Mikey D

So unless something major happens, this will be my last MSU basketball post...until next year. I am still sad about losing Monday, perhaps someday I'll get over it.

Did You Know?
Soooo apparently Chris Allen and Korie Lucious each broke a foot during Monday's championship game (see here). First, what are the odds that two guys from the same team both break a foot during the same game? Weird. Second, impeccable timing. How awful would it have been to lose those two guys, say during the Ohio State game in the Big Ten tournament? Both had their moments in the tourney, so I suppose if you're going to break your feet, might as well go out in the last game. And I don't remember Allen hurting himself, but I do remember Korie. He got called for a foul on Lawson after Hansbrough knocked him over, and into Lawson, on a moving screen! Bullshit. One more reason to hate Tyler Hansbrough.

Who's Coming In Next Year?
It's pretty obvious that we need some frontcourt depth. Losing Ibok, Gray, and Sutton...that's a lot of big bodies gone. So our chances for next season are going to rely on a couple of big men that Izzo has coming in, and probably, and I shudder to think this, Tom Herzog. So who are these freshman?

The first is a guy out of Ohio named Garrick Sherman (see here). He's a 6-10 center, and rated as the 63rd best freshmen prospect, and 8th best center. My first reaction is, "Sweet, a big guy!". But then as you look at his picture, you don't feel too confident. Eek. I mean, I hate to make judgements, but can you picture this guy banging with big men like Thabeet and Aldrich the way Sutton, Gray, and Ibok did? And the guy is a measly 220 pounds...6-10 and only 220? Bulk up mother fucker! The other concern is that he did not play elite high school competition, so there is a concern about his transition to Division I Big Ten basketball.

The second guy is out Detroit named Derrick Nix (see here). Now this is what I'm talking about! He's only rated the 117 best prospect and the 16th best center, but one look at him and I know he's a Tom Izzo player. 6-9 and 275 pounds and considered a banger. Can you just picture him out-muscling his opponents? I sure as hell can. And before you think "Well Marquise Gray was big and he sucked", this guy has already proven that he's more than just a big body (at least on the high school level). He just took home the state of Michigan's "Mr. Basketball award (see here). If you can't tell, I kind of like this guy and am excited to see him.

We also have a third guy coming in named Dion Sims out of Orchard Lake, Michigan (see here). He's a small forward at 6-5, but weighs a healthy 230 (that's more than fucking Sherman who's 5 inches taller! Sheesh...). He finished fourth in Michigan's "Mr. Basketball" voting this past year. It's interesting on his Rivals.com profile page there are no videos of his basketball highlights...just football. So apparently he was a pretty decent football player as well...which you know Izzo probably loves. Another tough guy coming in!

And After That?
People knock Izzo all the time for his recruiting. While he is a very good recruiter in Michigan and parts of Big Ten country, he rarely goes outside of the Midwest to find elite level talent. This usually doesn't bother me because it's fun to win with the home-grown talent. It means more to the players when they slap on a jersey that's says "Michigan State" when they've grown up in the area watching the Spartans play. Did anyone else notice that NOBODY off UNC's starting line-up was from North Carolina? Eh, not so much a fan of that.

But now it is starting to bother me a little. Izzo talks about putting his program into the "elite" company of the programs like North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, etc. Well how you do that is by winning championships, and if it wasn't painfully obvious on Monday, it's hard without some elite level talent. I'm not saying Izzo isn't a good enough coach to take Midwest talent and make them into champions, because he is, but if he wants to be in title contention year after year, he's got to go outside his recruiting zone. My two cents.

So in two years it looks like we'll be focusing on guards:
Trey Zeigler, G, 75th ranked prospect, not committed to MSU yet (see here).
Keith Appling, G, 81st ranked prospect, verbal commitment to MSU (see here).
Russell Byrd, G, 89th ranked prospect, committed to MSU (see here).
Alex Gauna, PF, 121st ranked prospect, not committed to MSU yet (see here).
Joe Horford, PF, 137h ranked prospect, not committed to MSU yet (see here).

Intriguing group. Appling was hurt this year, but as a junior was the odds-on favorite to win the "Mr. Basketball" title- which tells you how good this kid could be. Byrd is a 6-7 guard...a guard! Apparently he is deadly from downtown, and Izzo made him his number one focus of this recruiting class. And Byrd was recruited heavily too by some big boys like Kentucky and Louisville. Man, a 6-7 guard who can shoot from deep...he'll have no problem getting off any shot he wants. I'm thinking like an Earl Clark from Louisville or Robby fucking Hummel from Purdue.

And yes, Joe Horford is Al's little brother. My guess is he ends up in Florida...

Next Year's Outlook?
If you listen to ESPN, all the experts put us around 5th in the country with a strong chance of returning to the Final Four.

The State News agrees (see here), and comes up with a list of reasons why. I disagree with most on the list, though. Herzog will not stand tall, because he's a poor man's Shawn Bradley. And Allen will not become a star, but rather a solid role player. Summers will start and be the star, if anyone.

While we have this great group of guys returning, the Big Ten has a lot of great teams with guys coming back.

Illinois. Michigan. Purdue. Minnesota. Four tourney teams, all bringing back the core of their teams and much more. Ohio State loses Mullens, but brings back everyone else and a top recruiting class to boot. Purdue is predicted to be the 4th best team by the experts, based on the fact they're returning more than MSU and Hummel will be healthy all year. Indiana, while god-awful this past year, has a great coach and a top-10 recruiting class on the way. Minnesota has every starter returning!!! It scares me to think how good the Big Ten will be and how tough it's going to be to go through. I am going to go out on a limb and predict that the Big Ten conference winner will not win it by four games next year.

I'm not saying MSU won't win the Big Ten, but it's going to be more difficult than this year. And when a conference is strong, the good teams end up beating each other up...which hurts come NCAA seeding time. I can see MSU being anywhere from a 2-seed again next year, all the way to a 7, 8, or 9. I know it sounds unrealistic to be that low of a seed coming off a national championship game appearance, but it's not out of the realm with how good the conference should be.

Hopefully the Big Ten will get a little respect next year.

My preseason top 5:
1. Kansas (did you hear they might land a top-5 recruit, a Memphis transfer, and have every starter returning?)
2. Syracuse (all coming back)
3. Purdue (all coming back)
4. Michigan State (freshmen need to step up!)
5. Duke (all coming back, and should be ACC favorite)

Final Thoughts
We finished with a Big Ten Conference Title, made it to the National Championship Game, and finished #2 in the final rankings. We had the Big Ten player of the year, the Big Ten defensive player of the year, the Midwest Regional most outstanding player (Suton), and two Final Four first-teamers (Suton and Lucas). We beat a slew of Big Ten teams that made the NCAA tourney this year, Texas (ranked 23rd), Kansas twice (ranked 10th), Louisville (ranked 5th), and UConn (ranked 3rd).

What a year.

~Mikey D