Michigan State Basketball: Analyzing the Spartans’ rotation for 2018-19

Shooting Guard

Minutes Allocation (40 total): Joshua Langford (29), Matt McQuaid (8) and Kyle Ahrens (3)

Another player whose production increased nicely in year-two Langford has developed into a quality shooting guard for the Spartans. What’s most impressive about him in that while he took double the amount of shots from the first to second years, the overall efficiency took only a slight dip.

The 40% three-point shooter will have an even larger role on the offense, going from the fourth or fifth option on the court to possibly the No. 1 go-to guy. That’s a lot different from taken advantage from open looks with the defenses looking at the star players.

His backups include McQuaid, who’ll be the senior leader on the team. The 6’5 guard averaged a career-high 6.0 ppg last season in 20 minutes, with the vast majority of his shots coming from three-point range. He’s a career 38% shooter from deep who shot 86% from the charity stripe as well in 2017-18.

A player who possibly might get more minutes at this spot than anticipated in Ahrens, a three-star guard who missed all of last season with a foot injury. He averaged eight minutes a game the year prior to provide a few points a night. The perimeter isn’t as deep as in seasons prior so there’s a chance he’ll figure into the rotation – especially if injuries factor in.