GREEN & WHITE BASKETBALL

Michigan State PG Cassius Winston takes on mentor role for Foster Loyer

Phil Friend
Lansing State Journal
Team Quicksilver and Michigan State guard Cassius Winston lays in a basket on Thursday, June 28, 2018, during a Moneyball Pro-Am summer basketball league game at Aim High in Dimondale.

DIMONDALE — Just like the TV show, "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" the points don't matter when it comes to the Moneyball Pro-Am at Aim High.

So ultimately, when it comes to gauging the progress of Michigan State's men's basketball players, everything is taken with a grain of salt. And that was probably more the case in Thursday night's final game, which saw the Spartans' two point guards — starter Cassius Winston and expected backup Foster Loyer — go head-to-head.

Anyone hoping to see them go at one another for the full 36 minutes was sorely disappointed. There were very few mano-a-mano, isolation plays. In fact, they combined to guard one another no more than a handful of times, and most of those came on defensive switches.

Loyer played very little point guard on Thursday night, finishing with eight points on 4 of 9 shooting and dishing out four assists while missing both of his 3-point attempts.

Winston, on the other hand, handled the ball like the point guard he is and put on a show. He lit up the gym for 50 points on 18 of 36 shooting, including 8 of 19 from 3-point land. 

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Winston also tallied 10 assists for good measure.

"It is a Moneyball setting, it's a lot different out here," Winston said. "In practice, (Loyer) handles the ball, he's got his team organized. He's a great player and a good point guard."

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There isn't much Loyer has to prove on the Moneyball courts, anyway. He did it time and time again as a high school player at Clarkston, averaging more than 27 points per game in leading his school to back-to-back Class A state titles and winning Mr. Basketball.

The 170-pound Loyer has spent the summer getting acclimated with the Spartans, and Winston in particular. They both have the ability to play off the ball, with Winston (6-0, 185 pounds) perhaps a little more preferred in that spot due to superior height and weight. 

Team Gold's Foster Loyer scores on a layup on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, during a Moneyball Pro-Am summer basketball league game at Aim High in Dimondale.

And Winston isn't grooming Loyer just to be his backup, but his future successor. And part of that effort includes getting Loyer up to speed as soon as possible.

"There's going to come a day where I'm not going to be here and he's going to have to step up in that place, so (I'm) trying to get him as ready as possible," Winston said.

"I'd love for him to be out there taking some of that pressure off my back. The better I can get him, the better we are going to be as a team."

Last season, Winston averaged 12.6 points and 6.9 assists per game in helping lead Michigan State to an outright Big Ten Conference regular-season title. And Loyer sees a lot of similarities in their games.

"Both of us grew up in basketball families," Loyer said. "Our basketball IQ is pretty high and we know how to play the game. Cassius is an elite finisher around the rim. I think we both shoot the ball pretty well. Our games are comparable but at the same time, I have a lot of work to do."

With the graduation of Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn and Tom Izzo's preference to play guards Joshua Langford and Matt McQuaid off the ball, Loyer should get his opportunity to play quickly.

"It's going to be on him," Winston said. "If he's worthy enough, which it looks like he is, he's going to play a lot of minutes and they're going to figure out a way to play him."

Contact Phil Friend at 517-377-1220 or pfriend@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Phil_Friend.