The Northwestern game really brought a potential problem to light that I didn\u2019t think this team had anymore. Michigan State basketball lost to the Wildcats 88-74<\/a> but it feels like we lost the game by more.<\/p>\n Most of our players didn\u2019t play well, but the power forward position was by far the biggest struggle in this game.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a look to see how that position did against Northwestern.<\/p>\n We have three guys that currently rotate minutes at the power forward position. Malik Hall<\/a> is the starter with Coen Carr<\/a> being his primary backup off the bench. Xavier Booker<\/a> also gets some minutes as well but they can be pretty scarce.<\/p>\n All three players \u201cplayed\u201d last night, but looking at the boxscore might make you think otherwise. Hall, Carr, and Booker combined for 41 minutes in this game, and their combined final stat line reads zero points, three rebounds, one assist, one block, and two turnovers. Yes, you are reading that correctly, all three players combined for a stat line that wouldn\u2019t even be close to good if they did it individually.<\/p>\n The most shocking from this is Hall who played 25 minutes and the only stats he registered were two turnovers and one foul. Having zero stats as a fifth-year senior is shocking.<\/p>\n Carr played 12 minutes and didn\u2019t do much either. I\u2019m more OK with shrugging his game off as he is just a freshman, but even as a first-year player, he should be much better. Booker only played four minutes so there isn\u2019t much to draw from his performance due to the lack of playing time.<\/p>\n Something has to change quickly because this won\u2019t cut it against any team on the schedule.<\/p>\n The answer at this position will always be Hall. He has the experience and ability to be extremely good, as showcased in his previous two outings. In the Indiana State and Penn State wins, Hall combined for 42 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists.<\/p>\n Now we all knew he wouldn\u2019t keep that productivity up, but what we didn\u2019t expect was a complete \u201cno show\u201d performance. Malik needs to be someone Tom Izzo can rely on to at least have an average game for Michigan State every night. He doesn\u2019t need to be the guy who goes out and wins a game for the Spartans, but he can\u2019t be part of the reason why they lose.<\/p>\n Carr does need to be better because he will continue to get a lot of minutes. Booker too needs to be somewhat productive in the couple of minutes he gets each game. But the majority of the expectations fall on the fifth-year senior.<\/p>\nPower forwards struggled<\/h3>\n
Malik Hall needs to step up<\/h3>\n