Ready for the road?

We'll see. The Spartans certainly figured some things out this week at home, and the decisions to go to fullcourt pressure with more subbing and emphasis on running were good ones.

    After that sizzling 20-1 start, this was a pretty uneventful afternoon for MSU. The postgame ceremony for Tom Izzo's 300th win -- complete with a surprise video montage of many of the biggest wins, organized by AD Mark Hollis -- was more interesting than the final 30 minutes of the game.
    But the return of Raymar Morgan's shooting stroke is definitely a good sign for MSU. So is the fact that MSU finished with just five turnovers (lowest since 2004, BTW). It just looks to me like the Spartans are taking fewer chances, pausing before taking risks, making the simple pass and still finding good shots out of the halfcourt.
    Can that continue on the road? It'll have to if MSU is going to pull an upset at Wisconsin. The Badgers usually don't rob themselves of possessions, especially at home, so the Spartans must keep pace, through a combination of careful play and offensive rebounding.

Comments

[Russ, Grand Rapids, MI]

Prediction:

As unlikely as it may seem, MSU will win at Wisconsin!

Go Green!

[Spartan95]

Great D to start the game but Iowa adjusted at the half and killed us inside. That'll have to change before Thursday. The low turnovers a welcome sign for two games now. The officials were awful today, especially on Morgan's second. I kept waiting for Dahlman but I think he wasn't the right matchup defensively. Also, he wasn't on the court for the first set of warmups. Maybe he was sick? Finally, a couple of times Gray was open in the post but wasn't thrown the ball. Is he not a viable option? When he got it today, he either scored or was fouled. Neitzel will need to shoot better Thursday but I think the pressure is on Wisconsin. And we're due. I hate the Badgers.

[B White]

After attending today's game, it still bewilders me the way the officials call any games involving MSU, home or away. I seriously wonder what game these zebra clowns are watching, because they certainly do not allow MSU to do anything that the opponent is allowed to do!?! The 2nd foul on Morgan was AN ABSOLUTE JOKE OF A BAD CALL... he was diving for a loose ball, unimpeded, and gets whistled. I thought Izzo was going to slap the official in the face he was so frustrated. All the official did was ignore Izzo's rant, then pointed to the coaches box line (which Izzo was behind), and gave no explanation to Izzo on why the call was made, on and on it goes... many other horrid calls made, particularly down low, as Iowa, namely Cyrus Tate, was allowed to push off, grab and lower his shoulder into the MSU bigs all day!?! What is up with this garbage officiating this year??? I solely blame officiating and the free throw discrepancies at Iowa and PSU, for MSU not getting a share of the Big Ten reg season this year. Nothing else. Call me a whiner or whatever... but thats how I feel. With that said, just watch how Bo Ryan and the Badger fans work the officials in Madison this week against MSU. In typical fashion, the zebras will be intimidated, and will make it very easy for UW to take care of MSU... Lord knows MSU will not get any breaks in that game! I don't know how Izzo can stand it anymore...

Congrats to Coach Izzo on Victory #300! Great to see all the former players on hand today for the game. Iowa was fortunate not to lose this game by 24 (or 34???), instead of the 14 point spread it ended up being... thanks to another tightly called game by the zebra clowns. OK, I've vented.

[markv]

Here are the +/- for today's game:

Lucas +18
Naymick +18
Suton +15
Summers +10
Morgan +8
Neitzel +8
Walton +5
Gray +4
UW-O -1
Dahlman -3
Allen -4
Herzog -8

UW-O is a walk-on, i didn't catch who, who came in before Iowa's last point. Here are the 4-game totals, which i think are starting to be represtantive, covering 2 road losses and 2 home wins against a variety of styles:

Summers +20
Morgan +15
Naymick +15
Gray +8
Lucas +8
Suton +5
Dahlman +2
Neitzel -2
Ibok -6
Walton -7
Allen -29

I think it's getting harder to ignore the Summers/Allen difference. It seems like every game Allen comes in, hits a couple shots and has a steal, yet the opposition starts to score. And Summers very quietly seems to have the opposite effect. I still think that Walton's numbers are slightly skewed because of offense/defense switches, but numbers are numbers.

If we were to be crazy and go by the numbers, are starting lineup would be:

Lucas
Summers
Morgan
Gray
Naymick

with Suton, Dahlman, and Neitzel the main guys off the bench. Walton would see defensive specialist minutes and end of game situations. Ibok would just come off the bench if our bigs were in foul trouble. Allen would sit. It's not the strangest proposition...it would have advantages and disadvantages. Oh well...no numbers vs. Wisconsin...i need my full venom directed at the tv and not a notepad, and i won't be home to tape the game. Go Green...

[Ben Green]

Nice, however expected home win.

Blast to a big lead then...basically score fewer points than Iowa the rest of the way. When the lead got down to 9 I thought MSU may let Iowa back in the game. Got way too close.

The few turnovers is huge! 2nd game in a row! Is it a trend now? We will see at Wisconsin. Sure hope Izzo has cured the Spartans of the TO disease!

Markv, nice numbers, but Summers was 0-5 from the field. I wouldn't start him, would you? Your +20 must be skewed somehow.

[Jalen Rose]

Win at Wisconsin? Please. Bo Ryan OWNS Tom Izzo. Absolutely OWNS him!

By the way, great day in AA on Jalen Rose Day. Michigan is now 4-1 over the past 5 games. Sparty? 3-2. After Michigan disposes of NW and Sparty loses to Wisconsin next week, it'll be 5-1 and 3-3. Times, they are a changin....

[nad]

hey joe, i disagree with you on this game...i thought it was a good win especially after reading b whites rant (no disrespect intended b white, i wasn't at the game so i thought there was some good insight that you can only get by being there)...anyway, come on joe, it wasn't a bad win and i really don't think that iowa is a horrible team, (yes lomak i aleady know about their rpi, which by the way is a computer ranking and doesn't take into account heart and other intangibles that take part in a college bball game, as far as i know anyway)...so come on joe give the guys some credit, i think they played well as a team and showed poise and heart most of the game...i enjoyed watching it...as always...go green

[bubba]

Jalen,

I watched the UM game today. It was nothing to brag about. I think we will meet on a neutral floor in the Big Ten Tournament. I will be ugly, for UM. I agree though, we will probably be 3-3 for the last six after Thursday, but we will still have a 20 win season and an NCAA bid. I don't think UM will be seeing either any time soon.

[bubba]

Point of clarification, although I am not a good looking man, I meant, "It will be ugly..."

[Bill]

UW-O was both Kebler and Crandall who played the last minute. the Yahoo box socre had Austin Thornton listed instead of Kebler for a while, but it has been corrected.

And the refs were not that bad, they did blow that call on Morgan about 7 or 8 minutes in, but that kind fo thing goes both ways.

Final Foul COunt MSU 19, Iowa 12 which is about what you would expect when Iowa is trying to hold the ball and run the clcok down every posession. Also, Iowa has to play cautious as their bench is so shallow.

Final FT count MSU 13, Iowa 14. The margin of victory was big enough Iowa didnt foul intentionally near the end.

[xwing]

jalen rose: i think you have gotten a little too excited about your b-ball team. reality check: your team isn't going to go to the postseason AGAIN this year unless they win the big ten tournament which will not happen i can assure you. your hoops program has been in shambles for a very long time and has gone through coaches like water. your arena stinks. no one from your own school even goes to its home games and when michigan plays msu at home it is more like a home game for msu because so many msu fans attend. michigan basketball is the inferior program in the state and even from detroit most top highschool players would rather play at msu. i understand that you have such low expectations at this point that winning a few games (4 out of 5) is enough for you to get excited but maybe michigan could try to at least make it to the post season or break .500 in the big ten first.

[nad]

hey jalen...you are one of the biggest morons on the face of the earth...your moronism is comparable to scums pathetic attempt to upgrade the bball facilities by juicing one of the not-so fab five aka cheaters...sorry people i was trying to ignore him but its hard...go green

[MSU BB]

A nice win, but I have a hard time getting too euphoric.

We have a tough time on the road. I hope we can carry the confidence away from Breslin, but I think the only remaining win possibility will be IU at home, and they destroyed us last week. It will interesting to see how they react after the Sampson episode. They are losing at the half at Northwestern.

I think we go 1-3 or 2-2 the rest of the way (loss at Wisc., loss at Ohio State, probable loss at Illinois). Any other predictions?

[Bill]

Bubba

Who cares about UM? They are an will continue to be a non-facotr. What's next worrying about Northwestern?

Keep in mind that we have 4 Final Fours since the last time they even showed up to the dance.

Among the Top 6 conferences, only Northwestern, Baylor, Rutgers, Kansas State, South Florida, and Oregon State have been absent form the dance longer than they have.

If you want to pour salt in the wound (and why not, they certainly deserve it) there last appearance which still counts was 1990 only Baylor and Nothwestern have danced less.

As I learned in Freshman Lit, it takes an antagonist to make a hero. Michigan does not fill that role, and it doesn't look like they will anytime soon.

[nad]

win out...go green

[Pdunn]

The sense of purpose that was talked about earlier in the week seemed to go away after the first 10 minutes. That does not bode well for this team going to Wisconsin. In case you hadn't heard, Izzo is 3-8 career against Bo Ryan. But, the low turnovers and the full court pressure are good signs that remind me of the '05 team at the end of the year.
It did occur to me today that this team still controls a large part of their destiny. If they can win out in the regular season they would be 26-5 with splits against Purdue and Indiana, and a win at Wisconsin. If they were to then win the Big 10 tourney (getting to 29-5) wouldn't they have to be the highest seed from the league? Possibly the #2 headed to Ford Field?
Obviously, I'm getting way ahead of myself, but that could make this next game a very pivotal one for the program. Is this the week MSU takes back control of the Big 10?

[Roger Spartan]

Spartan 95
I agree on you starting lineup. If these were the starters all year MSU might have won the big ten and would do much better in the tournaments. This lineup has good size and athletism and could avoid the mismatches the current starters have. The reason Neitzel is minus 2 is his lack of size, athletism, defense and the offense is more balanced when the other 4 players are not setting screens at the top of the key while he shoots 15-20 times a game at 305 accuracy

[xwing]

i know this seems like a crazy thing to say because it is a very, very, very long shot but if msu wins out and wins the big ten tournament they still have a shot at the last #1 seed. if msu won its last 7 games (which would include the big ten tournament) their record would be 29-5 and would be considered to be the best team in the big ten. msu's record would also hopefully rival any of the teams contending for last #1 seed and with winning their conference tournament msu would have to be strongly considered. like i said though msu winning out is pretty unlikely.

[nad]

thanks bill that made me laugh...go green

[steve wagasky]

All Spartan fans need to be OSU and Michigan fans for the next two weeks ... If OSU can play tough against Indy and Wiscy, and scUM can beat Purdukie, MSU has the ability to win the B10

[chrisjakeeuro]

Learn the Lofton lesson. Tennessee's highest scorer shoots 2 for 11 but they beat #1 Memphis tonight. The key was the bench. We got it...let's use it.

[markv]

Ben, no i wouldn't start Summers. I would start Neitzel. There are certainly a few things that could inflate Summers' numbers and deflate Neitzel's. For instance, Summers usually plays late in the half, when the opponent's starters are either on the bench or a little tired. He comes off the bench fresh. Also, when MSU is doing well, Izzo feels he can rest Neitzel more. So what you get is Neitzel on the floor, taking more minus +/- against good teams, while sitting out major minutes against bad teams.

It's just one stat. The reasonable adjustment that comes to mind is going to Summers when Morgan gets in early foul trouble, instead of going to Allen.

[markv]

And Bill, thanks for the info. UW-O must have been Crandall. I saw Kebler come in after the 2nd free throw, so Crandall was the one i couldn't identify who came in between free throws. Crandall, -1 for you!!! Shame!!!

[Cmoney]

Huge game at Wisky this week--we win this and things could turn around very very quickly. Gotta pull this one out.

[mikev]

Back to your point, Joe. I agree with the full-court press theory. I played all kinds of sports and was a phys. ed. major, but never played basketball on a team other than something like 3-on-3. At the beginning of the season, the second 5 were staying with the starting 5 and I envisioned alot of pressing to wear down the other-not as deep, team. Glad to see it being implemented. Maybe some of you who played organized ball and/or coached, could comment.