Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from win over Valencia All-Stars

Michigan State basketball dominated the Valencia All-Stars from start to finish on Sunday. What did we learn?

Sunday afternoon marked the second game of the Michigan State basketball tour of Spain this offseason.

Fresh off their win over Madrid on Thursday, the Spartans traveled East to the Balearic Sea to see the sights in Valencia. On Sunday, they took on a Valencia All-Star team that was in a familiar place facing a Division 1 basketball team. They had played three other American college teams in the past two seasons. They took on Notre Dame this year and played Providence and Oklahoma State last year.

The Valencia squad upset Oklahoma State last year, 84-78. They also featured three players today who also played against the Spartans on Thursday when they were in Madrid. Because of this, some thought MSU might be in for a closer game than expected. That was not the case as the Spartans demolished Valencia, 105-59.

Coen Carr led the Spartans with 20 points. Frankie Fidler, Jaxon Kohler, Jaden Akins, and Szymon Zapala also were in double figures for the Spartans. The offensive output was spectacular — 105 points are great any way you slice it. To do that with probably two of your top expected scorers in Xavier Booker and Jeremy Fears only scoring nine points combined is a good look.

Overall the effort was great from the Spartans. Offensively they were able to get out and run in transition a lot. Defensively, they were active. Hands in passing lanes, pressing defenders, and tough rebounding were all factors in holding Valencia under 60 points.

There were a few things that still needed to be fixed but overall, the Spartans looked a lot more polished than earlier in the week.

Here are my three biggest takeaways from the game on Sunday.

1. Coen Carr needs to play the 4 moving forward

I’m just going to come out and say it: Coen Carr was fantastic. He spent most of the game playing his natural position of power forward and he excelled. I know in certain scenarios, Tom Izzo would like his size and athleticism at the three. That’s understandable. But his game is best suited at the four and it seems pretty obvious to me.

Carr got out and ran today — a lot. His transition game was great and it sparked the Michigan State offense in a lot of ways. Even when he was on the bench, the Spartans made it a priority to get out and run (more on that later) and it was really successful.

The sophomore is an athletic freak. We all know this. The more he can get out and run in transition, the better his offensive game will fare. Not to mention the many “grab your popcorn” dunks that come from this. Carr had some of those today. Overall he had nine dunks and went 10-for-12 from the floor unofficially. That kind of efficiency can’t be overlooked and will help this offense immensely in the long run if it can replicate it.

2. MSU is at its best when it’s able to get out in transition

I know this is not a hot take. It’s been the case for most of Izzo’s coaching career. Michigan State’s transition game can be lethal when operating at high levels. That was absolutely the case on Sunday. The Spartans got out and ran and it did not stop.

Carr was the obvious benefactor with his 20 points on nine dunks, but he was not the only one. Multiple alley-oops involving Jeremy Fears, Jaden Akins, and Tre Hollomon spring some bigs free. The guards were run happy and the assist numbers skyrocketed because of it. This helped the offense spend less time operating from the half court which caused some problems at times. Finding a consistent outside shot from anyone not named Fidler so far has been a problem. Being able to get out and run more would certainly fix that.

The transition game started on Sunday from the defensive end. The Spartans were very active defensively in getting hands in passing lanes. Michigan State basketball notched 20 steals in the game and got some easy buckets consistently from it. Moving forward, if a similar effort can be replicated, it would be a big boost to this team’s game.

3. Three-point defense was better, but still not great

As great as the Spartans were at times defensively, defending beyond the arch still posed a bit of a problem. I will say they looked better doing this than they did against Madrid on Thursday. However, some open threes were available for Valencia. Some of this was because of the way the Spartans were defending late when they were up big.

This also wasn’t as glaring of an issue cause Valencia missed some open looks and the Spartan offense was operating so efficiently.

Moving forward, the Spartans will need to continue to work on closing out the looks from three. Leaving shooters wide open at times will burn them eventually even though it did not on Sunday. The Spartans have the athleticism from its guards to be good at this.

Hopefully, the defense will continue to improve as the season approaches.

Bonus takeaway: Frankie Fidler is as advertised offensively

I’m not sure if I was just overly skeptical or what, but Frankie Fidler has been a treat to watch offensively in Spain. He looks extremely comfortable getting his shot. He can hit from anywhere on the floor. He’s knocking down free throws. It’s really nice to see someone who can score at all three levels and get high percentage looks consistently.

Obviously Tyson Walker was the guy offensively last year and rightfully so. Losing him this offseason had many wondering who was going to step up to help keep the offense moving consistently. So far Fidler looks like he is going to have no problem doing so.

On Sunday, he was able to dribble defenders down. Hit open shots, hit contested shots. He could get to the rim and he looked good. His 11 points were well-earned in what seemed like limited action. Izzo played as many bodies as he could and in all different rotations so getting consistent runs was difficult. That did not matter for Fidler.

If he continues to develop this way, Michigan State basketball may have found another portal gem.

The Spartans will wrap up their Spanish tour on Tuesday in Barcelona. Keep it here with Spartan Shadows for all your basketball coverage needs.

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