Big Ten Basketball: Early takeaways after first week of 2020-21 season

Evaluating Michigan State’s zone offense

If a team wants to have a chance to stop Michigan State they will need to take a page out of Mike Brey’s defensive playbook with Notre Dame and go zone, except take it a step further and go zone the entire game. Fortunately for Coach Brey, the decision was easy, there was no thought that Prentiss Hubb and Cormac Ryan were going to contain Rocket Watts and Joshua Langford on the perimeter.

Granted, Michigan State did compile a 30-point lead and they only scored two fewer points in the first half, when Notre Dame exclusively played a zone defense. Plus, the last 5 minutes that the Spartans’ failed to score had nothing to do with what Coach Brey setup. Yet, teams need to play zone.

Last season the Spartans connected on 35 percent of their three-pointers, good for third-best in the Big Ten, that, however, was with Cassius Winston who shot 43 percent. This season they had improved to 38 percent against inferior competition and then went 5 for 20 versus Duke Tuesday night, who played man-to-man all game. Coach K did not protect freshmen Jeremy Roach and DJ Steward as Coach Brey protected his guards.

On Tuesday Night, Watts scored 20 points, by hitting six of twelve from inside the arc compared to one of four made from behind. Although not a true point guard, Michigan States’ best line-up is with Watts handling the ball, therefore reducing their effectiveness from the three-point line.