Three burning questions for MSU basketball before NCAA Tournament
· Yahoo Sports
Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know that the NCAA Tournament tips off this week. It's never a great feeling to go from getting bounced in the first game of the conference tournament before the NCAA Tournament, which is what Michigan State basketball will look to do this week, but at least you know they'll be well-rested.
Below, we outlined three burning questions for the Spartans going into another March Madness for Tom Izzo.
Visit likesport.biz for more information.
1. Can the Spartans return to form on defense?
After being one of the most elite defenses in college basketball all season, MSU has had three straight games giving up 80-plus points, losing two out of those three games, and nearly coughing up a loss to Rutgers on senior night. The defense has disappeared at the wrong time. MSU will need to figure that out this week, or they'll be heading home early in the tournament.
2. How will the shooting guard rotation shake out?
I wrote about it on Sunday, but it's kind of crazy to think how important Divine Ugochukwu's injury has been for the Spartans, considering what his role was originally expected to be going into the season. Since Divine went down, MSU has experimented with different rotations to plug that position, with Jordan Scott and Kur Teng getting the bulk of those minutes over senior transfer Trey Fort.
While Scott has been a revelation this season, and Kur Teng's shot is undeniably beautiful, Scott isn't quite a shooting guard (he's a true small forward), and Kur Teng, well, I think we all remember the viral clip about Tom Izzo's mother. In MSU's last loss to UCLA, Trey Fort actually looked the best out of that trio... Will Izzo ride the hot hand and give him an opportunity to start, or at least play some extended minutes, in the NCAA Tournament?
3. Will Coen Carr get any minutes at power forward?
One of the under-the-radar stories this year, to me, has been the usage of Coen Carr. I understand why MSU plays Coen Carr at small forward. For one, he's too talented to come off the bench, and you also have Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper to account for. Secondly, it's probably the best thing for his future professional basketball career for him to learn that position, as he will be a little undersized to play the 4 in whatever pro league he winds up in. However, for Michigan State, Carr is pretty obviously at his best when he gets to play power forward instead of being tasked with hanging around on the perimeter.
I think it will be pertinent for Michigan State to find a good stretch of minutes to insert Carr at the 4 in the NCAA Tournament, likely at the expense of talented freshman Cam Ward's minutes.
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 burning questions for MSU basketball before NCAA Tournament