FRIDAYYY May 29 Links and Banter
The horrors, they persist. But goddammit, so do we.
Last Season
A refreshingly vintage Izzo season. Early losses to Kansas and Memphis had the faithful a little worried, but the Spartans ran roughshod through the conference and won it by three games. A 26-5 and 17-3 record resulted in a three seed in the tourney, where they took out Bryant, New Mexico, and Ole Miss before getting bushwhacked by Auburn in the Elite Eight.
Defectors
- Freshman sensation Jase Richardson got drafted in the lottery by the Orlando Magic
- Some elder statesmen finally ran out of time in Jaden Akins, Frankie Fidler, and Syzmon Zapala
- The portal came, a bit surprisingly, for Tre Holloman, who went to N.C. State.
- Less surprising is Xavier Booker (UCLA) and Gehrig Normand (Santa Clara)
Starters
- PG Jeremy Fears, 6'2'' Junior: Fears developed into the purest of point guards last year. His assist rate hit almost 40%, and he was adept at getting to the line and torturing other guards. However, his shooting overall was pretty rough, and a contending Sparty team may need a version of Fears that shoots straight.
- SG Kur Teng, 6'4'' Sophomore: Teng was a top 60 type recruit, but barely played last season. A decent chance transfer Trey Fort starts instead, but Teng did start in the exhibitions against Bowling Green and UConn.
- Dunker Coen Carr, 6'6'' Junior: Everyone has seen the highlight reels of Coen Carr making enormous dunks. That is his game - he took 185 shots last season and 136 of them were dunks or close twos. Can he be more than an athlete out there? This would be a good season to find out.
- PF Jaxon Kohler, 6'9'' Senior: Unlike Carr, Kohler plays decidedly below the rim, but was very efficient around the basket and is also one of if not the best rebounder in the conference. If Sparty can find some shooters he could also move down to center.
- C Carson Cooper, 6'11'' Senior: I wonder if they give out awards for guys who stay all four years at one school. Joining Kohler in this club is Cooper, who was very dependable last season to come off the bench and score a couple buckets and grab a few rebounds. This Spartan team doesn't have a ton of size, so an increase in minutes is likely.
Bench
- SG Trey Fort, 6'4'' Senior: Fort is well traveled, at least. He played seasons at UT-Martin, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Howard, Mississippi State, and Samford, and looks to finish his career with a year at Michigan State. All of his stops have been defined by his ability to shoot straight from range, which may be new and scary to Spartan fans.
- SG Divine Ugochukwu, 6'3'' Sophomore: What's this? Another portal guy for Izzo? Anyways, Ugochukwu (which I read as You Go Chuck! Woo!) played a quite a bit as a freshman for the Miami Hurricanes. Seems like an Izzo guy, as he was a good passer and willing defender, but absolutely could not shoot straight from deep.
- Three freshman to consider. One is Jesse McCulloch, a three star power forward who redshirted last season. True freshmen are four star forward Cam Ward and four star guard Jordan Scott. They might get some looks as Kaleb Glenn, a transfer from Florida Atlantic, tore his patellar tendon and is out for the year.
Outlook
I have admired Tom Izzo's approach to modern basketball, which is build around attacking the basket at all costs. This team looks well equipped to do that, as Carr and Kohler are among the best in the business near the hoop. But math and geometry do demand that someone be able to shoot from far away. Finding a bit of that may be the difference between a good Sparty team and a great Sparty team.
Torvik says they go 21-10 and finish 12-8 in the conference. I think they will beat that.
