Room For Improvement

Michigan State (MSU) starting point Keith Appling led his team in both points and assists during his junior campaign last season. For most, this seems like quite an accomplished feat worth noting. For Appling, however, this is far from enough. For Michigan State to be a serious contender and make a run at the 2014 Final Four in Arlington (TX), Appling, I believe, needs to carry his game to the next level more than any other senior basketball player in the BIG Conference.

Spartan head coach Tom Izzo has made a living assisting decent point guards in becoming MSU legends as well as fan favorites. During the 2012-2013 season, Appling averaged 13.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per contest while serving as Izzo's point guard. These are very respectable numbers, and there is a greater number out there who would love to be able to put up such statistics on a division one college basketball team. But for the (co-) captain of the Spartans, these numbers represent mediocrity at best. If he wants to be compared to the likes of his predeccesors before him, he must learn to do what it takes to lead his team to a final four just as Mateen Cleaves, Drew Neitzel, and Kalin Lucas each did. If next season's Appling-led Spartans fail to reach Arlington, the 6'1, 190 pound point guard will be the first four-year player ever under head coach Tom Izzo to not reach a final four. One major factor separating Appling from the likes of the point guards who came before him is that he, unlike Cleaves, Neitzel, and Lucas, often fades in big-game situations.

With the exception of an early victory over Kansas and a double digit win over barely ranked Wisconsin, Appling was not at his best when his best was needed against top competition last season. Even when Sparty mopped inner-state rival Michigan off court with a 75-52 win at the Breslin in February, Appling still only scored 11 points on 14 shots and dished out only one assist. He shot a distressed 28.6% from the field, 16.% from three point rage, and 40% from the charity stripe. The Izzone, MSU's highly touted student section, clearly paid more attention to the score than Appling's numbers as they controversially shouted in unison, "Appling's better!" This bold yet mindless statement referred to the on-going comparisons between Appling and last season's Naismith Award winner and current member of the Utah Jazz, Trey Burke. Though I too was cheering for the Spartan guard in that game, I am not willing to lose my credibility by blindly deeming Appling the better of the two floor generals.

Burke usually showed up when it mattered, as evident by the distinct reality that he took his team to the NCAA championship. Appling can't say the same. In two games against the BIG champion Indiana Hoosiers (IU), he scored only nine points and nearly matched that number with six turnovers. After struggling against IU, Appling then scored only three points and had one lone assist against the always tough Ohio State Buckeyes. Later in the rematch against the Wolverines, he scored in single digits yet again with 9 points and was pick-pocketed ( in the final seconds of the game) by Burke, who managed to score the winning layup for Michigan as he stole not only the ball but also the game for the maize and blue. This play, I believe, solidified Burke's superiority over Appling. Unforuntately for Spartan fans, it got worse.

MSU basketball fans also know March Madness as the month of Tom Izzo. Izzo consistently has his guys ready come tournament time. For some reason, that was not the case for Appling who scored only two points in 28 minutes in the team's second round victory over Memphis, and had not a single assist in the sweet 16 loss to a better, more disciplined Duke Blue Devils team. He is the starting point guard. He is the captain. For a team's leader and point guard to not manage a single assist against the Blue Devils in a win-or-go-home situation is completely unacceptable for Spartan Nation.

The fact of the matter is Appling has been a good point thus far in his three seasons played under coach Izzo. Good, however, does not suffice for a program with championship level aspirations. In comparison to the guys who came before him, Appling has been mediocre at best. When Appling scored 49 points in the high school basketball state championship game to conclude his junior season at Detroit Pershing High School in 2009, the bar was immediately set higher than most can reach. Expectations sky-rocketed following that performance, and many thought Appling would be among the nation's top PG's.

Inconsistent shooting and turnovers remain Appling's achilles heel, however, and have hindered him from being honored among the game's elite. His turnover average has not declined at all since his sophomore season. Appling's assist to turnover ratio from the past two seasons is at 3.6 assists to 2.3 turnovers a game, which is hardly impressive given the expectations that dawn on him. Equally unimpressive was his 41% shooting from the field last season, and his 28.5% from three point range over the last two seasons. Appling's free throw percentage from last season (74.9%) also warrants public criticism.

If next season is to be the year of the Sparty, such numbers will have to climb. In fact, everything about Appling's game will have to trend in an uphill manner. With Derrick Nix now gone, Appling has to make his presence felt as the leader. His shooting needs to improve, but there will surely be games where he struggles from outside. It will be in those games that his legacy will be unfolded, revealed. It will be then that Spartan fans either celebrate or scrutinize, and find out if their man is capable of carrying the torch. It will be then that Appling's intangibles, leadership, and grit must emerge. It will be then, in the big games, when his shot might feel rusty, that Keith Appling must find a way to get it done.