This event had it all. Izzo was given the recognition he deserves by having his numbers added to the rafters in an away game against Northern Michigan University. While he earned more for his contributions after college, it's still a testament to the man he is and his Upper Peninsula roots.
No one was injured, the first key for an exhibition game. We saw some good and bad things on the floor. MSU was too big and too quick for Northern, credit to them for playing hard.
The Good
Depth
No player played more than 21 minutes
11 players logged 13 minutes or more
8 players scored 5 or more points (high was 11)
Stretching the floor: Loved seeing Booker and Kohler take a few 3's
From Deep: 17 of 51 shots were from behind the arch. A good clip.
Fears isn't known as a shooter, going 2-2 is a good sign
Jaden went 0-4, following a Euro Trip that wasn't his best showing.
The Freshman: Jase Richardson and Kur Teng shot a combined 4-5 from 3. Getting some 3-point production in limited minutes is a plus.
Free Throws: At times, a weakness of Izzo teams, we went 18-23 from the line. That's great volume and efficiency.
The Bigs: Last year, we watched the failed experiment of Mady, Cooper, and Kohler playing the 5. With Mady out and Szymon in, fans didn't expect much of a jump in production. That may still be the case, but it was good to see the Bigs clean up the boards against lesser competition.
Szymon finished with 9 boards. Kohler with 8. Cooper had 4
Teng and Carr had 3 each on the wing
Cooper and Booker each had 3 blocks
The Bad
Big Man Rotation: By not adding a true difference-maker at the 4 or 5, we are sticking with the Cooper, Kohler, Booker, and transfer Zapala.
I will saw Zapala looks like a better rebounder than Mady, and cant be worst offensively.
Kohler and Booker look like they can stretch the floor, which is huge.
BUT - we will still see 2-big line ups. And there's red flags here. 1. Can Kohler can guard the 4. 2. If Carr is on the wing, will there be enough shooting to space the floor. 3. Zapala held his own against lesser compeition, how will he handle BigTen bigs.
Massive Rotation
We simply have too many decent to good players to play. While
Team Stats
Points in the Paint: 20
Second Chance Points: 15
Fast Break: 12
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