It appears we shot OK from the perimeter and lights out from close in, so our offense looked pretty good. I’m a little concerned about Allen – I expected him to be a more athletic Neitzel this year but so far his perimeter shooting has been lackluster. If he doesn’t pick it up most of his minutes are going to Walton and Summers. Considering he and Lucas were the first freshmen off the bench last year (with Lucas starting regularly) he’s taken a step back.

Marquise is letting the game come to him and it looks good on him. He hasn’t lived up to his potential AT ALL at MSU..

Kalin Lucas was much more of a factor, as you can tell from that stat line. He seemed to push the ball more, not only in transitiion, but in the half court.

His shot was falling a bit more, but still not hitting away from the basket. He looked more like himself driving, though.

Roe made a few nice plays with the ball and really is impressive passing the ball.

Thorton made the case for continued minutes.

OT:
Plax? What?
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/.....id=3733021

Going to have go ahead and disagree with Hubert a little bit on Marquise Grey. I thought his defense was actually quite a bit improved at times. He did a really good job of playing D in the post and just keeping his hands straight up without fouling and causing the OSU player to try to shoot over him – which most of the time resulted in misses. I really thought he’s played about as well as he can play the last two games and has been a bright spot.

I was also underwhelmed by Chris Allen. He really hasn’t shown much of anything so far this season. Honestly I think that Thornton is actually looking like a better player at this point. He is taking/hitting open shots, playing pretty good defense – and best of all is absolutely playing his tail off (hustling after loose balls, etc.)

Also – I’m at a loss for words when it comes to Travis Walton. The combination of both taking *and* making shots is absolutely unreal. Just doesn’t fit him.. it’s great.. hope it keeps up. Definitely going to be a huge plus if he can remain a consistent offensive threat

Morgan’s points mostly came in the second half, after MSU had built up the big lead. On defense, he hand checked just as much as usual, but the refs were not calling it. He has really cut down on the turnovers, but his matador defense is the same as last year’s.

Walton is playing great. He basically took shots when he was open, and by the end of the game was confident enough to go to the basket. Of all the returning players, he seems the most changed.

Summers also seems to playing with a lot of confidence, and his athleticism on offense is impressive, as is his stroke from outside. On the other hand, his defense remains really suspect.

Allen on the other hand seems in a funk. Still a lousy defender, and I thought he showed little confidence on his shot. I do think outside shooting is an issue with this team in the long run.

Finally, Grey does seem quicker and lighter out there, and it shows on offense. His defense and general court sense is still sub par. I don’t see him getting more than 15 minutes a game by the end of the season, unless Roe or Suton get hurt. BTW, Roe but also Green show much more court savvy already.

How did the spartans win? Well, Ok. State just seemed gassed, from the two games in 24 hours and appeared a step slow all night, against the deeper spartans. MSU played better defense than against MD, but mostly Ok State missed more open shots, and allowed MSU way more transition points. They did manage 15 offensive boards which is preoccupying, and perhaps the area where MSU most missed Suton. Also preoccupying is how ragged MSU seemed on offense, with 16 TOs, and a much greater reliance on individual athleticism than crisp implementation of plays. By the way, Lucas has improved, notbaly with an outside shot that seems mroe confident, but he is still not much of a point guard, regularly missing Grey or Morgan wide open off the pick and roll.

Where is MSU right now? Well, I certainly don’t see this team beating Purdue. I hope I’m wrong.