MSU freshmen excelling on offense, learning defense
STARKVILLE – A month into their careers at Mississippi State, highly touted freshmen Malik Newman and Quinndary Weatherspoon have hit the ground running offensively.
Newman is one of five Bulldogs averaging double figures. Weatherspoon won the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week with a 16-point performance on a 6 of 6 shooting night on Nov. 28 in a win against UT-Martin.
Defensively, they’re still coming along.
“Two of our top five players in the backcourt are freshmen, who are learning about defense for the first time,” coach Ben Howland said. “They’re going to play. I’m not going to stop playing Malik and Q because they need to go so far defensively. We need them to grow as players.”
Weatherspoon played four years of zone in high school at Velma Jackson. He took the first charge of his career during the team’s trip in the Puerto Rico Tip-off. The defensive stop caused Weatherspoon’s coach to send the freshman a congratulatory text.
“I’m trying to make the transition from zone to man,” Weatherspoon said. “But I know it wasn’t going to be easy because I’m playing against better athletes. I know it’s hard to stay in front of people. And with the new rules you can’t really touch anybody. You really can’t do much. It’s really hard.”
Weatherspoon has 16 fouls in 135 minutes this season. That’s an average of one foul every 8.4 minutes, which is second-highest on the team of any player with at least 100 minutes of playing time.
Newman has been better in terms of defending without fouling, averaging one every 12.6 minutes of play.
“Q started his first game of his career (against Texas Southern) and you can see where he’s gotta get better is on the defensive end of the floor,” Howland said. “He’s fine on the offensive end, but defensively, he kept getting driven, beat and making mistakes.”
Weatherspoon highlighted help defense as the biggest obstacle in the transition to man defense.
In one sequence in Mississippi State’s win against Texas Southern, Newman recovered late to a player in the corner. The player then drove by Newman and forced a foul out of Weatherspoon.
“They have no idea what it’s going to be like at this level and the next level and how important it is and how much more accountability it is just all the little things that go into it,” Howland said.
Earlier in the game, Weatherspoon recovered beautifully from the help line to swat a shot from the corner. Newman’s first points of the game came off of a steal and a layup.
The McDonald’s All-American finished with two steals against Texas Southern.
“The people are bigger, faster, stronger; they’re smarter. It’s just really a mind thing,” Newman said. “It’s up to us. If we’re going to guard, we’re going to guard.”
Howland compared MSU’s five-star freshman to one he coached at UCLA. Shabazz Muhammad missed the Bruins’ scrimmage, exhibition and first three games of the 2012-13 season.
Newman missed MSU’s scrimmage, exhibition and season opener with a turf toe injury.
“(Muhammad) was really, really lacking defensively coming into the game, initially. He had to get better and he got it because now it’s on film. Now it’s on TV,” Howland said. “By missing all that time early, it really hurt (Newman) from the standpoint of growth and experience. Now he’s thrown right in the fire.”
Mississippi State’s freshmen join the entire team looking to improve defensively. The Bulldogs have allowed all seven opponents to shoot at least 40 percent from the field. They’ve held one opponent below 70 points.
“It’s a process,” Newman said. “I think we’re moving at a good pace right now.”
Contact Michael Bonner at mbonner@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @MikeBBonner on Twitter.