We are improving, finally. Time to for a double-dose of Buckeyes and then on with the tournaments. Spartans have a good history of bball in March, right?

“… and, of course, Spartans have their reputations to consider.” - King Leonidas

Go Green.

The Goran Suton fan club definately need to start collecting quotes from the man himself.

(from the LSJ)
“If we’d had Serbian food,” Suton said, “we’d have beat them by 20.”

The context was something about why Morgan, Summers and Lucas were puking.

Actually, there’s a statistical project, kj, I’d swear MSU players, and especially Neitzel, get the flu more than average. Remember last year’s flu outbreak that was so bad they lost to U of M?

I’m feeling pretty optimistic at the moment that MSU will make a run in either the Big Ten and/or the NCAA tournaments. I’ll try to let a little more of that emotion through. I tend to get focused on the analytical side of things in the game recaps.

And, most definitely, Go Green!

The fact that half the team was sick only increases my appreciation. I wondered why Morgan played so sparingly in the second half.

MSU has won very rarely at Illinois in the last ten years, so I will take this win with gratitude. MSU has played very well against OSU under Matha, so I’ll predict a win on sunday. I jsut hope this stomach flu goes away quickly!

http://noise.typepad.com/hey_j.....organ.html

That’s the kind of information Erin Andrews would have been all over.

Lucas I think is actually doing a pretty good job of pushing the ball in transition and then pulling it back out if there’s nothing there.

Also, this game had me thinking a lot about our offense in the paint. It seems we have none.

The guys, often enough, seem like they’re afraid to go aggressively to the basket, to make plays happen. Even Lucas (my favorite playmaker) had several fast-break one-on-one matchups…but then he’d pull up and dribble around and wait for the defense to get into position. It makes no sense! One of these times Izzo actually had to call a time-out because Lucas was just out there, near half-court, just dribbling.

Remember when we went hard to the basket? Morgan used to do it, now he just squares up and looks for somewhere to pass it or he shoots it from outside. Lucas is supposed to be doing it, but the pull up and dribble bit he had going tonight makes me think maybe Izzo told him to calm down with the ball and go through the set offenses instead of always trying (and usually converting) a play on the basket.

The two times I can remember MSU players going hard to the hole against a defender were: Neitzel on a lay-up try (is he fooling anyone? Have you ever seen him make a lay-up against a defender?) ends up shooting two free-throws, and Suton spotting an opening spins and posts on a big man and puts it in over him (and the foul.)

There were very few low-post passes to Naymick or Suton for easy buckets, although we were giving those to the Hoosiers like candy. Why, I’m wondering, can’t we go right to the bucket every possession? As you’ve iterated, Izzo’s offense works best for a run and gun kind of game - and turnovers wouldn’t be a problem if the guys didn’t spend so much time passing and dribbling around for twenty seconds a possession. I actually the reason they had so few turnovers in the Indiana game was because they were exploiting the run and gun.

I guess my point is I can’t figure out why the guys seem as if they’re afraid to score, afraid to go to the bucket, afraid of contact (though they defend with almost too much of that), and, perhaps, afraid of Izzo. I wonder what would happen if he just let all that talent…play.

Naymick’s consecutive 2 points in the beginning of the second half was a huge plus. Weber had to call a time-out. I hope Allen can shoot more consistently. With Allen and Neitzel around the arc, it would be beautiful to see Lucas look for opportunities. Of course, Suton and Naymick will be ready for rebounds!

Now it’s time to get ready for a possible two games against OSU. What can we do with J.Bulter?

Go Spartans!