Michigan State is undefeated, but the Spartans aren’t perfect. There’s a big difference between having zero losses and mastering one’s craft.
The Spartans are coming off a pair of games that tested their mettle in different ways, and showed how far this talented club still needs to go. Michigan State traveled to Boston on Dec. 19 and beat a quality Northeastern club by 20 points in a game where it took a long time for Sparty to get comfortable in a small building. Three days later the Spartans were taken to overtime by Oakland before escaping with the win on Tuesday night.
The win, MSU’s 13th this season, set a record for the best start in school history, but much work is left to be done. When asked after the Northeastern game to grade the team on a scale of 1-10, wing shooter Bryn Forbes thought for a short moment before giving a grade of seven.
“I think we haven’t even seen our ceiling yet,” Forbes said. “I think we got a long way to go, but we got a lot assets that I think we can be very good. We’re up there a little bit.”
Assets are something the Spartans have at almost unfair levels. Forbes, averaging 14.2 points a game, and senior star Denzel Valentine, at 18.5 points a game, are the only two players averaging double-digit point totals.
Not counting Valentine and Forbes, the Spartans have 13 players that average at least a point a game. Combined they average 48.5 points per game and are led by Eron Harris and Deyonta Davis, who have 8.5 and 8.4 points a game, respectively. More importantly, six of those players are freshmen or sophomores.
“We can go 12, 13 deep and everybody is going to be ready to play when they come in,” Valentine said. “I think that’s what makes us so special. It’s huge. It takes some stress off the older guys. For them to come in and have an immediate impact is huge for us because we have more threats and weapons.”
The Spartans have a neutral-site win over Kansas and won the Wooden Legacy, but the Northeastern game was important for them. In an old and smaller building, the Spartans responded with a strong second half on both ends of the floor to earn the victory. With such a youthful roster, being able to gain the experience of playing in front of tough crowds, against tough teams, before Big Ten play starts can only benefit the team on the court.
“It’s important because games on the road bring your team closer together,” Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn said after beating Northeastern. “I think at home we depend on our ourselves, depend on our home crowd to get us going. On the road we have to pull together. They gave us their best punch in the first half, and no one put their heads down. That’s a special thing about going on the road. I was happy we were able to withstand that hit and be able to move forward.”
Tom Izzo knows how to build a winning team so, despite the injuries plaguing his club, scooping up victories should be expected for this club heading into league play. Having senior leaders has been a hallmark of Izzo’s teams, and this year is no different with Valentine (who is out for a few weeks nursing a knee injury) and Forbes leading the group of young lions towards maturity.
“I like one-and-done guys because they’re pretty talented, but these seniors, like a Draymond, Denzel’s in that mold — they bring a lot to your team,” Izzo said. “That’s a very important part because you always have someone to go to. We go to Denzel a lot.”
The bull’s-eye on their back will only get bigger for the Spartans with each passing win, but Izzo will have his team ready. With so many five-man combinations in play for Sparty, good luck to their opposition. They’re going to need it.
