Michigan State mailbag: When will Spartans play basketball again? Mel Tucker's biggest need

Michigan State basketball is not on pause, but the Spartans also aren’t playing any games.

Such is the conundrum of this season.

As coach Tom Izzo and his staff work with players who are not under COVID-19 restrictions, MSU must wait for the four who have the virus before returning to competition. It has wiped out three games the past two weeks, with the Spartans’ next opportunity to play coming Thursday at Rutgers — which would be 20 days since their last game, a 55-54 home loss to Purdue on Jan. 8.

This leaves the team in limbo, as well as fans and those covering the team. But the long pause is the perfect time for the return of the MSU mailbag.

As always, you can send me your questions via email (csolari@freepress.com) or on Twitter (@chrissolari). The mailbag is weekly during football season but gets more infrequent during winter due to the scattershot nature of basketball schedules — when games are not called off, that is.

When is the next game? Serious question. Thanks! – @John_Caldwell

Perhaps the biggest unanswered one in the moment. It appears the Spartans are on track to make the trip Thursday to Rutgers for a 7 p.m. tipoff. No new cases have been announced since walk-on Davis Smith on Sunday became the fourth player in a week to test positive for COVID-19 along with two others within the program (including graduate manager Tum Tum Nairn). Mady Sissoko’s positive test Jan. 10 started the string of postponements that included games at Iowa and at home against Indiana and Illinois, and the freshman would be eligible to return if MSU travels to Rutgers — if he is cleared following the Big Ten mandated 17-day removal from competition.

Yet as we learned when the Iowa game got postponed shortly before the Spartans were about to board a plane, or after MSU traveled to Virginia in early December but had the game called off while they were in their hotel less than 24 hours before tipoff, what is true right now does not mean it will be in a few days. And that doesn’t even mean it could be due to the Spartans’ current issues, as teams around the conference remain watchful to ensure they too don’t have a team-wide virus spread.

I’m just wondering how the morale is doing in the basketball program. Even in high school athletics, I can’t imagine having to halt everything mid-season for multiple weeks. Division I college basketball? It’s not just our guys, but it’s still unthinkably difficult. – @LWOSVanHouten

Frustrated but understanding seems to be what I can gauge, though in normal years we would have a better grasp on the players’ and coaches’ mindset with how openly Izzo runs his program. He spent all summer and fall talking with parents and players about how to proceed this winter, and used the early part of the season to get a number of guys playing time in case of an outbreak. Each of the Spartans we have talked to this winter knew an outbreak potentially could limit the roster or wipe out games. That doesn’t make it easy to have to eschew team practices, and Izzo said MSU could potentially end up facing more of an NBA-style schedule to shoehorn in the postponed games over the next two months. Unless …

Do you think there's a chance the NCAA tournament gets pushed back to allow all of the players to be vaccinated beforehand? – @MitchBeeee

Anything and everything with scheduling around the country remains in play, short of calling off the NCAAs for a second straight year. That financially cannot happen, and it seems like it would take significant spikes or catastrophes for that call to be made again. I could see the Big Ten doing one of two things: Either calling off its postseason tournament or moving it from Chicago to Indianapolis as a dry run for the NCAAs and because there are fewer COVID cases and restrictions in Indiana. The NCAA’s decision to shift to a single-site event makes the most logical and logistical sense this spring, and I would imagine last year’s cancellation provided better ability to create on-the-fly contingency plans that would have been impossible in the early days of the pandemic with all the unknowns at that point. As for potential for vaccinating players, that sure seems it would not happen until vulnerable and vital individuals get it first. While Izzo said the timeline is up to the virus for how competition goes, vaccinating a larger swath of the public will be determined by the ability to mass produce and distribute the shots in the coming weeks and months.

HOPEFUL: Tom Izzo cautious but thinks Big Ten, NCAA tourneys will go on

TOUGH TASK: Michigan State 'fighting an invisible foe' in COVID-19 postponements

With the basketball team, do you think our defense or offense has more room to grow? When will we have an idea of this team's identity? – @dmzande

Offense. So much work remains in figuring out the point guard and power forward/center spots, and consistent scoring during Big Ten play remains an issue. The win over Rutgers on Jan. 5 (remember that?) showed how well this team can guard collectively when focused. The Spartans are 12th in the league averaging 67.2 points in Big Ten play, and scored a season-low in the Purdue loss. Getting Rocket Watts and Joey Hauser going is a priority during the time off.

Of the recent MSU incoming transfers, who isn’t eligible right away for the upcoming season, if anyone? – @RyanJaquith

All of them are eligible with the NCAA’s blanket transfer waiver this season.

What’s the biggest position of need that Mel Tucker needs to shore up this offseason? Sorry, out of season. – @SandPCarl

Solid nod to Tucker’s preferred terminology, which means he never believes there is a time off from football. Obviously quarterback and running back on offense are the two biggest question marks, particularly with the transfers who have arrived. On defense figuring out who replaces Antjuan Simmons remains the top priority, followed closely behind by shoring up the secondary. Tucker brings an NFL mindset — that has shifted with spread offenses — of building from the back of the defense forward, so that places emphasis on replacing Shakur Brown at cornerback and stabilizing the fifth defensive back spot Angelo Grose occupied late in the season.

ROSTER: Michigan State C Matt Allen returning as Mel Tucker overhaul continues

OFFENSE: Michigan State must score — a lot more — to climb to top of Big Ten

Has this fall's football schedule been finalized yet? – @JohnZittel

Yes and no. MSU’s 2021 schedule has been set for a few years, opening at Northwestern on Sept. 4, with nonconference games at home Sept. 11 vs. Youngstown State, Sept. 18 at Miami, and home Oct. 2 against Western Kentucky. However, as we witnessed last summer, that can change if COVID-19 remains a significant issue with travel and dissimilar testing protocols. Check back later this spring to see where we are as a country before booking travel plans.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MSU mailbag: When will Spartans play basketball, football next?