Michigan State basketball has started off the 2023-24 season with an unsettling 1-2 record, with losses coming to James Madison and Duke. While the start is not ideal, it is not the end of the world and there is still a long season ahead of the team, which is why it wasn’t surprising that Tom Izzo was still fairly positive after his team’s loss to Duke on Tuesday.
There have been a lot of obvious concerns early in the year, with a lot of things that need to be fixed by Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, but there have also been some bright spots to the season so far, and things to build on.
Let’s take a look at three pros and three cons to Michigan State so far in the early season:
Pro: Defense
Early in the season, Michigan State’s defense has shown up. Forcing 43 turnovers in 3 games, while their three opponents are shooting just 38% from the field and just 28% from three.
The defense has been solid so far to start the season.
Con: Shooting woes
Anyone who has watched the games can see it, Michigan State is shooting the ball horrifically so far this season. The team is 8-for-50 (16%) from three so far this season, which is certainly not going to cut it.
Of note, the team is also shooting just 53-for-77 (68.8%) from the free throw line.
The Spartans have to shoot the ball better.
Pro: Tyson Walker looks like a bonafide star
Tyson Walker has shown up in a big way this year. Expectations were high coming into the season and he has lived up to them so far this season, averaging 23.7 points per game so far.
If you want to nitpick, three point and free throw shooting need to see an uptick, and he needs to probably start hunting for his shot more in the first half of games, but I have no doubts about him finding his shot.
Con: AJ Hoggard has been bad
There’s no shying away from it, AJ Hoggard has not been playing the level of basketball needed from him for this team to reach its ceiling. The senior point guard is shooting just 5-for-26 (19%) from the field and has yet to make a three, averaging just 5 points per game.
Hoggard has to be better to complement Walker and the rest of the team if the Spartans are going to live up to the hype this season.
Pro: Carson Cooper can be a quality starting center
At the end of the 2022-23 season, Carson Cooper really showed his potential for MSU, playing really well in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. So far in 2023-24, Cooper has far and away looked like MSU’s best center, playing sound defense and rebounding the ball well.
Cooper definitely still needs to develop his offensive game, but if the Spartans are going to win, they need quality play from the center spot and he has been giving the Spartans quality minutes.
Con: First half slow starts
While the Southern Indiana game did not go this way for MSU, the Spartans have had brutal starts in the first half in the exhibition against Tennessee and match-ups against James Madison and Duke. The Spartans have seen themselves down double digits in all three of those games, needing to play comeback ball, a brand of basketball that doesn’t hold a lot of success.
One part of this was noted by Izzo after the Duke loss: the Spartans will probably need Tyson Walker to be more aggressive in the first half of games to help them avoid the slow starts, or they will need A.J. Hoggard to remember who he is.
