Comments on: Kansas Game Recap (3/27/09)

By: The Top Ten Performances of the 2008-09 Season | Spartans Weblog

The Top Ten Performances of the 2008-09 Season | Spartans Weblog — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:01:04 +0000

[...] Kalin Lucas vs. Kansas 18 points on 7-7 FT shooting, 7 assists, 4 steals From the game recap: “Kalin Lucas could not be any more clutch.” I think this play will forever pop into [...]

By: kj

kj — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:20:42 +0000

UncleLar,
You’ve got me on a technicality there. Truth be told, your boys were up on us pretty big with several minutes to go. Only a series of missed FTs let us back into it. So I view that game a little differently; it wasn’t a back-and-forth single-possession game down the stretch.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:15:46 +0000

So, does anyone know what happened to Delvon Roe? He played barely, if at all, in the second half.

By: Mark in DC

Mark in DC — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:21:46 +0000

We have been pretty clutch in close games. I think Morgan just is not back in basketball shape yet. He missed a lot of time and lost a lot of weight – undoubtedly some of it muscle mass.

Two keys to winning the turnover battle in the second half – Lucious and Morgan were sitting for pretty much all of it and they were primary culprits on the turnover front. Lucious has a habit of driving and then no-look passing to where he thinks an MSU player should be, only it is straight to an opposing player. He has to keep the dribble alive then he’s down around the foul line so he can back it back out himself. When he picks it up there they double team him, he panics, and throws it away.

The officiating was terrible at the end of the game. Two ticky tack fouls on us and I think one before that on them. It was like they thought we were fouling on purpose there at the end. I don’t know what they saw on that last foul on Collins where (thankfully) he missed the front end. It worked out for us but the refs should not have that much impact on the end of a game.

By: UncleLar

UncleLar — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:00:49 +0000

Forgive me for bringing this up, but we’re kind of proud of this win.

Your comment “I think I’m correct in saying that this team still has yet to lose a game that’s within a single possession with 2-3 minutes to go” made me go check the box scores.

When Penn State visited East Lansing, MSU closed to within three at the 1:52 mark, two at 30 seconds, then just one with 12 seconds left. When Andrew Jones only converted 1 of 2 foul shots, Kalin Lucas had the ball in hand with a chance to tie or win with 11 seconds left, but he missed a jumper.

Sorry about bringing back that memory but good luck tomorrow.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:59:34 +0000

Re: the Izzo feels disrespected comment

I couldn’t believe it when Johnson said that. Izzo feels like he isn’t appreciated around campus? PSSSSH! Either someone was blowing smoke up Johnson’s wazoo or he flat out made that up. That would be so out of character for Izzo. But that’s what happens when national media talk about anything. They just appear clueless.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:59:55 +0000

Yeah, the crowd was overwhelmingly Cards fans. I was surrounded by red. Many of them made disparaging comments about our anemic offense throughout the game. Needless to say they are not at all worried about Sunday’s game. Hopefully some of this overconfidence will carry over to the Louisville team.

By: kj

kj — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:25:30 +0000

Izzo said he was going to ask Ibok if he thought the Spartans were playing “make it, take it.”

http://www.statenews.com/index.....loose_ends

That’s funny.

Breakdown of Lucas’s go-ahead basket:

http://coachingbetterbball.blo.....kalin.html

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 13:46:20 +0000

A few more thoughts.. Izzo called some masterful plays out of time outs. Whatever halftime adjustments he made also worked considering we only had a few turnovers in the 2nd half. Remember when we were talking about Raymar going pro early after his freshman season? That seams like decades ago. He has to have a double double on Sunday for us to have a chance. Everyone is talking about Louisville being a terrible match up because they force turnovers. Thoses are forced using a press which we usually do a good job with, giving us some open looks. Watch for Louisville to tone down their press and maybe use some zone.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 13:23:19 +0000

Solid recap kj considering it was almost 2 am. I thought you would forget about Summers put back at the end to cut the lead to 3. Good thing Suton trims his finger nails or we could have been in even bigger trouble. Officiating was terrible for both sides. I wanted to jump through my plasma and choke the ref that called the tripping at the end. Also, what was up with Gus Johnson last night? I lost a lot of respect for him last night. To start rumors about Izzo being under appreciated was completely unprofessional. This team is a less talented version of the 2000 team. The past 2 games were very similar to the sweet sixteen, elite eight games in 2000. Both teams have (had) the onions to win close games and refuse to lose. Regardless of what happens on Sunday this season has been a great success.