Did Louisville Expose Season Long Problems For Michigan State?

Last night was one of the first nights of the season that just had a bunch of different games going on that weren’t tournament events. One of the highlights of the night was Louisville beating Michigan State in overtime in what can only be considered a game that was extremely drunk. I mean just look at the ending of regulation. You had both teams fouling for no reason. You had Joshua Langford throwing the ball away. You had fouls being called that weren’t fouls. Hell, these stats may sum the game up well enough:

But, watching the game did we see some long term problems for Michigan State? The Spartans entered the game as a top-10 team and a team that’s expected to contend for the Big 10 title. Now, while I don’t think this means Michigan State stinks or anything like that, I do think there were some major questions exposed by Louisville. Before we get into that though, shout out to Chris Mack, who just continues to be one hell of a coach. He drew up some beautiful play designs to get Ryan McMahon open looks and really is just excellent at in-game adjustments.

Now, let’s get into Michigan State. First things first. Where do they go when the backcourt struggles? Cassius Winston fouled out with about 4 minutes to go and didn’t really play well going 3-for-11 from the field, he made some dumb decisions when it came to fouls. That’s something he can’t do going forward. He has to know situational basketball and his fifth foul was a senseless reach in not even close to the hoop. Langford struggled shooting as well. So when that happens, how can they space the floor and get the ball to Ward?

Second. Michigan State is still struggling to take care of the ball. This has been a problem the last few years and despite having Cassius Winston out there, the Spartans are 170th in the country in turnovers. Last night Louisville forced 17 turnovers. 4 of those came from Langford and 4 came from Ward. We’re seeing teams throw a bit of pressure on Ward in the post and that’s the smart play. Ward is a load to handle 1v1 down there. So if you throw a quick dig and double you can see a bit of panic as he decides to make a move or kick. He has to be better with that quick decision making.

I do still think we see better spacing than last year’s team, especially with the emergence of Kyle Ahrens. Michigan State does need Matt McQuaid healthy as he did miss last night’s game. That said, this team will still go as far as Winston and Langford take them. Langford is a top-20 recruit. He has to make better decisions late in the game. Winston needs to continue to be one of the best point guards in the country. When those things don’t happen and teams take them away, Michigan State is going to lose.