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1. What seemed like Christmas to MSU fans (Xavier Booker’s first start) somehow turned into a baffling and costly loss.
EAST LANSING – For most of the season, I have understood, and largely agree with, Tom Izzo and company wasting the use of Xavier Booker. He wasn’t ready. That became clear as day well into January. Beyond the obvious in December.
But things had changed. Booker seemed more comfortable in recent weeks, and on Feb. 25, MSU coaches thought he was ready.
For MSU fans, Sunday was Christmas, either 10 months early or two months later, depending on your perspective. Or maybe just in time.
Xavier Booker’s first career start on Sunday was a gift that exceeded the expectations of fans who were only waiting for the Spartans’ first-year big man to start seeing playing time in both halves. Booker starting the game at center certainly lit up the Breslin Center. His presence early and for long minutes also helped the Spartans take a 10-point lead five minutes into the second half.
Then, like a toy your parents took from you for reasons beyond comprehension, Booker didn’t see the court for the final 15 minutes of the game after playing 17 of the first 25. And, by some correlation, MSU lost 60-57 on a last-second 3-pointer by Ohio State’s Dale Bonner over Tyson Walker that ruined the day and put the Spartans’ NCAA Tournament prospects in a more precarious position than they ever should have been.
MSU didn’t lose this game just because Mady Sissoko was the choice at center down the stretch. Sissoko played as well as he has in a long time, although he couldn’t hold down a late offensive rebound that could have made the difference. The Spartans lost this game because they scored seven points in the last 10 minutes and at that rate, they were playing with fire. They lost this game because Walker and Jaden Akins largely failed to buy a bucket.
They lost this game because their offense died, while a freshman who showed he can bring some juice to the offense sat on the bench. They lost because Ohio State was able to get deeper touches in the post, as their interim coach said, while MSU’s long-armed freshman sat.
A brutal loss. One that all but guarantees the Spartans will take an 8th seed or worse in the NCAA tournament, if they get there. They still have some winnings to achieve.
A game that looked like a potential shakeup to MSU’s season, like a new hope, was anything but.
2. Freshman Thoughts: Xavier Booker’s First Initial Edition
Questions about whether this should have happened sooner are fair, although anyone who saw Booker play in December knows that he wasn’t the player he is today then. On Sunday he looked ready to be an impact player. His occasional mistakes (for example, going for the block instead of boxing) were offset by what he provided.
For one thing, his arms are everywhere. He blocked three shots, changed others and also deflected a pass. She caught a ball that Jaden Akins lost on the drive, using her long arms to reach out, grab it and put it in quickly. It’s a play MSU’s other big man can’t make. They don’t have that combination of length, hands and quickness.
Booker played two long stretches in the first half: the first planned (though coupled with the lack of a dead-ball break), the second due to foul trouble by Malik Hall and perhaps Carson Cooper. MSU didn’t turn to him again in the latter parts of the second half, a sign that the coaches still trust Mady Sissoko more. I guess that’s the final frontier for Booker to overcome.
In total, Booker played 17 minutes, scored seven points on 3-of-6 shooting, including a three-pointer, and grabbed three rebounds in addition to the blocks.
Another attribute of Booker: his versatility. He started at center, but when Hall committed his second foul, he slid to power forward, while Sissoko checked in.
There were signs this week that this could happen, when Izzo said he just had to find Xavier Booker the right matchup (Ohio State’s Felix Okpara is a good one) and even more so when Booker spent a lot of time practicing playing with the starters.
The question now is whether Booker remains in the starting lineup and plays these types of minutes in MSU’s next game, next Saturday at Mackey Arena against Zach Edey and Purdue. While it may seem like a horrible matchup, it’s not good for any of MSU’s big men. Booker at least provides some length and quickness on the second rebound and, on the offensive end of the floor, forces defenders to pick him up at the 3-point line. That’s not something I imagine Purdue wants to do with Edey.
3. Booker’s departure means new rotations and different roles.
It’s a one-game sample size, so it’s hard to know what Booker’s tenure means for MSU’s other big men and rotational role players. But there’s definitely a trickle-down effect to Booker playing an expanded role.
Curiously, Sissoko, who lost his starting job, was the least affected. He played a ton and played as well as he has in weeks; There is a correlation there. Sissoko scored four points and grabbed six rebounds in 16 minutes. He also seemed calmer.
Carson Cooper, however, played only seven minutes. There could have been a few more if not for foul trouble in the first half, but, at least in this game, his role was diminished. Coen Carr played only seven minutes, and Booker got what were probably a couple of minutes from him at power forward.
Among the challenges of introducing a new starter so late is how it changes rotations and roles, and you can see that. And there were some clumsy lineups that didn’t help. But that’s not the reason MSU lost. The Spartans worked hard and held a 12-point lead well into the second half. They stopped scoring and didn’t get back to the big man who spaces the floor.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.