Michigan State Basketball: 3 keys in 2022 non-con matchup with Gonzaga
By Bryan Mauro
Control the Paint
Anyone who has watched Gonzaga play knows how important this one is. Gonzaga not only plays at the fastest pace in the country, but they also love getting easy looks at the basket in the paint. Anyone who wants to have any real shot at beating the Bulldogs has to shut down the paint and force the Bulldogs into a jump-shooting team. Gonzaga is still a good jump-shooting team, you do not become the top field goal percentage team in the country if you can’t shoot jump shots.
Coach Izzo is one of the best in-game coaches in the country. He is going to draw up a lot of action and try to step into the passing lanes to turn Gonzaga over. That will hopefully lead to transition baskets for the Spartans and by locking down the paint on defense that will neutralize what Gonzaga does best. The offensive end is going to be a little bit different. The Spartans are going to have to get shots to fall in the paint as well. If the Spartans start driving to the lane and getting easy buckets at the rim that will be a huge plus. Again they may not win but they will at least give themselves a chance against a better roster.
One other thing that can not be understated is the ability of the Michigan State bigs to stretch the floor. The Spartans have a lot of frontcourt players who can shoot threes and like the shoot threes. Malik Hall, who is one of the better defensive big men in the Big Ten, is going to have the task of locking down the paint for the Spartans. He is going to be up to the task on the defensive end and get physical underneath with the Gonzaga big men, which the Bulldogs don’t necessarily like. Hall is also a skilled offensive player as he shot over 50% from the floor and over 41% from deep last year.
If Michigan State can control the paint on both ends of the floor it could spell good news for the Spartans. They are still going to have to play their best game but it can be done. Locking down the paint and getting physical with Gonzaga has shown it can be a recipe for success to beat them.