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Welcome to The Final Four Is Not on the Schedule discussion board. A forum for the serious and casual MSU fan. Opinions welcome – stay respectful.
I think this season is one of the hardest I can remember for predicting a leading scorer. Main returners would be:
Hall 8.9 ppg, 21.7 mpg
Walker 8.2 ppg, 22.6 mpg
Hauser 7.3 ppg, 22.2 mpg
Hoggard 7.0 ppg, 20.2 mpg
Akins 3.4 ppg, 14.8 mpg
As a numbers guy, I think Hall will likely play more minutes if him and Joey are going to be on the court at the same time, and is already the statistical leader, so I think he’s a very good pick.
I think Hoggard will have the ball in his hands a lot more, and I also think this will be his best season yet as a Spartan, so I believe he’s a pretty good pick as well.
And then I am being perfectly honest when I say I could easily see the leading scorer be Hauser, Walker, or Akins.
Lastly, I think you’d have to at least consider Jaxon Kohler as a person with a very small chance to be leading scorer. He has so many weapons in his arsenal, and his three point shot is robotic in my opinion. I think he could light it up some nights for sure.
Would love to hear input!
Hoggard and Hall need to be in mid double digits IMO
Very difficult to call it at this point. Gun to my head, I’d be inclined to go with a guard, most likely Hoggard or Akins.
Tough choice and anybody's best guess, but I'll say Walker. He became comfortable with his own shot down the stretch and probably more so became comfortable not having to pass first. He showed he could get the tough bucket when a bucket is really needed and, although a small sample size, he's essentially our only proven guy to lean on down the stretch (or at least at this point). So, even if he doesn't start, I think he'll get his opportunities to pull us out of inevitable scoring droughts (or, hopefully, prevent them from happening) and I think he'll get his minutes down the stretch and do so with the rock oft-finding his hands.
Kindness is free.
@houseizzorockin I think he has the game to do that. The question is, as it was last season, does he consistently have the *mindset*?
I would be surprised if it’s not like last year where there may be a high scorer but the highest scorer in any one game will probably be one of five players. I suspect he will average a touch over 12 a game whoever it is.
I will go with Akins just because he will have starter minutes and a number of ways to hurt opposing teams. His versatility in the open floor, getting midrange and to the rim, and 3s will make him a hard cover and probably get him over 10 a game.
I just don’t see Hall having the killer mentality from start to finish of the season otherwise he would be my choice.
If AJ's shot is improved as we are being told, I think there's a pretty good chance he'll be the leading scorer. I don't think it will be a super high number, though (14-15ppg).
@spartanmike This seems likely unless someone else on the team improves a bit and becomes a 1st team All BIG player. I could see something similar to the last couple years with 4/5 players around the 10 ppg mark.
I went to one day of MoneyBall and am not confident that AJ's shot will be improved enough for it to make a big difference with his scoring. Proof will be in the pudding though.
@elarson284568176374567 I've heard/read differing opinions on his shot from Moneyball. In the little bit of footage I've seen, the stroke looks a little smoother, but as we all know, making judgments from Moneyball is often a fool's errand.
Going to need Malik to be consistent and need Hauser to be consistent as well. Going to need one or both of these guys to be 10 pts/game minumum. Cannot count on any consistent production from the center position. If Hauser can continue momentum from last stretch of 2022 and replicate even 25% of the Davidson performance on a consistent basis will help obviously help with scoring production from Akins, Hoggard
I know this kinda side steps the question but I think we're at our best when Walker is scoring consistently. I think it'd be very good for our record if he could average around 13 a game.
Boy... if Tyson Walker has accepted that he needs to take more of those open looks, I would lean towards him. He also has the ability to score points in bunches which can take him from being the third leading scorer of a game and 5 minutes later he is the leading scorer.
Hall is going to get every opportunity to be the leading scorer for sure, the question as always with him comes down to his willingness to take over.
@plavey25 I agree completely re Tyson. My question with him is, does he have the mindset to be that guy consistently? If he believes he’s the baddest man on the court, I think he actually *can* be exactly that much of the time.
@rodmsu1968 You have to think that after a year in the program and hearing over and over that he needs to be more assertive and take those looks, then how could he not feel more confident in that role? I would show him that second half against Illinois at the Breslin over and over and over until it sinks in.
Just as I would show AJ Hoggard the Purdue game at the Breslin where he locked down a top 5 pick in Jaden Ivey and ran the transition game like it was circa 2001.