That’s likely to lean closer to a 50-50 split, point guard/shooting guard, as Akins returns. ![]() With Akins out with a foot injury, Walker’s been primarily playing shooting guard. Late in games and late in the shot clock, the Spartans can put the ball in his hands and get a quality look. He’s also MSU’s best guard at creating good shots for himself. A 47% 3-point shooter last year, Walker is MSU’s top long-range threat. He’s critical to MSU versatility and late-game efficiency. He’ll split minutes between the two guard positions. Walker is an incredibly important piece to this MSU basketball team - perhaps the Spartans best scoring guard and also its backup point guard. IN THE ROTATION G Tyson Walker, 6-1, senior MORE: Couch: For MSU basketball, a whole lot is riding on unproven centers Mady Sissoko and Jaxon Kohler ![]() In other words, if Sissoko were to regularly play half the game this year, at last year’s foul rate, he’d foul out of almost every game. He played sparingly each of the last two seasons, but he averaged 9.9 fouls per 40 minutes last season. Another area to keep an eye on is Sissko’s foul trouble. They don’t have anyone else in his mold, unless freshman Carson Cooper winds up progressing rapidly in season. If he’s adequate at those things, that’ll change what the Spartans can become as a team. MSU needs him to be a presence on the glass and defensively and to set good screens and roll hard to the basket. C Mady Sissoko, 6-9, juniorĪ lot is riding on Sissoko this season. If he’s hitting shots and pulling opposing big men away from the basket, he’ll be a massive attribute for this MSU team. This season, he’ll play a mix of power forward and center again. Hauser’s finish to last season was promising. Hauser is the key to the Spartans’ small-ball lineup, which might be their go-to group. They need his outside shooting, his ball-movement, his cerebral sense of the game. The Spartans need this confident and high-on-life Hauser to last. Especially since he looks in a better place mentally and physically than he’s ever been during his time at MSU. Hauser’s return for another season was a gift to MSU’s program. Will he be that guy, though, in tense and key moments? That’s still in question. The COVID interruption is no longer an excuse for stunted development. But he’s sometimes disappeared for halves or games. He’s a smart player and has a wide array of offensive skills. He’s shown the ability to take over in spurts. More importantly than his position, the Spartans need Hall to be an impact player every night. I think he’ll play at least as much power forward, where he'll more regularly have athletic advantages. That means, for the time being at least, Hall begins on the wing. Hall and Hauser want to play together in tandem this season, especially at the two forward spots, rather than platooning at power forward as they did a year ago. Whether Akins begins to show that this season will determine a lot about MSU’s ceiling as a team. MSU’s coaches believe he has a higher ceiling than Max Christie, the player they just lost after one season to the pros. He’ll play both shooting guard and on the wing and play a big role in trying to make up for MSU’s rebounding deficiencies elsewhere. He also gives the Spartans versatility in the backcourt. Akins and Hoggard are MSU’s best chances at truly having a next-level player on the roster. We’ll see how quickly he can show that potential, coming back from a stress reaction in his foot that forced him to miss nearly this entire fall. They think he can be a difference-maker on both ends of the court. There is no player MSU’s coaches are higher on than Akins. He said recently that if he can make 35% of his long-range looks, it’ll force teams to play him honestly and that’ll change a lot for him. He’s worked hard on it and hit two 3s in MSU’s exhibition game. We’ll see if he can get them to respect his shot this season. Hoggard is a player who can cause havoc in the paint, creating for himself and others, even when teams don’t respect his outside shot. Most promising was how he controlled games and big moments late in the season, memorably against Purdue in the Big Ten tournament. Statistically, he had a good year, leading the Big Ten in assists and doing so with a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Hoggard showed in the latter half of last season that he has that in him. They need him to both take care them and to be a force and to do it all the time. There’s no debate that he’s the Spartans’ primary point guard. PROJECTED STARTERS PG AJ Hoggard, 6-4, junior Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch breaks down the Spartans’ roster. Michigan State opens its men's basketball season Monday night at home against Northern Arizona.
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