That Felt Good: Michigan State 64, Michigan 48

First of all, I want to second the addendum on Allen’s defense: as he said the other day when asked about the team’s intensity in an interview (and I paraphrase), “Trav’s in town…that’s all I got to say, Trav’s in town.” While I think we obviously need Allen’s shooting, it is nice to know that we finally have someone we can confidently assign to the other team’s top wing without expecting to get torched. He fought through screens, didn’t give Manny any space, moved his feet: and when it became clear that Harris was having an off night shooting, he began to lay off a bit to prevent drives. At a certain point—as I used to with Walton—I just started exclusively watching Allen’s defense, rather than following the ball.

Also, anyone else get the sense that Morgan realized…oh…say, about four games ago…. that his career is nearly over, and we’re actually seeing the consistent effort, focus and purpose that were missing mid-season? Keep bringing the fire, Ray.

Finally, I love the new emphasis on getting into the paint. I know we’ve played a string of opponents with weak front-lines, but there has been such a concerted effort to get it inside and crash the glass of late: it is a good reminder that while we don’t have height, we do have some talented forwards and big guards like Summers. It breeds an aggressive, impose-your-will, style of play that complements the defensive intensity we need. I like these developments with the tourney on the horizon.

We definitely gave away some transition points (along with the ball) at a rather alarming rate. For a team that wants to get out and run, we didn’t look very good doing it at times. Most of the mistakes were mistakes of agression or unselfishness. Either we tried to force the ball or make a really tough pass to hit someone further up court, or it seemed at times that the guy with the ball, who had a good shot, would try to make an ill-advised extra pass to a teammate and usually wind up having it picked off or sail out of bounds.

That was a pretty intense full game effort. Yes, we slacked off a bit toward the middle/end of the second half but the game really was over at that point (as opposed to PSU when we slacked off before the game was really over). Our D was fantastic, and I wonder with the success turning U of M over if Izzo will let these guys gamble a little more. They seem to have a knack of turning opponents over (it was evident in the second half against Purdue at the Breslin, too). Great work on the boards. It was encouraging to see us really excel in all the effort-related stuff whether the shots were falling or not.

I encourage folks to stop by over here and peruse yesterday’s in-game comments. The amusement is worth it, even a day late.

Secondly, I’m a celebrity! Looking through KJ’s pictures I noticed he was approximately opposite of where I was sitting. And sure enough, I’m in (the distant background) of one of his pictures, immortalized within another great Spartan moment!

Now, if only State could muster this caliber of liveliness and intensity game in and game out. From the very tip you could tell things were different. Sure, it’s Michigan. Sure, it’s for a share of the conference title. But this team has showed us repeatedly this season that playing with focus isn’t a safe assumption when something big is at stake. The effort was impressive and I hope and pray they can find a way to conjure this type of energy up heading into each of their remaining contests this year.

Harris was nonexistent (thanks to Chris Allen – love the picture above), and Sims was close to it (thanks to an impressive Derrick Nix). When Zack Gibson is your most effective player (much of whose contributions came late when players will already celebrating), you have issues. Beilien’s comments about grabbing and physical play coupled with the way he moped dejectedly down the stretch were priceless. A lot of criticism is flying about his coaching style and lack of talent. But I actually loved watching his WVU teams and cringed when UM hired him away. His cupboards aren’t totally bare, but outspoken leadership is certainly missing from the shelves.

Morgan was the best he’s played in a very long time, inspired for his Senior Day. I worried a little with Dahlman starting, but that didn’t hurt things too much. The defensive suffocation that State exerted was a thing to behold, but I never would have guessed that they would turn over a very stingy UM squad so frequently throughout the entire game. When you live and die by that outside shot, and when an opponent smothers you when you happen to not throw the ball away, you look foolish in a hurry, for nearly a full 40 minutes.

I’m really looking to see State maintain this effort this weekend in the BTT. Maybe I’ve read it wrong, but it just seems to me that Izzo doesn’t put a lot of emphasis on the conference tournament. Same with the players and even the fans. Am I the only one? It seems like people are looking a week ahead toward the big tournament, and with the success they’ve had there, who could condemn the tradeoff? But I think for this team to do any damage in the NCAAs, they need to keep that fire going and in my opinion it behooves them to keep it going right into the BTT rather than taking it 75% seriously and waiting for a bigger stage. It’s always tough to beat a team three times in a year, so they’ll have a familiar opponent either way Friday night who’s got nothing to lose. Hopefully they come out with a vengeance and pull from the same reserves that won at Purdue and yesterday against UM. Keep it going! Go Green!

Delvon Roe. I know his knee tightened up and so he didn’t play in the second half (Rexrode said that riding a stationary bike at halftime might be the answer), but he was fantastic in the first half, especially early. He was completely imposing himself inside, and our offensive drought began when he checked out of the game. We’re a completely different team—and a much, much better team—when he’s playing like that.