Mikey D

-I’m at peace with MSU being knocked out. Actually, I was okay with it after the first half against UCLA. This has been such a long year- a very stressful year- and to not have to worry about how MSU will play in games and all the drama that comes with it is kind of nice. Now I can just sit back and enjoy the rest of the tournament. And let’s be realistic- the minute Lucious was kicked off the team (or maybe even before that), you knew that this wasn’t going to be our year. We kept the streak alive, so let’s be happy with that and move onto next year. A fresh start with some new faces may be just what the doctor ordered with this squad. Let’s hope for a relatively healthy and drama-free offseason.

-The tournament. Great games, boring bracket. I suppose the phrase “March Madness” is relative. There have been some crazy-ass endings to games (Butler-Pitt, Louisville-Morehead St.), so in that respect there’s been madness. But for the most part, it’s been chalk, chalk, chalk, on the bracket side of things, which has been less than maddening. I know that means there will be some high-profile matchups later on in the tournament, but I would rather have a chaotic bracket (as evidenced by the way I created my bracket this year). I like 11 seeds playing 10 seeds for a right to go to the Elite 8. I like schools like Butler playing for a trip to the Final Four. I just think we’re missing that element (thus far) this year.

-Okay, this has been going on for years now, but can we just say it- the Big East is overrated. The conference is full of a lot of really good teams, but no great teams. And I have a feeling this conference will always be overrated just because of its sheer volume and national exposure. They get a lot of love from ESPN and the media, which is fair, because they do play some exciting games, but the results often get over-hyped. I think it’s realistic to say that if you want to win an NCAA title you have to have a lot of NBA talent on your roster (at least two players), which is something I can’t recall Big East teams having in the last four to five years. Do you? The last NCAA champion from the Big East was UConn in 2004, with Villanueva, Josh Boone, Rudy Gay, and AJ Price- all guys that made it in the league. Before that it was Syracuse with Melo. But who is an NBA talent on a Big East roster? Ummm…Ben Hansborough? The only one I can think of is Kemba Walker, which is why I think they’re the only true legit threat to make the Final Four this year. Prove me wrong, Big East, prove me wrong.

-I’m proud of our Big Ten teams though. If you think about it, Penn State was a shot or two away from winning that first game, and if we decided to play more than 8 out of 40 minutes of basketball, we could have won our game as well. Then the Big Ten would have been 7-0 in the first round! But still, with Wisconsin handling their business, Michigan looking dominate (grrr), OSU and Purdue cruising, and Illinois knocking off a legit tournament team in UNLV, the Big Ten has been representing itself well. Here’s the order of teams I’m rooting for from here on out: 1. Illinois, 2. Ohio State, 3. Purdue, 4. Wisconsin, 5. Michigan. Fuck Michigan.

-Izzo is holding “exit” interviews with players soon. I’m really curious to see how much will get put out in the media. I have a feeling Lucas and Summers will hold nothing back. Oh to be a fly on the wall for that. I think like all us fans, Izzo is trying to make sense of the whole season. Personally, I think that’s an impossible task. There were so many different factors- health, suspensions, chemistry, brutal schedule- that a single determination cannot be made. But hopefully hearing the players speak and open up will help going forward.

-Speaking of going forward, Nix, Sherman, Payne, and Gauna HAVE TO put in the work this spring and summer. If those guys can take a step forward in their games, we could still have a decent looking squad next year. I would love to see MSU go back to its old style of basketball, where we are bruisers and rebounders, where we fight and out-physical teams. That begins down low, though. If we can establish a presence down there, it will be huge for us. I know we’ll have some young perimeter players, but they will have a lot of open looks if teams have to pay attention to our big guys.

-I’m super-excited to see what Trice and Dawson can bring next year. I hope they are close to immediate impact, because lord we need them.

-Long live Izzo, and go green!

~Mikey D