Chris Allen is gone, baby, gone

. . . and not just on the inside.

Seriously, though, this stinks, I was really hoping that he could get past his myriad of issues and show up a mature senior ready to cut down some more nets next spring.

Strategically, I think this means that Russell Byrd and Austin Thorton need to be ready to step in for the offensive firepower, and Durrell and Byrd are going to have to step up on the defensive end to replace Allen’s newfound lockdown talents.

Four months before the season even started, and we’ve already taken our first lumps. Let’s hope this is the last lump for a while.

Speculation is all we have since this whole dilemma has been vague from the start. My guess is he had to repair whatever damage he did from not “being a good teammate.” The team was not willing to forgive him so Izzo gave him the boot. Very unfortunate. The experts are already stating the Appling will be able to step in. They are wrong. Allen was our premier perimeter defender. I have never seen a freshman be an excellent perimeter defender. I’m very bummed out.

and enroll for the fall semester?

Chris Allen took over for Travis Walton as my favorite player on the team.

I have that photo of him at the FF framed on my wall.

Also yto add to guys it might affect. Byrd could see more time. Maybe we also start the game of with Green at the 3 instead of him coming of the bench.

The wildest part is Allen’s complete acknowledgment that he didn’t cut it and it’s basically on him. My hope is that this is addition by subtraction chemistry-wise.

It’s bad for everyone involved. Allen looks bad for obvious reasons. Izzo looks bad for handling the whole thing in the press. A team built to win a national title loses its third guard and primary long-distance shooter. No one wins except Purdue and OSU.

will also see increased minutes. I’m not kidding.

he plays good defense, but it’s like going 5-on-4 when State’s on offense. Hopefully he sees spot duty while Appling and Byrd get the majority of Allen’s lost minutes.

thinks that Allen is headed to USF, and that this has been in the works for a while. If Izzo and Stan Heath engineered an escape route for Allen, it would explain Allen’s “it’s my fault, I’m sorry Coach Izzo” sentiments in the press release.

I know the body isn’t even warm yet, but the next question becomes: What about his scholarship?

Do we give it to Thorton or Kebler, or look to pick up a late commit or (gasp) even a JC transfer?

I was watching the Elite Eight game this weekend, and watched the post-game celebration with an extra bit of interest. Allen, despite making a few really good plays, including the blind pass for Durrell’s dagger triple, seemed very distant. As the jumping around commenced, he just walked past Summers and Summers gave him a brief pat on the back. Something did indeed appear to be wrong, and not just between those two.

Clearly, MSU is not a better team without Chris Allen than with him. But it does appear that there were issues, and not from my amateur analysis above. Maybe Izzo can replace the minutes by committee, and someone will emerge by March to take on most of Chris’ role.

Cotton, Davis & Mojo left of their own volition. Although behind the scenes, they may have been encouraged; we don’t know. Was it something prurient that led to the chemistry issues, ie. messing with someone’s girlfriend, etc.

Anyone have any idea when the last time an incoming senior who garnered major minutes during a Final Four season was summarily kicked off the team? From any program?

I too am intrigued about what the issues were. It will not make our defense better that’s for sure. No, Allen wasn’t a Charlie Bell or Travis Walton on D, but he was solid and basically our best option proven option on the perimeter. Our best hope there, IMO, is for Green to use his new physique to play on the wing and be a lock down defender out there. I think he has the quickness – it’s just a matter of stamina and good technique – i.e. moving his feet and not relying on clutching and grabbing. He’s got a low enough center of gravity at 6’6" to be able to play perimeter guys. Granted, we’ll miss his rebounding, but I think we’ve got enough help down low with Roe healthy and Sherman and Nix back from a full off-season of working on their conditioning and fundementals that they can pick up the slack down low.

Lucious, purely for height reasons, will not be the answer on D. Maybe one of the freshmen can step up and provide meaningful minutes. Playing KL and KL2 gives us a distinct height disadvantage on the perimeter. Speaking of which Lucas could stand to improve his D a bit with Allen out, but given that he’s mostly focussed on rehabbing his achilles, I’m not expecting major strides from him. Frankly, if he gets back anywhere near where he was last year I’ll be more than satisified with his performance.

An improvement from Summers would be great, but he’s been so mercurial during the regular season that he’ll have to prove it before I believe he can be a consistent player on both sides of the ball. He really stepped up his game during the tournament these past two years, at least on offense, and he deserves high praise for those performances. This year, he needs to bring that focus for every regular season game, on both ends of the floor.

I want to see the Spartans compete for championships, but not at the cost of losing the integrity of the program. We may be a piece short next year because of Allen’s departure, time will tell, but if he didn’t meet his obligations, then Izzo had little choice. He has a scholarship to attend the university and play basketball. Allen didn’t keep up his end of the bargain. That scholarship should go to a player who is meeting the obligations of being a student-athlete. It is easy to get lost in our passionate embrace of the basketball team and forget that the university’s mission goes beyond championships. (Though I’m sure it’s a close second.)

Maybe he really wanted out. I know there’s some kind of Lansing or EL connection in his history but everybody else on the team is from the midwest. He managed for 3 years but maybe it got tougher instead of easier to connect with his teammates and now comes Mr. Detroit Basketball to steal his minutes. Personally I thought Lucious was the guy that had to worry but I guess not now. The thought of Lucious as a starter makes me uncomfortable, I hope that’s not true. Losing basically all of your experienced perimeter defenders makes me even more uncomfortable. On the other hand, in today’s world of college hoops freshmen need to play right away. The way these kids get run through the AAU ringer every summer, if you’re any good you’re ready to play. Freshmen make a difference every year on a lot of teams. I believe our freshmen can handle it and I’m excited to see extra PT for Appling and Byrd. Any good player should only be around for 2-3 years so why not get their contributions immediately. The NBA avoids sr’s like the plague and kids know that. If you can play, there’s no need for training wheels. I just hope the kids get healthy. Spending the summer rehabbing injuries is not a good way to prepare to SHOULDER the load for a NC RUN.

If you have any desire to hear your name called next June, here’s a golden opportunity to show scouts you can do more than just catch and shoot. Allen stood out on defense last year. Often and obviously it was detrimental to his offense but he filled a need. Summers needs to stand out the same way. Not only because there’s a serious void and the team really needs that but it could also aid his prospects next June. Might want to work on the ball handling a bit too.

Whatever “not being a good teammate” meant and whatever “obligations” weren’t met, they better have been serious. Not only because it’d be nice to have Allen and his skills on the team, but because if he’s going to be bounced, much better for him to have it happen in April or May, where he could move on cement himself with a new school and team.

So a comment was posted in the link to the Maui Invite schedule that Allen is looking at UConn.

Also, yesterday in the Detroit News, there was a column in which his mother was quoted as saying UConn, Notre Dame, Memphis & USF, among others, are on the radar.

Anyone have any insight into this?