Jaden Akins finding his game a good sign for MSU
Guard has best performance since returning from injury
EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo’s hug of Jaden Akins with 8:07 remaining said a lot about Akins’ performance Saturday against Brown.
Izzo saw what we all did: This was the best Akins has played since returning after re-injuring his left foot and missing two weeks of the season.
He looked like someone who’d gotten his wind back, someone who’s found his legs. And his shot. Akins scored nine points, hitting 3 of 5 3-point tries, while tallying three rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes, ending at the 8:07 mark with the Spartans ahead by 26.
Michigan State went on to win 68-50, MSU’s defense getting sloppy for a minute the moment Akins sat down. His impact on that end was significant in overwhelming Brown and shutting down Brown’s top two scorers, Kino Lilly Jr., and Paxson Wojcik, who combined to make 4 of 18 shots, often with Akins on one of them.
“He’s not even guarding well yet for Jaden,” Izzo said. “I’m telling you, he can guard the world.”
Right before Akins came out, he had sent a dart of a pass to Joey Hauser for a fast-break layup and a 57-31 lead. Hauser had a day, feasting on the Spartans’ mid-major opponent with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He got a pat on the butt from Izzo on his way out. But that sort of performance from Hauser against this sort of opponent wasn’t much of a development. Akins hitting shots, starting to find his game again, was. Because before he can take strides toward being the player MSU hopes he can become, he has to get back to who he was. He seems to be closer to that. And just that changes who MSU is on both
ends.
Brown baited Hoggard to shoot. He did the only thing there was to do — take the bait.
It’s been a minute since an opponent so disrespected AJ Hoggard’s shot, sagging off him to such a degree, even letting him drive into the lane before picking him up. Not a bad strategy by Brown. And one Hoggard had to nip in the bud. Because if you don’t immediately shoot, if you don’t right away take what’s being given to you, it might get in your head and, by the time you start pulling the trigger, there’s pressure, you’re out of rhythm.
Hoggard didn’t hesitate — hesitating isn’t really his thing. He used his crossover to create rhythm on a couple 17-foot jumpers and also buried a 3-pointer. After making three straight shots, he even took a heat-check 3, which he missed.
“Hey, if he takes one bad shot a game, he’ll have no problem with his head coach,” Izzo said.
Hoggard was hot. Brown had given him space to shoot and he’d taken it.
Most of the time, he has to. Because if opponents see sagging off Hoggard as the best way to get the Spartans’ offense out of sorts and limit him, they’ll do it. Hoggard said before the season that he needed to shoot 35% from long range this season to get defenders to guard him honestly out to the 3-point line, which would open up “everything.”
He’s 9 of 31 on 3-point tries after going 1for-4 on Saturday, just under 30%. If he can keep hitting those mid-range pull-ups at a decent clip, that’ll help, too. Hoggard can’t stop shooting or taking what the defense gives him. That’s what he did at Penn State — which played him differently than Brown — and he scored a career-high 23 points Wednesday. Saturday, he scored 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, but it was an effective 6-for-12. He also hit all of his free throws again — that’s 10 straight this week.
He’s got to work to make defenses respect his shot. Saturday didn’t hurt.
Freshman thoughts – the Brown edition
At some point soon, MSU’s three freshmen are going to have to do a little more to keep “Freshman thoughts” as an every-game staple of the quick takes. Against the likes of Brown, I thought this might be a day for one of them. Tre Holloman had by far the biggest impact — and probably his best game of the season.
Holloman didn’t score a point, but his season-high six assists and defense on Brown’s leading score, Kino Lilly Jr., who was held to 3 points on 1-of-7 shooting Saturday, made for a notable performance. It wasn’t just Holloman on Lilly. But Holloman guarded him for several
stretches, playing 14 minutes of dogged defense. He missed his only shot attempt — a step-back 3 off the dribble late in the shot clock, which, you could tell, Holloman was happy to shoot and glad the situation arose. He doesn’t get many of those opportunities. The reason he’s on the floor is that he never pulls the trigger when it’s not the right shot.
Jaxon Kohler had six rebounds and missed all three of his shots when the game was in doubt (he finished 1-for-4), a couple of them again on nifty moves in the post. He’s just not connecting. I still think it’ll come. It’s a big part
of his game. We just haven’t seen it yet this season.
Carson Cooper had an eventual first-half stretch — a steal that led to a fast-break layup (Pierre Brooks on a pass from Holloman) and then he gave up a bucket and a foul at the rim one possession later. Cooper, at this stage, would be better off making the foul count. Right now, he’s not strong enough to prevent the basket without fouling, but often makes too much contact in the process.