Let's give 'em something to talk about: MSU to the Final Four. Again.
by KJ@theonlycolors on Mar 29, 2010 11:53 AM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans Basketball
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PrintLet's soak this one in for all it's worth, my friends. Here's a selection of what writers from various corners of the internet are saying about our Spartans today.
Basketball Prospectus | Articles | Erasing Misses [John Gasaway]
You've probably heard that Tom Izzo has been to a Final Four or two in his day (six in 12 seasons), and also that the Spartans are listed as early (and slight) underdogs to Butler in their national semifinal. This may not be the scariest group of Spartans that Izzo has brought to one of these deals, but they have certainly become adept at winning shootouts. In this NCAA tournament MSU has scored 284 points in 253 possessions, achieving a level of prowess on offense that they didn't display in the regular season. Then again the Spartans' tournament opponents have scored 271 points over that same stretch of possessions. I draw two conclusions: Michigan State is headed to Indy, and their games are really fun to watch.
Basketball Prospectus | Articles | Tournament Preview: An Improbable Final Four [Ken Pomeroy]
A log5 update
Pre-tourney
Final4 Champ Final Champ
1S Duke 51.2 24.5 69.6 56.0
2E West Virginia 20.0 3.8 30.4 19.5
5W Butler 5.3 0.5 57.7 15.4
5MW Michigan St. 3.6 0.5 42.3 9.0This is a log5 table. It's explained here. The "Pre-tourney" columns indicate a team's chances of reaching the Final Four and winning the title as estimated before the tournament began.
If you had this Final Four in your bracket, then you have my sincere congratulations because it had about a 1-in-5000 chance of happening. It’s no surprise that Butler and Michigan State are responsible for the rare figure here. Butler will play the Cinderella card, but the Spartans are the true long shot, surviving the brutal Midwest region without Kalin Lucas for two and a half games.
Yet Another Basketball Blog: NCAA Tournament Splits [Dan Hanner]
The Final Four is now set. Here is how each participant has performed in the NCAA tournament:
Adj Off - Adj Def - Team
127.7 - 83.0 - Duke
116.1 - 77.5 - West Virginia
114.5 - 80.6 - Butler
121.8 - 96.4 - Michigan St.
Virtually every stat is better than in the regular season. Again, this isn’t a surprise because these teams have been playing good teams and winning. (When Duke puts up those kind of points against a stout Baylor defense, or when Butler holds an impressive Kansas St. offense to that few points, the adjusted stats are going to look great.)
The one notable exception is Michigan St.’s defense which is much worse than in the regular season. Perhaps this is explained by the loss of Kalin Lucas or the injuries to Chris Allen and Delvon Roe. Regardless, if you believe in picking the hot team, don’t be afraid to choose West Virginia and Butler next weekend.
2 games, 2 controversial endings - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com [Rob Dauster on the final foul call]
I've now watched this replay at good 12 times, and I think the referees absolutely made the right call. We can debate all day about whether or not Prince made contact, but Brian Williams absolutely did. If Prince wasn't there and Morgan had been able to go straight up, I bet Williams would have been called for a foul anyway.
The fact of the matter is that he came down full force with his left arm from the peak of his jump and knocked the ball loose with his elbow. Whether there actually was any contact (which I believe there was), the play just looked funny. It looked like it should be a foul. I'm not defending it, and I'm not saying that it is right, but 99 percent of the time a foul is going to be called in that situation.
Izzo's Spartans reach rare air - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com [Mike Miller]
The Spartans' 70-69 win in the Midwest Regional final against Tennessee will mark Izzo's sixth trip to the NCAA tournament's final weekend. Only John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith have more.
Even better, only Wooden and Coach K got to six in a shorter span of time. Wooden's Bruins went to nine straight and 12 between 1962 and 1975 (Gene Bartow also took UCLA there in 1976). Krzyzewski's Devils were in six during a seven-year span and eight between 1986 and 1994.
Your Final Four trivia - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com [more from Miller]
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is now tied with Adolph Rupp, Roy Williams and Denny Crum for fourth. They've all been six times.
2010 NCAA tournament: A great tournament culminates with four unique teams - ESPN [Andy Katz]
Advantage: Izzo. Seriously now, can we start to push Izzo's Hall of Fame campaign? What he has done with this squad is simply amazing. The Midwest was supposed to be the most brutal bracket, and to get through you needed a tough squad and a determined coach. Who else but Izzo and the Spartans? This is his sixth Final Four and easily his most rewarding with a depleted crew. Watch Izzo at the end of these NCAA games and he's almost in disbelief that his team has advanced yet another round. Two more and the Spartans will reach their intended preseason goal all along, a path hardly expected by anyone in the program for most of the season.
Short-handed Michigan State Spartans make unlikely return to Final Four - Andy Glockner - SI.com
"[Izzo told me to] be more aggressive and it starts on the defensive end," Summers said. "I think throughout the whole tournament my defense has been on a different level than it was in the beginning of the year, and that's just been able to translate to my offense."
He and the rest of the Spartans discovered just enough offense to subdue the Vols and book a second straight trip to the Final Four. With Lucas yelling encouragement and providing the overt leadership that the Spartans have been searching for most of the year, they persevered -- through close games and through injuries that many thought would derail them. It all made their head coach extremely proud.
"We lost our focus today at times, and I think it was mostly because of fatigue," Izzo said. "We were tired. All in all, it's a hell of an accomplishment for some guys that are just sucking it up."
Spartans headed to Indy thanks to Izzo - CBK News - FOX Sports on MSN [Jeff Goodman]
“I get way too much credit,” Izzo said. “It’s my players.”
Sure, guys like walk-on Mike Kebler, who was on the floor in crunch time having to guard Tennessee’s athletic point guard Bobby Maze.
When a New Mexico State reserve checked into the game in the first round of the tourney and saw Kebler, he laughed and then yelled “iso” at coach Marvin Menzies in an effort to get him the ball in a one-on-one situation.
“The only time I would have guessed I’d have played in an Elite Eight game is if we were up or down 20,” Kebler admitted after the win over the Vols.
Michigan State won 70-69, completing a four-game run to Indy that came by a total of 13 points. It wasn't a miracle so much as something pulled out of Izzo's backside at times.
And not without kickback from players like Green who, at times, can talk better than they can play.
"Towards the beginning of the game, everything I did wrong he yelled at me," Green said. "And I looked at him like, 'Am I allowed to make a mistake?'"
"Not at this time of year," Izzo shot back.
A few more links, sans blockquoting:
- Newsflash: Tom Izzo is really, really good - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
Izzo on Oregon rumors: No one's contacted him. Solid response with no hint of interest. (Video at bottom.) - Manny Harris Will Enter NBA Draft | UM Hoops.com
Maybe the best thing for Beilein in the long run. Gives him a pure rebuilding year with reduced expectations. - Latimer takes Jefferson for a ride to the championship
Adreian Payne is a state champ. Shoulder surgery today. - Butler: Newcomer to late-night revelry | freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Jud is going to Indy. (HT: robb) - U-D coach Ray McCallum: Butler will beat MSU | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Says key for MSU is to attack Matt Howard inside. - A Sunday Morning Special: The Butler Bulldogs and Lucas Oil Stadium - Stampede Blue
Lucas Oil just 6 miles from Hinkle Fieldhouse. - The Mid-Majority : The Way Back Home
Kyle Whelliston on the Butler Way.
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After watching Korie Lucious
“handle” the ball yesterday, I’d be very concerned moving forward.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
Did you watch the Purdue game?
That was a marked improvement. On top of that, playing the long minutes under intense pressure made it even tougher. I think most fans would say the last two games have at best met their expectations for Lucious if not exceeded it by the very fact that we’re still here. I have concerns going forward, sure, but I’m not as worried as I was during the second half of the Maryland game.
Ditto. This.
Lucious has played about 92-94 minutes since halftime of the Maryland game. He’s turned it over 8 times. We’ll take that.
Fight for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Mar 29, 2010 1:30 PM CDT up reply actions
Right,
and didn’t three come bunched in a rough fatigue-induced section of the UT game?
Before the game I said this on another board:
I think MSU is a major “IF” team.
If Korie Lucious maintains steady point play
If Allen and Roe can continue to transcend their injuries
If Raymar Morgan plays aggressively
If Durrell Summers continues to hit shots
If Nix and Sherman can provide a handful of quality minutes
If Kebler and Thornton can handle the intensity
That’s a tall order but I have no doubt that if the majority of those things take place, MSU will beat UTenn and go on to a national championship. If it all comes together, they’re better than any team remaining. I sincerely believe that.
Pretty amazed that all those did happen and appeared to be necessary for the win. Same story continues. MSU does that and Indianapolis is their town. Lucious is a key piece and I have faith.
he also has had 9 steal
in the last wo games. Helps make up for the TO’s
"There are no next times when you're competing for big things." - Tom Izzo
Go Spartans
Ditto. Ditto. This.
I don’t think anything has been as bad as the game @Illinois and things have, I think, improved in each Lucas-less game. Tennessee obviously made it part of their game plan to go after him hard and except for a stretch where he got into a kind of mano-a-mano thing with Goins he survived pretty well, giving about as good as he got, in fact.
Look, I love his confidence
and if you’ve read my infrequent posts on this site you’d know that I love Tom Izzo teams. However, despite the fact he’s had only 8 turnovers, any time Tennessee pressured him yesterday he seemed out-of-control and lackadaisical i.e. he was extremely fortunately to have such a favorable stat line. It could be just fine vs. Butler (although they’re tough) but against Duke or WVU he’ll be meat if he doesn’t focus a bit more out there.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Mar 29, 2010 4:11 PM CDT up reply actions
I happy with the results
Turnovers have not been a big problem for us and we have won the games he has had to start. I don’t think anyone can argue with that. If anything, I wish he was shooting the ball a little better. Some of his turnovers looked bad, but given what he is being asked to do, I don’t think we can complain.
To an extent, I agree
My frustrations with Lucious running the point have become almost a running gag here. And he still needs to rein in the “playground” stuff a bit. But he has improved substantially over where things were before Lucas’s first injury.
Funny you mention his improvement. From waaaay back when...
You may not win the league without Lucas but that’s not really what MSU basketball is about. The injury will allow more playing time for other kids and this team will just be that much tougher and seasoned by the time the NCAA rolls around….Sparty will be no fun to play come March, especially with Lucas likely healthy by then.
OK, so I didn’t correctly predict that Lucas would go down again, but in hindsight, Lucas’ first injury is why this team is still playing.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Mar 29, 2010 11:30 PM CDT up reply actions
John Gasaway on this topic
I realize that on any given Michigan State possession Lucious looks a lot like someone who was voted Most Likely to Commit a Turnover in high school, but actually the worst offender here of late has been Raymar Morgan, who’s given the ball away 14 times in 189 personal tournament possessions
I said it in the other post
but I’ll say it again here. I won’t be shocked if Izzo at least hears what Oregon’s offer is to get an idea of what the market thinks his coaching is worth. He might be in line for a raise again with what he’s done this year.
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 would expect that he'll get the Oregon offer,
decline it, and then sign an extension with a substantial raise.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
Do you really think he'll look for a raise?
Izzo strikes me as almost Paterno-esque in nature. He’s happy, still challenged enough to keep him interested and has a deep love for Michigan State. I get the feeling he’s willing to do whatever is necessary to make Sparty better in all areas, athletic or otherwise. Perhaps I just have him on too high a pedestal. You guys are all (presumably) closer to the situation. What do you think?
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Mar 29, 2010 4:14 PM CDT up reply actions
Eh
No one will turn down money if you offer it to them. I don’t think we’d have to match Oregon’s super bid, but he’ll be getting a raise soon.
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.
The reason I called him "Paterno-esque"
is that JoePa has turned down more money and asked for funding to be redirected to other on-campus needs. I’m not saying Izzo is the same, just that I suspect he’s cut from the same cloth. MSU may just offer him a raise in good faith, but I don’t know that I’d expect Izzo to ask for one per se. Then again, I don’t remember what it’s like to have a successful basketball coach…
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Mar 29, 2010 6:33 PM CDT up reply actions
No need to deify Izzo.
He makes $2.5m per year plus bonuses, which in and of itself is evidence that he wouldn’t—and doesn’t—exactly turn down heavy compensation. (Compare that to Paterno’s ~$500k salary — almost certainly the lowest of any major-school football coach.)
He’s flirted with other jobs in the past and I’m under no illusions that there’s no chance he’ll ever leave. At this point, however, he’d probably only leave for the perfect situation, and it’s likely that a perfect situation (in his mind) exists only in the NBA. Whether or not such a situation exists in the college ranks, the head job at Oregon is most certainly not it.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
This seems like a no-brainer
But every year that goes by it feels less likely that Izzo will ever coach anywhere but Michigan State University. There is a certain window to go out and try something new (NBA). As one gets older I imagine that window closes and it becomes "cement your legacy" time. I think Izzo is reaching that tipping point.
I was actually floored when he talked about enjoying his victories during retirement in "10-15 years." Izzo must be having a better time than he lets on.
I'd pay Izzo whatever he asked for...
given the results he has produced and what good press he has brought MSU. Think how many D1 basketball coaches there have been and to think only 6 have ever done what he has done. And compare what is put out there about our basketball program vs what has been put out there about our football program over the past 10 years. It is hard to put a price on that.
I think we're mostly saying the same thing.
You took the positive spin, I took the negative. Ha.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
Same page, indeed.
I’ve been telling people that I’d bet my savings that Izzo will never coach for another university besides MSU. Why would he? The only lure would be grotesque amounts of money and I don’t even see that carrying the day.
I wouldn’t bet that same savings on the NBA. Though I highly doubt it, Izzo may wake up one morning and decide it’s something he wants to try before it’s all said and done for him.
Now, I’m a graduate student so when I say “bet my savings” you can take that with a grain of salt.
Keith Appling...
just own the McDonald’s All-American skills competition (beat out Harrison Barnes). Completely meaningless – but fun none-the-less.
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