Help me out. Nearly every post about next year's team shows Scotty not starting and usually Babb & Allen both starting. Often this is stated as a given. I am a big Scotty fan! I probably saw Babb & Allen play, but have no recollection of either. So, looking at the stats that are available, plus my own bias, it seems to me Scotty has a very good shot at starting, even if he does not improve. (I'm confident he will continue to improve.) Here are the figures:
Scotty: 35.2 min/gm; Shooting - 132-300 44% 3-pt-75-166 45.2% FT-29-36 80.6%; 3.1 rb/gm; 57 asst/41 TO; 18 steals; 14.2 pt/gm; 40 consecutive games with a 3-pt made.
Allen 2009/10 @Mich St - Started 27 games and averaged 8.2 points to help the Spartans reach their second consecutive Final Four...led the team in 3-pointers made with 53, connecting on 39.8 percent of his shots from downtown...averaged 2.8 rebounds and was third on the team in assists with 73...scored a career-high 22 points vs. Valparaiso and had 21 points vs. Purdue...had 15 double-digit scoring efforts...tallied six games with four 3-pointers...ended his Michigan State career with the 10th-most 3-pointers made in Spartan history with 141.
Babb 2009/10 @PS - averaging 9.3 points and 3.2 rebounds...was third on the team in assists (69) and steals (22)...made the second-most 3-pointers on the team, hitting 69-of-185 (37.3 percent) from beyond the arc...led the team at the free-throw line, making 81.6 percent of his foul shots (40-49 FT)...finished strong, making 48.8 percent from 3-point range (21-43 3FG) in his last seven games...had nine games with four or more treys...averaged 10.2 points while starting all 18 Big Ten games...posted a career-high 20 points in an 81-70 win at Northwestern.
Scotty continues to score 5-6 points higher than either Allen or Babb did. He is targeted by the opposing coach every game and has someone chasing him throughout. He gets little rest, so he may not have fresh legs, yet is hitting a higher % of his 3s while shooting more this year than the other 2 did combined. He should end the year with @as many assists as Allen had. His defense is faulted. There aren't many stats, but he should end the year with as many, if not more, steals than Babb had last year. (BTW we already have 4 players with 22+ steals so far this year. 22 for the year is not an impressive indicator of defensive skill.)
My bottom line is, I like his chances of starting. He's tough, a hell of a competitor and a terrific 3-point shooter. Babb and/or Allen may end up starting over Scotty, but it's certainly not a given, unless one's playing point. If they do, that's a good thing. It will show we have improved our talent greatly over this year, since we really have no one competing for playing time with Scotty this year.
Scotty: 35.2 min/gm; Shooting - 132-300 44% 3-pt-75-166 45.2% FT-29-36 80.6%; 3.1 rb/gm; 57 asst/41 TO; 18 steals; 14.2 pt/gm; 40 consecutive games with a 3-pt made.
Allen 2009/10 @Mich St - Started 27 games and averaged 8.2 points to help the Spartans reach their second consecutive Final Four...led the team in 3-pointers made with 53, connecting on 39.8 percent of his shots from downtown...averaged 2.8 rebounds and was third on the team in assists with 73...scored a career-high 22 points vs. Valparaiso and had 21 points vs. Purdue...had 15 double-digit scoring efforts...tallied six games with four 3-pointers...ended his Michigan State career with the 10th-most 3-pointers made in Spartan history with 141.
Babb 2009/10 @PS - averaging 9.3 points and 3.2 rebounds...was third on the team in assists (69) and steals (22)...made the second-most 3-pointers on the team, hitting 69-of-185 (37.3 percent) from beyond the arc...led the team at the free-throw line, making 81.6 percent of his foul shots (40-49 FT)...finished strong, making 48.8 percent from 3-point range (21-43 3FG) in his last seven games...had nine games with four or more treys...averaged 10.2 points while starting all 18 Big Ten games...posted a career-high 20 points in an 81-70 win at Northwestern.
Scotty continues to score 5-6 points higher than either Allen or Babb did. He is targeted by the opposing coach every game and has someone chasing him throughout. He gets little rest, so he may not have fresh legs, yet is hitting a higher % of his 3s while shooting more this year than the other 2 did combined. He should end the year with @as many assists as Allen had. His defense is faulted. There aren't many stats, but he should end the year with as many, if not more, steals than Babb had last year. (BTW we already have 4 players with 22+ steals so far this year. 22 for the year is not an impressive indicator of defensive skill.)
My bottom line is, I like his chances of starting. He's tough, a hell of a competitor and a terrific 3-point shooter. Babb and/or Allen may end up starting over Scotty, but it's certainly not a given, unless one's playing point. If they do, that's a good thing. It will show we have improved our talent greatly over this year, since we really have no one competing for playing time with Scotty this year.
