Michigan State has the best basketball team in the bloated Big Ten. Michigan State is a balanced and defensively strong basketball team. Both traits play well in the NCAA Tournament. Another factor that bodes well for Michigan State is the excellent and experienced coaching the Spartans have in Head Coach Tom Izzo.
He has won 733 games in his career and won the NCAA Tournament. He has made 22 tournament appearances and won it in 2000. One should not discount how important coaching is to success in the NCAA Tournament. Do you think coaching could make a difference in the men’s college basketball tournament?
Michigan State Spartans Men’s Basketball Roster
One thing to know about the Spartans at the outset is that they get pretty balanced scoring from their entire roster. This is another mark of a good team. The leading scorer for the Spartans is senior 6-foot-4 Guard Jaden Akins. He is averaging 12.9 points a game. The second scorer for the Spartans is Jase Richardson a freshman guard from Denver. He is 6-foot-3.
The third leading scorer from the Spartans is junior Guard Tre Holloman. He is from Minneapolis and is 6-foot-2. He averages scoring 9.0 points per game for the Spartans. 6-foot 8-inch Forward Jaxon Kohler is the fourth-leading scorer for the Spartans. He is from American Park, Utah. He averages 8.1 points per game and 7.8 rebounds. So, he gets almost as many rebounds as he does points. The final starter for the Spartans is Guard Jeremy Fears Jr.
Coen Carr is a sophomore forward. He is 6-foot-5 from Georgia. Carr averages 7.7 points per game. Frankie
Fidler is a 6-foot-7-inch senior forward who averages 7.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for the Spartans. Fielder is from Nebraska. They just keep coming. Xavier Booker is a 6-foot-11-inch sophomore forward for the Spartans who averages 5.2 points per game. The bench for the Michigan State Spartans is Carson Cooper, Szymon Zapala, Gehrig Normand, Nick Sanders, and Kur Teng.
Main Storylines
The top eight stories on the ESPN website for Michigan State are about the NCAA Tournament, bracketology, and all-time NCAA Tournament player lists. Michigan State will be a solid No. 2 seed in the NCCA Tournament but do not be surprised if they win it all. Teams that rebound and play good defense tend to go far in the tournament. The eight articles do not say that, but it is the wisdom that comes, rather, from watching the last 30 NCAA Tournaments. The Spartans are ranked 17th in the nation in field goal defense, third in three-point defense, and eighth in defensive rebounding.
The ninth story for the Spartans is about their win over their hated rivals, the University of Michigan. The Spartans prevailed 79-62 and Holloman scored a career-high 20 points. Things got chippy at the end of the game as the Spartan players attempted to dance on the University of Michigan logo.
After this story, there are two videos from the game against Michigan that are worth noting. They are both of Michigan players. The first is a video of Danny Wolf taking the ball from one end of the court to the other and scoring on a layup. That is called taking it from coast to coast. The second video is of Michigan big man Vladislav Goldin hitting a hook shot from 4 feet away from the basket and getting fouled. He subsequently hit the free throw and successfully executed a three-point play. That is called an and-1.
Conclusion
The Michigan State Spartans, as usual, had a very good year at 26-5, while playing a difficult schedule. They ended the regular season by winning seven games in a row, five against ranked teams. So, they enter the postseason tournaments hot. Also, it is not possible to put a value on good coaching, which they have. It is just one of those intangibles that help college basketball teams in postseason tournaments. The Spartans also play good defense, which is necessary to win the Tournament. Do not be surprised if Michigan State wins it all.
