Mikey D

Final Four Thoughts
I keep having these “cyclical” emotions about last night’s game and our tournament run. First, I’m extremely disappointed we couldn’t pull out last night’s game. We had our chances- I mean, we really had our chances- and to come up two points short stings. But on the other hand, we made one hell of a run in this tournament, which was something NOBODY expected after the way our season went, how the Big Ten tourney unfolded, our draw/seeding in the Big Dance, and with the injuries. With everything stacked against us, we still shared the Big Ten crown and made it to the Final Four. That’s a good feeling. That said, last night’s game was a golden opportunity. With no true dominant team in this year’s field (a la UNC), a National Championship was a realistic possibility, and we blew that chance. That’s depressing…which leads me back to my first thought on our missed chances during the game. Around and around in circles I go.

As far as the game goes, I’m not going to bitch and moan about the officials and some of the calls they made. Yes, we got into some foul trouble which made Raymar a non-factor. But in the end we still could have won. And good teams, they persevere. They are able to adapt a game plan to an opponent, overcome some bad calls, and have guys step up when needed. We couldn’t do that last night. Part of the reason is we are not a truly great team (very good, yes, especially with how we’ve played the last five games), and part of it is that injuries and depth finally caught up with us. It’s that simple.

And credit Butler. They once again played “their” game, which worked. They force their opponents into situations where they’re uncomfortable and they capitalize on their mistakes/struggles. I wasn’t overly impressed with Butler’s play (they’ve been getting a lot of hype, if you hadn’t noticed), as their winning seems to be predicated on another team’s errors, which you would think wouldn’t work for six games in a row in the NCAA tournament. But Doug Gotlieb had a good point last night. Butler beat UTEP and Murray State to open the tournament (#12 and #13 seed, respectively), and then played Syracuse without Syracuse’s top big man (win by 4), a Kansas State team a day removed from a 2OT game against Xavier, and MSU, who was banged up and without Kalin Lucas. It will be very interesting to see if their style of play works against a Duke team who is at full strength. If I was a betting man, I’d take Duke…by double figures. (did you notice how I started this paragraph with “credit Butler” and then I didn’t give them much credit? Haha, I guess I just don’t like Butler- I will be impressed if they beat Duke, though).

Question: If we had last year’s team in this year’s tournament, do we cut down the nets?


The Power of the LEGO Ball
I’ve held the LEGO ball for every tournament game since 2003, except for one year, 2004, when I had to work (a first round exit to Nevada…and you can put that one on me). Since that time MSU has gone to three Final Fours, one Elite Eight, and one Sweet Sixteen. Do not doubt its powers! And of all the losses MSU has had in the tournament since 2003 (again, excluding 2004 because I suck), every loss has been to a Final Four team( 03-Texas, 05-UNC, 06-George Mason, 07-UNC, 08-Memphis, 09-UNC, 10-Butler). That stat is kind of amazing to me. Tom Izzo, while he will lose in the tournament, does not get beaten or upset by junky teams. Just think about that next year or in years to come when MSU is picked against in some “trendy” upset matchup. It probably won’t happen.

There is one disturbing trend about these losses. MSU does not fair well against teams colored in some shade of blue and white. This is the fourth year in a row we’ve been eliminated by a “blue” team, and the sixth in eight years. The LEGO ball’s colors? Blue and white. Hmmm…coincidence?


The Road to the Final Four
One thing that has been bothering me is the shots MSU has been taking for their “easy” road to the Final Four. Was it the most difficult? Certainly not, but it wasn’t easy in my opinion.

For starters, if the selection committee had to do it all over again, do you think that they would seed Northern Iowa at #9? Or Butler at #5? Or even Tennessee, with how good they looked, at #6 (hey, an argument could be made)? I think one thing that the selection committee grossly misjudged was the depth of talented teams at the mid-major level. No way was St. Mary’s a #10 or Cornell a #12. I didn’t even think Gonzaga got a fair shake! The committee seemed to give love to teams that, frankly, didn’t deserve the good feelings (I’m talking to you Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, and Villanova). So if you look at just the rankings, yes, MSU’s road is quite easy. But the teams they played, for the most part, were better than their seed.

Secondly, the fact you make it to a Final Four is not easy no matter how you spin it. All roads to Indy were difficult and full of land mines for every team. Before the tournament, if I told you Kansas had to beat a #16 and #9 seed to make the Sweet Sixteen, you’d say that road was fairly smooth. Kansas couldn’t do it. If I told you Kentucky had to beat a #16, #9, #12, and then #2 seed to get to the Final Four, you’d like their chances considering they’d really only have to exert themselves for one game. Kentucky couldn’t do it. I think you see my point-there’s no perceived easy road. Every team is playing at a high level and going balls to the wall. Talent, especially in these days of parity, doesn’t always win out.

So don’t bash MSU for having to play the likes of Northern Iowa and Tennessee. They had to play two teams who were playing tremendous basketball, and they won. Give them credit for another great run to the Final Four.


Preseason Predictions
What I got right:
-The landscape of college basketball: “This year's top teams are great, but not all-time great. There's a lot of young teams out there (Kansas, Kentucky), but the field is wide-open. It's up for grabs. And like a rebound opportunity, I expect MSU to grab it.” As the tournament has shown, youth did not serve, and there hasn’t been a truly dominating team. And MSU made the most of their time in the tournament.

What I got wrong:
Okay, before I start listing off all my incorrect predictions, at least I wasn’t as bad as this guy from the State News: (http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2009/04/spartans_have_talent_for_2010_final_four_run)
-Our health: “I think we'll stay healthy this year.” God, not even close.
-Raymar Morgan: “I think Raymar Morgan is going to end his college career fulfilling the expectations he came in with. He will be our man on a mission, and his determination and will are going to carry us through the tough parts of the season. I expect him not only to be good, but great this year.” Goodbye, Raymar, I was hoping for a different season and finish for you.
-Our record and finish: I said MSU would finish with a 26-7 regular season record, and we ended up being 24-8. I said we’d finish 3rd in the Big Ten with a 13-5 record, and we were co-champs at 14-4 (although we were considered the 3rd seed in the Big Ten Tournament). I also said we’d be national champs, but like last year, came up just short. Overall my predictions were not far off, but not right.


A Look Ahead
Okay, so Raymar is gone next year, which I know everybody is going to be broken up about. I think Lucas and Summers both come back- I’m almost sure Lucas will- but now I’m worried about Summers with how he played in the tournament. Hopefully he and Lucas (childhood best friends) stick it out and make one last tournament run in the Green and White and go out with the glory they deserve.

Assuming those two stay we are bringing back our entire team- which more than likely means another top-5 preseason ranking. I like to think next season we’ll have a little more focus than this year, with perhaps Lucas, Summers, and Allen stepping up and truly leading the team in their final campaign. But if we are as inconsistent as we were this year…ugh, I’m pretty sure I’ll be in the hospital with a stomach ulcer.

But the talent level will be stacked at every position, complimented nicely by our incoming recruits. We will have a backcourt that consists of points Lucas and Lucious, a nice 1-2, with Keibler doing his defensive specialist thing. At guard we will have Allen, Summers, Thornton, Appling (think of a better shooting Kalin Lucas, without the point guard skill set yet), and Bryd (6’7” guard that rebounds and drills 3’s). It will be a nice mixture of aggressive scoring guards and perimeter oriented guards. Our bigs include Roe, Green, Sherman, Nix, Payne (looks like JaJuan Johnson), and Gauna (reminds me of Suton- tough, can hit the 3- but may need some time to develop). We might also get Trey Zeigler, who looks like a 2, possibly a 3…Durrell Summers-esque. He’s another talented athlete who could contribute right away (although he can’t hit a free throw to save his life- Derrick Nix style). Izzo will have depth next year and should be able to match-up well with any team we play. Even on nights where our play is off, we might have the depth and talent to wear most teams down and pull out games. Should be fun.

And it’s hard for me to see a better conference than the Big Ten next year, top to bottom. Illinois is bringing everyone back. OSU will probably lose Turner, but they’re bringing in Sullinger, so they won’t miss a beat. Purdue will be healthy with Johnson, Grant, and Hummell. Wisconsin already had a young team, and they’ll be back. Minnesota is returning basically everyone. Northwestern is bringing everyone back (they will make the tourney next year!). There will be some bottom feeders- Michigan, Penn State, Iowa- but the quality of the conference, overall, will be ridiculously good. A Big Ten Championship would be just as impressive as any tournament run.

Michigan State Basketball:
I love it. I'm probably way too invested in it, but it's the team I follow the closest in sports. I'm passionate about it. And as another season closes, just think- in October we will raise another Big Ten Championship and Final Four banner. Anytime you do those two things, you know it's been a good year. Congrats, State, on another fine season.

~Mikey D