So, will our sidelined assassin play tomorrow? There are a number of pieces out today on the topic, and while none of them fully clarify the situation, they do, collectively, provide hints as to what's going on. Your first contestant: Shannon Shelton!
"It’s improving, but it’s not 100% -- and we’re not looking for it to be 100%," Izzo said. "So we’re up in the air on that."
"If you look at his ankle, it doesn’t look nearly as swollen as I’ve seen others. But he just can’t cut on it. I think he has a chance to play, but the better question is, at what level?"
Mike DeCourcy has more, and some grist for optimism:
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said Monday star point guard Kalin Lucas "told me he's going to try to play" in Tuesday's Big Ten showdown against surging Purdue. [ . . .]The reigning Big Ten player of the year, Lucas is averaging 15.6 points for the 19-5 Spartans. Lucas participated in a walk-through Sunday night and has done some layup
drills. "He was feeling somewhat better," Izzo said. "He wants to play, and he'll play if it's 5 minutes. It's not one of those prima donna things."
Of course, Draymond Green is even more optimistic:
"We're hoping Kalin is back," forward Draymond Green said Monday. "We're pretty confident he will be." [ . . . ]
"He's a warrior," said Green of Lucas. "He's not going to sit out [against the Boilermakers] if he doesn't have to."
Of course, Day Day's opinion may be informed more by emotion than by reality. Nonetheless, he's probably onto something here: the team is semi-reeling after two losses, and badly needs a turnaround at home tomorrow. If Saturday night's game taught us anything, it's that this team is better off with even a not-quite-healthy Kalin Lucas running the point than it is with a healthy Korie Lucious or Chris Allen.
Rexrode gets the final blockquote:
The guess here is Kalin Lucas dresses and tries to play Tuesday night. Draymond Green said he expects Lucas to play. Tom Izzo said Lucas "has some Cleaves in him."
. . . and I agree with what he says. Knowing what we do now, I'd look for Kalin to start tomorrow night.