" title="Spartans Weblog">Spartans Weblog

Going into this weekend, I said a 2-1 record in the Old Spice Classic would be a “solid outcome.”  But that was contingent on winning the opening game against Maryland–which we didn’t.

Nevertheless, I don’t think we should get too despondent about MSU’s Old Spice Classic results (although yours truly was pretty despondent late Thursday night).  The Maryland loss was disappointing, but the team bounced back to play very well against Oklahoma State and take care of business against Wichita State.

In the end, this tournament represents a missed opportunity more than anything, as we didn’t get to face a ranked opponent.  Thankfully, three of those remain on the nonconference schedule (UNC, Texas, Kansas).  One way to look at this weekend’s results is that they pushed our nonconference strength of schedule down to a more reasonable level in light of Suton’s and Roe’s injuries.

How’s that for positive spin?

In terms of statistical trends for MSU as a team, here are the positives and negatives I see coming out of these three games against middle-of-the-road competition:

Positives

• Rebounding: Even with Goran Suton out of the lineup, MSU managed to pull down 43.0% of offensive rebounding opportunities.  On the defensive end, they were fairly solid, grabbing 68.6% of rebounding opportunities.  This team has a chance to be elite in the rebounding department.
  
• Getting to the Free Throw Line: MSU shot 78 free throws in the tournament vs. 57 for their opponents.  With the offense no longer revolving around getting open shots for Drew Neitzel, the players are showing more aggressiveness in attacking the basket.

Negatives

• Making Free Throws: While MSU created a lot of opportunities to score at the free throw line, they didn’t convert a very high percentage: 49-78 for a percentage of 62.8%.  The two biggest offenders in terms of missed free throws were Delvon Roe (7-15) and Kalin Lucas (4-8), both of whom have solid shooting strokes.  While the 15 missed free throws against Maryland were extremely frustrating, I don’t expect this to be a problem for MSU throughout the season.
• Three-Point Shooting: More concerning is MSU’s ability to make enough three-pointers to keep defenses honest.  For the tournament, MSU made 10 of 31 three-point attempts for a percentage of 32.2%.  Take away Durrell Summers’ 5-8 three-point shooting and things look even worse, as Chris Allen shot 1-8 and Kalin Lucas shot 1-6 from beyond the arc.  This remains the big question on offense.
• Opponents’ Three-Point Shooting: MSU’s three opponents combined to make 27 of 70 three-point attempts for a healthy percentage of .386.  MSU’s man-to-man defense looked less than superb, particularly against Maryland, leading to a number of uncontested three-point looks.  More broadly, it was generally our opponents’ wing players who scored most efficiently against us.  As Tom Izzo has been saying for several months, Allen and Summers need to get better on defense for this team to be elite.

Turnovers were a bit of an issue, with MSU’s offensive turnover percentage falling between 20 and 25 percent in each of the three games, but it seemed to me that the turnovers were at least a function of being aggressive on offense, rather than mental errors.

Over the three games in the tournament, MSU put up an offensive efficiency figure of 1.06 and a defensive efficiency figure of 1.04.  Neither number is too inspiring, but the defensive number is of greater concern, as it’s on the wrong side of 1.00.  I’d expect building a solid man-to-man defense to be Tom Izzo’s focus in practice over the next several weeks.

In terms of individual players, here’s a quick run-down of the performance of the 10 players who saw minutes in all three games this weekend, roughly ranked from the best performances to the worst:

• Marquise Gray: 31 points on 12-15 FG shooting, 18 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals in 55 minutes of play.  With Goran Suton out, we all thought Gray’s performance was a big key.  He definitely exceeded expectations.  If he can continue to play with confidence on offense and not make major defensive miscues, he will be the best low-post bench player in the Big Ten this season (that’s assuming Delvon Roe’s a starter, I suppose).
• Travis Walton: 37 points on 17-25 FG shooting, 8 assists, 5 turnovers, and 4 steals in 96 minutes of play.  Walton came back to earth against Wichita State, scoring just 5 points, but he’s clearly showed he’s got the potential to be a solid contributor on both ends of the court this season.  The top scoring guards on the three teams MSU played this weekend were held to 10-33 FG shooting, in part due to Walton’s defense.
• Delvon Roe: 21 points on 7-13 FG shooting, 17 rebounds, and 2 steals in 48 minutes of play.  Roe continues to show remarkable athleticism and versatility for a player still a ways off from being 100%.  And he’s slowly starting to show the ability to score in the low post, as he frequently drew fouls in the paint.  (Interesting to note that Roe has been more productive to date than the more highly-acclaimed, and fully-healthy, B.J. Mullens, who’s averaging just 5.7 points and 2.3 points per game to date.)
• Durrell Summers: 27 points on 5-8 three-point shooting, 16 rebounds, and 4 turnovers in 78 minutes of play.  Summers was the only Spartan to knock down more than one three-pointer in the tournament.  And he’s well on his way to being the next great Spartan rebounding guard.  I was somewhat skeptical his big preseason scoring numbers would translate to the regular season, but he’s been pretty efficient to date.
• Kalin Lucas: 28 points on 11-34 FG shooting, 19 assists, 5 turnovers, and 4 steals in 99 minutes of play.  Lucas’ ball-handing was generally very efficient, particularly when there were transition opportunities against Oklahoma State.  Shooting stats were pretty poor, though.  Some of that’s a function of the number of tough shots he takes as the main option when the shot clock is running down, but it’s also a function of poor perimeter shooting.
• Draymond Green: 6 points on 2-12 FG shooting, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 steals in 41 minutes of play.  Green provided solid rebounding when he was on the floor, but is obviously still trying to find his niche on offense.  Very active on defense.
• Raymar Morgan: 42 points on 14-21 FG shooting and 14-18 FT shooting, 14 rebounds, 7 turnovers, and 4 steals in 72 minutes of play.  Shooting stats obviously mask inconsistency: 29 points in the Oklahoma State game vs. only 13 total points in the other two games.  Simply has to play better fundamental defense to avoid foul trouble and related pouting.  Did look good shooting the ball from the perimeter, though, which should help his ability to drive to the basket going forward.
• Austin Thornton: 7 points on 2-4 FG shooting, 4 rebounds, and 3 turnovers in 21 minutes of play.  Provided energy off the bench when the team needed it.  Looks to be Tim Bograkos with a jump shot.
• Korie Lucious: 6 points on 2-6 FG shooting, 2 assists, and 1 turnover in 16 minutes of play.  I was surprised Lucious didn’t play more, as Tom Izzo relied heavily on Lucas at point guard.  We’ll give him an incomplete for now.
• Chris Allen: 14 points on 5-19 FG shooting, 2 assists, and 6 turnovers in 50 minutes of play.  A miserable weekend for Allen, as he couldn’t score with any consistency and was called out for his poor defense, as well.  Should we be running a few more set plays for him to get open?  Also, he may get some more open looks once Suton, with his passing ability out of the low post, is back in the lineup.

Looking at the players individually, the positives generally outweigh the negatives–at least in terms of long-term potential for this season.  This is a team that’s still blending together, with the veteran players adjusting to increased offensive roles and three freshman (plus Thornton) blending into the rotation.  Six nonconference games remain for the team to increase its cohesiveness before Big Ten play commences.

P.S. Gonzaga won the tournament, beating Tennessee 83-74 lasting night.  The Bulldogs had five players who scored in double digits, and made 11 of 20 three-point attempts.  The Kennel Report has a complete run down.

Also, Maryland got blown out by Georgetown in the third place game, losing 75-48.  Let’s hope the Terrapins bounce back to have a solid season, so our loss to them isn’t a major blemish on our record come March.

Tags: austin thornton, chris allen, delvon roe, draymond green, durrell summers, kalin lucas, korie lucious, marquise gray, old spice classic, raymar morgan, travis walton