Share This Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about
Facebook Email Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Michigan State basketball needs Aaron Henry to take shots, not hesitate Aaron Henry hit a 3-pointer, but the Michigan State freshman hesitantly looked for his shot and struggled with turnovers
Post to Facebook Michigan State basketball needs Aaron Henry to take shots, not hesitate Aaron Henry hit a 3-pointer, but the Michigan State freshman hesitantly looked for his shot and struggled with turnovers Check out this story on Freep.com: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/spartans/2019/03/03/michigan-state-basketball-aaron-henry-shooting/3050597002/ Cancel Send Sent! A link has been sent to your friend's email address.
Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.
Join the Conversation To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs
Comments This conversation is moderated according to USA TODAY's community rules . Please read the rules before joining the discussion.
Michigan State basketball needs Aaron Henry to take shots, not hesitate Chris Solari , Detroit Free Press Published 5:51 p.m. ET March 3, 2019 | Updated 7:10 p.m. ET March 3, 2019 CLOSE Michigan State's Tom Izzo: 'It's a shame ... we ran out of gas,' in 63-62 loss at Indiana, March 2, 2019. Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press
CONNECT TWEET LINKEDIN COMMENT EMAIL MORE BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In the moment, Aaron Henry felt free.
He caught the cross-court pass from Cassius Winston, loaded up and fired. His left hand stayed in the follow-through as the ball swished through the net.
“It was good. Relieving,” Henry recalled. “The pressure was on me, but it was a good shot. And I knocked it down. I just wasn’t thinking when I shot that.”
It was one of the few times Saturday the Michigan State guard believed he did what he’s always done as a basketball player — making a play when called upon.
Henry, though, spent much of his homecoming in his own head with the ball in his hands as his sixth-ranked Spartans lost to Indiana, 63-62.
Michigan State's Aaron Henry reacts to a call during a game against Indiana, Saturday, March 2, 2019, in Bloomington, Ind. (Photo: Doug McSchooler, AP)
The 6-foot-6 swingman made 3 of 8 shots but bypassed a number of other open looks, both from the perimeter and well inside the arc. Henry finished with seven points and six rebounds — though two baskets and four boards came during the first 4 minutes of the game.
“I was trying to hold my weight and do what I’m supposed to do to win, take care of my seniors,” the Indianapolis native said of his hot start. “This was their last time playing at IU, last few games coming up, and I just want to send them out right, because I know I would want people to do the same for me if I was a senior.”
MSU coach Tom Izzo also gave Henry the defensive assignment of guarding his homestate nemesis Romeo Langford, and Henry helped hold the Hoosiers’ star guard to nine points and four rebounds on 4 of 14 shooting.
That defense pleased Izzo. But Henry’s offensive hesitance also frustrated the Hall of Fame coach.
“When you look at job we did on (Langford), he had him a lot. I can’t ask much more out of him than that,” Izzo said. “Yeah, he struggled a little bit. He’s not a shooter. He’s gotta spend more time on it. He’s gotta take it from liking the game to loving the game. And he’s gotta live the game.
“If he wants to do that, he’ll be a hell of a player. If he doesn’t want to do that, we’ll replace him. Pretty simple. It’s the same with every guy.”
Indiana's Romeo Langford is trapped by Michigan State's Aaron Henry, Saturday, March 2, 2019, in Bloomington, Ind. (Photo: Doug McSchooler, AP)
Izzo admitted previously that Henry has been thrust into a much larger role as a rookie due to the loss of junior guard Joshua Langford to a foot injury for the rest of the season. Henry has produced inconsistently, as expected, in the 16 games since MSU lost Langford.
Henry has started 12 of those games and is averaging 5.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and is shooting 50.7 percent (35 of 69) in 22.5 minutes a game. He is just 3 of 13 from 3-point range — Saturday was his first 3-pointer since Jan. 17 at Nebraska — and has committed 26 turnovers in the past 16 games.
“Overthinking turns into indecisiveness and not knowing what I want to do,” Henry said. “Usually the first thing I want to do is go make a play or shoot the ball, because that’s what I do. The offense is running through Cassius or Kenny (Goins), the pick-and-pop stuff are going through X (Xavier Tillman) and (Matt) McQuaid, it seems like I should be deferring to them, I shouldn’t be taking over.
“Maybe that’s where my turnovers are coming from. Maybe I should look for my shot. That’s something I gotta talk to coach about, maybe just ask him before I just turn the ball over — ‘What should I do here?’ Just simple film stuff I can correct.”
In MSU’s four Big Ten losses, Henry is 8 for 21 shooting (38.1 percent), averaging 4.3 points and 3.8 rebounds with 13 turnovers. He played 30-plus minutes in all but the loss to Illinois, including a career-high 34 against the Hoosiers on Saturday with Kyle Ahrens’ back injury flaring up and rendering him ineffective.
“When we couldn’t play Kyle, we had to keep Aaron in there. We know he’s not as good a shooter as Kyle,” Izzo said. “But I mean, I don’t know, we’re gonna come up with some magic tricks, bring Shawn Respect back. I don’t know.
“I know one thing: We aren’t dead yet. We lost a game to a team that’s been playing better. We lost a game we played well enough to win by 10 points. Give them credit, they came back and won it. But I thought we deserved to win that game in most ways.”
More: Michigan State's Big Ten title hopes crumble with loss at Indiana
More: Michigan State basketball's calculated risk fails against Indiana
More: Michigan, MSU can stay in Big Ten hunt if Purdue loses: Here are the odds
Izzo said improving as a shooter can be done from getting reps in the offseason, not with two games left in the regular season starting Tuesday against Nebraska (7 p.m./ESPN2). For now — especially if Ahrens does end up missing the rest of the season — MSU needs Henry to become more aggressive attacking the basket and take his open jump shot opportunities, especially with opponents sending more double-teams at Winston.
“Aaron’s gotta get better. He’s gotta get better,” Izzo said. “I'll tell you what, Aaron Henry has a chance to be one hell of a player, because he’s athletic, he can guard already, he’s got a body that's strong. There's just a lot of things he can do. He has to improve his shooting — I've had a million guys that have had to do that and have done that.”
Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari . Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter .
CONNECT TWEET LINKEDIN COMMENT EMAIL MORE Share your feedback to help improve our site experience! More Stories U-M earns best road win of season at Maryland, 69-62 March 3, 2019, 9:41 p.m. Pistons rally past Raptors in OT, grab 6th seed in East March 3, 2019, 10:35 p.m. Tigers' Norris lost for answers after latest struggle March 3, 2019, 8:33 p.m. Gary, Bush run scorching 40 times at combine March 3, 2019, 5:02 p.m. This is what Michigan State needs from Aaron Henry March 3, 2019, 7:10 p.m. Ex-U-M basketball player shot, killed in Boston March 3, 2019, 1:49 p.m.
