Let Nix Be Fat

At the beginning of last season, everyone talked about how much weight Derrick Nix lost.  Then throughout the season he gained it all back and more.  Through two games this year I'm hearing the same talk again.  I don't care about his weight.  Let him be fat.

It's obvious that all the focus in the offseason is on Nix losing weight instead of improving his basketball game.  He has the quickest feet of any big man I've seen in a while.  In his third season he should be a dominant force inside pairing with Adreian Payne and Draymond Green to be the most dominating front court in the nation.  Instead he still needs to work on fundamentals like catching the ball and finishing inside.  Let him be fat.

Last year Nix became upset due to a lack of playing time early in the season.  I think that he felt he was entitled to playing time simply because he lost weight.  He expected to all of a sudden be great since he had lost weight.  When that didn't happen, he got upset and began putting weight back on.  Let him be fat.  Once the focus is off of his weight, he can become the force down low that he should.

I don't care that MSU lost to UNC and Duke.  Parts of the game were bad, but they were to be expected.  When Delvon Roe retired the team lost a big part of what little they had returning.  This team will get good.  The faster Travis Trice learns the offense, the faster this team will be good.  Keith Appling is a dangerous player with the ball in his hands, but he is not a point guard.  At least he's not a point guard in the way that Tom Izzo wants him to be a point guard.

Appling would be best as a Kemba Walker type point guard.  He is the better than anyone at getting to the basket and finishing.  Given time, you will see that.  The problem is that he still has to run a Tom Izzo offense.  That doesn't mesh with his style.  He does fit perfectly as a two-guard in Tom Izzo's offense.  As other players start to step up, like Brandon Wood and Branden Dawson, Draymond Green won't feel he has to do everything.

It's only going to get better for a team that is better than I expected coming in to the season.  By the end of the season I expect Travis Trice to be the point guard with Appling, Wood, Dawson, and Green getting back to the old days where any if not all of them would score 15 a night.  And hopefully Derrick Nix will be well over 300 and dominating the low post.  Let Nix be fat.