BriefCap -- Michigan State 76, Purdue 62 -- Spartans Alone In First Place
by Pete Rossman on Feb 19, 2012 2:53 PM CST
in Michigan State Spartans Basketball
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PrintWelcome to the BriefCap. In short, it's a brief recap until we get enough numbers, stats and such to break down the game.
The first half was an exercise in frustration defensive for MSU; as good as the Spartans were offensively (especially Derrick Nix -- he had a two minute stretch where he grabbed a metaphorical Starman and was scoring everything) it seemed as if they didn't know how to stop Lewis Jackson from driving to the basket or Robbie Hummel in any capacity. MSU went to the locker room at halftime down three.
The second half though -- YUUUSSSSS. Draymond Green recovered from picking up two cheap fouls in the first half and looked every bit the Big Ten Player of the Year and All-American candidate he is, going for 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists total. That was his 5th game with 20+ points, 10+ boards and 5+ assists; no one else in Division 1 has more than two such games.
And Branden Dawson, in a GIF:
via i.imgur.com -- Thanks to @WorldOfIsaac at guyism.com for the GIF.
Dawson also had a double-double, scoring 15 points and 11 rebounds, if he wanted to annoy those few Purdue fans who somehow think he was bought by M$U (LOL), he certainly did so. His 15 points were third on the team to ...wait for it...Austin Thornton's 17. Thornton took open shots when he had them, got a few rebounds, and didn't turn the ball over. It's hard to understate just how much Thornton's emergence had meant for this team. For now, MSU has a one-game lead in the Big Ten with four games to go.
So celebrate here, and we'll have more later.
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So 4 guys in double figure scoring?
Draymond 20
Thornton 17
Dawson 15
Nix at least 10
Imagine if Wood and Appling could have gotten going?
Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude
and there were times when I thought
We could have cleared out and let AT post up the 5’ 9" Jackson. Should have an easy shot down low…. But in the second half those outside shooters began missing… But wow two games for the price of one where the home team got all the calls and made their shots and the second game where a nationally ranked team just blew them out.
by James Rinkevich on Feb 19, 2012 3:09 PM CST via iPhone app up reply actions
Wood hit a backbreaking three
That was enough though.
Credit to Green. he simply dominated in the last 12 minutes and we had no answer whatsoever.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
Here's the video
Of Dawson’s windmill slam: http://btn.com/2012/02/19/did-you-see-this-dawson-windmill-dunk/.
by Con-T on Feb 19, 2012 3:00 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
It's amazing that he did that with out dribbling
Just caught the bounce pass and went straight up with the windmill dunk
That botched foul call on Payne looks even more rediculous
Having watched the replay. How does a guy tripping into a defender constitute a foul on us?
Officials And Announcers Doomed by Replay
It was frustrating at the time, but funny after the win, to watch the Purdue defender leaning hard on Payne, shoving him out of the lane and then when Payne shoves back, not only does the defender fall, but he grabs Payne’s arm and drags him down.
The Big Ten is clearly trying to get as many teams in the NCAA Tourney as possible and given that MSU is in, how would a loss at Purdue hurt, other than a drop in seed? (Sarcasm on the second part, in case it didn’t come across). If MSU wins that game by 25+ Purdue is out of the tournament for sure.
Yeah that was just an awful call
I think that, if Payne got a foul, the Purdue guy should have, too, he clearly initiated the contact, as well as grabbed & dragged Payne down to the floor. Not to mention that, as soon as he went down, he popped up & appeared to get in Payne’s face in an aggresssive manner. The reffing was very inconsistent, in Purdue’s favor, in the first half. Though I will say the back to back calls against Green were OK – he let Hummel past him both times, then put hands on him. That will get called every time. Green should have made sure that Hummel wouldn’t make the layup on the second foul, if he’s going to give him a freebie like that.
Hell of a second half response for our guys
Just another trademark of a championship team – on the road, other team playing with a ton of energy & emotion, crowd extremely hostile, refs seem to be favoring the opponent. Then the team came out and punched the other team in the face, and they had no response.
Great ballgame by Green, AT, Dawson, Nix. Appling & Wood both looked much better in the second half.
Payne was nearly invisible save for his big block, BK had by far his worst game as a Spartan, but the rest of the team stepped up. Huge, huge, huge road win.
Oh also,
What are the odds on Izzo coming out & crying about the Purdue student section being too mean?
Awesome result.
Missed the second half due to other commitments. Pretty awesome stat lines here at the end though.
Did we change the way we were playing their screens? Or our rotations? In the first half Nix got left on Hummel a lot when Purdue went small and we were often going under/around their screens rather than fighting through them…. or did Purdue just miss a boatload of shots (eg. regress after making more than their share of jumpshot in the 1st)?
Also...
I’m sure glad Izzo listened to me about giving someone else Thornton’s minutes earlier this year :/
Whoops!
players who make free throws
Play defense and rebound deserve their minutes in the Izzo system. And no one makes their free throws like AT.
by James Rinkevich on Feb 19, 2012 3:13 PM CST via iPhone app up reply actions
Another undervalued Thorton trait...
Getting the ball into the post.
Payne and Nix have benefitted all year from Thorton’s ability to consistently get the ball to them on the block. It’s one of my favorite parts of his game, but it always seems to be overlooked.
The sideline is always greener at MSU.
I said something similar in the game thread.
It’s an undervalued skill — it’s really not all that easy to do.
AT and Day Day’s post-entry passing are among the best.
by The Birchman on Feb 19, 2012 3:29 PM CST up reply actions
it is easier for him
Because he is actually able to hit the shot from he is which keeps a double team from starting on the post. If Trice and Appling hit more consistently there shoveling it into the post would be a lot easier for them. Now if he can show off these skills in the tournaments some NBA team might be inclined to draft him.
by James Rinkevich on Feb 19, 2012 4:38 PM CST via iPhone app up reply actions 1 recs
Two Games in row
He’s taken and made some real nice mid-range jumpers early. It seems like everyone is (appropriately) keying on the big scorers early and the ability of other guys to make a few baskets early really changes the game.
Both OSU and Purdue (and maybe others) were leaving him wide open, and he even made a nice move to get open for a jumper at the high post.
Of course, I smile in the last three minutes when MSU is clearly feeding him the ball so he can take the foul shots.
The funniest thing...
… Has been teams’ refusal to foul him in those situations. Even yesterday, if the ball was in AT’s hands, they’d just pressure. But once he gave it up to Day Day or Keith, there was a mad dash to hack them before the ball got back to Austin.
by The Birchman on Feb 20, 2012 8:45 AM CST up reply actions
I loved when we rolled out the defensive lineup
of Appling, Kearney, Thornton, Green, and Nix. As I recall they had a good couple of minutes together in the second half. That line up will shut down most teams in the nation. You could also put Payne in there for Nix and be just as good defensively.
by Chitown Spartan on Feb 19, 2012 3:19 PM CST reply actions
I think it depends on the situation
Payne is a better shot blocker and individual defender against post ups, but Nix is better with the pick and roll and guarding bigs that move around.
Incredible game. Missed most of the first half, but saw the whole second
Still can’t believe how great AT was.
"The open threads on game days are like fevered dreams: Everyone is hammered and then shit gets burned." - Truffle Shuffle
by The Ghost of John Hannah on Feb 19, 2012 3:30 PM CST reply actions
Impressive 2nd half
I love all the options this team has in the post. Green and Nix do most of the damage in the post, but we can also go to Dawson and Payne.
Yep
If the opponent is wearing a red jersey with #0 and a Jared mask.
Somebody forgot to pack those today.
On a side note, I’m enjoying my bowl of crow re: Thornton.
The guy has become indispensable.
Now he needs to give Wood some notes on taking and making open shots.
Appling too actually.
Play 40!
Unless you're Derrick Payne, then play 20/20.
Dawson is a Beast!!!!
Watching Dawson at this point one can only wonder what next year will be like. This team is good! Day Day makes it fun to be a Spartan this year too. Gotta give Izzo props for getting these guys to play together.
Con-T tweeted earlier
that the last time we won at all three was something like 1996-97.
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
alone in 1st
Dawson is showing why he was so highly regarded—-finished like a pro—his reboudning reputation was well earned—-i hope we get a 3rd year out of him
Brandan AWESOME
most athletic Spartan since Jason Richardson.
'dan = Kearney
’den = Dawson
’don = Wood.
by lesmanalim on Feb 19, 2012 5:31 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Thanks, I needed that
I’m going to give you the rest of the season to make that a poster and take it to a game, and then I’m totally stealing it. Look for the very small “1” and the footnote to lesmanalim
wood and thornton
Wood actually had some excellent passes, a tipped a passon defense and played a good, solid defensive game. Liked his open made 3 and the the first 2 shots he missed were ones he is very capable of making.
Really really like how much this team has improved over the last 2 monthes. Saw great talking and pointing on defense from several players. Austin Thornton has improved his offense so much and seems to be great at decision making of when to shoot plus as
mentioned above, very impressive passes into nixpayne, especially with Green out in the first half.
AT is giving us 30 very solid minutes these last few games and is an important part of
the senior leadership too. Easier to be a leader on the floor and off when your own game is clicking but his 5 years with the program and all his hard work should give him credibility off the court too.
I want to "Like" that gif so many times
Awesome.
"I believe in a good kick in the ass. This— I believe. " -- Walker Percy
I tweet about stuff sometimes @jackhitts.
Congrats on the win.
Kind of frustrated to watch Purdue shoot so badly in the second half. It is what it is though.
Congrats, Spartans.
You earned the win. Green is just awesome, love him just not when he’s playing against us. Good luck from here on.
Same feeling about Hummel.
I think you guys are in pretty good shape for the tournament, even without this one. Win the two “easy” games and you’re at 9-9 in conference, a bunch of good wins, a solid top-end non-conference schedule (although the bottom end gets more weight than it should and is not particularly pretty). I really think you just have to avoid a bad loss and you’re in; add another good win and it’s beyond question.
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
You guys have a great program.
And Izzo is just fantastic, I actually worked with his sister at Kimberly-Clark here in Roswell, Georgia and know her quite well so I almost feel like I know him a bit, his sister Mary is a super-nice person and I am sure he is as well. Good luck.
by GeorgiaBoiler on Feb 19, 2012 7:59 PM CST up reply actions
How is it possible
that it’s February 20, we’re in sole possession of first place in the conference, Lunardi is calling us a 1-seed, and I still feel like we’re a bubble team scrapping for every win? Just incredible.
"It was worth it. Every needle, every dose of medicine that I've taken. That's why you play the game. A chance to be on a Final Four team, a chance to win championships." Delvon Roe
by Ducking Delvon on Feb 20, 2012 6:40 AM CST via iPhone app reply actions
If by 'scrapping' you mean 'blowing people out'
I understand your point, though – the transformation from last year to this year has been astounding. Even from the beginning of the season to now, this team looks so much more cohesive, fluid, and defensively stout. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that if the USS Spartans played the post-Valentine’s Day Spartans, the VD would be favored by at least eight over the USS.
Awesome. Just awesome.
BTW, ESPN nation was none too happy about the Bracketology 1-seed for MSU
Lunardi heard about it from UNC, Duke, and KU fans in his most recent chat wrap:
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/42580
It’s a close call, no doubt, but you can see that Lunardi was running out of ways to say “body of work” without using that specific phrase. I feel it’s also worth mentioning that since those first two games against UNC and Duke, MSU is 22-3 with two of those losses being one-point losses on the road in which we had a chance for a go-ahead shot. We are definitely in the 1-seed mix right now.
Hey! I'm tryin' to eat lunch here!
what, ESPN nation isn't happy about rankings?
Alert the presses!
UNC isn't even in the running, as far as I'm concerned.
2-4 against the RPI top 25? That’s not a 1 seed. (By contrast, we’re 7-3 and have more road wins against the RPI top 25 than they have total wins.) Beat Duke, then take out both Duke and FSU en route to an ACC tournament title, and they might have a case.
Duke’s closer (4-3 top 25), but we’ve still done enough to overcome the head-to-head loss IMO. Kansas is a closer argument (they lead the nation with 9 top 50 wins to our 7, but if Purdue moves up two spots and K-State and South Florida each move down two, that swings to 9-6 in our favor).
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
One big concern
Looking back at the stats, even though the OR% was in our favor, I don’t like that Purdue actually got 13 offensive boards (to our 11). They certainly weren’t crashing the boards on offense like Wisconsin was in the first half of that game, and you could tell bc MSU had no fast break points until late in the game. It seems like a lot of their offensive boards were like in the Illinois or first Purdue game, shots that were so bad & off the mark, they took weird bounces to Purdue guys. But a big problem with that is that our guys weren’t always putting bodies on Purdue inside, giving them those extra looks.
If anything, we got lucky that Purdue couldn’t make a shot to save their lives in the second half. During that 1/21 streak, they missed a wide open dunk, a couple of wide open layups, and several point-blank putback attempts. Had even a couple of those gone down, combines with Hummel being in beast mode and playing in front of such a hostile crowd, this game could have turned out differently.
Yes it could have gone differently
But it didn’t, because we took advantage of their missed shots and built momentum for ourselves. A team missing 22 of 23 shots probably can’t usually be attributed totally to the defense, but it also can’t just be chalked up to bad offense either. We didn’t let them get in any sort of rhythm in the second half, and it’s hard to make shots when you’re not in a rhythm.
And that’s what this team has been doing, taking advantage of opponent’s miscues. It’s what we couldn’t do last year, and it’s what separates us from a lot of the B1G. It means an opponent has to play their absolute best to beat us and can’t have a streak of bad shooting. If we are allowed to go on a 10-0 run, like we were yesterday, our defense takes over and doesn’t allow the other team back into it.
OR%
Purdue’s offensive rebounding percentage was 28.3%, on the season, MSU has allowed opponents to grab 26.9% of their offensive rebounds, so Purdue was only one rebound above the average MSU has allowed for the season. In conference play, opponents have gotten 28.1% of their offensive rebounds, so MSU’s defensive rebounding on Sunday was pretty much average. The reason Purdue grabbed 13 OR was not because MSU did a poor job on the defensive glass, but because Purdue missed 43 (43!) shots. The combined poor shooting with a low TO% to create a tremendous number of rebound opportunities.
by SpartanFanSF on Feb 20, 2012 1:30 PM CST up reply actions
Bingo.
When a team misses as many shots as Purdue did, they’re bound to catch a few ORs. Near impossible for them not to.
I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left-hand side.
Bradley-Terry rankings for college football and basketball: because there aren't enough computer rankings already.
Yeah I understand OR% and how it works
And realize that when you look at a ratio, the number isn’t as bad.
However, you can’t ignore the sheer volume of boards as well. In the second half, they recovered 9 of their own misses (if you want to do , that’s 33 of reboundable misses, our guys had 18 DRs). A large percentage of them were during the 1/21 shooting stretch, which is when we blew the game open. Purdue obviously missed all of those putback attempts, too (their first two buckets of the second half were three pointers). If they made even four of those, we’re looking at, at least 8 more points during the run, which could have changed how this game played out, especially considering that they got the deficit back to single digits later in the game.
Also our guys were getting mauled under the basket on that end
I remember specifically Day Day flying out of bounds while rebounding the ball and tossing it to Appling. Not saying Purdue was playing too rough, just that they were taking advantage (as were we) of a game that was allowed to be physical. I much prefer those types of games to the ones where there is a whistle on every other play.
by Chitown Spartan on Feb 20, 2012 5:57 PM CST up reply actions
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