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After a season where Michigan State basketball started out projected to be just a middle-of-the-road Big Ten team, the Spartans won the Big Ten Championship and were just six points away from a Final Four.
While we are now in the thick of the offseason with the Spartans hosting potential transfer targets, I wanted to take this time to look back on the season and give three final thoughts on a surprising and fun season for MSU.
Defense. Rebounding. Transition offense. Hit your free throws. Tom Izzo has made a Hall of Fame career off of these very simple basketball concepts. While the rest of the basketball world moves towards an offense centered around three-point shooting, Tom Izzo actually took a team that was last in the Big Ten in three-point percentage to the Elite 8 just following his principles.
It helps that he had a team that completely bought in and played hard, but I think this season was a statement. Even though they came up short in the end, I think this season showed that Tom Izzo's still got it, he clearly still has that fire, and his style of coaching can still win at the highest level.
While I do think it was a major statement that Tom Izzo led a team with that of poor of shooting to the Elite 8, it does make you wonder: what would happen if you added some shooting to the mix? While MSU is presumably losing their best shooter from last year, Jase Richardson, to the NBA, they have already added one sharpshooter in Kaleb Glenn to the roster for next year, and are rumored to be close to adding another soon.
If Tom Izzo can maintain that buy-in from his team we saw this year, but add-in some better shooting around the perimeter, I think this could be another very fun season upcoming.
In thinking back to last season, considering the way things played out and what has happened since the season ended, it's clear to me that Michigan State will be relying on Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr, and Jaxon Kohler to take another step this summer. The Spartans are losing a lot of production from Jaden Akins, Jase Richardson, and Tre Holloman, and it doesn't seem like the Spartans will be willing to lure a super-elite transfer in with a Godfather type offer. Instead, I think they will turn to those three players mentioned above to replace a lot of that production.
We already saw Coen Carr make the jump from a rotation player to a legit star this year, but he will need to do more scoring to replace that production. The same goes for Jeremy Fears Jr., who operated more as a pass-first point guard this year. The Spartans will need both players to work on their jump shot for this team to reach their ceiling. For Jaxon Kohler, his outside shooting was a very welcome development this year, but he will need to improve his consistency and skills scoring around the basket, where he should see plenty of mismatches in the post when he's guarded by smaller forwards.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Three final thoughts on Michigan State basketball's 2024-25 season
Continue reading...
While we are now in the thick of the offseason with the Spartans hosting potential transfer targets, I wanted to take this time to look back on the season and give three final thoughts on a surprising and fun season for MSU.
No. 1: The Tom Izzo method still works
Defense. Rebounding. Transition offense. Hit your free throws. Tom Izzo has made a Hall of Fame career off of these very simple basketball concepts. While the rest of the basketball world moves towards an offense centered around three-point shooting, Tom Izzo actually took a team that was last in the Big Ten in three-point percentage to the Elite 8 just following his principles.
It helps that he had a team that completely bought in and played hard, but I think this season was a statement. Even though they came up short in the end, I think this season showed that Tom Izzo's still got it, he clearly still has that fire, and his style of coaching can still win at the highest level.
No. 2: Add some shooting and who knows what could happen
While I do think it was a major statement that Tom Izzo led a team with that of poor of shooting to the Elite 8, it does make you wonder: what would happen if you added some shooting to the mix? While MSU is presumably losing their best shooter from last year, Jase Richardson, to the NBA, they have already added one sharpshooter in Kaleb Glenn to the roster for next year, and are rumored to be close to adding another soon.
If Tom Izzo can maintain that buy-in from his team we saw this year, but add-in some better shooting around the perimeter, I think this could be another very fun season upcoming.
No. 3: MSU will need more from Fears, Carr, and Kohler next year
In thinking back to last season, considering the way things played out and what has happened since the season ended, it's clear to me that Michigan State will be relying on Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr, and Jaxon Kohler to take another step this summer. The Spartans are losing a lot of production from Jaden Akins, Jase Richardson, and Tre Holloman, and it doesn't seem like the Spartans will be willing to lure a super-elite transfer in with a Godfather type offer. Instead, I think they will turn to those three players mentioned above to replace a lot of that production.
We already saw Coen Carr make the jump from a rotation player to a legit star this year, but he will need to do more scoring to replace that production. The same goes for Jeremy Fears Jr., who operated more as a pass-first point guard this year. The Spartans will need both players to work on their jump shot for this team to reach their ceiling. For Jaxon Kohler, his outside shooting was a very welcome development this year, but he will need to improve his consistency and skills scoring around the basket, where he should see plenty of mismatches in the post when he's guarded by smaller forwards.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Three final thoughts on Michigan State basketball's 2024-25 season
Continue reading...
