Your 2008-09 Michigan State Basketball Roster
Posted by kj on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
With the Tigers’ odds of contending for a playoff spot rapidly dwindling to naught, the five months until the 2008-09 MSU basketball season begins are looking even longer to me than they otherwise would. Nonetheless, let’s look ahead to how the team fits together, at least on paper.
I’ve now provided my thoughts on all the returning scholarship players:
Durrell Summers and Chris Allen
Isaiah Dahlman, Idong Ibok, and Tom Herzog
Putting these 10 guys in with the three incoming freshman and preferred walk-on Austin Thornton, I see the depth chart looking something like this next season:
| Starter | Bench | ||
| Point | Lucas | Walton | Lucious |
| Wings | Allen | Dahlman | Thornton |
| Morgan | Summers | ||
| Bigs | Roe | Gray | Green |
| Suton | Ibok | Herzog |
Comments:
- That starting lineup looks awfully explosive in a transition game. Of course, the trick is getting into a transition game. Failing that, a key will be taking advantage of mismatches that are bound to happen in the half-court offense with a frontline of Morgan/Roe/Suton.
- The depth is pretty good across the roster. There’s one proven back-up in each of the three categories (Walton/Summers/Gray; I’m giving Gray the benefit of the doubt) and everyone ought to be able to at least hold down the fort in a pinch. If Dahlman were to redshirt, they could be a tad thin at the wing positions, as Thornton probably won’t be ready to contribute and Morgan will likely play some at the 4 spot again.
- Also, we’ll probably see 10-15 minutes per game (hopefully no more than that) of two point guards on the floor, which will reduce minutes for wing players.
- There’s 30 fouls there to be absorbed by big men.
- I haven’t read anything about freshman redshirts. Roe certainly won’t. Izzo hasn’t redshirted guards historically, so Lucious probably won’t. Green could be a candidate, but I’d tend to doubt given that Izzo can’t be sure how many minutes he can rely on Gray for.
- In terms of playing time distribution, the question is how Izzo will fill in Neitzel’s 30+ minutes/game and Naymick’s 20+ minutes/game. Hopefully, Roe is healthy enough to take up Naymick’s minutes right away. I’d guess Allen will increase his PT pretty dramatically–somewhere around 25 minutes/game. The team will need his pure shooting ability on the floor more often than not. Hopefully, Lucas, Summers, and Morgan can all become reliable perimeter shooters, as well, as Allen won’t be able to fill Neitzel’s shoes alone.
Here’s how I’d project playing time for the full roster:
- Lucas: 25-30 minutes
- Morgan: 25-30 minutes
- Suton: 25-30 minutes
- Allen: 25 minutes
- Roe: 20-25 minutes
- Walton: 20 minutes
- Summers: 15-20 minutes
- Gray: 15 minutes
- Green: 5-10 minutes
- Lucious: 5-10 minutes
- Ibok/Herzog: 0-5 minutes
- Dahlman/Thornton: Minimal PT
Averaging out the ranges, these figures add up to 200 minutes per game. They imply that Morgan would slide to the 4 spot for just 5 minutes per game and the team would have two point guards on the floor for 15 minutes.
Projecting the freshman is obviously the hardest, having not seen them play. There don’t seem to be a lot of minutes there for Lucious with two established point guards ahead of him. He is supposed to be a better pure shooter than Lucas, though, so maybe that gets him some time on the floor. Green would seem to have a shot to take some minutes away from Gray.
Coffee Talk time: What do you think? Who do you see stepping up to replace Neitzel? What excites/worries you most about this roster?
Speaking of Neitzel . . .
He’s been invited to the NBA pre-draft camp, which began in Orlando today. Other Big Ten players participating are Jamar Butler, Brian Butch, and Othello Hunter. (Eric Gordon is there for a physical only; D.J. White and Kosta Koufos aren’t in Orlando. White may or may not think he’s a lock to be a Piston.)
We’ll keep our eyes open for updates on Neitzel’s performance. His lack of size still seems like a huge obstacle to making it in today’s rough-and-tumble NBA, but I hope he gets every opportunity to find a niche with a team looking for an efficient ball-handler with shooting range. We do tend to forget how good a passer he is, given that those skills were underutilized during his college career as he was relied on as the primary scorer for the last two years.
Filed in coffee talk, drew neitzel, michigan state basketball
TMadison25on 29 May 2008 at 7:35 am 1The minutes distribution and depth chart looks good. I am very excited to watch the start of the season, including the exhibition games, to see how Izzo works it all out. It’d also be nice to rematch GVSU, who finished 36-1 last year. Although Allen may be the most important piece in filling Neitzel’s shoes, I see Morgan leading this team. With Roe and Suton on the court, Morgan can take advantage at the wing, as long as his traveling has been addressed. I am really excited to see a season where the go-to, dominant player on the team is someone like Morgan. The versatility of Morgan should allow him to convert clutch opportunities whereas last year I felt Neitzel’s driving options were taken away, making him more one-dimensional (This sounds hating on Neitzel, but I swear I’m not). My biggest worries are (1) how Allen responds to his increased minutes , (2) Roe’s knee, and (3)not playing Dahlman enough.
Ryanon 03 Jun 2008 at 2:44 pm 2This Spartan team should be a good one because according to my estimation, there are 4-5 NBA players currently on this team. Good depth too, but not exceptional up front.
They have to get something from Gray this year and get something more out of Walton than they’re used to.
Another Sweet 16 appearance is likely, but really, this team has the talent to do more, but will Izzo hold them back like he has in recent years?
http://www.collegefastbreak.com/
Spartans Weblog » Wednesday Quick Hitson 09 Jul 2008 at 3:27 pm 3[...] contributed an early preview of the 2008-09 MSU basketball team at IUPlanet.com. He arrives at the same starting lineup this blogger [...]