Hoops tonight...

Seems a little premature considering the success of the football team, but the men's basketball team takes the floor tonight in an exhibition game against Northern Michigan. 

Not sure we'll be able to take much from a game like this, but it will be interesting to see the player combos Izzo goes with. The other day he said he didn't even have a starting five decided. My guess is it will be Lucas, Allen, Morgan, Gray, Suton. That said, I think we'll see it change up quite a few times this year.

A few thoughts about the season as I look at it...

Suton is going to have a big year. Double-Double avg should be the goal. I admit I was never a big believer in G coming out of high school, but the kid has put in his work and been a very solid player for us in the last three years.

I'm worried about our size and defensive strength at center. Suton is a little undersized for the spot, Idong is an offensive liability, Herzog is still a twig and Roe just isn't ready. I guess the depth will make up for this weakness, but its still a concern.

Same question I ask every year... Will Marquise Gray finally stand out? It's now or never 'Quise

When it comes down to crunch time, who are the guards on the floor? You would have to think Walton would be out there, but then who sits? Certainly won't be Lucas. Allen is too valuable as a scorer. I'm betting we go small in those situations and move Raymar to the 4.

Speaking of Raymar, has he eliminated his NBA shake move from his game yet. Honestly, its a very good move and should not be called for a travel as often as it is, but he needs to drop it for a few more years.

Durrell Summers could be the X-factor in the success of this team. If he can come off the bench and provide a spark like he's capable of, this team could be on the winning end a ton of blowouts this season.

That's enough for now. What are your thoughts about the season? Agree or disagree with any of the things I've said? Let's discuss... 

Comments

[jjunia]

I think the center position will be platooned all season. Ideally this will be a running team, and which ever big man can run and finish the best should get the most playing time. That eliminates Herzog and Ibok who are useless except to take up space in the lane on D. Suton, Gray, Raymar and Roe should all get plenty of jams this year with Walton and Lucas dishing out the dimes.

The extra depth is always good, especially in the big ten, where Ibok and Herzog'z ten fouls will come in handy.

Summers has a real chance to succeed with defenses likely to be keying on Lucas and Raymar, he should get plenty of open looks from the outside or opportunities to drive the baseline.

This team is going to be very good.

[VegasMike]

I think this teams major strengths will be depth and flexibility. By that, I mean we have a number of players who can play multiple positions, depending on the opponent and game situation. I too am worried about the quality depth at center, but think Ibok, Herzog and even Gray can spell Suton. I think we have enough scoring punch at the other 4 positions to make up for the subs lack of offense. I am concerned about Suton's defense, as Naymick was our stopper in the paint last year. I'm not sure how many great, physical big men we'll face this year, but they could pose a problem. Izzo also needs to establish a playing rotation of 8-10 players. Unfortunately that means guys like Green, Dalhman and Herzog will see very little playing time, except in the case of blowouts, foul trouble and injuries. On a side note, I saw that only 5 schools have teams ranked in the top 20 in both hoops and football: MSU, Florida, USC, Texas and Oklahoma. That's pretty elite company! GO STATE!!!

[McSpar10]

Nice bit of trivia, VegasMike.

We are probably the worst football program of the five, but I think it's safe to say we are also the best basketball program of the group.

I think the keys to the season are-

Summers or Allen (hopefully both) stepping up big on offense. We need them both to be able to guard someone too. Last year they were both liabilities, but did improve throughout the season. I also agree that the 5 position is a big key. I don't think we need a lot of scoring out of our center, but we do need some post defense if we are going to go as far as we all want/hope/expect. Write it down, Naymick will be missed more than Neitzel. He was a huge piece of the puzzle last year. Hopefully one of this year's seniors has the light bulb go on for them like it did for Drew.

[Boise Spartan]

Biggest question i believe going into the season...who is the teams leader? Someone is going to have to emerge quickly as the general of the team if we are going to survive a brutal schedule.

[DeadHeadSpartan]

For all of you who are worrying about the center/post defense and replacing Naymick- do't you think Ibok can get the job done?

Remember how good he did a couple years ago before he hurt his shoulder- or I I imagining that? Didn't Izzo even go to him allot in the tournament? After two more years, he has got to have SOME offensive game. Why even waste 4 years on him if he only gets 3 minutes a game?

[VA_Sparty]

I pretty sure I'm in the minority here, but this season scares me. In three years I have learned that Gray cannot stay healthy or be consistent. Walton hasn't improved his jumpshot at all. Izzo tells us yesterday that Roe is at maybe 60%. Ibok and Herzog are extremely limited in everything they do. You can't have Walton out there the same time as Herzog or Ibok because then we're essentially playing 3 on 5 on the offensive end. Raymar has disappeared against good competition and at the end of games in his 2 years. I like G as a component on a good team, not as someone I'm expecting a double-double out of every night. We didn't get to see much of Allen or Summers last year, but Allen has the potential to be a big-time scorer. And this is a brutal schedule. I think that this team goes only as far as Lucas takes us. If we get a sophomore year out of Lucas like we got out of Cleaves they will be a very good team. Otherwise this team will struggle to find roles and rotations against this brutal schedule.

I hope I'm just being pessimistic, but our basketball team has not met pre-season expectations every year it seems like since the Flintstones/Hutson ended their reign...0 big ten titles, 0 big ten tournament titles. Even the '05 final 4 was a miraculous run by a team that had been a disappointment all year.

Please prove me wrong GREEN!

[Alan Robertson]

My personal take on the season is that if they dedicate themselves to defending with tenacity, they will go far. They will score enough. Heck, during their championship years, their best offense was missing a shot and crashing the boards. Very excited about this team, will be behind them all year.

Go Green!

[spartanc]

va sparty,
when did you join the bb staff? walton hasnt improved his jump shot at all? please give us some more inside info.

[BigJoe]

The BTN streaming video is terrible, almost as the bad as the idea of having a conference network.......Go Green!

[dmbtierney]

I think ID will have some memorable moments this year. One that I am looking forward to will be at Ford Field when he attempts to stop Psycho T underneath the basket. He make pick up some fouls, but, I guarantee you he will make it extremely difficult for down-low post men to score. By the way, the live stream of tonight's game against Northern has the quality of a Kindergarten video production. Yeah, I know--if I don't like it, go to the game in person.

[pistol]

trying to watch the "live" streamed game on BTN - really sucks!!!! Anybody else having the same 6 min. delay - starts and stops every 14 sec..........

[bradford]

yeah im getting that too pistol.

[Chris]

Yeah, btn streaming sucks. How did we go from having the exhibition games in HD to this crappy online streaming? Does this have anything to do with all the bad press we got from losing to GVSU last year? I find it hard to believe women's volleyball would get higher ratings the MSU basketball. Something smells fishy...

[MSUinSC]

State will be blazing fast this year. There are few teams in the nation that will match their speed, athleticism, and depth. State will play similar to Villanova a few years ago but they will be more athletic and less fiesty. Is that a good thing? Time will tell but Nova was predicted to go to the final four in 2006 before Florida shut the door on them and took the title. The key this season will be flow. The last couple of year's the team would get stagnant waiting for Neitzel to get open, and that spectator mentaltity would lead to long scoring droughts. MSU's achilles will be size if the opponent has two large bodies and third player quick enough to guard Morgan, Lucas, or Allen one on one. Many teams do not fit that mold so that bodes well for us. Do not expect defensive slug fests - this year will be the year MSU just tries to outscore an opponent in a high scoring, high flying fashion. It should be fun to watch and have a roller-coaster feel as both MSU and their opponents go on long scoring runs in every big game (that's part of playing fast). Go State.

[Amish]

Does anyone know when the Lsj basketball preview comes out?

[Bill]

I came to complain about the stream, and I see others beat me to it,

How come they can manage to stream the Jimmy John commercial OK?

[Travis]

Does anyone know what the final score of the game was tonight?

[Matthew]

Tonight's game was a 118-57 victory for the Spartans!

[steigenga]

We should have it all togehter by the March. Key will be how many loses endured and affect on seeding. Detroit is a definite possibility but next year's team should be better. We will score like a few years ago.

[tower]

Yea, the BTN stream sucked arse...I thought it was my 'puter but apparently not.

[B Man]

I think most of us are thinking 'Is MSU this good?' or 'Is Northern Michigan that bad?'

The first 5 minutes of the game was comicial. Northern couldnt even inbound the ball their first few possessions let alone play any defense. They had nobody to match up with... well anybody. Summers played out of his mind tonight.

The good news is they seem to be gelling far better this year than last. Even the game against Michigan Tech wasnt a gimmie. The Old Spice Classic should be the real measuring stick to where we are compared to other elite programs in the nation.

Go State!

[smarty pants]

I'm telling you all Summer's is going to be key. He will make this team elite based on his performance. If he can come out and get double digit points and 6-8 rebounds a game this team has big 10 champs written all over them. Go STATE!

[DeadHeadSpartan]

regarding the stream- i was able to get it to work a little better by selecting the fastest speed (not the default) below the video.

MSUinSC: I hope they do play fast- but Izzo has been saying he will play that way for years, and they never do. I've been wishing they would press and play a faster tempo ever since the 2000 National Championship game when they played that way. Please- never again a 36 point game like last year vs. Iowa. Do you ever see a great team like North Carolina help under 50 points?- Never. No excuse for it with our talent.

This year they have the guards and the depth- I hope they play fast, fiesty, and tenacious. They certainly have the fouls to give.

[spartanforever]

No offence Mr.Feather but I guess MSU is just not ready to be competitive in football the hearts and minds of you and other writers.I note that the detroit papers are writing as much or more aboout MSU football than here at this critical time.

This is a huge time for this football team and I agree with you-there are other sports at MSU.At this time I wonder if the fan base are just casual fans and can take football or leave it,and what about the administrators...is anyone clamoring for more coverage????

Seems like this would be a really exciting game vs,Purdue or is the conventional wisdom,"this one is in the bag."There many angles and points of interest for this game.

Apparantly I am the only one raising this as an issue,and I am very aware that I have some enemys on this blog who nwould looove nothing more than being at the other side of any issue I present,but it just does not feel right to me.This season will be over in the blink of our collective eyes,and I feel the team deserves more coverage.

I could bore you to tears about the issues I think are relevant,but if listed-I think many spartan partisans would agree with me,never mind those few rocks in an empty wagon,who would wait for disagreement.

There are many,many football players who played for MSU and read this blog and other sources,and many others gave up a long time ago,some would say,"get a life."Personally-I have a great life here in Calif,and I have many friends (my best partner is a Texas fan,and many other friends are usc,cal,lsu and fans of lesser programs)and we mix it up pretty good.All wonder why I support,what they consider,"such a looser."

Some guy is talking about giving Dantonio a raise-what is a contract any more?I see that guy is definitely not a MSU fan and seems he wants to start some controversy-is this all there is to talk about this team? If I were a big time recruit and I came to this blog-I'm not sure I would be impressed by the fan support,the trashing,the bickering.If I were a parent I would really wonder.

Wrong...way off base????

[Michael Motta]

I didn't watch the game being streamed, because frankly, exhibition games don't do much for me. However, I watch MSU streamed hockey all the time, and some MSU streamed volleyball, and neither stream is very good, but they beat just listening to the audio. I did watch the video stream Wisconsin put on for our volleyball match against them last weekend, and it looked great! MSU needs to upgrade and work with their partner CSTV/CBS College Sports on that. I'm a bit surprised the BTN stream wasn't so good though. A lot of our women's hoops games that count are going to be streamed on the BTN, so I hope there's some improvement.

Anyway, what I found interesting is this tidbit from the initial press release that's floating around: "On the Wildcats' next possession, an injury timeout led to two technical fouls and a disqualification for Northern Michigan coach Dean Ellis." Huh? Might someone who watched the game please fill in the details on this? It sounds so bizarre when it's just left at that, but that's what the story does. After thinking about it a little bit, I finally decided that the injury timeout was probably just the window for the coach to go bonkers, or do whatever he did, rather than the cause of it. What strikes me as odd though is a coach not only getting teed up, but getting himself tossed from an exhibition game that's a D-I school versus a D-II school! I know that hoops coaches aren't the calmest folks around, but c'mon, these games are only a notch more meaningful than are the Globetrotters v. Generals games!

I can maybe, maybe understand getting a single technical foul in an exhibition game, and leaving it at that, but tossed? That's the kind of thing you do when you're on the road and your team is flat in a game that counts, and you need a once in a season tantrum to try to get your team fired up. In this case, not only do you make a fool of yourself in what's essentially a good will type tune-up game, but you've already blown the psychological edge off of any future blowups.

I was watching I'm pretty sure it was the University of Denver playing hockey recently, and the commentator remarked that the Pioneers' head coach (former MSU assistant George Gwozdecky, from the '86 championship team) remains so cool all the time, that when he does on rare occasion get riled up, the players say they respond. They know it's a big deal, so they get emotional. They know it means something. I thought that was not only a good lesson about coaching, but highly applicable to life in general. It's the histrionics version of the flat out lie "boy who cried wolf" theme.