Jase Richardson is the most important player on Michigan State this season for one reason

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I know this is the ‘strength in numbers’ year for Michigan State basketball, and this article is not an attempt to undermine that mantra. However, I do believe there is one MSU player who is uniquely important to the team’s success this season because of how they like to play, and that’s Jase Richardson.

Heading into Tuesday night’s match-up with Indiana, the Spartans are No. 3 in the country in fast break points, averaging 17.35 points per game in transition. This isn’t exactly surprising, as Tom Izzo has always been known for this play style. At their best, his MSU teams play hard defense, rebound the basketball, and then push the ball in transition. This Spartan team is amazing at that, as we can see by the numbers. Jeremy Fears Jr. is very comfortable on the fast break, and the team is loaded with athletes like Jaden Akins and Coen Carr who like to get out and run. When a team is able to play in transition like this, it makes offense much easier to come by, rather than having to setup in the half-court.

But what happens when teams take away the fast break? For different reasons, UCLA, USC, and Oregon were able to prevent Michigan State from getting to their fast break. The Spartans only averaged 9.6 points per game on the fast break in those three games, losing two of those three games, and almost losing all three if not for the fact that Jase Richardson completely took over for MSU against Oregon, scoring 29 points against the Ducks.

Which brings me to my point. This Michigan State team’s biggest strength is in the way they get to their fast break. Conversely, their biggest weakness is when the fast break is halted, they struggle to produce offense in the half court. Enter Jase Richardson, who has no issues scoring in that situation. Against USC and UCLA, Jase did not look right after not practicing the week prior and getting banged up in the USC game. I truly believe that if Richardson was 100-percent in those games, the Spartans would still be undefeated in conference…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jase-richardson-most-important-player-152628190.html

Author : Spartans Wire

Publish date : 2025-02-11 15:26:00

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