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A statistical look at Michigan State basketball, with a dash of football talk

Sunday Night Links and the Return of Coffee Talk

Posted by kj on Sunday, May 11th, 2008

Our friend Devin (of College Basketball Chronotope) provides a couple useful links:

In the wider world of college basketball, the ACC doesn’t think they’re getting enough NCAA Tournament bids:

For the second time in three years since the ACC expanded to 12 schools, just four of its teams were selected for the NCAA tournament. Despite having the highest conference RPI for 2007-08, the ACC received fewer NCAA bids than the Big East, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC.

Here’s a case where the difference between the mean and the median makes a difference.  Based on average RPI, the ACC was indeed the highest ranked conference this past season.  But that figure is pulled upward by UNC’s #1 and Duke’s #7 rankings.  Based on the median RPI ranking–a more appropriate gauge of how good the teams in the middle of the conference are–the ACC ranked only 4th among college conferences.  (I’m embarrassed to note the Big Ten’s median RPI ranking was 101st, due to the big drop-off from Ohio State to Minnesota.)  Conclusion: UNC and Duke being really good doesn’t mean Virginia Tech and Wake Forest should get into the Big Dance.

There’s no trouble on the Academic Progress Ratings front for Michigan State.

According to a poll of college coaches, MSU has two of the top 20 assistant coaches in the country.  Mark Montgomery ranks 16th; Dwayne Stephens ranks 17th.  Seems like there’s been less chatter about Montgomery being a candidate for head coaching jobs this year than there was the previous couple years.

Here’s a fun read from Sports Illustrated’s recently-opened vault: A piece written in February 2000 about Morris Peterson. I’d forgotten that MSU beat UConn in a nonconference game played in the middle of the conference season that year. And most people forget how unheralded Peterson was as an incoming freshman–his only scholarship offers from major programs were from MSU and Minnesota. He remains Izzo’s greatest achievement in terms of player development: a one-dimensional scorer who became an All-American and a an NBA starter.

Speaking of Spartan players from seasons past, let’s see if anyone’s still out there.  Here’s your first offseason Coffee Talk question:

Who is your favorite MSU basketball player of all time?  (And why?)

My answer to this question doesn’t require much conjuring up of days of yore.  Drew Netizel, who shares my hometown and high school alma mater (Wyoming Park), is my all-time favorite.  You already know what I think about his career.

Mrs. Spartans Weblog’s pick is more eclectic: Matt Ishbia.  We remember fondly cheering for the diminutive walk-on to enter the game at the end of blowouts during our days as student season ticket holders.

Your turn . . .

« « Back-of-the-envelope, way-too-early 2008-09 Big Ten basketball conference preview | Season Review: End-of-the-Bench Edition » »

Filed in coffee talk, links, michigan state basketball9 responses so far

9 Responses to “Sunday Night Links and the Return of Coffee Talk”

  1. Dr Huxtableon 12 May 2008 at 8:55 am 1

    No brainer for me…Tim Bograkos. He had as much heart as any player I’ve ever seen and he always brought a ton of energy. I loved watching him play.

  2. DMPon 12 May 2008 at 12:08 pm 2

    I’m still holding out for Walton. Just hoping the kid can get his head together again and play the heady, fearless ball he played his first two years.

    #2 on my list would be Steve Cherry. When I was at State and a buddy of a buddy of mine was a walk-on, I got the report that Izzo had run a drill where you’d run the length of the court, then step up and shoot a free throw — 75 times. Only one guy made all 75: Steve Cherry. You will just never have a better 14th man than a giant 3-point shooting red-head named Cherry.

  3. spartanproduceron 12 May 2008 at 9:06 pm 3

    Andre Hutson- while appreciated by true Spartans followers, doesn’t get enough media credit for how great he was in many different areas. Good enough to start as a frosh due to defense, became a great defender, and a great scorer with a mid-post game and a skilled passer from the high post.

    Plus, while he wasn’t a fiery leader like Mateen, he was effective in his own way and he had the great quote “We’re Michigan State, winning championships is what we do.”

    Just a pleasure to watch and a pleasure to watch improve, wish he could take the Charlie Bell path and return to the NBA.

  4. TMadison25on 13 May 2008 at 9:28 am 4

    Shannon Brown was always my favorite player to watch. Every time he was on the court he seemed to create some excitement… on both sides of the floor. A few of his dunks were highlight reel ridic. Although I don’t blame him for going pro, I would’ve loved to see one more year from him.

  5. witless chumon 14 May 2008 at 9:12 am 5

    I’ll guess I’ll be obvious one: Mateen. He always played tough and fearless, never lollygagged and he was money in the clutch. It was just a joy to watch him play like that. He was clearly having fun, too.

    Honorable mention: AJ Granger, besides gumpy white guy solidarity, it was great to have a big guy who could shoot threes on that team.

    Really lame honorable mention: Aloysius Anagonye, cause it was just cool how much of a beast he was, both in appearance and playing style.

  6. kjon 14 May 2008 at 11:11 am 6

    Aloysius Anagonye is one of the few human beings I have ever seen whose body looks like how the bodies of comic book superheroes are drawn . . .

  7. witless chumon 15 May 2008 at 11:56 am 7

    That’s perfect, KJ. My wife had class with him one summer and would normally see Anagonye arrive for class on his bike, which she says was quite the sight, the bike being normal-sized and he being not.

  8. Danon 15 May 2008 at 1:11 pm 8

    Neitzel and TimBo (sadly, the ‘99-’00-’01 teams were before I came to Lansing).

    As for the ACC … yeah, you’d be amazed how many people whine about that (Billy Packer being the most prominent). They don’t seem to realize that the bottom of the conference being better (which is really what drove their RPI ranking so high – BC was at the bottom, and there are only two other conferences where BC would have even been in the bottom 3) doesn’t matter because they’re not making the tournament anyway. If we make the assumption that the RPI top 50 make it, in terms of tournament teams, there’s no difference between a conference with #1, 2, 3, 4, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 and one with #47, 48, 49, 50, 150, 200, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300.

  9. Uncle Omaron 23 May 2008 at 9:45 pm 9

    Ah, you youngsters…my favorite has always been Jumpin’ Johnny Green. From high school and a pinboy in a Dayton, OH, bowling alley to four years in the USMC to three NCAA appearances in his three years of eligibility (when only one team per conference was included) including MSU’s first Final Four to a long career in the NBA to a long and successful life as a businessman. I don’t think you could pick a better representative of a basketball program than John Green. I loved his battles in ‘59 with The Bell, Walt Bellamy of IU. John gave away about 7 inches and 50 pounds, but he played him more than even.