Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big Ten Basketball: 5 key questions and storylines for 2021-22 season

By Tristan Freeman

Mar 7, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo celebrates after the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2021; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo celebrates after the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
Big Ten Basketball Northeastern Huskies guard Tyson Walker  Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Big Ten Basketball Northeastern Huskies guard Tyson Walker  Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Who is the most important player for Michigan State this season?

Kay

Walker has already being talked about but senior guard Gabe Brown who was named one of the two captions for the Spartans this season is the most important player for Michigan State this season for various reasons. One reason is that they need Brown to be their go-to scorer and he needs to be a more consistent scorer game in and game out. He needs to continue to improve on his defense and be the floor leader on the court for the Spartans as well.

He is tall, can shoot the three-ball, and when he wants to, he can attack the rim and use his height to shot over shorter and smaller defenders. Brown has to play well for Michigan State to have success on the court this season.

Mauro

Northeastern transfer Point Guard Tyson Walker.  He is a scoring point guard who gets everyone involved but will put up 20 every night if given the chance.  Izzo has shown that the Spartans are at their best when they have a dominant take over the game-style point guard.  That was their biggest weakness a season ago as they desperately missed Cassius Winston.

Waddell

Max Christie.  Much has been made about the Spartans needing a point guard but between Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard, and Jaden Akins, Izzo will have choices and enough bodies to get 40 minutes of competent play.

The larger question now is who on this team can put the ball in the basket?  Wing depth is terrifyingly shallow – Christie and Gabe Brown are both penciled in for 30+ minute roles and there’s not much behind them at the wing.  Christie not only has to play a ton right away, but he also has to play a major part in carrying the scoring duties on a team that just doesn’t have many shot creators returning.  The good news is – he is more than capable.

Farmer

It’s hard not to pick Marcus Bingham Jr. considering the level of play Michigan State will need down low if they’re to compete with their Big Ten counterparts, but I think Max Christie is their most important player for this season. The Spartans will rely on Christie to make up for a good chunk of the production that they lost with Aaron Henry leaving for the pros. The silky-smooth freshman guard has the potential to raise this team’s ceiling to be one of the top four teams in the conference.

Home/Big Ten