Mikey D

Okay, I've calmed down and I'm ready to write about this now. I actually took notes during the game because I'm a giant dork (and it helped me stay awake in the wee hours of the evening).

~Kevin Love was the best player on the floor. We have a collection of good/very good players, but that guy changed the entire complexion of the game. He's raw, but he kept UCLA in the game in the first half.

~I was intrigued by Izzo's comment that Allen might be the next Shaun Respert. I remember the last guy that got compared to Respert, and that was none other than Chris Hill. Hopefully Allen's MSU career finishes a little stronger than Hill's, and he lives up to the Respert compliment.

~I swear, if I see Kailin Lucas dribble back to midcourt and into another trap I will punch him in the face. I do not care if he's a freshman. How are you that stupid to do that over and over again?

~Well, Naymick, Suton, and Ibok did what they do best- pick up a crapload of early fouls. Some things will never change.

~Speaking of things that will never change, Marquise Gray's game looks just about the same- he can dunk and snarl a lot. At least he kept his fouls to a minimum.

~Tom Herzog sighting! Well, it was a sighting when he wasn't standing sideways. He must be the skinniest guy ever. Seriously, he makes Shawn Bradley look like Shaq.

~Drew Neitzel confirmed what I've always thought about him- he cannot defend. I kept a running tally of Neitzel defense lapses, and I counted 5. That's not what I want from my senior leader. Allowing the pass under the basket on an inbounds? Unacceptable. He also did not fight through screens and seems to get out-physicaled by the opponent's stronger guards. Those big 3's that UCLA hit? Yeah, those were Neitzel's guy running away from Neitzel for the open looks. Not impressed.

~UCLA was in the bonus at the 11 minute mark in the first half. Again, unacceptable. I think we all agree that MSU completely owned UCLA in the first half, especially the first five minutes. The only thing, and I mean only thing, that kept UCLA in the game was free throws. I know we went to halftime with a double digit lead, but that lead could have seriously been closer to twenty, rather than ten.

~I can accept the freshman mistakes. They are going to make some bad passes, force things they shouldn't, etc. (although Kailin Lucas pissed me off). What I cannot stand is mistakes by veterans. Raymar's ill advised pass late in the game. Ibok trying to drive to the basket for a bucket. Both Suton and Neitzel giving up looks underneath the basket on inbounds plays. Miscommunication between defenders where both guys end up guarding the same guy. Travis Walton being careless with the ball late in the game when we needed him to protect it. I know it's early, but these guys have played together for over a year now, so I expect a little improvement off last year's team. Get it together, vets.

~Poise. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Everybody knew UCLA would make a run in the second half. To let UCLA come back and then to look so rattled and confused is an utter shame. Bad decision after bad decision led to our demise. I would have liked to have seen the same intensity out of the fellas throughout the game. Even if UCLA went on a run, I still wanted our team to be physical and rebounding like crazy. We looked like lost puppys running around in the second half.

~23 offensive rebounds for UCLA. Don't make me ever write that sentence again, MSU.

~10-10 freethrows in the first half. I like it. Even the freshman look like they can knock them down. When teams put us on the line, they will pay. Now if only we can get to the line more than we send the other team...

Just from the tone of this post, you can probably tell than I'm really disappointed with the outcome. Had we won last night I would probably point out more of the positives (from the first half mainly), but the bottom line is that we didn't. I saw glimpses of greatness, and glimpses of the same old, same old. As a fan of MSU basketball, that is frustrating. So I went to bed last night feeling equally disappointed and frustrated.

At the same time I think about this team now compared to last year's team at this point, and there really is no comparison. UCLA would have destroyed us last year. We wouldn't have had the talent and players to step on the court with UCLA and really take it to them the way we did in the first half. The thing that is tough for me personally is realizing that this is a long season. The team we watched last night has ample opportunity to fix its mistakes and develop its own identity.

Do I think we'll allow 23 offensive boards ever again? No. Will two inbounds plays result in easy layups again? No. Will two defenders ever chase the same guy leaving another unguarded? No. Will we finally figure out how to withstand runs from an opponent and hang on to win basketball games? Time will tell. But I'd like to say yes.

~Mikey D