Scouting Report: Michigan State Spartans

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The #4 ranked Kentucky Wildcats (2-0) are set to take on the Michigan State Spartans (1-1) at 7:00 p.m. ET Tuesday evening on ESPN. This season, the annual Champions Classic takes place in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. We are not going to talk about what happened the last time the ‘Cats played at this venue…

Michigan State took #2 Gonzaga all the way to the wire on Friday evening before falling 64-63. The Spartans led the game, which was played aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego, by seven points at halftime but couldn’t hold on. Now, 28th-year head coach Tom Izzo is tasked with facing his second straight Top 5 opponent. The rest of November doesn’t get any easier for the Spartans as dates with Villanova, Alabama, and Notre Dame are still to come.

Early in the season, this is looking like a classic Coach Izzo team. The Spartans have positional size, are excellent defensively, and have a nice mix of roster continuity and talented freshmen. If Michigan State can find enough perimeter shooting they will be very tough to beat come March. Now, let’s dive into the scouting report. We have a full personnel deep-dive plus breakdowns of their offensive and defensive scheme. Here is everything you need to know about the Michigan State Spartans.

Michigan State Spartans Personnel

Starters

#11 A.J. Hoggard: 6’4″ 210 lbs, Junior Guard

10.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 7.0 apg

Big, strong point guard. Looks to push the ball hard up the floor in transition. He is looking to get all the way to the rim anytime he drives it. Need to get back and protect the basket and stop the ball in transition. He is a non-shooter. 10-53 in his career from 3. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. This will keep you between him and the basket while also keeping us from having to help on the roll. Switch if you need to. Closeout short. No right-hand drives! Don’t let him get a long runway into his drive, but closeout short enough to not get beat. Get your hands up and make him score over you. Be ready to be physical. No transition layups!

#2 Tyson Walker: 6’1″ 180 lbs, Senior Guard

9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.0 apg

Dynamic playmaking guard. Can play on or off of the ball. Very quick. Need to get the ball stopped when he is bringing it in transition. SHOOTER! NO 3s! Career 37.9% from 3. Go over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase him off downscreens and get over the flares. Switch if you need to in order to get out and take away the 3. Excellent right-hand driver as well. No right-hand drives! Get your hands up at the end of his drive and make him finish over you. Plenty of options to help off of guys when he drives it. No help off of #10 Hauser. Don’t let him get all the way to the rim then close out short to your man. No transition layups!

#25 Malik Hall: 6’8″ 220 lbs, Senior Forward

8.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.0 apg

Physical wing. Need to match his physicality when he drives it at you. They love to throw it ahead to him in transition. Get all the way back to protect the rim. He is looking to drive it right when they throw it ahead. Get over and cut off the right-hand drive. Will post up smaller defenders. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Contest when he shoots the turnaround jumper. Need to bring help if we are smaller in the post. No help off of #2 Walker or #10 Hauser. Capable shooter but not super aggressive. Contest if he shoots from 3. No layups from the throw ahead in transition.

#10 Joey Hauser: 6’9″ 220 lbs, Graduate Student Forward

10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.5 apg

Stretch 4-man. Shooter! No catch-and-shoot 3s! 11 of 17 shots have been 3s. Need to be tight to him and be there on the catch. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven toward you. Switch if he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop. Likes to use the shot fake into a pull-up jumper. Stay down on the fakes. Always looking to lift or replace behind the play. Get out to him when he is trailing the play in transition. Just be tight to him and take away the catch-and-shoot 3s.

#22 Mady Sissoko: 6’9″ 240 lbs, Junior Center

9.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 0.0 apg

Athletic, strong 5-man. Looking to set drag ballscreens as the ball is brought up the floor in transition or secondary. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Looking for it on the roll. They will lob it up to him as well. Go under all ballscreens besides #2 Walker so we don’t have to hedge or help. Otherwise, give ground and stay lower than him on the roll. Will duck you in around the basket. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Everything he scores is right at the rim. Stay between him and the basket. Excellent offensive rebounder. Box out!!!

Bench

#1 Pierre Brooks: 6’6″ 220 lbs, Sophomore Guard

9.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.0 apg

Big, strong backup guard. Shooter! No catch-and-shoot 3s! 11 of 17 shots have been 3s (made five). Need to be there on the catch. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven toward you. Chase him off of downscreens and get over flares. Find him in transition. Will use his size and strength to attack closeouts. No right-hand drives! Be ready to be physical at the end of his drives. Likes to shoot the floater. Get your hands up to contest. Can still help off of him some, but don’t be as aggressive. Closeout to take away the 3. No catch-and-shoot 3s or layups against a closeout.

#3 Jaden Akins: 6’4″ 190 lbs, Sophomore Guard

5.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.5 apg

Lefty. Athletic backup guard. Willing shooter. 19-50 from 3 last season. 1-6 early this season. We want to at least be there to give a hard contest to the catch-and-shoot 3s. Most concerned about him as a driver. NO LEFT-HAND DRIVES!!! Get over and cut off his left-hand drives when you close out. Start by going under the ballscreens and handoffs to stay between him and the basket. We like going under so we can stay with the roll man. Likes to cut along the baseline as high ballscreen action is happening. Don’t get backcut. No left-hand drives!

#5 Tre Holloman: 6’2″ 180 lbs, Freshman Guard

3.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.5 apg

Backup point guard. More dangerous as a driver than as a shooter. No right-hand drives!!! Go under the ballscreens and handoffs to stay between him and the basket. Going under also keeps us from having to help on the roll man. He will push it hard in transition. Get back and get the ball stopped. Don’t over-help when he drives it. He is more so driving to pass than looking to score. Just stay between him and the basket. No right-hand drives!

#0 Jaxon Kohler: 6’9″ 240 lbs, Freshman Forward

3.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.5 apg

Versatile backup forward. Excellent hands and footwork around the basket. They will look to throw it to him on the roll. Give ground and stay between him and the basket. We should be good guarding the roll because we are going under all ballscreens and handoffs besides #2 Walker. Be physical with him and push him off of the block. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. We are fine guarding him one-on-one, but mix-up bringing pressure because you can make him turn it over. Just don’t telegraph it when you come. Box out!

Michigan State Spartans Offense

This is an efficient, well-rounded Michigan State Spartans offense that can hurt you in a variety of ways. Coach Izzo’s teams certainly aren’t known for playing fas — the Spartans haven’t ranked in the Top 100 of KenPom’s adjusted tempo metric since tracking began in 2002 — but this team will be effective in transition. AJ Hoggard and Tyson Walker both push it hard up the floor looking for early scoring opportunities. Malik Hall is EXCELLENT on the throw ahead. However, if they can’t get anything early in the shot clock they will grind it out a bit in the halfcourt.

Expect to see some 4-around-1 Motion, a lot of set plays from a Horns alignment, and plenty of ballscreening action. We want to go under all ballscreens besides on #2 Walker because they love throwing to the roll man. Going under allows us to stay with the roll without needing any help. If we stay between them and the basket, and defensive rebound, it will be hard for them to score enough to win.

Protect the basket, stop the ball, and match up with the next most dangerous guy. That is the transition defense mantra. You do not have a “man” when playing transition defense. Here, Gonzaga failed to ever stop #2 Walker with the ball and he drove all the way to the rim for a layup. Plays like this simply can’t happen.

When the opportunity presents itself, the Michigan State Spartans are going to look to throw the ball up the floor. #25 Hall is excellent running the floor and driving it right in transition. Even after a made basket, he is able to beat the defense down the floor for an easy little floater. This is terrible effort by #0 for Gonzaga. You have to be sprinting back and be worried about the throw ahead to #25 Hall at all times.

This is exactly why we want to go under the ballscreens set for #11 Hoggard. He is a non-shooter. There is no reason to be guarding him this far out and fighting over the ballscreen. Going under the ballscreens allows us to stay with the roll man. Michigan State likes to hit the roll and will lob it up to #22 Mady Sissoko as you see here. Simply going under the ballscreen would have prevented this dunk.

In the half court, you will see Michigan State run a lot of ballscreens. This is a look at their continuity. On the first side, we want to go under that ballscreen set for #3 Jaden Akins. Especially when he is going right, there is no reason to fight over the top. On the right wing, going under the handoff for #5 Tre Holloman is what we want. Then, at the end of the play, forcing the contested jump shot is good defense. Akins happened to make this one but we will live with that.

A lot of the halfcourt sets that the Spartans run will be from a Horns alignment. After clearing out the ball side, they set a little butt cross screen at the elbow for #22 Sissoko to curl into the post. We want to go underneath any action like this set for their post guys. Try and beat them to the block and then work to push them off. If you do get screened, do what Gonzaga did which is switch and get in front. That is fine. Then, you have to chase #2 Walker off the baseline staggered screen. You can’t go up through and let him flare it for a 3!

Michigan State Spartans Defense

Coach Izzo and his staff had an excellent game plan for #2 Gonzaga. However, they came up just a little bit short of pulling off the upset. You can expect a similar, well-executed game plan in this one. The Michigan State Spartans are going to go under anything set for Sahvir Wheeler and stay between him and the basket. If Oscar Tshiebwe plays, they will play him similarly to how they planned for Drew Timme. They will bring a lot of help on the post and likely double on the first dribble. We have to make quick decisions in the post so as not to turn it over. This wasn’t always a strength for our post guys last season, including Tshiebwe.

Overall, it is going to be a man-to-man defense for MSU that is primarily focused on staying between the ball and the basket. They have good size and strength at each position aside from #2 Walker. When they play their three-forward lineups — which is their best lineup — we should be able to exploit it with our three-guard lineups. #25 Hall is going to be asked to guard out on the perimeter and chase a shooter around. That should be a mismatch in our favor.

Keys to the Game

Win the turnover battle. The Michigan State Spartans’ backcourt can be turnover prone. However, they are also not great at forcing turnovers. We need to create 15 or more while turning it over 12 or fewer. Being at least +3 in this category will be a win.
Limit points in the paint. They are looking to attack the basket, throw it in the post, and score on the roll. Michigan State has 34 and 32 points in the paint in their first two games. That number needs to be at 26 or fewer tonight.
No 3’s for #10 Hauser, #2 Walker, or #1 Brooks. The Spartans don’t have an overwhelming pool of shooters. They aren’t super aggressive hunting them either. However, we have to take the catch-and-shoot opportunities away from these guys. You can help off of everyone else.
Dominate the glass. This is always a key for us. We haven’t been great on the glass yet. Need 77% or better defensive rebounding in this one.