Delvon Roe Leads MSU Past Michigan 54-42

Michigan State grinded out their sixth consecutive road win in the Big Ten as they defeated Michigan 54-42. Kalin Lucas led the Spartans with 15 points, while Delvon Roe had a career high 14 points. DeShawn Sims paced the Wolverines with 18 points.

Player of the Game: Delvon Roe 14 points, 10 rebounds

What Went Well For the Spartans
1) Emphasis on Getting the Ball Inside - From the opening tip, it was clear that Michigan State was going to take my advice and pound the ball down low. They tried to exploit Michigan's lack of height by getting Roe and Suton involved early. Delvon ended up being the biggest beneficiary with his career night while Suton struggled somewhat (8 pts on 2-7 shooting).
2) Great Defense - Led by Travis Walton, the Spartans played great pressure defense. Recognizing Michigan's tendencies to chuck up threes from all over the court, they extended their defense out a few feet further than they normally play and harassed their shooters all night. Walton held Manny Harris to 7 points on 2-10 shooting, including 1-6 from the 3-pt line.
3) Free Throws - MSU unexpectedly performed better at the free throw line than the Wolverines. The Spartans cashed in on 15 of 19 attempts while Michigan converted only 6 of 11. Michigan came into this game hitting 77% of their free throws.
4) Lack of Turnovers - I thought MSU did an excellent job of taking care of the basketball, especially against Michigan's high pressure defense. The Wolverines hasselled us all night and look really athletic in that 1-3-1 zone. It truly was a great performance by the Spartans.

What Didn't Go So Well
1) Rebounding - This is the most concerning aspect of this game. The Spartans only managed to grab a +3 rebounding margin against the Wolverines. Michigan actually grabbed more offensive rebounds than MSU as they had 9 and we had 8. This was the second straight contest where Michigan State has not blown away their competition in the rebounding margin. We were +5 against Indiana.
2) Durrell Summers - Summers got the nod from Tom Izzo in this game, presumably due to his height on the perimeter to guard against three point shots. But, he really didn't do much on the offensive end finishing 3-8 with 8 points in 31 minutes. I didn't think that Durrell Summers was playing good enough to limit Chris Allen to 9 minutes in this game.
3) Marquise Gray - As you know, I think we should try to get Gray more involved in the offense, but his two minutes of playing time last night illustrate why Tom Izzo is reluctant to do so. Immediately after he entered the first half of the game, he let Zack Gibson blow right by him for a layup. Then in Michigan State's following possession, he turned the ball over down in the post. I thought he had another turnover in that span too, but the official box score only listed him as having one. Personally, I think Izzo did the right thing here. I would manage Gray the same way. Let him play early and if he plays great, keep him in there. If he plays like a basket case, sit him down.
4) Poor Substitutions - As tradition, I have to get my regular criticism of Coach Izzo's substitutions in right here although, in general Izzo did a great job. Aside from Durrell Summers getting too many of Chris Allen's minutes, the only gripe I had was why did we need Austin Thornton in the game with 11 minutes to go? The only possible explanation is that he wanted some height on the perimeter for defense, but even then, I would have still went with Chris Allen as he isn't a bad defender and he can give you a lot more on the offensive end. Luckily, Thornton's two and a half minutes didn't hurt us, but it could have.

Post Game Analysis of My Preview
Without question, this was a weird game. Both teams strayed away from how they normally perform. Michigan State narrowly outrebounded the wolverines who are normally horrible on the boards. Michigan also uncharacteristically missed free throws and was more turnover prone than the Spartans.

Yesterday, I thought that the key to a victory would be Michigan's three-point shooting versus a stellar performance from either Durrell Summers or Chris Allen. Well, as it turns out neither team had success in these areas. Michigan went 4-24 from behind the arc and both Michigan State players really failed to make an impact. In the end, I think it came down to MSU's defense out playing the Wolverine defense.

Post Game Feelings
After watching the game last night, I was surprised by how unexcited I was with our victory. It had nothing really to do with how we played, but more about how in reality, it was just another game on our schedule that we were supposed to win. Yes, it was a rivalry game, but a rivalry game where we were the favorite for what seems like the 15th consecutive time. I would imagine that this is how Michigan fans feel each autumn when they beat us in football.

Tell me how you all feel.

Quotes
"Everybody loves to beat Michigan on its own court, and it's a big thrill to do that, but it's not the highlight of our season." --Delvon Roe

"A lot of it had to do with their defense," Harris acknowledged. "They were really tough." --Copperyale Harris

Tomorrow - More Michigan Post Game

free hit counters

MSU Basketball Notes

MSU Basketball Notes
1) Summers and Allen Key to Spartan's Fate - Link to complete article here. Despite Summers' career game, I still think that Allen will have the biggest impact. Look at the big games against Memphis last year and UNC this year. He stepped his game up. He is just in a funk. Don't expect Summers to go for more than twenty again this year. If he does, that will just be a bonus.
2) Newsflash: Raymar Morgan is Still Sick - No links needed. Every major newspaper has a story about it. I like Vern Lundquist's description best from the game on Sunday. "He has a upper chest viral infection." Joe Rexrode states in the LSJ today that the problem with Morgan is that "he can't go hard for long periods ." Link can be found here. I don't know if you have been watching Joe, but Morgan can't give us 30 seconds of effective play.

Around the Big Ten
1) Purdue Pulls One Out at Wisconsin - To the dismay of Spartans everywhere, Robbie Hummel hit a three with one minute left to put Purdue up for good. You know if that was Michigan State, Wisconsin would have pulled it out somehow. Can Bo Ryan ever give us a break? Protect your home floor.

That's Ridiculous
1) PETA Ad Rejected by NBC - You would think the network would kill a PETA commercial because they are a bunch of nut jobs, but apparently this commercial titled "Go Veg" was too risque.

Quotes
"For Durrell to pound his chest and feel good about something (as he did against the Buckeyes) — that's like Marquise (Gray) doing cartwheels down the floor. It's just not his style. I told him I kind of enjoyed that." --Tom Izzo

Emotion, no emotion....It doesn't matter to me. Just take the ball to the rack and if you are going to shoot threes, make sure you make them.

Tomorrow - Iowa Preview

free hit counters

MSU notes

MSU Basketball Notes

1) Raymar "Feeling Much Better Now" - You can find the story in Joe Rexrode's blog here. With this being said, I expect Raymar to play well and not to hear any more excuses. Note: Joe also says in the same article for the Spartans to become a final four team "Summers and Allen need to become steady weapons." As I said yesterday, I think if one of them can produce we will be in good shape.

2) Izzo Needs Help Motivating Players - In today's Detroit News, there is an article describing how Izzo has been proding players "...to take it personal and get in here on their own. Right now, I don't think I have enough guys that are trying to do that." You can find it here. It seems that this has become a recurring theme ever since the Hill, Anderson, and Torbert era. I put some of the blame on Izzo as he needs to address these issues before we lose to Northwestern at home.

3) Chris Allen Working On Outside Shooting - In the same article, Chri Allen mentions how everyday him and Mike Garland work on his three point shooting. He makes 100 three pointers before he goes home and said that it normally takes him 120 attempts to do so. He states that he has never missed more than 33 shots. That's crazy.

Big Ten Related News

1) Tim Staudt Ranks the Big Ten as He Sees It - The link is here. The biggest eye opener is him having Penn State ranked ninth in the conference behind Northwestern and Michigan.

2) Northwestern is 6 1/2 Point Favorite Over Michigan - Interesting to see momentum carry this line, especially since the game is in Ann Arbor. I wonder what the over/under will be for the number of three pointers jacked up in this game is. If anyone can find that, I would love to know.

Former MSU Player News

1) Andre Hutson Playing Along Side of Brandon Jennings - As you remember, Brandon Jennings was an Arizona basketball recruit last year who did not qualify acadmically and therefore, chose to play overseas instead of retaking his college enterence exam. Yesterday, I came across this blog post describing how the young man has been very frustrated with his Italian team, Lottomatica Virtus Roma. Currently he is averaging 5.8 points and 2.2 assists per game coming off of the bench. While I was on the team's website, I was surprised to see Hutson's name and that he was leading the team in scoring.

2) Andy Katz Surprised MoJo Comes off Bench for the Catamounts - He also said that Joseph needs to learn how to play better defense. I've heard that before. The link is here.

Quotes

"The key is that we have guys with big hearts. You know, guys that probably wouldn't start for me at other programs, but they really believe...."

--Tubby Smith's comments on Dan Dakich's radio show in Indianapolis.

I found it funny how he came right out in the first 30 seconds and says that the players he has aren't that talented. Link to the audio is here.

Tomorrow - Ohio State Preview #2

free hit counters

Can Allen or Summers Step Their Game Up?

Michigan State has had difficulty finding someone off of the bench to give them solid minutes at the 3. We need Summers and Allen to step their games up.

1) Durrell Summers - I think Summers' biggest problem is that he isn't attacking the basket. Instead, he has been looking to jack up threes way too quickly. Despite leading the team in 3-pt percentage, I do not have confidence in his outside shooting. He had a hot streak earlier in the year that essentially culminated after his buzzer beater against Texas. I would much rather see him use his athleticism to dribble around his defender and attack the rim. The only problem with that is that I don't know how great of an athlete he really is. Sure he can jump real high and run real fast, but can he do those things better than his predecessors? Can he out jump J-Rich, Morris Peterson, or Shannon Brown when they were at his stage? I don't think so. In fact, I think that a majority of our opponents from major conferences have at least one player who is more athletic than Summers.

2) Chris Allen - Chris is coming off of one of the worst games statistically that I have ever seen by a Spartan. He finished 1-11 from the field, including 0-8 from the 3-pt line, and 7 turnovers. With that being said, I agree with Izzo on sticking with him. There isn't a great way to spin Allen's stat line, but I will say I don't think it was as bad as it looks. He obviously played poorly, but given Izzo's lack of alternatives, he was the best guard available.

If Raymar Morgan plays solidly for the rest of the year, which is a big if, then Chris Allen becomes the Spartans' X-factor. He is the only true outside shooter on this team and for us to make a deep NCAA tournament run, we need him to perform well. While he is struggling in regards to 3-pt FG%, he has a tremendous amount of confidence in his ability to shoot and eventually he will turn it around. It's also reassuring that he has improved steadily on the defensive end, a feat that is probably more difficult to do than correct his current shooting slump.

Serenity
For those having a hard time finding faith in the Spartans after Wednesday's loss, you can't help but feel good after watching this feature on Mateen:

One Shining Moment

Don't think about the fact that our team isn't nearly as good as that one.

Around the Big Ten
1) Purdue Handles Minnesota on the Road 70-62 - Here it comes. Purdue is surging from the basement towards the top of the conference. They took care of the Gophers last night by relying on their pressure defense that extends past half court. The Spartans better get their act together because that defense is going to turn them over all night long. It really would have been nice if Northwestern had taken care of the Boilers in Evanston.

That's Ridiculous
1) PETA - These guys are awesome. Has anyone ever seen some of their work. They are over the top. Their latest is that they are insisting that the NFL conduct a brain scan on Michael Vick to see if he has underlying psychological problems and until they do, they will not work on an anti-dog fighting public service announcement with the former player. Do we really need a brain scan PETA? Everyone in America knows that he is messed up. Just do his commercial and be done with it.

Click here for my favorite PETA smack of all time. It's an open letter to the NBA after they changed back to the leather ball after using the synthetic one. They call Lebron and others "Sissys".

2) Allen Iverson Voted to Start in All-Star Game - What? I don't think the votes came from anyone near Detroit. Maybe they came from the same people who voted Yao Ming to start also. This is what's wrong with the NBA.




Mailbag

"Nice recap. Northwestern earned this one. Looks like the Wildcats are finally learning how to finish games, which (don't laugh) might give lots of teams the shakes over the next six weeks. Jeremy Nash was the unsung hero with the way he caused all sorts of trouble for the Spartans on the perimeter. MSU needs to figure out how to attack a zone (check out Illinois) or else they're going to see more zone down the stretch." --TD Lawlor from Hoopraker.com

Thanks for the email. You are right. Jeremy Nash did a great job causing a bunch of turnovers. I also agree with the Spartans needing to be better against the zone. Look for Ohio State to utilize the zone more after seeing the difficulites that the MSU has had.

free hit counters

Michigan State Handles Northwestern 77-66

The Spartans improved to 2-0 in conference play behind an amazing performance by Raymar Morgan who had 22 points and 13 rebounds. Kalin Lucas chipped in 18 points with 15 of them coming in the second half. This marks the first time in school history that the Spartans begin the Big Ten season with two victories on the road.

Player of the Game: Raymar Morgan 23 points and 13 rebounds

What went well:
1) Solid perimeter defense - Michigan State held Northwestern's three-point shooters to 9-29, which is well off of their 40% season average. In particular, Travis Walton did a very nice job pressuring the ball and frustrating his opponents. This Wildcat team seemed to be less disciplined compared to their teams in the past. Northwestern was too one dimensional just focusing on chucking up threes instead of running their Princeton Offense.
2.) Great rebounding - Hopefully this continues to be a recurring theme. The Spartans dominated the glass on both ends of the floor outrebounding the Wildcats 47-28. The 19-10 advantage in offensive rebounds was key in this victory.
3.) Raymar Morgan played a great game - He took full advantage of his athleticism against the less talented Wildcats and gathered his second consecutive double-double. It was almost as if he heard the comments made by Tim Doyle in the Big Ten Network's pregame show (more on this later). My only concern is that I hope his success from the 3-pt line (2-4) doesn't encourage him to shoot more from the outside in future games. I felt he got away with a few bad shots where he was clearly being defended, but the shots went down. I think he should only shoot from long distance if he is truly wide open.
4.) Kalin Lucas and Chris Allen continue to produce - Lucas had a slow start to the game, but really emerged in the second half. Chris Allen had his second consecutive productive game by shooting 4-7 from the 3-point line and finishing with 17 points. Hopefully he will continue to be a regular contributor to this team.
5.) Marquise Gray made a solid contribution - He only played 12 minutes, but was very productive with 5 rebounds and a nice no-look dish to Morgan for a jam. I thought he should have played more in the second half for Suton who was struggling.

What didn't go well:
1) Interior Defense - The Spartans looked horrible in defending the paint. Northwestern got a lot of easy buckets down low. Fortunately for us, they insisted on chucking threes from nearly half court.

2) Goran Suton - This was his worst performance of the year and is the prime example as to why Spartan fans sometimes refer to him as Moron Suton. His defense was definitely a liability as numerous defenders sped past him essentially untouched. He also struggled on the offensive end by bobbling numerous passes and loose balls. It seemed as if he had more turnovers than the one listed in the box score. Hopefully, this is the last we see of Moron and we will get Goran back for the rest of the year.
3) Durrell Summers - He played a significant amount of minutes in this game, but did not seem to utilize them very well. Yes, he had 3 offensive rebounds, but if I remember correctly, that was on the same offensive possession. He finished with only 6 points despite playing more than half of the game.
4) Turnovers - Overall, this wasn't really that big of a deal. But, in the first half, Kalin Lucas did not look sharp. He had all three of his turnovers during that time period leading to a team turnover margin of -5. In the second half, however, we tightened it up and finished with 13 total turnovers.

Post Game Quotes:
"Give Michigan State credit. It's a good team and in the second half, they really went at it in the first five minutes." -Northwestern Coach Bill Carmody

The early minutes of the second half were the key to the Michigan State victory. The Spartans went out to a 12-0 run that forced Bill Carmody to call 3 timeouts and commit a technical foul.

That's ridiculous!
1) Welsh Arena - Was this game even played on campus? Isn't there a standard for D-1 basketball arenas? I'm pretty sure that there is a rule that you can't play games at your local technical high school. The only thing Welsh Arena is missing is a bunch of volleyball lines marked out on the floor.

2) No Photos - Apparently, there were no photographers at the game last night. I've checked my usual websites and no one has any pics from the game. Even the MSU website put up a picture of Raymar Morgan from last year. I'll chalk this one up to the economy.

This post has been edited and will be explained why tomorrow.

Mailbag:
"SpartyBasketball, I like your blog. I'm also glad you've learned your lesson on predictions. . . how many was Minnesota supposed to beat State by?
-Anonymous Spartan, Whittier, California

Well, we can only be happy that I was wrong about my Minnesota prediction. I can't predict when we are going to play our best game of the season, but hopefully it wasn't against the Gophers. If we play like we did against them, we will be extremely difficult for any team in the country to beat.

Tomorrow: Ohio State Preview and a brief review of "The Greatest Stories of Michigan State Basketball"

free hit counters

Spartans Pound Minnesota 70-58

I love it when I am wrong! The Spartans came out with an amazing effort and got a huge road win to start the Big Ten season. They played essentially flawless and flourished under the leadership of Kalin Lucas. While he was scoring easily throughout the game, the entire team clamped down on defense to keep the Gophers' high scoring offense in check.

Player of the Game: Kalin Lucas - Career high 24 points on 9-18 shooting.

What went well:
1) Tremendous rebounding. The Spartans outrebounded the Gophers 49-27, including a 23-11 offensive rebouding advantage. This is purely a result of Coach Izzo's emphasis on winning the battle on the boards.
2) Kalin Lucas played superb. He looked like a true floor general out there today. He pushed the ball effectively and used his quickness to get easy baskets. He is going to make me eat my words about how I thought he was on pace to tie Drew Neitzel for the worst offseason regression ever.
3) Chris Allen got hot in the first half. The box score doesn't adequately reflect Allen's impact on this game. He got hot quickly and set the tone for the Spartans early in the game. You have to admire the confidence that this kid has despite not shooting the ball well so far this year. He has never seen a shot that he didn't like.
4) Great defense. We held the Gophers to a season low 39% from the field.
5) Superior Athletes. Newsflash: The team with the best athletes normally wins. That was us today. Minnesota just couldn't keep pace with our boys.

What didn't go well:
1) Raymar Morgan's Offense. He tried his best to disappear in this big game, but ended up with one of the ugliest double-doubles I have ever seen. He did not travel however, so I am thankful for that.
2) Contributions from the bench. Aside from Allen, we didn't get much from our bench today. Other than his olley-oop and his thunderous dunk, I didn't like what I saw from Summers gain. He continues to rely on an outside shot that I don't believe is legit. Even with Roe hurt, Marquise didn't find his way onto the court after he played a total of seven minutes despite not being in foul trouble. Why doesn't Izzo just tell Gray that he hates him? I mean, this guy is a basketcase, but why play Draymond Green over him? That makes no sense.

Post Game Quotes:
"When a team beats you by 22 on the boards, you have no chance of winning" - University of Minnesota Coach Tubby Smith

"....I'd say this was one of our best games"- Tom Izzo

That's ridiculous!
1) Booing Dahlman is ridiculous. The only thing more ridiculous was the fact that he got on the floor at all. Why was he playing? Because he is from Minnesota? Give me a break Coach! Everyone knows that Dahlman can't do anything without the chemistry of his fellow practice squad teammates Mike Kleber and Jon Crandell.
2) Durrell Summers' dunk not being replayed on the live broadcast. I think it was the best dunk I've ever seen him do, but I'm not sure because I can't remember it. I think he dunked right on a Gopher but if that were the case, it seems like he would have been fouled. So far, I can't find that highlight anywhere.
3) University of Minnesota Sweeper Logos. Did you notice how the University of Minnesota logo'd up their court mops with their weird block M?
4) Goran Suton getting stuffed by the rim. For all of those fans out there who wonder why he doesn't dunk more, that is why. He looked hideous!
5) This picture of Draymond Green. What could have he done that warrented this pose? All I saw him do was make a nice steal only to be caught from behind and stripped on his way to the basket.
6) Anthony Crater leaving OSU after listening to his AAU coach. This coach was quoted as saying that Noopy always had a "two- or three-year plan" at OSU and then off to the NBA. Now it is a two- or three- year plan at Mott.
Full articles here and here

Post Game Quotes:
"When a team beats you by 22 on the boards, you have no chance of winning" - University of Minnesota Coach Tubby Smith

"....I'd say this was one of our best games"- Tom Izzo

Mailbag:
Great blog, enjoyed it. I think you have to add "make free throws" to the Spartans' keys to success. We're getting killed at the line and this could really cost us.
-ShowtimeSparty in Ferndale.

Undoubtedly, that belongs on my keys to the Spartans' success. I have mentioned before on this blog, but somehow left it out of my Big Ten Preview. The good news is that yesterday, we were 12-13 from the charity stripe. Thanks for the email.


Tomorrow: More Minnesota Post Game