Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State basketball’s 70-53 exhibition win at Northern Michigan

1. A really cool event and a game that taught us a little about MSU

MARQUETTE – We’ll have to wait until Michigan State’s basketball team faces an opponent that puts the Spartans under some stress before we know who this team will to turn to in big moments for buckets and what late-game lineups will look like.

Sunday’s exhibition game against Northern Michigan at the Superior Dome was an outstanding event, one of the cooler settings MSU has played in — you could make an argument that it’s No. 3 after the two aircraft carrier games — but it did not lend itself to the most fluid basketball or a game where the matchups athletically revealed a ton about what this MSU team can be.

It was a different kind of game. Tom Izzo had his Northern Michigan number retired during a first-half timeout. During a second-half timeout, Izzo joined a girl battling cancer for an emotional ringing of the bell, marking the end of her chemotherapy. All worthwhile stuff. Perfect for this weekend. But not usual.

Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo returned to the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University for the Spartans’ exhibition 2024-25 season opener against NMU. Izzo, a 1977 NMU graduate, was also honored with his jersey No. 10 retired during the game.

MSU’s length and quickness was too much for Northern Michigan, which has become a good Division-II program. But in winning 70-53, MSU didn’t yet look like a smooth offensive team. It’s barely mid-October and Izzo played his entire roster, 11 different players getting double-digit minutes. But we did learn a few things — like that this team will use a number of guards, including Jaden Akins, to generate offense from the lead guard position, and that Coen Carr, right now at least, is only playing on the wing, where he had one jumper and three rebounds in 20 minutes. The big man rotation right now is four other guys. More on that below.

2. Getting an idea of MSU’s big man rotation

For those who don’t love MSU’s…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/couch-3-quick-takes-michigan-192257025.html

Author : Lansing State Journal

Publish date : 2024-10-13 19:22:57

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