MSU Red Cedar Message Board

....Point Forward?

Thank goodness there is another reasonable poster or 2 in this thread. Dawson will be at the 3, Harris at the 2 and Appling at the point. Izzo rewards seniority and will not sit or move Appling when he sacrificed moving to the 1 for the team this year just because you all want him to. Trice and Valentine will get whatever minutes Keith does not play at the 1.

1 Appling / Trice
2 Harris / Kearney
3 Dawson / Valentine
4 ?? (Guana / Costello / Kamniski) whoever defends and rebounds will play. All 3 are supposed to be pretty good pick and pop shooters.
5 Payne / Nix

This will be the most important summer for Gauna and Byrd. Next year will be their 3rd year in the program. If they don't step up they will get passed by.

Haven't read the thread for the most part until this. Whether you're right or wrong long-term...JFC is our future bright...

Like I stated earlier, we have Final Four talent next year. leadership is what I have issues with.

Like I said if it were up to ME then that's what would happen but in reality it won't.

Edit: Misread your post, sorry. Fine, go ahead, just my opinion. I think he'll be a great player but I don't think he'll be a superstar just yet, see: Payne and Dawson.

yea, I'm excited whatever way this pans out, Izzo will figure things out.

Abit worried about leadership, hopefully Appling can be more vocal next year

Today or all year? Well, Keith played about 30-35 minutes per game and Trice played about 15, so yes, they played at the same time a lot this year. But much moreso once Dawson went down.

These are facts:

Harris will start from Day 1.
Dawson will not play the 4.
Appling will start the season at PG, however I could see Valentine and Trice pushing him for that spot if he shows he hasn't improved over the summer.

5- Nix/Payne
4- Costello
3- Dawson
2- Harris
1- Appling

For the first time in what seems forever, MSU will have a bench that's deep, talented, athletic and not filled with walk-ons (no offense to those guys). Trice, Kearney and Valentine should be solid off the bench as guards. I also think Kaminski and Gauna will be solid as well for the bigs. Overall, this team has top 5 talent. It all comes down to how well they gel and who steps up as a leader. I'm really hoping Izzo decides to take them on that summer trip so they can get some extra practice time in.

Byrd is broken. With the amount of wings coming in next year he has to fix himself quickly or accept a Dahlman role. If not, he probably transfers.

Remember that Appling didn't have a ton of time this summer to spend in the gym by himself working on individual skills. He was with USA basketball overseas (which was a great accomplishment and experience for him) but with a full offseason we could see the improvement in his game to become an elite level guard. He really is an absolutely phenomenal athlete and if he gets his shot back then I have confidence in him leading this team. I also liked what I saw in Rexrode's blog about how upset he was after the game. I think it is just his natural demeanor on the court that can frustrate some people into thinking he doesn't care or whatever but clearly he does.

Much easier for guards to make the transition than bigs.

And Dawson improved quickly. He had become a legit bitch before going down with the injury.

I'm not saying Harris will be an All-American. But he will be a B1G starter, and a productive one, immediately.