t have to. Hillsdale made it pretty clear from the first possession that it was going to double the post, and try and negate the length, size, and athleticism that Michigan State has inside.
Michigan State’s best post-scoring opportunities came in transition and on put backs. That said, both Mady Sissoko and Carson Cooper did damage scoring in post when given the opportunity to do so. I’m still waiting to see how Michigan State fares getting the ball inside against good interior defense. With Kohler out, it was good to see Sissoko and Cooper scoring inside. The jump hook that Sissoko made in the opening half of this game would have been good against high-major defender. That’s a positive. The jury is still out, however, whether the Spartans are going to be able to consistently score inside against solid interior defense. As with the stretch-four question posed above, we will learn more on Sunday against Tennessee.
One Prediction
1. Free-throw shooting won’t be a problem
One of the negatives for the Spartans in this game was free-throw shooting, and that is not uncommon in exhibition games when guys take their games out of the practice gym into the public arena. Carson Cooper was 1-for-4 at the free-throw line tonight, and AJ Hoggard was 1-for-5 at the stripe. That hurt Michigan State’s overall shooting percentage at the line. Based on what I’ve seen in practice, Cooper has improved as a free-throw shooter. I’m not worried about Hoggard either. He has shot a lot of free-throws in high-pressure situations. He is going to be just fine. The one positive at the free-throw line was the shooting of Sissoko, who went 5-for-5 on the night. If Sissoko continues to shoot well at the free-throw line, Michigan State will be just fine.
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