Minnesota 72, Michigan State 67: Aftermisery Thread
by LVS on Mar 12, 2010 10:41 PM CST
in Michigan State Spartans Basketball
185 comments
State battled, but some clutch shots by Minnesota--and more importantly, 17-33 free throw shooting by Your Spartans--doomed us to a loss sadly reminiscent of the 03-04 dark years. Minnesota probably punched their NCAA tournament ticket, but our hopes for a 3 seed are now dashed (and we might now be looking at a 5 seed. Bleh).
MSU hockey was also crushed by Michigan, making tonight a crappy evening, indeed. So grab a glass of scotch and drown your sorrows here.
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but our hopes for a 3 seed are now dashed (and we might now be looking at a 5 seed. Bleh).
ARRGH I hate the conference tournament so much.
"Based on my estimates, it appears that Stanzi shall transcend the ages." - Cairo
by ReadingRambler on Mar 12, 2010 10:43 PM CST reply actions
I'm not sure I agree.
OT loss to a team that was on the bubble, albeit far down. I’m also not sure Minnesota is in like Flynn either.
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
I'm a big believer in the all mighty sanctity of the regular season.
And I hate anything that could theoretically crown Northwestern conference champions.
"Based on my estimates, it appears that Stanzi shall transcend the ages." - Cairo
by ReadingRambler on Mar 12, 2010 10:47 PM CST up reply actions
BTW, for as crappy as the game was
The game thread was great. Thanks for stopping by, everyone.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
I could flagrant foul a kitty about now.
but the game thread was entertaining.
by Lesmana Lim on Mar 12, 2010 10:45 PM CST up reply actions
Infant Punching
Normally frowned upon, but needs must
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
We fought.
We simplly have too many stretches where we can’t score.
Summers’ benching and Kebler’s extended minutes will be a major postgame focus.
I'm afraid we're likely a 5....
but we should be a good 5 now that we’re not playing in the B10.
This seems timely
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
huge fail in OT
I thought for sure we’d wrap it up in OT – with the momentum, and their 2 guys fouled out…. wtf?
Um sorry,
THIS seems timely.
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
I happened to flip to it this morning
There was an excellent song about clowns. Apparently though, that was a new episode so I don’t have video yet. But I think it may supplant the Jack Black video.
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
by Seer on Mar 12, 2010 10:48 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I have to laugh ...
because DEAR GOD WHAT THE HELL IS THAT.
I like to think of it as
The hypnotic dance of forgetting
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
There is no reason
I love Spartan basketball. I’ll always hang in there and support them. However, truth is truth. This team clawed back to beat Minnesota on the road by the skin of their teeth. They beat a reeling, damaged Purdue team in West Lafayette. Early in the season, they one a good game at home against a young but talented Gonzaga team.
But beyond that, they have done very little to demonstrate that they can play at a high level and win big games. They’ve looked fallen woefully short in most of their biggest opportunities.
If they make any tourney noise, it will be a complete surprise. Nothing this season (besides underutilized talent) suggests they have it in them.
The mental side of this team is baffling
They made it to the **** title game last year. Yet this year they’ve time in and out allowed teams to hang around and battle with them.
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
I suspect Suton and Walton had more to do with that than people gave credit
But even so, it’s mind-blowing.
Have we had any blowout games this year?
barely passing by mediocre teams…. frustrating.
Well
I feel like we did beat up Illinois pretty good, but the refs made it closer at the end.
Also, we beat the hell out of Oakland I think.
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
We should talk about something that won’t upset us all…
Did anyone catch the season finale of “Big Love” last week?
An early exit would be a double shame
With a decent run and Raymar playing the way he’s been, he could play himself into the draft.
by Lesmana Lim on Mar 12, 2010 10:54 PM CST up reply actions
Don't listen to too much Bracketology.
I’ll take our chances against any team that hasn’t played us twice this year.
Except Kentucky or Kansas.
No big wins this year
Lost to UNC and Texas, three losses in a row to conference’s best, loss at home to OSU, loss in BTT. MSU has sucked in the clutch.
Are we underdogs yet?
we seem to play better when we are.
I want to plug my Ohio Bobcats again
Some nights it’s good to have a 2nd team. They’re playing for the MAC tournament championship!
by intrpdtrvlr on Mar 12, 2010 11:06 PM CST up reply actions
That game tape needs to be buried in an unmarked grave
Preferably at midnight on a moonless night. After it’s been fed into a blender.
Shot into the depths of space seems better
Preferably aim it at a black hole so no ETs accidentally find it.
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Be realistic
A 5 seed? do you really think they have fallen that far?
I think a 4 is in order. Either way, you get a 1 seed to have to go through. Not ideal
There have been some arguing even lower
Glockner had us a 6 before today.
Glockner molests collies.
Dude does nothing but look at his RPI chart. Knows absoutely dick about basketball.
Meh...
On to the big tourney. Kansas and Kentucky are the only teams I don’t think we can beat. - though there’s prolly 30 other teams that we can lose to like tonight.
don't annoint
Kentucky. They haven’t beaten anybody. the SEC is terrible. They also rely on too many freshmen
Yeah
Almost lost to Alabama today
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
big non confernce wins include....
Uconn, and UNC
Oh, I'm not!
I don’t think they’ll win it all. I just don’t think WE can beat them. They’re the kind of team (big and athletic) that we historically have trouble with.
They would destroy MSU...
they play defense like that Memphis team that crushed MSU did too.
they also...
play basketball like that Memphis team. Supremely talented. Amazingly undisciplined.
Key point...
30 other teams that we can lose to. I think the number is greater than that. I think any team MSU will be seeded against can beat MSU. MSU has no guard play.. hard to win without guard play.
Kind of like a lesser 2008 Memphis. A lesser 2008 Memphis wins by 15.
by SpartanBoiler on Mar 12, 2010 11:03 PM CST up reply actions
COULD lose
We’d likely beat those teams…. by 5
pre-season hype
this year has been frustrating… pre-season #2
but barely beat Gonzaga
lose to Florida, then UNC, then Texas
then turn things around (it seems) and peel off 10 straight wins, and start the B10 9-0.
then 3 straight losses.
can’t seem to kill the weak teams.
yeah we killed Michigan to clinch the title, but we barely made it to the 3-way tie
can’t seem to play in the big games.
lucas is clutch in a few games (Minny, UM), absent in others
not even gonna talk about the other guards…
frustrating.
Preseason #2 was overrating us like crazy
and nearly every serious MSU fan would have said as such at the time.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
anyway
I can listen to that out of state. say in kentucky
Does anybody like our chances against.....
A 1 seed? Kansas, UK, Syracuse, WVU/Duke?
Nope..
I don’t like MSU’s chances against anyone at this point.
I agree
with duke and wvu. Also uk. their size would be a problem but their lack of experience would be a problem. John Wall is overrated
I live in
Kentucky. You haven’t seen them enough
I'm with you, rook.
I don’t like that match-up at all.
by intrpdtrvlr on Mar 12, 2010 11:21 PM CST up reply actions
Only if Cousins doesn't foul out in the first minute
If Kentucky played their A game, they would slaughter us. But if we managed to get in their heads, we could pull it off.
A game
Kentucky’s a-game is great, but I doubt we see it in the tourney.
Everyone is making the comparisons ro the Memphis team from a few years ago…well, we’re much better suited to play with a team like that this year.
Just depends if this team shows up like they are capable of – but that’s been a rarity this year
by crow13 on Mar 12, 2010 11:49 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
WVU and UK maybe.
I still think WVU is overrated, and UK could fall apart in any game due to maturity.
Depends on which team shows up
On a good night, we can hang with anyone. I’d just like to have more than three players show up for a single game.
Iverson's elbow was cut on a foul in the first half
I bet that’s what he’s talking about.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
I’m not sure. He said that in reference to the rotation in the second half.
by SpartanBoiler on Mar 12, 2010 11:17 PM CST up reply actions
I'm not listening
But Iverson was bleeding early
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Still have a good team, but not as good as last year.
Day Day is the our best leader (no mention of Kalin!).
Public will be the last to know about whether Allen plays.
by intrpdtrvlr on Mar 12, 2010 11:19 PM CST up reply actions
I remember...
A 5 seed beating Duke and UK on their way to the final 4
My senior year at MSU -- 2005.
That weekend was one of the most fun I can ever remember.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
Sophomore year for me
Was home for Easter. Until they replaced the carpet, you could still see the track I wore in it pacing around during the replay of the Sparks shot.
Not my most fun weekend at MSU, either
That goes to senior year, hockey Frozen Four. Title game was Saturday night. Took until Tuesday to 1) get my voice back, and 2) realize we’d actually won the whole thing.
My freshman was 2000
Now that was a party.
by intrpdtrvlr on Mar 12, 2010 11:22 PM CST up reply actions
Seriously.
National champions in basketball, best MSU football team in 20 years.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
Sad thing is
I’m 10x the Spartan Sports fan I was then.
by intrpdtrvlr on Mar 12, 2010 11:25 PM CST up reply actions
Ditto...
I actually skipped the 2000 championship game my freshmen year to go to a concert.
No foolin...
I don’t know what is wrong with me… gotten to the point where last year I was strongly thinking that I was going to have to miss the birth of my daughter if she decided to show up during MSU’s NCAA run.
I'm probably a better fan now, too
Writing a blog about the team launches you into new levels of fanaticism.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
I was in Cedar Village for the aftermath!
That only needs to happen once in my life.
by Lesmana Lim on Mar 12, 2010 11:24 PM CST up reply actions
Izzo
“Country kind of slaughters the big ten. Five or six teams deserve to be in and I’ll blow my horn for them”
Five are in for sure
Not sure Minnesota’s resume stacks up yet, but a win tomorrow and it will.
go gophers
Would love to hear that Boiler crowd be silenced
by kroif04 on Mar 12, 2010 11:24 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
5 for sure
I think Illinois punched their ticket
If Minnesota wanted in..
they shouldn’t have lost by 30 to a horrrrrrrrrrrrrible UM team late in the season.
Agreed
But with every other bubbler gacking up opportunities left and right, they’re back in the discussion at least.
Washington-Stanford making the Big Ten look like a fast-paced offensive juggernaut of a league
14-8 twelve minutes in.
Washington almost has a case
Until you realize their best non-home win is Stanford.
So...
Anyone else not feeling any better after listening to Izzo?
Not sure what would make you feel better.
What the hell is he supposed to say?
We lost a game because we couldn’t shoot free throws. For all the other nonsense, we shoot better, we win.
I don't know...
he just sounded kind of blah to me.. was hoping for some sort of optimism or a ’I’m gonna beat my players until they value the ball and don’t blindly drive into a crowd, jump, then blindly throw the ball backwards hoping a teammate gets it"
Agreed...
why I’m feeling pretty down about this team… know that Izzo’s run out of time and buttons to press.
Ah, the Lucious Special
That seems to be kind of like a Rick-Six (as BHGP refers to Stanzi’s unfortunate habit of throwing TDs to the other team, especially when the other team is wearing white). You have to take the bad with the good. Except that lately there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of good to go with it.
That's not a game with Chris Allen
Right? Right? Somebody please tell me that….
I don't think it is
Even if Allen’s shooting stroke doesn’t show up, he’s a better defender than Lucious, and not any more catastrophic a point guard (or at least his mistakes are more subtle).
I think you are right
And Purdue is in for a battle. Their offense has disappeared since Hummel got injured.
Nothing
making it better right now. Really nervous to see the bracket staring at a 4 or 5 seed
+1
Love the NCAA tournament — but early exits by MSU always put a huge damper on my enthusiasm for the tournament… ruins a lot of potential fun/enjoyment from watching hoops… might have to adopt Ohio State as my unofficial team.
Ohio State? Really?
I understand the whole “backup team” phenomenon (it’s always more fun if you have someone to root for), but does it have to be them?
What's wrong with OSU?
Turner seems like a good kid.. plus Mark Titus won me over.
General principle against the school
Turner and Titus are cool. But I don’t think I could stand being associated with OSU fans, even temporarily.
Well...
I think Purdue has even less chance than MSU at winning a game.. and no way will I cheer for Wisconsin – so that only leaves OSU :-)
Butler.
Their live mascot is cool.
I’ll watch because I’m a junkie, I hate all other sports except baseball and playoff hockey. But when we’re out (and I’m not surrendering yet), I lose rooting interest immediately.
Butler is cool
I had a lot of friends who went there and even caught the first Sweet Sixteen team for one game at Hinkle that season (that was a great team). Butler definitely one of the other teams I follow and support. Lived in Indy, too. Cool town.
Hockey is great
But most of sports watching America is going to think of Evan Turner crushing Ann Arbor’s collective soul tomorrow.
by intrpdtrvlr on Mar 12, 2010 11:34 PM CST up reply actions
You know what might be the worst part about this?
I’ll bet no one in the state of Minnesota is even aware of the game yet because the high school hockey tournament is on, and one of the semis just started the third OT.
Thanks SpartanDan
I was depressed before. Way to pile on
Mike Tyson once mentioned a place called oblivion
I think I might drink myself there….
Just to make a bad day worse
16th in the Pairwise as of right now.
Big picture question before I try to sleep
How can we be 30 games into the season and only have 4 scholarship players who can be trusted to be on the floor late in a close game? (5 total, I guess. But one was wearing a necktie.)
Izzo’s effective statement with Kebler : “My team is on the floor!”
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Mar 13, 2010 12:28 AM CST via mobile reply actions
Yeah
I don’t think the backcourt trio of Lucious, Lucas, and Kebler is poised for a deep tournament run.
Morning after perspective?!?
Sure I’m bummed, but I still would rather have our team over these past two years than North Carolina’s.
I’m not ready to count Izzo out just yet and this just makes me appreciate Walton & Suton even more.
by spartanbballfan on Mar 13, 2010 6:31 AM CST reply actions
Mn has 3 guards who can score, Nix, Summers
Not sure if Summers was on Hoffbarger (misspelled) most of the first half but he looked
like he was defending him on the first 2 makes they showed at half-time.
Luscious actually played very tight defense despite his lack of height. Very tight to whomever he was defending despite being down in a good defensive stance making him even shorter.
So huge problem in that most of the game, MN has 3 guards who can go off (Hoffb, Joseph, and Westbrook) and we have a very tired Lucas and Luscious with no defense
from Allen and apparently such poor defense from Summers that TI really felt his offense could not make up for his defensive lapses. Summers seems to lose focus during the last few seconds of a good defensive stand sometimes. Hard to believe though that 20 minutes of Kebler, 6 of Dahlman and 6 from Thornton were better than
giving Summers one more try during the comeback in the 2nd half. You have to think Izzo thought so though as he obviously wanted to win.
I thought that the exchange between Nix and Iverson hurt in that i really wondered if TI
was afraid of Nix losing his head and really going after Iverson if he put him in while Iverson was playing so well in the 2nd half. A little (2-3 minutes here and there) of Morgan at the 3 with Green/Roe and Nix would have helped and might have even made a difference in OT. How do we lose with both Johnson and IVerson fouled out!!!!!
By that point, Nix and Summers had sat so long that it would’ve been risky to put them in
but a little Raymar Morgan at the 3 might have been good for us.
I trust TI and really doubt that he would not do his best to win any game just to make a
point. Summers and Nix let the team down as much as Allen tonight, in my opinion.
Summers
One of the most puzzling players in memory, and Izzo’s handling of him only adds to the frustration and bewilderment. That we are thirty-plus games into the season and you have to sit a guy with his talent for blown assignments and failure to get out on the B10’s top three-point shooter is annoying: at the same time, does Kebler really give us a better chance to win (solid defender; adequate with the ball; little offensive production or rebounding out of him)? Or are we still in the “message-sending” portion of the season, a few days before the tourney?
One senses that Izzo’s frustrations with Summers and Allen (and perhaps others) have reached a tipping point. At a certain point with about five minutes left in a close game we had Thornton and Kebler on the court together, and the sacrifices at the offensive end of the court are obvious. I’m sure Izzo sees Summer’s potential and the lapses just eat at him: but the guy rebounds in traffic (ok, so he can’t finish those rebounds…), you have to guard him on the perimeter, and he can change the complexion of a game with his athleticism. Obviously, he’s not going to morph into Charlie Bell mid-season, but he seems to me to be the key to what comes next.
What I remember about that 2005 run to the FF is that Izzo seemed to let that team—which often played tight—loose for the tourney: perhaps this is what he will do with this crew. This is not an elite defensive team, and I don’t think we should pretend otherwise, but Ray, Green, and Allen more than hold their own.
by RobbingGormanThomas on Mar 13, 2010 8:31 AM CST reply actions
agree
This kind of “message sending” by the coach should not be taking place the second week of March. It’s true that Summers should have progressed more by the end of his junior year, and his mental lapses are hugely frustrating, but he does give you five rebounds and ten points a game on average. Also, is it wise to send multiple messages out at the same time? by sitting both Allen and Summers last night, don’t you destabilize the entire team?
At some point, the players just tune the coach out, and I am starting to wonder whether Izzo is in the process of losing the juniors once and for all. Does anyone think Summers will change because of this benching? In the press reports this morning, he seems totally mystified and a bit resentful at being benched.
Bracket Update
0 of 51 brackets had Minnesota winning that game (although one had Penn St.). Jinxed.
6 brackets with 8 points (KarkoviceIsHawt, spartyboy40, Rewerts Spartan, SpartanDan, mikehead, RobbingGormanThomas)
8 brackets with 7 points
16 brackets with 6 points
10 brackets with 5 points
8 brackets with 4 points
2 brackets with 3 points
1 brackets with 2 points
Bummer 4 U Guys ....
I’m a Boilermaker fan (grew up in WL) but also bleed green (lived in Drew Namick territory- Muskegon- for a long time) and hate to see you guys outed so quicklt.
The silver lining? Big time wake up call for the team. The potential is there- the chemistry and the cookin’ needs a little salt.
Hopefully you shred through the first two rounds and make it to the 16 dance. Beyond that is gravy. All 8 cylinders- and you go to where you went last year- except in my neck of the woods (historically).
Good luck- chin up- and see you in Indy !!!!!
Boiler up!
http://teutonic13.wordpress.com/ (my non sports- but pretty good blog)
Being embarrassed at home agains the conference's best
during disastrous first halves should have been that wake up call.
Illinois collapsing in the early game against OSU
Buckeyes on what feels like a 20 point run
Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Do yourself a favor
And go check out the hammer and rails gameday thread. Never seen a fan base try to convince themselves their team is still ok worse than they are.
Need help
Anybody know where I can find records between Big Ten and SEC teams? Just looking for an overall record in games between the two conferences for the last 10 years and also this year.
Try Statsheet
I think there’s a conference comparrison tool there.
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Mar 14, 2010 7:18 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Every conference against every other
http://www.colleyrankings.com/hcurconf.html
You’d have to go to the main page to get back to other years.
Since losing Hummel
Purdue has posted 2 of the 3 worst offensive games (from an efficiency standpoint) in the entire Big Ten schedule this season. Until garbage time against Minnesota they were under .5 PPP. That can’t help their position with the Committee too much.
Sorry about your loss guys.
I watched the game, you guys tried. Good luck in the NCAA tourny.
Visit Inside The Shoe
The Buckeye blog for everyone!
by Ian_InsideTheShoe on Mar 13, 2010 10:30 PM CST reply actions
My unofficial results - so far...
I have 4 with 12 points and TPs at 63, 65, 65, and 66.. The latter needs Minny over the Buckeyes to stay in contention (picked MSU), while the others picked OSU.
Anybody come up with something different?
by spartanbballfan on Mar 14, 2010 9:35 AM CDT reply actions
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