Couch: Malik Hall 'hit a wall' and then plowed through it Sunday. His play is directly tied to MSU's fortunes.
Graham Couch
EAST LANSING – Malik Hall was THAT DUDE again Sunday. You know, that dude we saw in just about every game from mid-January to mid-February. That dude who put away Wisconsin in Madison, who beat Maryland at the buzzer the first time. That dude who was becoming Michigan State’s go-to guy until, all of sudden, he wasn’t.
“I kind of hit a wall,” Hall said.
MSU didn’t beat the Terrapins on Sunday because Hall plowed through that wall and took over for a brief stretch. But Hall slammed the door on Maryland’s comeback attempt with seven straight points, just after Maryland’s Fatts Russell stole the ball and laid it in to cut the margin to eight points with nearly five minutes left.
MSU is so much better when Hall is a factor offensively. It’s less volume than when he scores and the skill set he brings. In terms of creating his own shot and offensive versatility, Hall stands alone right now on this MSU roster.
We saw all of it Sunday. The turnaround post-jumper. The aggressive offensive rebound, shucking aside Maryland’s Xavier Green, before scoring on a reverse layup. The shake move, the drive, and the spin before elevating and banking the ball in off the glass while being fouled. Just like that, it was 75-62. Game over.
It had been a while since he’d impacted a game like that. He scored 17 points at Iowa in a blowout loss, but otherwise had just 14 combined points in the five previous games before he scored 17 again Sunday.
The low point for Hall came Thursday at Ohio State, as poor a performance as I’ve seen from him. It left the coaches bewildered and head coach Tom Izzo calling out his effort.
“There were a lot of conversations (between us),” Izzo said of the two days between Thursday night and Sunday’s game against Maryland. “Lot of phone (calls), texts, and one early morning meeting.
“I'm not stupid,” Izzo continued. “At least most of the time. If I am pushing somebody, I know he's got a lot to give. I'm not trying to get Steven (Izzo) to score 30 points. I'm just trying to … I have a lot of respect, a lot of admiration and a lot of confidence in Malik Hall. I think sometimes he doesn't have that. And so if I just let it go, he's going to be average. And if I don't, he's going to be mad at me. So, you know, it's a tough thing to deal with.”
The conversations, Hall said, were largely about his play, his leadership and how he has more to offer MSU’s team than he’s been giving.
There is a correlation between Hall’s output and MSU’s outcomes. He’s averaged 11.6 points in the Spartans’ 20 wins and 6.2 in their 11 defeats. In wins, he attempts 7.4 shots per game on average. Still too few. But in losses that dips to 4.9. Think about that — the player that has been MSU’s go-to choice offensively in the most consequential moments of this season, more than any other player, is taking fewer than five shots per game when MSU loses.
“I think I saw something that I was like 4-for-14 in the last five games (other than the Iowa game),” Hall said.
You’re welcome, Malik. Thank you for reading.
“And I just realized,” he continued, “we're not going to play as well and we're not going be as good a team if I'm not doing well.”
The coaches have told him they need him to score. But they also need him to lead — with his voice and with his game.
“That's really been me and Coach's stressor the whole year,” Hall said. “He’s been like, ‘Hey, your voice matters and what you have to say, like you pick up on things that other people might not pick up on, and when you talk, people are going to listen.’ … That’s something he’s stressed to me, especially over the last couple of days.
“I definitely believe in myself and I think I'm capable of all the things that he's talking about.”
Getting Malik Hall to play like he believes he’s that player and that guy — that dude — has been another matter. He’s dealt with an ankle injury and been nicked up most of the season, though he says that’s not limiting him. It’s mindset that he’s battling. And for a player that’s never been an offensive force or go-to guy in his career at any level, it doesn’t come naturally.
He’s also not the point guard or the clear star to the point that MSU is going to run its offense through him. Hall hasn’t earned that or shown that sort of talent separation from his teammates. He’s shown he can be a go-to guy in big moments, but not every moment. So, for him, it’s fitting in and picking his spots.
“It’s a read your options and then go and attack and be aggressive,” he said.
The more often, the better. He might not have Grant Hill’s first step, but Hall can get to the bucket against most players defending him. And he’s got the strength and skill and mid-move adaptability to score off the bounce. He’s also got the outside shot to punish inattentive defenses. He credits associate head coach Dwayne Stephens — his “shot doctor” — for hitting a Big Ten-leading 48% of his 3-point shots this season, even if at 1.9 attempted per game, he doesn’t quite qualify for the league lead. Again, he should probably shoot more.
All of those attributes matter when MSU’s offense stalls or, like Sunday, when the other team is breathing down the Spartans’ neck.
“When I was younger, and when I was freshman, those are the moments where Cassius (Winston) would take over the game,” Hall said. “And just watching that as I was younger and (Winston and Xavier Tillman) being the leaders and the upperclassmen on our team, watching them take control is just something that (I could do).”
Hall said that with a caveat, that he tries to take over “if somebody else isn’t getting going.”
“We have so many different people on our team that, on any given night …”
The problem for this team is that on any given night, "so many different people" turns out to be nobody. Or not enough bodies. To get anywhere in college basketball, coaches will tell you, you have to have three guys rolling. It’s hard for MSU to get to three if Hall isn’t one of them. Again, it’s no coincidence that MSU went 1-4 in those five recent games where he essentially disappeared offensively.
Hall’s swings can be tough for his teammates to read. He doesn’t wear his emotions the way some others do. He can be fired up without looking like it or struggling without that being clear.
“Malik, he's a mellow dude, man,” senior Marcus Bingham Jr. said. “He's not too up or too down. So even when he's having (tough) stretches like he had the last couple games, he’s kind of (got) the same (demeanor). All I can really tell him is, we’ve got his back and if you need anything, he can ask me. … My job as a teammate and upperclassmen is to cheer him on and get him out of whatever type of headspace he's in. I'm just trying to tell him to keep going, next play, the next play. Not let the play he messed up on dictate his night. I think he's gonna be a helluva player.”
Can a mellow dude also be THAT DUDE? MSU’s team this season and next is counting on it.
MORE: 'Hell of a place to be': Tom Izzo reflects on becoming the winningest Big Ten basketball coach ever
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.