" title="Spartans Weblog">Spartans Weblog

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

MSU-Iowa Open Thread

Posted by kj on Thursday, January 29th, 2009

I’ve made a couple minor site upgrades:

  • Added an Archives page, with collapsible listsings of posts by month.
  • Added user-enabled editing of comments.  You now have five minutes after you make a comment to go back and edit it.  This is intended for those obvious typos/errors you notice immediately after you click “Submit Comment.”

OK, let’s get the conversation rolling.  Here’s an ice-breaker question: What’s the first word that pops into your mind when someone says, “Iowa.”

« « Pregame Reading | Iowa Game Recap (1/29/09) » »

Filed in open thread, site news93 responses so far

93 Responses to “MSU-Iowa Open Thread”

  1. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 6:32 pm 1

    The word is definitely “corn”.

  2. NoPo Spartyon 29 Jan 2009 at 6:43 pm 2

    “Go the distance”

  3. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:00 pm 3

    Bonus points to NoPo for the Field of Dreams reference.

    The technical upgrades continue at the SW household. We’ve got wireless now, so I can comment from the living room.

  4. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:00 pm 4

    Once again KJ – welcome to 5 years ago :-) .

  5. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:02 pm 5

    Haluska

  6. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:03 pm 6

    not the start i wanted from Durrel.. he should have shot the ball!

  7. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:04 pm 7

    Wow… That was an embarrasing collision.

  8. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:06 pm 8

    That collision was pretty hilarious.

  9. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:09 pm 9

    Suton is playing nice and aggressive – good to see.

  10. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:12 pm 10

    The Durrell Summers Spartans Weblog Open Game Thread

  11. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:13 pm 11

    Anyone hoping MSU remembers to defend the league’s best 3 point shooter?

  12. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:13 pm 12

    How is this not the halftime score?

  13. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:14 pm 13

    Is Summers the final piece of the puzzle?

  14. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:16 pm 14

    When Allen finally gets a decent shot off, he gets no love off the rim.

  15. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:18 pm 15

    Good to see Summers realize he has ability and put it to use. Allen is just in a funk… i just don’t have much hope for him this year…. glad Kalin isn’t waiting until the second half to show up tonight.

    If not for a few defensive lapses – MSU is dominating this game so far.

  16. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:19 pm 16

    It’s looking more and more like Summers is… Defense, 3-point shot, transition game… More Sumers!

  17. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:23 pm 17

    AHHHHHH… Bench Allen for the game. Put in thornton if they need someone to fill minutes.

  18. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:23 pm 18

    Allen still in a funk. Foul with 2 second left on shot clock doesn’t help his case.

  19. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:24 pm 19

    Durrell Neitzel!

  20. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:25 pm 20

    Wasn’t that Gray? At least the announcers said it was Gray.

    Lot more offensive fouls on both sides of the ball. Noticed that at Ohio State, too.

  21. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 7:27 pm 21

    That’s why I was saying Roe cannot get more minutes. 2 off fouls.

  22. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:27 pm 22

    lol, Durrell Neitzel. Roe has 8 rebounds? Ridiculous.

  23. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:28 pm 23

    Wow.. rebounding is nuts tonight.. Wish Roe had some offensive game – his rebounding is insane though…
    Great to see MSU come out and play with a _ton_ of energy.

  24. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:30 pm 24

    17-5 rebound advantage so far. Yikes.

  25. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:33 pm 25

    Draymond or Roe… not Gray, please.

  26. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 7:34 pm 26

    Allen back in the game, let’s see what happens to the lead…

  27. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:35 pm 27

    When’s the last time Allen hit a shot? He has to hit one here, right?

  28. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:37 pm 28

    wow… falling apart real quick here. That was a wretched minute or so.

  29. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 7:37 pm 29

    I think allen hit his first shot of the NW game. Not one since. Why play Raymar if he’s not going to be aggressive

  30. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:38 pm 30

    Ugh.. sit Allen!

  31. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:39 pm 31

    Agreed on Raymar. We may be bad on free throws, but how many front ends of the 1-and-1 do we hit? Seems like we do well on those.

    Allen… Tell me your back! Is it really you?

  32. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:41 pm 32

    Glad Allen finally hit one.. his defense has been pretty suspect so far though.

  33. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 7:44 pm 33

    Finally Raymar!

  34. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 7:44 pm 34

    Way too easy to drive past Allen.

  35. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:45 pm 35

    Lucas makes the sublime look routine.

  36. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:48 pm 36

    I wish Kalin would play just a tiny bit worse. I’m starting to worry about his draft status.

  37. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:51 pm 37

    Is that really a possibility? Just say ‘no,’ please.

  38. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:52 pm 38

    38 points in 31 possessions, despite 9 turnovers.

  39. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:52 pm 39

    I’d love to say no. But I have two words. You ready?

    Marcus Taylor

    Edit: Clearly Lucas is muchmuchmuch better. But that sure set the program back.

  40. danon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:53 pm 40

    Wow, they’ve outscore last year’s total at the half!! Let’s do that for another half!!!

  41. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:53 pm 41

    Man is Lucas good… good energy this half.. much better than last year :-) .

  42. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 7:54 pm 42

    Looking, good. Those offensive fouls (Especially you, Roe.) need to go.

    Hopefully Kalin knows how that Marcus Taylor story ends.

  43. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:56 pm 43

    I’d really like to see some Suton offense early in the second. Two fouls on all three Iowa big guys. If a couple of them get into foul trouble, game over.

  44. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 7:57 pm 44

    When Marcus left we didnt have Lucious.

  45. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 7:59 pm 45

    I like Lucious – but he’s not anywhere near the same league as Kalin.

  46. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 8:00 pm 46

    I went to school with Marcus. If you knew how he was treated you would understand the cockiness. It’s easy to critize but you have no idea how hard it is to keep a level head as a star athlete.

  47. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:02 pm 47

    We had Alan Anderson at point, right? He was born to play point guard.

  48. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 8:02 pm 48

    I understand Lucious in not as good as Kalin. But he’s a better PG than Allan Anderson.

  49. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:03 pm 49

    The University Of Iowa: Look at all them white folk.

  50. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:04 pm 50

    True… :-) . Kalin needs to stay all four years though.. too small to go early… (i’m gonna keep telling myself that :-) .

  51. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:09 pm 51

    Roe’s letting me down. Walton’s 2-point shot drastically better since last year? Or is it more freedom/confidence?

  52. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:11 pm 52

    Wow.. MSU is playing some inspired ball.

  53. Tmanon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:14 pm 53

    Ball handling and control better this game. Keeping the TOs down. However, latest stat (MSU – 11 turnovers and IA – 7) still troublesome given the way we are playing and the current lead.

  54. DP99on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:16 pm 54

    Kalin is still too small with not enough experience to step in the next level. He doesn’t have the raw size to make it an attractive first rounder now without more experience. He and Izzo will have that figured out with the NBA’s pre-draft services. I could see him declare to play in the camps but not hire an agent and come back setting up for next year. But he hasn’t yet played at this level consistently to make it a real threat of leaving, I don’t think. Another 2 months like this, a 2 seed, a deep tournament run, then perhaps we’ll be talking about this again.

    I was at MSU when guys would routinely go to Taylor’s high school games and talk about it at pick up games at IM East. Not good times.

  55. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:17 pm 55

    I actually played against Taylor a couple times at IM West, when I was a college freshman/sophomore and he was in junior high.

  56. Saltwateron 29 Jan 2009 at 8:18 pm 56

    Open question: Knowing what we know about Iowa’s inferiority compared to MSU (lead is at 22) and Tom Izzo’s style of coaching, is this one of those games where he has the team convinced that if they don’t throttle the Hawkeyes by 30, they’ll have to hitchhike home?

  57. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:18 pm 57

    Mrs. SW is calling for Austin Thornton.

  58. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:21 pm 58

    Ibok/Green front line. I don’t think Izzo wants to win this one by 30.

  59. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:22 pm 59

    Dear Idong Ibok: If you can’t reach the rim, please don’t shoot.

  60. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:24 pm 60

    Thornton after next timeout.

  61. DP99on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:25 pm 61

    @ Saltwater: don’t think that’s Izzo’s style.

  62. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:26 pm 62

    We need to run up the score for so the BCS will give us a #2 seed.

  63. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:31 pm 63

    Four guards?

  64. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:33 pm 64

    Wow – that was a heck of play by Kalin.

  65. Sparty_in_Ohioon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:33 pm 65

    Let’s hope Lucas gets better guidance than Marcus Taylor did…

    What was up with that double dribble that never happened????

  66. Saltwateron 29 Jan 2009 at 8:35 pm 66

    Well Jesus, not LITERALLY by 30. Just treat them like they don’t belong on the same court.

    A team like this needs a semi-recent rout win as a reference point later in the season.

  67. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:37 pm 67

    wow.. this is awful.

  68. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:38 pm 68

    Iowa was gonna get hot at some point.

  69. Sparty_in_Ohioon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:39 pm 69

    Relax SPartan fans….

  70. Sparty_in_Ohioon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:39 pm 70

    Summers will deliver!!

  71. Sparty_in_Ohioon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:40 pm 71

    Any questions?

  72. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:40 pm 72

    Summerstime!

    (Technical note: Izzo has Suton, rather than Roe, guarding the 4th opposing perimeter guy tonight.)

  73. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:41 pm 73

    Man – Summers looking great tonight…

  74. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:41 pm 74

    Nice steal by Durrell.

  75. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:42 pm 75

    Stupid three-shooting teams. Always making it interesting for like two minutes.

  76. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:43 pm 76

    Offensive rebounding has disappeared in the second half. We’ve been stuck on 10 offensive boards for a while now.

  77. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:45 pm 77

    Yup… forgot how to rebound this half.. weird.

  78. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:45 pm 78

    kj just inspired Suton to grab that board.

  79. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 8:49 pm 79

    two steps is not a travel.

  80. Sparty_in_Ohioon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:53 pm 80

    Man did Carver-Hawkeye Arena empty out fast!!

  81. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:53 pm 81

    Over/Under:

    5.5 Big 10 teams in the tournament.

  82. MooTheKowon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:54 pm 82

    I don’t get how Walton was so clutch at the line last year.. and is so bad this year. Whacky.

  83. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:56 pm 83

    Over. MSU, Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan.

  84. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 8:57 pm 84

    3 games at home now. Gotta take care of business.

  85. Sparty_in_Ohioon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:58 pm 85

    I’m not sure if both Ohio State AND Michigan will make it into the Tourney this year.

  86. kjon 29 Jan 2009 at 8:59 pm 86

    5.5 is a good over/under. Either Wisconsin or Michigan will come back to make the Big Dance–but not both.

  87. Chrison 29 Jan 2009 at 9:01 pm 87

    Why does Fran Fraschilla hate us? He is always ripping State.

  88. TMadison25on 29 Jan 2009 at 9:04 pm 88

    Michigan plays at UConn in just over a week… Another top 5 team going to lose to the Wolverines?

  89. ryanon 29 Jan 2009 at 9:08 pm 89

    No love for Penn State? They ARE 5-3 in conference, and losses to URI and Temple don’t look so bad now.

  90. gdcon 29 Jan 2009 at 9:09 pm 90

    Anyone else impressed by the rock steady emotions of this team? No dropped heads or whining about whistles. Very business like.

  91. Sparty_in_Ohioon 29 Jan 2009 at 9:12 pm 91

    KJ….Wisconsin?? Really?? Have you seen them play lately?

  92. Mark in Chicagoon 29 Jan 2009 at 9:27 pm 92

    My thoughts on Marcus Taylor:

    I didn’t know him, never met him, but the comparisons to Magic Johnson must have been a huge burden for him. My guess is Marcus thought he was the next Magic and was going to follow in his footsteps, and thus leave after his sophomore year. Just a hunch, though.

    Very solid effort tonight. I thought Roe was really hustling on the defensive end but struggled catching the ball in the post. He is a beast on the boards, though. Nice to see Suton have an impact even though he didn’t score a lot. A ton of rebounds and solid work defending the post. Another nice game for Summers, and with him going that makes us incredibly tough to defend. Hope he can stay consistent with it. IMO the missing piece is Chris Allen, who has been dreadful at both ends for the last few games. If his shot is falling and he’s not getting smoked at the other end, State is a Final Four team. They can make it without a big contribution from him, but they are deadly if he’s playing well.

    Raymar needs to get healthy, right quick.

  93. nopo spartyon 29 Jan 2009 at 9:32 pm 93

    Agree with Ryan on Penn state. I think they got what it takes.