What ten years ago would have looked like 2 non conference cupcakes--consecutive road games against Bradley and BYU--was a great test for the Spartans in the modern era of Men's College basketball. The Bradley (I think they were the Braves at one time, we'll call them...the Briskets) Briskets have, like many college teams, decided to live and die by the great equalizer; luck and the 3 pointer.
Perhaps the greatest example of this is the Grinnell College men's team (in Iowa) who are "known for a unique style of play that includes rotating five players in and out as often as possible, pressing the entire game and shooting more than 50 3-pointers." 50. Fifty. Five Zero. Last game a Grinnell player set a new NCAA single game assist record with 34. His dad said he could have had more assists, had his son's teammates made more than 23 of the 86 attempted 3 pointers off of passes FROM HIS SON ALONE. Bradley is not that bad, but they, like Michigan's new scheme, are from the same mold. High screens, constant perimeter motion, and lots of 3's.
Bradley stayed in the game for quite a while, but were POUNDED on the boards. Multiple players were in double figures for rebounds. I think MSU had more offensive rebounds than Bradley had total, on both ends of the floor.
BYU was a much more well rounded team than Bradley. While the 3 pointer was a big part of the BYU game plan, it was an inside out (or at least looking at the post) offense. Actually, it was often outside in; swinging the ball around the perimeter and forcing a defender to scramble and leaving a cutting post player open after bad rotation. In the first half MSU could do very little right. Defense started very poor and got somewhat better before the half. The offense was just plain bad. Turnovers were terrible. Very lazy and sloppy play on offense.
After the half MSU came out strong and simply locked the big man down. Rebounding was Spartan dominated on both ends. Raymar Morgan can do pretty much what he wants when he wants. Suton has really thrived when he isn't the only scoring threat. Neitzel has yet to come on really strong and show that unstoppable offensive performance he made routine last year. The second half was pretty good for Drew, but still wasn't the swaggering "give me an inch and you've given me too much" attitude where he can score at will.
Gray played well. Naymick is a great post defender. Summers is going to be too good to keep on the bench before long. Allen still loves to shoot. All the time. Lucas is so fast it almost isn't fair. He pressed on an inbound, stole the ball and scored before the other team knew what happened. He has helped Walton pick up the pace and makes it possible to keep Neitzel off point when Walton is getting a breather. It's nice to have 3 great ball handling guards.
Next up is Texas at the Palace. With this win and a 75% winning percentage or better in the Big Ten, especially winning a couple on the road, and MSU could be looking at a 1 seed in March. Considering that Ford Field is a Regional host that would be very, very big. Much like the 2000 run that started at the Palace. But that's a ways off.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Coaches versus Cancer B10 ACC Challenge: MSU v NC St
MSU and North Carolina State faced off, as you likely know from your XM acquisition, for the Big Ten ACC challenge Wednesday night. From the tip it looked as though MSU had more energy. The game was over in the first 6 or 7 minutes.
The summary is pretty basic. NCSt did not pressure our guards on the perimeter. To be fair: 1. NCSt was a tired team that had to travel, 2. MSU is much deeper, and 3. There were few half court sets in the first half as we ran the break very, very effectively.
A few things stuck out in my mind.
- Travis Walton was pushing the ball like Lucas, head down and shifty in traffic. He said after the game he's learned from having Lucas around. It will be nice to be able to push the ball no matter who is running point.
- Suton played offense and defense. He took an 18 footer and I didn't cringe. I think that says it all.
- Neitzel hit some big shots, but we didn't need him to. That's when he is going to be dangerous, when we're up 25 points and Drew isn't the reason.
- Raymar is unstoppable if 1. he decides to be, and 2. he stays out of foul trouble.
- The freshmen continue to grow. Coming off the bench after sitting the first 10 minutes, Allen hit a couple of threes (and, of course, missed a couple, since he shoots about 1/3 of the times he touches the ball). Summers had a very, very athletic play on the baseline going up and under for the basket and a foul. Amazing control and timing. Lucas is so fast up and down the floor and quick handed. "The fastest I've ever coached" says quite a bit.
Can't take too much from the game. NCSt looked tired and flat out of the gates. I suppose this is about as good as it gets, so it's a point of comparison. Also worth noting, NCSt was dared to shoot the 3, like most teams we play, and they missed. A lot. That made a big difference. Late in the game when NCSt made a run it was on 3's and energy, but they just didn't have enough in the tank to come back from 30 down. Teams like Bradley, BYU, and others upcoming will not miss the open 3 as often. I look forward to seeing whether we stick with the pack it in the paint "go ahead and shoot the 3" defense, or if we come out to challenge.
The summary is pretty basic. NCSt did not pressure our guards on the perimeter. To be fair: 1. NCSt was a tired team that had to travel, 2. MSU is much deeper, and 3. There were few half court sets in the first half as we ran the break very, very effectively.
A few things stuck out in my mind.
- Travis Walton was pushing the ball like Lucas, head down and shifty in traffic. He said after the game he's learned from having Lucas around. It will be nice to be able to push the ball no matter who is running point.
- Suton played offense and defense. He took an 18 footer and I didn't cringe. I think that says it all.
- Neitzel hit some big shots, but we didn't need him to. That's when he is going to be dangerous, when we're up 25 points and Drew isn't the reason.
- Raymar is unstoppable if 1. he decides to be, and 2. he stays out of foul trouble.
- The freshmen continue to grow. Coming off the bench after sitting the first 10 minutes, Allen hit a couple of threes (and, of course, missed a couple, since he shoots about 1/3 of the times he touches the ball). Summers had a very, very athletic play on the baseline going up and under for the basket and a foul. Amazing control and timing. Lucas is so fast up and down the floor and quick handed. "The fastest I've ever coached" says quite a bit.
Can't take too much from the game. NCSt looked tired and flat out of the gates. I suppose this is about as good as it gets, so it's a point of comparison. Also worth noting, NCSt was dared to shoot the 3, like most teams we play, and they missed. A lot. That made a big difference. Late in the game when NCSt made a run it was on 3's and energy, but they just didn't have enough in the tank to come back from 30 down. Teams like Bradley, BYU, and others upcoming will not miss the open 3 as often. I look forward to seeing whether we stick with the pack it in the paint "go ahead and shoot the 3" defense, or if we come out to challenge.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
CBE Classic Semifinal/Final
The men's basketball team showed a lot this week, both good and bad, but overall I'm left encouraged. Our semifinal matchup against Missouri was ugly at times, but ended with a win. The final against UCLA was mostly dominated by MSU, but ended in a loss. Neither is terribly upsetting (other than losing the ability to say we beat #1 in the country).
Missouri's coach was an understudy to Nolan Richardson (former Arkansas head coach) in the 1990's. Arkansas played the "40 Minutes of Hell" pressing, trapping, running game that was very effective for a stretch of about 8 years in the 1990's. Missouri doesn't have the athletes that Arkansas of old did, but the system is in place and with time the recruiting will start to pan out. Missouri is a good, athletic team and will be a VERY tough draw for a team come March.
That said, college basketball has some problems. Guards are allowed to hack and handcheck 30 ft from the basket without consequence. That has hurt MSU for years, going back to games against teams like Duke and Kentucky with physical guards. When you have to run your offense from 35 feet, with your back to the basket, and every other possession turns into an uncontested layup the other way, things aren't going to go well.
MSU pulled off the win over Missouri mostly due to, gulp, Goran the Moron. I do not support his game fully. This is not an awards ceremony for eastern european basketball goran suton style (and while we're on the topic, could announcers stop calling him a "typical, skilled, eastern european player?" Cause he's not. His footwork is terrible on both offense and defense) Mr. Suton is frustrating because he does great things. Then he does terrible things. In essence, he's a wash. Against Missouri he gave up baskets and rebounds, but in the clutch nailed a few shots and set a nice moving screen for Neitzel to hit a late 3. Neitzel was on FIRE early in the game, hitting 5 of 6 shots in the first half, and having scored 10 points within the first 6 minutes. Then he was blanketed until the late 3, followed by 2 free throws. The team was up as much as 16, gave up the lead, but held on hitting big shots down the stretch and doing just enough to win. Considering the style of play, the hostile crowd, and how early it is in the season, I'm fairly happy with the result. The reffing needs help, but the team did well.
UCLA was much the same. MSU came out strong on both ends and lead early by as much as 15. At half the lead was 10, and in the second half the lead fluctuated from 2-14, but was mostly dominated by MSU. The story line that stands out to me is the freshman for UCLA, Kevin Love, who apparently took time off from walking on water and healing leppers to grace us all with his basketball performance. Love gets more calls than Jordan. That's a crime. He's a baby fat clod with good hands. He has great touch around the basket and is huge, but he's not the second coming. In fact, when players were struggling for post position Love got the call every time. In my book, when two guys go at it hard and one flops around (despite being about 50-75 lbs heavier than the defender) he doesn't just get the call. These refs had never heard of a double foul, offensive foul (unless your name is Morgan, in which case it's the ONLY foul they know to call) or flopping. So as the "big, physical, bruising" MSU big men "pounded" Love and made him work hard for every point (see: go over the back, throw your fat ass around in the paint for 6 seconds, they go to the foul line) the MSU guards were getting mugged once again on the perimeter.
I don't quite get it. Apparently playing defense is only physical in the interior. When it happens on the perimeter (leading to uncontested layups because of where it occured on the floor) it's not "physical" but "aggressive" and "pressure MSU can't seem to handle." Too bad we don't have a 300 lb point guard that Dicky V is in love with (see: Kevin Jesus Love), then we could get every call and score 19 points at the free throw line.
That was the difference in the game. Free throws. MSU made 14 of 15 on the night. UCLA made 19 of 31. The makes weren't the difference, but the attempts. Foul trouble is putting it mildly. The pace of the game, the effece the fouls had on lineups and rebounding, and the kick out threes that came as a result of having to double team took their toll. UCLA took it's first lead with 30 seconds left. They won in the end by a deceiving 5 point margin.
Down 4 with under 20 seconds Neitzel fired up a LONG 3 that went wide left, getting no rim. Izzo started to give drew a hard time, but I was ok with it. Who else were we going to? What would we have said had he hit it? It was a tough shot, but I'm ok with it. Win some, lose some--that shot didn't "lose" the game. At the end of the day Neitzel was sick, Walton was hurt, and the freshman played ok, but Lucas was subpar (by his own lofty standards). I was impressed overall and am even more confident that as these freshmen continue to get minutes and experience we are going to be a VERY bad draw for most anyone in March.
Missouri's coach was an understudy to Nolan Richardson (former Arkansas head coach) in the 1990's. Arkansas played the "40 Minutes of Hell" pressing, trapping, running game that was very effective for a stretch of about 8 years in the 1990's. Missouri doesn't have the athletes that Arkansas of old did, but the system is in place and with time the recruiting will start to pan out. Missouri is a good, athletic team and will be a VERY tough draw for a team come March.
That said, college basketball has some problems. Guards are allowed to hack and handcheck 30 ft from the basket without consequence. That has hurt MSU for years, going back to games against teams like Duke and Kentucky with physical guards. When you have to run your offense from 35 feet, with your back to the basket, and every other possession turns into an uncontested layup the other way, things aren't going to go well.
MSU pulled off the win over Missouri mostly due to, gulp, Goran the Moron. I do not support his game fully. This is not an awards ceremony for eastern european basketball goran suton style (and while we're on the topic, could announcers stop calling him a "typical, skilled, eastern european player?" Cause he's not. His footwork is terrible on both offense and defense) Mr. Suton is frustrating because he does great things. Then he does terrible things. In essence, he's a wash. Against Missouri he gave up baskets and rebounds, but in the clutch nailed a few shots and set a nice moving screen for Neitzel to hit a late 3. Neitzel was on FIRE early in the game, hitting 5 of 6 shots in the first half, and having scored 10 points within the first 6 minutes. Then he was blanketed until the late 3, followed by 2 free throws. The team was up as much as 16, gave up the lead, but held on hitting big shots down the stretch and doing just enough to win. Considering the style of play, the hostile crowd, and how early it is in the season, I'm fairly happy with the result. The reffing needs help, but the team did well.
UCLA was much the same. MSU came out strong on both ends and lead early by as much as 15. At half the lead was 10, and in the second half the lead fluctuated from 2-14, but was mostly dominated by MSU. The story line that stands out to me is the freshman for UCLA, Kevin Love, who apparently took time off from walking on water and healing leppers to grace us all with his basketball performance. Love gets more calls than Jordan. That's a crime. He's a baby fat clod with good hands. He has great touch around the basket and is huge, but he's not the second coming. In fact, when players were struggling for post position Love got the call every time. In my book, when two guys go at it hard and one flops around (despite being about 50-75 lbs heavier than the defender) he doesn't just get the call. These refs had never heard of a double foul, offensive foul (unless your name is Morgan, in which case it's the ONLY foul they know to call) or flopping. So as the "big, physical, bruising" MSU big men "pounded" Love and made him work hard for every point (see: go over the back, throw your fat ass around in the paint for 6 seconds, they go to the foul line) the MSU guards were getting mugged once again on the perimeter.
I don't quite get it. Apparently playing defense is only physical in the interior. When it happens on the perimeter (leading to uncontested layups because of where it occured on the floor) it's not "physical" but "aggressive" and "pressure MSU can't seem to handle." Too bad we don't have a 300 lb point guard that Dicky V is in love with (see: Kevin Jesus Love), then we could get every call and score 19 points at the free throw line.
That was the difference in the game. Free throws. MSU made 14 of 15 on the night. UCLA made 19 of 31. The makes weren't the difference, but the attempts. Foul trouble is putting it mildly. The pace of the game, the effece the fouls had on lineups and rebounding, and the kick out threes that came as a result of having to double team took their toll. UCLA took it's first lead with 30 seconds left. They won in the end by a deceiving 5 point margin.
Down 4 with under 20 seconds Neitzel fired up a LONG 3 that went wide left, getting no rim. Izzo started to give drew a hard time, but I was ok with it. Who else were we going to? What would we have said had he hit it? It was a tough shot, but I'm ok with it. Win some, lose some--that shot didn't "lose" the game. At the end of the day Neitzel was sick, Walton was hurt, and the freshman played ok, but Lucas was subpar (by his own lofty standards). I was impressed overall and am even more confident that as these freshmen continue to get minutes and experience we are going to be a VERY bad draw for most anyone in March.
Friday, November 16, 2007
MSU v Chicago State (round 1 CBE Classic)
How a tournament this new is a "classic" I'm not sure. I know, Classic is associated with basketball tournaments. I'm trying to figure out why.
MSU returned to "classic" form for the first round of the CBE against Chicago State. The game was dominated throughout, and once the Spartans locked down on defense (and Chicago missed the 3 point bombs everyone else seems to make), the score started to indicate just how dominant the performance was.
The Spartans had a substantial rebounding edge. Morgan (despite Ellie's opinion otherwise) is about 25lbs of muscle larger this year. Mentally he is what Gray should be; unstoppable and playing the game like everyone else is in slow motion. No thought, just instinctive action. Finally Morgan was standing beside Gray during a technical foul timeout when Ellie said "wow, I thought Morgan was Gray for a second." That's how physically big Morgan is now.
Morgan played like the tweener he is against Chicago State. He was too quick (and honestly too strong) for Chicago State's biggest players, and far too strong (and quick) for the smaller Chicago State forwards/guards. I am anxious to see how he does against the big ten.
I stand by the statement that Kalin Lucas is the best all around freshman I've seen come in (I was not at MSU yet when Mateen came in, though I saw them on TV). Mateen was a better leader--but needed to be. Walton is this team's leader, along with Drew, but Lucas has got to be #3 already on the leader list. He is the kind of player that drives you crazy on defense. He is the key to this season (along with Gray and Suton being consistently decent).
Drew isn't getting a lot of shots to drop. His shooting seems to be coming around. Teams are hounding him though, and again, he seems to be a step slow, a little sluggish off picks and off the dribble. He will continue to get better looks as the freshmen hit more shots.
Chris Allen never saw a shot he didn't like. He will shoot the ball until he can't lift his arms. I suppose I'm fine with that, as long as the bigs hit the boards.
I like Naymick. He's our best defender on the block. I also like the way he plays instinctually this year. I don't know how else to describe it. Some players think and then do (too late). Some players just do (anticipate and act). Naymick has been a victim of overthinking in the past. He seems confident. If Suton ever got to the point where he just did (correctly) it would help his defense 100%. He's too slow to handicap himself by overthinking.
We play again on Monday in K.C. Should be interesting to see what happens on national tv.
Go Green!
(Gus has been replaced, rumor has it, by Tim Bograkos for now)
MSU returned to "classic" form for the first round of the CBE against Chicago State. The game was dominated throughout, and once the Spartans locked down on defense (and Chicago missed the 3 point bombs everyone else seems to make), the score started to indicate just how dominant the performance was.
The Spartans had a substantial rebounding edge. Morgan (despite Ellie's opinion otherwise) is about 25lbs of muscle larger this year. Mentally he is what Gray should be; unstoppable and playing the game like everyone else is in slow motion. No thought, just instinctive action. Finally Morgan was standing beside Gray during a technical foul timeout when Ellie said "wow, I thought Morgan was Gray for a second." That's how physically big Morgan is now.
Morgan played like the tweener he is against Chicago State. He was too quick (and honestly too strong) for Chicago State's biggest players, and far too strong (and quick) for the smaller Chicago State forwards/guards. I am anxious to see how he does against the big ten.
I stand by the statement that Kalin Lucas is the best all around freshman I've seen come in (I was not at MSU yet when Mateen came in, though I saw them on TV). Mateen was a better leader--but needed to be. Walton is this team's leader, along with Drew, but Lucas has got to be #3 already on the leader list. He is the kind of player that drives you crazy on defense. He is the key to this season (along with Gray and Suton being consistently decent).
Drew isn't getting a lot of shots to drop. His shooting seems to be coming around. Teams are hounding him though, and again, he seems to be a step slow, a little sluggish off picks and off the dribble. He will continue to get better looks as the freshmen hit more shots.
Chris Allen never saw a shot he didn't like. He will shoot the ball until he can't lift his arms. I suppose I'm fine with that, as long as the bigs hit the boards.
I like Naymick. He's our best defender on the block. I also like the way he plays instinctually this year. I don't know how else to describe it. Some players think and then do (too late). Some players just do (anticipate and act). Naymick has been a victim of overthinking in the past. He seems confident. If Suton ever got to the point where he just did (correctly) it would help his defense 100%. He's too slow to handicap himself by overthinking.
We play again on Monday in K.C. Should be interesting to see what happens on national tv.
Go Green!
(Gus has been replaced, rumor has it, by Tim Bograkos for now)
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Men's BB game 2: Michigan Tech
The MSU men's basketball exhibition season came to a merciful close last night with a 61-55 win over basketball powerhouse Michigan Tech. Michigan Tech started a white guard that was 5'10" and from Lansing and was a senior. He was fairly typical for their team, and once again, and opposing coach implemented the "chuck up as many 3's as you can in 40 minutes" gameplan. It almost worked, again, as Tech hung around and hung around on miscues and a complete lack of anything remotely resembling an offense from MSU.
Drew Neitzel couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. He was pretty bad. His defense and passing were ok, he got good looks at the basket, and he made a couple of clutch and difficult shots. Perhaps I expect too much of him after last years blistering performances. I honestly think putting on 15 lbs in the offseason was a move that helps his long term career goals (NBA?) but in the short term his shot is rough. He doesn't have the leaping ability or shiftyness he displayed last year. Not sure this is the right playing weight for him. My take.
Our offense was just bad. I mean bad. Turnovers. Not much movement. No inside play. Transition was strong at times, but as far as halfcourt sets, bad. We have too many players that aren't threats (Walton, Ibok, Naymick outside 8ft, etc.) and then when Neitzel goes cold...and Chris Allen fires up about 6-3's (may have made one) we have problems. The defense was improved. The rebounding was so-so, considering this team was nowhere near as good as GVSU, but also taking into account Gray and Morgan were both out.
Kalin Lucas is the best all around freshman, at this point in his career, since Mateen. I have no doubt in that. Other players did things better, but none were: lockdown defenders (currently already the 2nd best on the team to Walton) AND capabe point guards AND legitimate threats to take the ball end to end for a layup in transition AND floor confidence/command. He drove to the basket--from what I can recall--at least 5 times last night, both in transition and half court sets. He's good with the ball. He is a capable open shooter. He is a capable free throw shooter. He is without a doubt the best Freshman defender I've seen, as good as Walton for sure. That is huge. Two lockdown guards at the point and Neitzel to boot, who is great on any other team, and the backcourt is solid defensively.
Suton is still just wow. I mean, the guy fumbled and stumbled and was a tornado of elbows and awkward at one point in the second half (I can best summarize his moves like a video game character; when you push the B button he: spins left, pump fakes, pivots back and throws up a clunky fade away. A button? some other combination of predetermined moves that in no way have any relation to what the defender (if he's even there) is doing) and then in the last 2 minutes (much to the dismay of my heart muscle tissue) he posted up and threw up a shot that somehow went in, SHOT AND MADE A 3 POINTER with just over a minute left, and made another 2 point basket (after he missed once from close range, fouled a guy to get the rebound, and clunked up a putback that went in). Suton had 8 points before the last 2 minutes, and finished with 15. He also cannot play defense. I'm sorry, he just can't. He can't jump or recover fast enough. I think he knows WHAT to do, and HOW to do it, but can't actually carry it through. Physical limitations are a bitch.
The team will be ok I think. They really just need to make some shots. The defense is getting better and I have to think the offense will come around. Neitzel getting hot would do a lot for everyone else. Also, perhaps having Gray (swollen knee) and certainly having Morgan (academics) would have helped. Morgan had better watch out though. With 3 very good guards, as well as Summers coming on, playing time is not going to be a given.
Drew Neitzel couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. He was pretty bad. His defense and passing were ok, he got good looks at the basket, and he made a couple of clutch and difficult shots. Perhaps I expect too much of him after last years blistering performances. I honestly think putting on 15 lbs in the offseason was a move that helps his long term career goals (NBA?) but in the short term his shot is rough. He doesn't have the leaping ability or shiftyness he displayed last year. Not sure this is the right playing weight for him. My take.
Our offense was just bad. I mean bad. Turnovers. Not much movement. No inside play. Transition was strong at times, but as far as halfcourt sets, bad. We have too many players that aren't threats (Walton, Ibok, Naymick outside 8ft, etc.) and then when Neitzel goes cold...and Chris Allen fires up about 6-3's (may have made one) we have problems. The defense was improved. The rebounding was so-so, considering this team was nowhere near as good as GVSU, but also taking into account Gray and Morgan were both out.
Kalin Lucas is the best all around freshman, at this point in his career, since Mateen. I have no doubt in that. Other players did things better, but none were: lockdown defenders (currently already the 2nd best on the team to Walton) AND capabe point guards AND legitimate threats to take the ball end to end for a layup in transition AND floor confidence/command. He drove to the basket--from what I can recall--at least 5 times last night, both in transition and half court sets. He's good with the ball. He is a capable open shooter. He is a capable free throw shooter. He is without a doubt the best Freshman defender I've seen, as good as Walton for sure. That is huge. Two lockdown guards at the point and Neitzel to boot, who is great on any other team, and the backcourt is solid defensively.
Suton is still just wow. I mean, the guy fumbled and stumbled and was a tornado of elbows and awkward at one point in the second half (I can best summarize his moves like a video game character; when you push the B button he: spins left, pump fakes, pivots back and throws up a clunky fade away. A button? some other combination of predetermined moves that in no way have any relation to what the defender (if he's even there) is doing) and then in the last 2 minutes (much to the dismay of my heart muscle tissue) he posted up and threw up a shot that somehow went in, SHOT AND MADE A 3 POINTER with just over a minute left, and made another 2 point basket (after he missed once from close range, fouled a guy to get the rebound, and clunked up a putback that went in). Suton had 8 points before the last 2 minutes, and finished with 15. He also cannot play defense. I'm sorry, he just can't. He can't jump or recover fast enough. I think he knows WHAT to do, and HOW to do it, but can't actually carry it through. Physical limitations are a bitch.
The team will be ok I think. They really just need to make some shots. The defense is getting better and I have to think the offense will come around. Neitzel getting hot would do a lot for everyone else. Also, perhaps having Gray (swollen knee) and certainly having Morgan (academics) would have helped. Morgan had better watch out though. With 3 very good guards, as well as Summers coming on, playing time is not going to be a given.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Basketball Season Begins
Or did it? MSU followed up its impressive 61-57 win last year over Grand Valley with a loss this year. The Spartans fell, at home, in OT by 3 points.
Breakdown:
1. we have no interior play.
The offense doesn't try to play inside out basketball. Again we decided to run the "pass it around the perimeter for 20 seconds then either drive (and get a charging call) or fire up a 3." This didn't work well since Neitzel was double teamed all night and didn't get many looks, and the rest of the team was stone cold. Didn't help that we also got out rebounded. Suton was a joke. He was not a threat on offense and on defense...just wow. At what point do we decide there's no hope for his defense? (answer: 2 years ago)
Gray was nonexistant. This is the type of team he should dominate. He did nothing. The freshmen were better and more aggressive than Gray.
Herzog will be ok. He had flashes. He was also out of position at times. He'll be ok I think.
2. we don't have any (not one) inbounds plays.
With a 2 point lead, 14 seconds remaining, and the ball in our FRONTCOURT we attempted to inbound from the sideline. The play? No one do anything then chuck the ball into the backcourt to who? Suton. The Suton that has the footwork of a drunk giraffe? Yes, that Suton. Result? GVSU steal, layup, and foul. 1 point defecit with 8 seconds in regulation.
Overtime 1. Ball out of bounds (frontcourt) with a tie game. Inbounds play? Everyone slide side to side like you are going somewhere. You are decoys. One person is actually supposed to try to get the ball--but he doesn't--so you call another timeout. Then you run a play called "Neitzel run over there and get the ball" which works (at getting the ball in, we did not score).
3. Grand Valley is a bad matchup.
I said before the game, Grand Valley is good and the EXACT team we don't want to play. Senior heavy, 4/5 of starters returning, and athletic. GVSU has 8 guys that are exactly the same person. 6'7" 220 lbs. Defenders, side to side agility guys, with just enough range to exploit the fact that we have NEVER (ever, ever) played perimeter defense. They hit about seven 3's. They also harrassed our guards (and forwards that think they are guards...dribbling and passing through the lane) effectively. Our free throw shooting was horrible. That alone would have won the game. Finally, they had one big man (must have been about 6'10") that exploited the middle. Backed Suton down or just went around him consistently.
4. There were some suspect calls.
At one point Kalin Lucas was triple teamed as he ran down the floor with the ball. He was mugged about 5 times before hitting the lane, then hit as he took off, and hit as he shot. None of the three defenders was stationary, Lucas did not drop his shoulder or use his off arm, but he was called for a charge. One of the worst calls I've seen in a while. Over and over Neitzel was banged around with no calls--them with 6 seconds left in regulation a phantom call putting him on the line to tie the game. It was a rough night all around.
5. The team is athletic and deep. They are capable and determined. Its all about sharpening up. The offense was atrocious. The defense was so-so, mostly getting burned on 3's (which we seem to be ok with) and then being picked apart by good coaching (picking on Suton and making Gray learn to rotate). Rebounding won't be this bad again. I compare this GVSU team, in size, to the George Mason team that beat MSU a few years ago. Not as good, but the whole team is 6'8" and can jump. A bad matchup. But hey, it's not Appalachian State.
Breakdown:
1. we have no interior play.
The offense doesn't try to play inside out basketball. Again we decided to run the "pass it around the perimeter for 20 seconds then either drive (and get a charging call) or fire up a 3." This didn't work well since Neitzel was double teamed all night and didn't get many looks, and the rest of the team was stone cold. Didn't help that we also got out rebounded. Suton was a joke. He was not a threat on offense and on defense...just wow. At what point do we decide there's no hope for his defense? (answer: 2 years ago)
Gray was nonexistant. This is the type of team he should dominate. He did nothing. The freshmen were better and more aggressive than Gray.
Herzog will be ok. He had flashes. He was also out of position at times. He'll be ok I think.
2. we don't have any (not one) inbounds plays.
With a 2 point lead, 14 seconds remaining, and the ball in our FRONTCOURT we attempted to inbound from the sideline. The play? No one do anything then chuck the ball into the backcourt to who? Suton. The Suton that has the footwork of a drunk giraffe? Yes, that Suton. Result? GVSU steal, layup, and foul. 1 point defecit with 8 seconds in regulation.
Overtime 1. Ball out of bounds (frontcourt) with a tie game. Inbounds play? Everyone slide side to side like you are going somewhere. You are decoys. One person is actually supposed to try to get the ball--but he doesn't--so you call another timeout. Then you run a play called "Neitzel run over there and get the ball" which works (at getting the ball in, we did not score).
3. Grand Valley is a bad matchup.
I said before the game, Grand Valley is good and the EXACT team we don't want to play. Senior heavy, 4/5 of starters returning, and athletic. GVSU has 8 guys that are exactly the same person. 6'7" 220 lbs. Defenders, side to side agility guys, with just enough range to exploit the fact that we have NEVER (ever, ever) played perimeter defense. They hit about seven 3's. They also harrassed our guards (and forwards that think they are guards...dribbling and passing through the lane) effectively. Our free throw shooting was horrible. That alone would have won the game. Finally, they had one big man (must have been about 6'10") that exploited the middle. Backed Suton down or just went around him consistently.
4. There were some suspect calls.
At one point Kalin Lucas was triple teamed as he ran down the floor with the ball. He was mugged about 5 times before hitting the lane, then hit as he took off, and hit as he shot. None of the three defenders was stationary, Lucas did not drop his shoulder or use his off arm, but he was called for a charge. One of the worst calls I've seen in a while. Over and over Neitzel was banged around with no calls--them with 6 seconds left in regulation a phantom call putting him on the line to tie the game. It was a rough night all around.
5. The team is athletic and deep. They are capable and determined. Its all about sharpening up. The offense was atrocious. The defense was so-so, mostly getting burned on 3's (which we seem to be ok with) and then being picked apart by good coaching (picking on Suton and making Gray learn to rotate). Rebounding won't be this bad again. I compare this GVSU team, in size, to the George Mason team that beat MSU a few years ago. Not as good, but the whole team is 6'8" and can jump. A bad matchup. But hey, it's not Appalachian State.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
analysis from P.R.
Ohio State was good. The MSU offense was predictable and could not dominate the line of scrimmage like they had against Indiana, and found running the ball almost impossible. The defense looked quite bad at times, but in a 55 second series managed to score two defensive touchdowns, and almost scored a 3rd on the next OSU play. OSU was the better team and the final score does not reflect the disparity between the two teams accurately.
Iowa, at Iowa, should be an interesting "trap game" challenge. Iowa is miserable this year. Expectations were high but the offense is abysmal, and the defense has been forced to stay on the field too long. That said, MSU is not exactly clicking coming off last week...blown coverage, no pressure on the QB, no running attack, still have Hoyer at QB (because he's the only option)...who knows what will happen.
I mapped out the basketball ticket situation before leaving. I will be gone on Sunday when the selections occur but Ellie should be able to attend or teleconference in. You should contact her if you are going to be in town on a particular occasion...we aren't planning on getting Christmas tickets otherwise. Hopes continue to be high for this team. Izzo called Chris Allen [potentially] the best shooter since Respert. He also said a second freshman, Durrell Summers, is a "poor man's Jason Richardson." Hell, I'll take a vagrant Jason Richardson.
Yesterday was an interesting birthday. First, thanks for the gift, loved it. Second, I was in the airport at 6 a.m. Having breakfast and a shot of tequila at the airport bar at 7 a.m. Flying on THE WORST AIRLINE, in THE WORST SEATS, with THE WORST SERVICE ever from 8am-3pm, and arrived at our hotel around 4:30pm. The first half of the day was somewhat of a wreck. The second half was spectacular.
I had the 4 best seafood meals of my life. My team gets along very well and so we ordered different dinners and sampled. I got the Marlin w/ potatoes au gratin; Kelly got BBQ jumbo shrimp w/ black beans, chirizo, and rice; Kristen ordered the Mahi Mahi w/ coconut sauce; and Justin decided on the Halibut w/ mashed potatoes and a decadent cheese sauce. In a word, amazing. The Halibut was hands down the best fish I've ever had. My marlin was excellent as well. We also ordered and split 4 desserts. Unreal. I could have lived in that restaurant for months eating the same thing every day.
Today we practice, practice, and practice. We hope to see the island a bit--at least the parts we've been told are safe--and then have a mandatory teams meeting tonight. I'll try to take plenty of pictures.
Iowa, at Iowa, should be an interesting "trap game" challenge. Iowa is miserable this year. Expectations were high but the offense is abysmal, and the defense has been forced to stay on the field too long. That said, MSU is not exactly clicking coming off last week...blown coverage, no pressure on the QB, no running attack, still have Hoyer at QB (because he's the only option)...who knows what will happen.
I mapped out the basketball ticket situation before leaving. I will be gone on Sunday when the selections occur but Ellie should be able to attend or teleconference in. You should contact her if you are going to be in town on a particular occasion...we aren't planning on getting Christmas tickets otherwise. Hopes continue to be high for this team. Izzo called Chris Allen [potentially] the best shooter since Respert. He also said a second freshman, Durrell Summers, is a "poor man's Jason Richardson." Hell, I'll take a vagrant Jason Richardson.
Yesterday was an interesting birthday. First, thanks for the gift, loved it. Second, I was in the airport at 6 a.m. Having breakfast and a shot of tequila at the airport bar at 7 a.m. Flying on THE WORST AIRLINE, in THE WORST SEATS, with THE WORST SERVICE ever from 8am-3pm, and arrived at our hotel around 4:30pm. The first half of the day was somewhat of a wreck. The second half was spectacular.
I had the 4 best seafood meals of my life. My team gets along very well and so we ordered different dinners and sampled. I got the Marlin w/ potatoes au gratin; Kelly got BBQ jumbo shrimp w/ black beans, chirizo, and rice; Kristen ordered the Mahi Mahi w/ coconut sauce; and Justin decided on the Halibut w/ mashed potatoes and a decadent cheese sauce. In a word, amazing. The Halibut was hands down the best fish I've ever had. My marlin was excellent as well. We also ordered and split 4 desserts. Unreal. I could have lived in that restaurant for months eating the same thing every day.
Today we practice, practice, and practice. We hope to see the island a bit--at least the parts we've been told are safe--and then have a mandatory teams meeting tonight. I'll try to take plenty of pictures.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Spartan Sports
Leading into homecoming weekend, the Spartans went back to basics. The defensive (see: defen-sieve a week ago) coaches decided to take a chance and return to full contact, full tackle practices this week. Although the defense has little depth--making any injury devastating--the gamble paid off. The defense played a bend don't break (or at least not as often) scheme and the offense continued to dominate. The final was 52-27...but the score is deceiving. MSU dominated this game.
In five words or less, MSU went back to basics. Javon Ringer (best name ever) ran for 203 yards on 29 carries. Jehuu Caulcrick ran for 94 yards and scored 3 TD's. Devin Thomas caught 13 passes for 148 yards and a TD. Brian Hoyer actually looked pretty good. Was this a reflection of a bad Hoosier defense (described by Rosenberg of the free press as having "a better chance of tackling the Palestinian question than Big Ten opponents"), having a combined 300 rushing yards behind, or some other factor? Probably. But the coaches seem to love him and think he has all the skills to succeed. Maybe this was a turning point. Maybe they'll make me Attorney General when I graduate.
Javon Ringer said of his own performance:
"Everything I did out there really has to go to my offensive line and my receivers blocking down-field. They kind of made my job easy. I might have broken a tackle here or there, but all the credit really has to go to them."
Uh-huh. Right.
#1 OSU is up next, in Columbus. The last time MSU went to Columbus and OSU was #1 the Spartans pulled off the upset. That was under Nick $aban. Dantonio was a defensive backs coach on that team. Don't expect either team to be ignorant of that fact.
Midnight Madness took place this last weekend as well. MSU took to Munn not as a media ploy, not as a clever Tom Izzo/Mark Hollis invention, not because the team needed to be put on ice. No, the real reason is both embarrassing and laughable. Cirque De Soleil is in town and had Breslin booked. Yup, the most popular man in Michigan was upstaged by acrobats and ribbons.
I did not attend but have reviewed most of the shows (Tim "I repeat what I've heard more intelligent people say, only 5 days later when it's not news anymore" Staudt) and read all the articles (if you're looking for one source, and can deal with pop ups, I would use msuspartans.com, where there are quotes from post game interviews, box scores, etc.) and done my own analysis, so here goes:
- I'm concerned this team, after playing w/ a chip last season will be full of itself
- I'm comforted to know that there is depth, and if the previous is true, there is plenty of room on the bench until you remember how to defend, rebound, and hustle (*Implicit comforting factor: Tom Izzo is still the coach)
- The big men will be MUCH better this year, with depth (Herzog is off the redshirt), experience (Marquise Gray has GOT to be ready to dominate and iDunk iBlock (mini version now in production by Apple) knows the plays finally), and lots of prayer (Goran Suton...we've been praying for you)
- Travis Walton is one man I would NOT want to piss off. The team entered to the 300 movie theme (Warriors from Sparta) and were shirtless with shields. Travis Walton barely made it on time, as he was busy with his Bowflex commercial shoot that apparently finished just seconds before he ran out. Chuck Norris was upset to lose the Bowflex contract, but when he found out it was Walton that was replacing him, Norris simply asked if Walton wanted both cream and sugar in his coffee.
- This is the most athletic team we've had in years (from top to bottom)
- This is the deepest team we've had in years (w/ frosh as good as Torbert, Hill, and Anderson, if not better)
- The Big Ten is going to be good this year. Things will appear to be down, since the teams will beat each other up, but expect a couple of Big Ten teams in the Elite Eight at the end of the season.
Our NCAA championship hockey team took the ice for their season opener. They were ranked #3, and traveled to North Dakota to play the #1...something (Buffalo's? Plains-Dwellers? Sioux? Actually, yes, the Sioux). And, as usual, they got handled. The championship was a fluke, sorry to say it. ND 6 MSU 0.
In five words or less, MSU went back to basics. Javon Ringer (best name ever) ran for 203 yards on 29 carries. Jehuu Caulcrick ran for 94 yards and scored 3 TD's. Devin Thomas caught 13 passes for 148 yards and a TD. Brian Hoyer actually looked pretty good. Was this a reflection of a bad Hoosier defense (described by Rosenberg of the free press as having "a better chance of tackling the Palestinian question than Big Ten opponents"), having a combined 300 rushing yards behind, or some other factor? Probably. But the coaches seem to love him and think he has all the skills to succeed. Maybe this was a turning point. Maybe they'll make me Attorney General when I graduate.
Javon Ringer said of his own performance:
"Everything I did out there really has to go to my offensive line and my receivers blocking down-field. They kind of made my job easy. I might have broken a tackle here or there, but all the credit really has to go to them."
Uh-huh. Right.
#1 OSU is up next, in Columbus. The last time MSU went to Columbus and OSU was #1 the Spartans pulled off the upset. That was under Nick $aban. Dantonio was a defensive backs coach on that team. Don't expect either team to be ignorant of that fact.
Midnight Madness took place this last weekend as well. MSU took to Munn not as a media ploy, not as a clever Tom Izzo/Mark Hollis invention, not because the team needed to be put on ice. No, the real reason is both embarrassing and laughable. Cirque De Soleil is in town and had Breslin booked. Yup, the most popular man in Michigan was upstaged by acrobats and ribbons.
I did not attend but have reviewed most of the shows (Tim "I repeat what I've heard more intelligent people say, only 5 days later when it's not news anymore" Staudt) and read all the articles (if you're looking for one source, and can deal with pop ups, I would use msuspartans.com, where there are quotes from post game interviews, box scores, etc.) and done my own analysis, so here goes:
- I'm concerned this team, after playing w/ a chip last season will be full of itself
- I'm comforted to know that there is depth, and if the previous is true, there is plenty of room on the bench until you remember how to defend, rebound, and hustle (*Implicit comforting factor: Tom Izzo is still the coach)
- The big men will be MUCH better this year, with depth (Herzog is off the redshirt), experience (Marquise Gray has GOT to be ready to dominate and iDunk iBlock (mini version now in production by Apple) knows the plays finally), and lots of prayer (Goran Suton...we've been praying for you)
- Travis Walton is one man I would NOT want to piss off. The team entered to the 300 movie theme (Warriors from Sparta) and were shirtless with shields. Travis Walton barely made it on time, as he was busy with his Bowflex commercial shoot that apparently finished just seconds before he ran out. Chuck Norris was upset to lose the Bowflex contract, but when he found out it was Walton that was replacing him, Norris simply asked if Walton wanted both cream and sugar in his coffee.
- This is the most athletic team we've had in years (from top to bottom)
- This is the deepest team we've had in years (w/ frosh as good as Torbert, Hill, and Anderson, if not better)
- The Big Ten is going to be good this year. Things will appear to be down, since the teams will beat each other up, but expect a couple of Big Ten teams in the Elite Eight at the end of the season.
Our NCAA championship hockey team took the ice for their season opener. They were ranked #3, and traveled to North Dakota to play the #1...something (Buffalo's? Plains-Dwellers? Sioux? Actually, yes, the Sioux). And, as usual, they got handled. The championship was a fluke, sorry to say it. ND 6 MSU 0.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Open Tryouts: Golf Team and Band members welcome
We are currently searching for a few replacements. First, and again, a QB. Applicants need only have seen a game or two before. No special skills, footwork, or timing necessary. Second, we are looking for AN ENTIRE SECONDARY. All positions. Corners need only have two legs, two hands, and one good eye. Finally, punter needed. Someone to get the ball across the line of scrimmage. 25 yard average desired, fewer yards per punt and comparable background in kicking into endzone from opposition's 40 will be considered.
Today you are in luck. I have 3rd degree sunburn on my face and arms, I just returned from a 4 hour OT LOSS to Northwestern (yes, that Northwestern), and I may or may not have had a drink or two. Settle in, this is going to get ugly.
This is the story of MSU football this year: 4 steps forward, 1/2 step back, warp speed time machine-like effort in Michael J. Fox's Delorean to the Stone Age, where defense was apparently yet to be discovered. Also offense was limited to a four (yes 4) play playbook. MSU looked like a public school JV team trying to tackle the Dallas Cowboys. In fact, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders could have tackled better. Today's team would have made former Lion Joey Harrington look like Peyton Manning. On steroids. That's how bad the defense was. ALMOST as bad as the second half against Michigan a few years ago, when we gave up a 21 point lead in a quarter. That bad.
The final score was 48-41 in overtime. That was lucky.
WE
LOOKED
LIKE
SHIT
Let's just say--assume NU had 600 yards of offense (which I honestly think is less than they really had)--500 yard were after the catch/after the first tackle was missed. I'm not kidding. NU ran: screens to wide receivers (laterals that went for 15 yards), draws (late handoffs for 15 yards), and slants (4 yard passes that go for 15 yards). NU was, I think, 13 for 19 on 3rd down. That's a joke. We should have lost by 20 the way we played defense. No coverage or tackling at all. None.
Special teams. Wow. We had an extra point blocked. I mean...an extra point. An extra point. Blocked. (yes, those are complete thoughts, and thus sentences on a day like this) Did we settle for that achievement? Hell no. We decided to have a punt go approximately 15 yards and directly out of bounds. From where? Oh, I don't know, about our own 30. No big deal. Is that the worst of it you ask? Oh no, we can top that. We had a punt blocked from our own 45. On 4th and 2. When we probably should have gone for it, we played it safe, and GOT A PUNT BLOCKED.
I'm getting a headache just writing this.
Finally, our beloved offense. I will say this: if Javon Ringer wasn't such a GD stud we would have lost by about, oh, I'd say, 3000 points today. He had (pause, looking up stats to support article) 12 carries for 185 (ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE) yards. We lost the game. That is only (pause, using calculator) 15.4 yard per carry. We actually had an 80 yard drive that took 13 seconds. Ringer took the pitch down the right sideline and scored. I suggested he then be moved to QB, corner, and safety. No word on whether the coaches are considering this for next week.
Oh, Hoyer blows. I mean BLOWS. He's not a division one QB. I suppose he could be, there are a lot of Division I schools. He is not a BIG TEN, ACC, SEC, PAC10, WAC, BIG 12...who am I forgetting...BIG EAST, SWAC...he shouldn't be playing for any school in any of those conferences. He's slow. Not in the feet (well, yes, in the feet too), but in the head. He takes bad sacks. He makes late throws into coverage. He had a certain first down today scrambling but decided to throw into double coverage in the end zone. That was 3rd down and 10 in overtime. It was bad. 4th down and game? Incomplete pass to a guy that had coverage on him like white on rice. Just bad.
Play calling? Bad. Bad. Bad. Northwestern, and I'm not kidding, ran about 7 plays all day. Screen, slant, draw. Screen, slide, draw...3rd and long? Throw a fade to a wide receiver...1. he won't be covered, 2. he'll be given a 15+ yard cushion when you only need 12 yards for the first down . Just walk to the first down marker, turn around, catch the ball. Same goes for offensive play calling. We have the imagination of Alan Greenspan on offense. Run, run, then pass to someone who is covered. Punt (poorly). I like running the ball, but (and I'm not kidding) I said out loud 75% of the time what the offense was going to run. I COULD PREDICT IT. I'm retarded. Think it would be easy for the future doctors of America (Northwestern University) to figure out?
This coming weekend is homecoming. Indiana is in town. They run the spread offense as well. Hopefully this week's open tryouts find a few tuba players, a sand trap specialist, and a standout pole vaulter to take over at a few specialty positions. This week was embarrassing. How bad? A few weeks ago NU lost to Duke (yeah, that Duke). Next week we look to move toward 4-3 when we lose homecoming to IU.
Today you are in luck. I have 3rd degree sunburn on my face and arms, I just returned from a 4 hour OT LOSS to Northwestern (yes, that Northwestern), and I may or may not have had a drink or two. Settle in, this is going to get ugly.
This is the story of MSU football this year: 4 steps forward, 1/2 step back, warp speed time machine-like effort in Michael J. Fox's Delorean to the Stone Age, where defense was apparently yet to be discovered. Also offense was limited to a four (yes 4) play playbook. MSU looked like a public school JV team trying to tackle the Dallas Cowboys. In fact, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders could have tackled better. Today's team would have made former Lion Joey Harrington look like Peyton Manning. On steroids. That's how bad the defense was. ALMOST as bad as the second half against Michigan a few years ago, when we gave up a 21 point lead in a quarter. That bad.
The final score was 48-41 in overtime. That was lucky.
WE
LOOKED
LIKE
SHIT
Let's just say--assume NU had 600 yards of offense (which I honestly think is less than they really had)--500 yard were after the catch/after the first tackle was missed. I'm not kidding. NU ran: screens to wide receivers (laterals that went for 15 yards), draws (late handoffs for 15 yards), and slants (4 yard passes that go for 15 yards). NU was, I think, 13 for 19 on 3rd down. That's a joke. We should have lost by 20 the way we played defense. No coverage or tackling at all. None.
Special teams. Wow. We had an extra point blocked. I mean...an extra point. An extra point. Blocked. (yes, those are complete thoughts, and thus sentences on a day like this) Did we settle for that achievement? Hell no. We decided to have a punt go approximately 15 yards and directly out of bounds. From where? Oh, I don't know, about our own 30. No big deal. Is that the worst of it you ask? Oh no, we can top that. We had a punt blocked from our own 45. On 4th and 2. When we probably should have gone for it, we played it safe, and GOT A PUNT BLOCKED.
I'm getting a headache just writing this.
Finally, our beloved offense. I will say this: if Javon Ringer wasn't such a GD stud we would have lost by about, oh, I'd say, 3000 points today. He had (pause, looking up stats to support article) 12 carries for 185 (ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE) yards. We lost the game. That is only (pause, using calculator) 15.4 yard per carry. We actually had an 80 yard drive that took 13 seconds. Ringer took the pitch down the right sideline and scored. I suggested he then be moved to QB, corner, and safety. No word on whether the coaches are considering this for next week.
Oh, Hoyer blows. I mean BLOWS. He's not a division one QB. I suppose he could be, there are a lot of Division I schools. He is not a BIG TEN, ACC, SEC, PAC10, WAC, BIG 12...who am I forgetting...BIG EAST, SWAC...he shouldn't be playing for any school in any of those conferences. He's slow. Not in the feet (well, yes, in the feet too), but in the head. He takes bad sacks. He makes late throws into coverage. He had a certain first down today scrambling but decided to throw into double coverage in the end zone. That was 3rd down and 10 in overtime. It was bad. 4th down and game? Incomplete pass to a guy that had coverage on him like white on rice. Just bad.
Play calling? Bad. Bad. Bad. Northwestern, and I'm not kidding, ran about 7 plays all day. Screen, slant, draw. Screen, slide, draw...3rd and long? Throw a fade to a wide receiver...1. he won't be covered, 2. he'll be given a 15+ yard cushion when you only need 12 yards for the first down . Just walk to the first down marker, turn around, catch the ball. Same goes for offensive play calling. We have the imagination of Alan Greenspan on offense. Run, run, then pass to someone who is covered. Punt (poorly). I like running the ball, but (and I'm not kidding) I said out loud 75% of the time what the offense was going to run. I COULD PREDICT IT. I'm retarded. Think it would be easy for the future doctors of America (Northwestern University) to figure out?
This coming weekend is homecoming. Indiana is in town. They run the spread offense as well. Hopefully this week's open tryouts find a few tuba players, a sand trap specialist, and a standout pole vaulter to take over at a few specialty positions. This week was embarrassing. How bad? A few weeks ago NU lost to Duke (yeah, that Duke). Next week we look to move toward 4-3 when we lose homecoming to IU.
Friday, October 5, 2007
MSU Basketball Related
Cool article from the Lansing State Journal
Joe Rexrode
EAST LANSING - After putting 21 media members through two hours of practice Thursday, Tom Izzo showed us a highlight video of Michigan State basketball, interspersed with scenes and sound bites from the recent war film about Sparta, "300."
"Tonight," King Leonidas screamed, "we dine in hell!"
For most of us, that will be breakfast today.
But the soreness, stiffness, aches, bruises and bunions will be well worth the experience. This was a chance to see the process of an MSU basketball practice from the inside, to live it and to match skills with our peers.
After all, most sports media types used to be athletes, thought they were athletes or wished they could have been athletes. There seemed to be a lot of the latter in the auxiliary gym at Breslin Center's Berkowitz complex.
MSU associate sports information director Matt Larson came up with the idea for a media practice about a month ago. Izzo loved it and they put together a comprehensive experience. Empathy was a big motivator here.
Reporters got a feel for what it's like to be a player. Players got a feel for coaching (they drilled us and coached us in a scrimmage) and reporting (they interviewed us afterward). Coaches got a feel for what it's like to watch reporters eat, at the post-practice training table.
Plus, Izzo now has video evidence of half the media in the state wearing MSU basketball jerseys. That has to come in handy at some point.
The day began with the signing of waivers. Gotta have the waivers with this group.
Then we suited up and filed into Berkowitz's plush film room. There, Izzo laid out what we'd be doing, with examples of each drill on the video screen.
Everything would be timed to the second. This was serious, much more regimented than a high school practice. Many of us have seen the MSU team practice many times, but this gave us a better understanding of the detail involved.
We hit the court and stretched out. Then came the practice.
Ballhandling drills. Passing drills. Shooting drills. Defensive drills. All at a brisk pace, or at least they were supposed to be. Izzo got frustrated with our sloppiness a few times. We ran some sprints.
"Listen to learn and learn to listen!" he bellowed.
By the time we learned three plays and ran through them, botching them to various degrees, Izzo was laughing.
"Some of you have written about teams collapsing in the second half," he said. "Well, right now you're collapsing."
The print and broadcast media were split apart. We shot pressure free throws against each other, with the losing team forced to run. Before my foul shot, WLNS-TV 6 sports director Fred Heumann jumped in front of me and lifted his shirt to expose his belly.
Oh my lord.
Somehow, the shot rattled home. We ended in a draw. No running! Everyone wins!
Then we finished the practice with a scrimmage. Print against broadcast. We were coached by Drew Neitzel, Goran Suton, Drew Naymick and others. The "talkies," as I call them, were coached primarily by Travis Walton, whose frustration was evident early.
Thanks to our guards, Dave Birkett and Sam Hosey Jr., we raced to an easy 15-7 win. Our running neutralized the inside ... size ... of Heumann and WLAJ-TV 53 sports director Hondo Carpenter.
I managed six points, although that was mostly the result of shooting from two feet away with no talkies near me. On the defensive end, I received a facial from TV-6 reporter Lisa Byington, who drove on me for a bucket, plus the foul. (Byington played college ball for Northwestern, you know).
Late in the game, Walton benched Heumann, preferring four players to a five-man lineup with Heumann. Then, Walton raced onto the court and picked off a pass I was trying to get to teammate Larry Lage, with the clock winding down in a sure victory for the "typies."
Izzo was asked for his assessment of the media as basketball players.
"It was actually better than I thought," he said, which means the bar in his mind must have been set pretty low. Like, cockroach low.
We finished back in the film room, watching the MSU "300" video, then the highlights of the practice. It was a hilarious finish to a memorable day for those of us in the reporting business. A fortunate day.
And today? I think I'd rather face Leonidas' sword than this morning's creaky walk to the breakfast table.
Joe Rexrode
EAST LANSING - After putting 21 media members through two hours of practice Thursday, Tom Izzo showed us a highlight video of Michigan State basketball, interspersed with scenes and sound bites from the recent war film about Sparta, "300."
"Tonight," King Leonidas screamed, "we dine in hell!"
For most of us, that will be breakfast today.
But the soreness, stiffness, aches, bruises and bunions will be well worth the experience. This was a chance to see the process of an MSU basketball practice from the inside, to live it and to match skills with our peers.
After all, most sports media types used to be athletes, thought they were athletes or wished they could have been athletes. There seemed to be a lot of the latter in the auxiliary gym at Breslin Center's Berkowitz complex.
MSU associate sports information director Matt Larson came up with the idea for a media practice about a month ago. Izzo loved it and they put together a comprehensive experience. Empathy was a big motivator here.
Reporters got a feel for what it's like to be a player. Players got a feel for coaching (they drilled us and coached us in a scrimmage) and reporting (they interviewed us afterward). Coaches got a feel for what it's like to watch reporters eat, at the post-practice training table.
Plus, Izzo now has video evidence of half the media in the state wearing MSU basketball jerseys. That has to come in handy at some point.
The day began with the signing of waivers. Gotta have the waivers with this group.
Then we suited up and filed into Berkowitz's plush film room. There, Izzo laid out what we'd be doing, with examples of each drill on the video screen.
Everything would be timed to the second. This was serious, much more regimented than a high school practice. Many of us have seen the MSU team practice many times, but this gave us a better understanding of the detail involved.
We hit the court and stretched out. Then came the practice.
Ballhandling drills. Passing drills. Shooting drills. Defensive drills. All at a brisk pace, or at least they were supposed to be. Izzo got frustrated with our sloppiness a few times. We ran some sprints.
"Listen to learn and learn to listen!" he bellowed.
By the time we learned three plays and ran through them, botching them to various degrees, Izzo was laughing.
"Some of you have written about teams collapsing in the second half," he said. "Well, right now you're collapsing."
The print and broadcast media were split apart. We shot pressure free throws against each other, with the losing team forced to run. Before my foul shot, WLNS-TV 6 sports director Fred Heumann jumped in front of me and lifted his shirt to expose his belly.
Oh my lord.
Somehow, the shot rattled home. We ended in a draw. No running! Everyone wins!
Then we finished the practice with a scrimmage. Print against broadcast. We were coached by Drew Neitzel, Goran Suton, Drew Naymick and others. The "talkies," as I call them, were coached primarily by Travis Walton, whose frustration was evident early.
Thanks to our guards, Dave Birkett and Sam Hosey Jr., we raced to an easy 15-7 win. Our running neutralized the inside ... size ... of Heumann and WLAJ-TV 53 sports director Hondo Carpenter.
I managed six points, although that was mostly the result of shooting from two feet away with no talkies near me. On the defensive end, I received a facial from TV-6 reporter Lisa Byington, who drove on me for a bucket, plus the foul. (Byington played college ball for Northwestern, you know).
Late in the game, Walton benched Heumann, preferring four players to a five-man lineup with Heumann. Then, Walton raced onto the court and picked off a pass I was trying to get to teammate Larry Lage, with the clock winding down in a sure victory for the "typies."
Izzo was asked for his assessment of the media as basketball players.
"It was actually better than I thought," he said, which means the bar in his mind must have been set pretty low. Like, cockroach low.
We finished back in the film room, watching the MSU "300" video, then the highlights of the practice. It was a hilarious finish to a memorable day for those of us in the reporting business. A fortunate day.
And today? I think I'd rather face Leonidas' sword than this morning's creaky walk to the breakfast table.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Week 5: The Badgers
This past Saturday the Spartans took on Wisconsin at Camp-Randall Stadium in Madison. The badgers came into the game ranked #9 in the country, the Spartans were on the rankings radar at #23 and both teams were undefeated.
I'll cut to the chase. The Spartans lost 37-34 after a valiant comeback effort failed on 4th down and 2 around the Wisconsin 40 with just over a minute left. Now I'll work to piece together the key plays leading up to the close loss.
The Spartans continued to run the ball fairly well and continued to have trouble at QB. Hoyer again had a deceiving stat line at the end of the game (22-36 for 323 yards) with most of his yardage and completions coming on screens and slants. In the second half, with the bulk of the roster being J.L.Smith recruits, Dantonio went to a pseudo spread offense. It worked. After finding themselves down 34-24 in the 4th quarter, the defense tightened down and the offense dinked and dunked it's way down the field, capping drives with big plays from short yardage passes. Suddenly the score was 34-34.
After scoring to tie the game at 34, the Spartan defense backed the Badgers up to a 3rd down and 14 from Wisconsin's own 27. Things were looking good as Wisconsin's QB dropped back, scrambled away from pressure, and threw an incomplete pass. 4th down and long with Wisconsin pinned deep was just starting to sound good when a little yellow flag came out. Roughing the passer, late hit on the QB. 15 yard penalty, automatic first down. A few plays later the Spartans picked up a 15 yard face mask penalty. The Spartans were responsible for almost as many yards of offense as Wisconsin during the drive. The defense held strong on a goal line series limiting the Badgers to a field goal and giving the offense another chance.
The offense drove down the field seemingly at will. On 3rd down and 7, rather than passing the ball, the play call was a draw to Javon Ringer. He was stopped after a 1 yard gain and on 4th down MSU tried a 53 yard field goal. It really wasn't even close; while the distance was enough the kick was pulled left by about 15 yards.
Wisconsin took over and began to milk to clock. The defense stood strong and forced one last Wisconsin punt. The offense had no timeouts left and began on its own 15 yard line.
Short passes, screens, and draws were again used on the final drive. Hoyer was not asked to make difficult throws or tough decisions. Get the ball to your playmakers and let them make plays. Unfortunately the offense went to the well one too many times. On 4th down and 2 the coordinator again dialed up a screen pass. The defense read the play perfectly, and with the receivers busy blocking downfield and the running back smothered, Hoyer had no place to go. Ringer, instead of staying put in the backfield, cut upfield to try to get open. A pass was lofted just out of reach and the game was over.
My take? 2 things: the defense was solid in the second half after a rough first half. I enjoy the Thornhill Family stories, the plays Charlie and Josh made as Spartans, the leadership current Spartan Kaleb provides. That said, Kaleb is the epitome of a legacy player. He is likeable, he's wearing his late father's number this year before it is retired, he has great intentions. He looks as though the jersey has already been retired. He can't tackle. Sure, he could tackle me, but he misses more tackles than he makes. He's a liability. Second, the offense is suspect so long as Brian Hoyer is QB. The bad news is I'm about 99% sure we don't want to see 2nd string take the field, so we're stuck with what we've got. I compare Hoyer to Trent Dilfer, of the NFL. Dilfer won a superbowl with the Ravens by "managing" the game while the defense shut teams out and/or outscored the offense. Hoyer seems to have all the skills, he is just not wowing.
This week the running backs should parade up and down the field. Northwestern is in town. They make good doctors, not so good at the football thing though. The talk all week has been about "Same old Spartans;" strong starts (4-0) with laughable finishes (losing 5 of 6). I'm sure this team is tired of hearing about it and will come out strong. NU also has reason to be motivated. MSU is the team that pulled off the NCAA's biggest comeback of all time last year, on the road, at Northwestern. I'm pretty sure being on ESPN Classic for a month following that game has gotten to the fine future M.D.'s of Northwestern. The BigTen Network will televise the game this week so we, of course, will be at a local establishment.
I'll cut to the chase. The Spartans lost 37-34 after a valiant comeback effort failed on 4th down and 2 around the Wisconsin 40 with just over a minute left. Now I'll work to piece together the key plays leading up to the close loss.
The Spartans continued to run the ball fairly well and continued to have trouble at QB. Hoyer again had a deceiving stat line at the end of the game (22-36 for 323 yards) with most of his yardage and completions coming on screens and slants. In the second half, with the bulk of the roster being J.L.Smith recruits, Dantonio went to a pseudo spread offense. It worked. After finding themselves down 34-24 in the 4th quarter, the defense tightened down and the offense dinked and dunked it's way down the field, capping drives with big plays from short yardage passes. Suddenly the score was 34-34.
After scoring to tie the game at 34, the Spartan defense backed the Badgers up to a 3rd down and 14 from Wisconsin's own 27. Things were looking good as Wisconsin's QB dropped back, scrambled away from pressure, and threw an incomplete pass. 4th down and long with Wisconsin pinned deep was just starting to sound good when a little yellow flag came out. Roughing the passer, late hit on the QB. 15 yard penalty, automatic first down. A few plays later the Spartans picked up a 15 yard face mask penalty. The Spartans were responsible for almost as many yards of offense as Wisconsin during the drive. The defense held strong on a goal line series limiting the Badgers to a field goal and giving the offense another chance.
The offense drove down the field seemingly at will. On 3rd down and 7, rather than passing the ball, the play call was a draw to Javon Ringer. He was stopped after a 1 yard gain and on 4th down MSU tried a 53 yard field goal. It really wasn't even close; while the distance was enough the kick was pulled left by about 15 yards.
Wisconsin took over and began to milk to clock. The defense stood strong and forced one last Wisconsin punt. The offense had no timeouts left and began on its own 15 yard line.
Short passes, screens, and draws were again used on the final drive. Hoyer was not asked to make difficult throws or tough decisions. Get the ball to your playmakers and let them make plays. Unfortunately the offense went to the well one too many times. On 4th down and 2 the coordinator again dialed up a screen pass. The defense read the play perfectly, and with the receivers busy blocking downfield and the running back smothered, Hoyer had no place to go. Ringer, instead of staying put in the backfield, cut upfield to try to get open. A pass was lofted just out of reach and the game was over.
My take? 2 things: the defense was solid in the second half after a rough first half. I enjoy the Thornhill Family stories, the plays Charlie and Josh made as Spartans, the leadership current Spartan Kaleb provides. That said, Kaleb is the epitome of a legacy player. He is likeable, he's wearing his late father's number this year before it is retired, he has great intentions. He looks as though the jersey has already been retired. He can't tackle. Sure, he could tackle me, but he misses more tackles than he makes. He's a liability. Second, the offense is suspect so long as Brian Hoyer is QB. The bad news is I'm about 99% sure we don't want to see 2nd string take the field, so we're stuck with what we've got. I compare Hoyer to Trent Dilfer, of the NFL. Dilfer won a superbowl with the Ravens by "managing" the game while the defense shut teams out and/or outscored the offense. Hoyer seems to have all the skills, he is just not wowing.
This week the running backs should parade up and down the field. Northwestern is in town. They make good doctors, not so good at the football thing though. The talk all week has been about "Same old Spartans;" strong starts (4-0) with laughable finishes (losing 5 of 6). I'm sure this team is tired of hearing about it and will come out strong. NU also has reason to be motivated. MSU is the team that pulled off the NCAA's biggest comeback of all time last year, on the road, at Northwestern. I'm pretty sure being on ESPN Classic for a month following that game has gotten to the fine future M.D.'s of Northwestern. The BigTen Network will televise the game this week so we, of course, will be at a local establishment.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
MSU Moves to 4-0; ND recovery beyond the powers of prayer
In a not-so-flashy way, consistent with the attitude of MSU coach Mark Dantonio, the Spartans moved to 4-0 Saturday with a win over the hapless, helpless Fightin' Irish. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win, and MSU continued to impress in small ways.
The scoreboard read 31-14 at the close of the game. That's the majority of the good news. The bad news? ND scored 2 offensive touchdowns, their only 2 on the year, and ran for 117 yards. Coming into the game ND had -14 rushing yards on the season. Despite these low points, the defense again carried the team.
The first ND touchdown came on a 3 play, 9 yard drive. Spartan QB Brian Hoyer fumbled the first MSU play from scrimmage on a bad exchange with the center. ND recovered on the 9 yard line and scored soon after.
The second ND touchdown came after a series of long draw play gains to end the half. To be fair, the defense really only gave up one touchdown on the day. It was a bit distressing to see ND run 3-4 straight draw plays for 15 yards each. However, after halftime adjustments by MSU, ND was shutout in the second half and the running game (which Weiss decided would consist of running the same plays that were effective in the first half over, and over, and over again) was shutdown. MSU continued to pressure the QB as well, adding 4 sacks on the day to bring the season total to 21, or 5 more than last year's season total. This was all while missing a starting corner and a starting safety. Not too shabby. And again, halftime adjustments that actually related to the game and lead to a second half advantage, an idea someone should have mentioned to Bobby Williams and John L. Smith.
The offense, well, yeah, the offense. The highlight reel is going to be lacking this week from the offensive side of the ball. Brian Hoyer, you sir are (still) no Drew Stanton. He hasn't started nearly as many games and he's not a scrambler, but he was supposed to be the accurate drop back passer Stanton was not. Well, Hoyer's not all that accurate. He's also not all that great.
In his defense the offensive line, again this year, is banged up. The Spartans are missing two starting linemen and have shifted the line around to find a workable solution. The running game has suffered more from the moves than the passing game. Hoyer often takes too much time and takes bad sacks. Saturday he lobbed a throw downfield into double coverage that was intercepted. The turnover hurt more than most because it came after the Spartans had put together a strong drive and were poised to put points on the board. It also was intercepted in the end zone.
Earlier in the game Hoyer missed a wide open received in the endzone throwing approximately 15 yards wide of him. It was a sure touchdown if thrown even remotely in the right area. Hoyer also missed a streaking Devin Thomas in the first quarter that had beaten his man by 5 yards. That play, also, was a certain touchdown since the safeties were cheating up on the run fake. Again, a bad, bad throw. At the end of the day his stat line look strong: 4 TD's passing, a career high. However, he also finished the game just 11 of 24 for 135 yards, with an interception and a fumble lost. I've seen better lines at the DMV.
The run game looked just ok. It is likely a reflection of the offensive line being banged up. It's probably somewhat related to Hoyer's Suckiness at throwing to keep the defense honest. Dantonio's famous "run first" mentality also helped the defense key in on the run. However, runs that were going for 2-3 yards early in the game wore the defense down and, by the 4th quarter, were going for 4-5 yards.
The highlight of the game was probably a play late after halftime that, until reading the paper this morning, had me faked out (along with 99% of viewers I'm sure). It was 4th down 2 yards to go and MSU decided to go for it, knowing the Irish offense was being it's sucky self and the MSU defense had been stout. Why not go for it (again, as they had on the previous set of downs, converting on a 4th and 1 with a 5 yard wrecking ball effort)? Hoyer drops back, fumbles the ball as he's taking his drop, picks it up and throws a perfect pass to a streaking tight end that went 35+ yards for a score. It looked like a fumble. He never dropped the ball. The "fumble-rooskie" has been in the playbook for months and, knowing the defense would crowd the line, the coaches decided to send the talented (see: freakish) TE deep. The fake fumble made the linebacker in coverage hesitate, and even if he ever realized it was a fake (which is unlikely) it was too late. The TE was 10 yards deep, alone, and the pass was perfect.
Charlie Weiss is still fat. He didn't cry, so that's good. His team is 0-4 and their upcoming schedule includes: Purdue, UCLA, Boston College, and USC. It is likely the Irish will be 0-8.
Michigan won. It's unfortunate that the BigTen is so bad that they could still win the conference. Mike Hart ran the ball around 45 times. I hope they continue to wear him out by overusing him.
The scoreboard read 31-14 at the close of the game. That's the majority of the good news. The bad news? ND scored 2 offensive touchdowns, their only 2 on the year, and ran for 117 yards. Coming into the game ND had -14 rushing yards on the season. Despite these low points, the defense again carried the team.
The first ND touchdown came on a 3 play, 9 yard drive. Spartan QB Brian Hoyer fumbled the first MSU play from scrimmage on a bad exchange with the center. ND recovered on the 9 yard line and scored soon after.
The second ND touchdown came after a series of long draw play gains to end the half. To be fair, the defense really only gave up one touchdown on the day. It was a bit distressing to see ND run 3-4 straight draw plays for 15 yards each. However, after halftime adjustments by MSU, ND was shutout in the second half and the running game (which Weiss decided would consist of running the same plays that were effective in the first half over, and over, and over again) was shutdown. MSU continued to pressure the QB as well, adding 4 sacks on the day to bring the season total to 21, or 5 more than last year's season total. This was all while missing a starting corner and a starting safety. Not too shabby. And again, halftime adjustments that actually related to the game and lead to a second half advantage, an idea someone should have mentioned to Bobby Williams and John L. Smith.
The offense, well, yeah, the offense. The highlight reel is going to be lacking this week from the offensive side of the ball. Brian Hoyer, you sir are (still) no Drew Stanton. He hasn't started nearly as many games and he's not a scrambler, but he was supposed to be the accurate drop back passer Stanton was not. Well, Hoyer's not all that accurate. He's also not all that great.
In his defense the offensive line, again this year, is banged up. The Spartans are missing two starting linemen and have shifted the line around to find a workable solution. The running game has suffered more from the moves than the passing game. Hoyer often takes too much time and takes bad sacks. Saturday he lobbed a throw downfield into double coverage that was intercepted. The turnover hurt more than most because it came after the Spartans had put together a strong drive and were poised to put points on the board. It also was intercepted in the end zone.
Earlier in the game Hoyer missed a wide open received in the endzone throwing approximately 15 yards wide of him. It was a sure touchdown if thrown even remotely in the right area. Hoyer also missed a streaking Devin Thomas in the first quarter that had beaten his man by 5 yards. That play, also, was a certain touchdown since the safeties were cheating up on the run fake. Again, a bad, bad throw. At the end of the day his stat line look strong: 4 TD's passing, a career high. However, he also finished the game just 11 of 24 for 135 yards, with an interception and a fumble lost. I've seen better lines at the DMV.
The run game looked just ok. It is likely a reflection of the offensive line being banged up. It's probably somewhat related to Hoyer's Suckiness at throwing to keep the defense honest. Dantonio's famous "run first" mentality also helped the defense key in on the run. However, runs that were going for 2-3 yards early in the game wore the defense down and, by the 4th quarter, were going for 4-5 yards.
The highlight of the game was probably a play late after halftime that, until reading the paper this morning, had me faked out (along with 99% of viewers I'm sure). It was 4th down 2 yards to go and MSU decided to go for it, knowing the Irish offense was being it's sucky self and the MSU defense had been stout. Why not go for it (again, as they had on the previous set of downs, converting on a 4th and 1 with a 5 yard wrecking ball effort)? Hoyer drops back, fumbles the ball as he's taking his drop, picks it up and throws a perfect pass to a streaking tight end that went 35+ yards for a score. It looked like a fumble. He never dropped the ball. The "fumble-rooskie" has been in the playbook for months and, knowing the defense would crowd the line, the coaches decided to send the talented (see: freakish) TE deep. The fake fumble made the linebacker in coverage hesitate, and even if he ever realized it was a fake (which is unlikely) it was too late. The TE was 10 yards deep, alone, and the pass was perfect.
Charlie Weiss is still fat. He didn't cry, so that's good. His team is 0-4 and their upcoming schedule includes: Purdue, UCLA, Boston College, and USC. It is likely the Irish will be 0-8.
Michigan won. It's unfortunate that the BigTen is so bad that they could still win the conference. Mike Hart ran the ball around 45 times. I hope they continue to wear him out by overusing him.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Spartans vs. Pitt and ND's woes
Well, Matt's not getting around to writing a post this week. I figure once I start he'll actually do it because I'm not nearly up to his comic standards.
Things I thought, read or heard about our game Saturday:
Things I thought, read or heard about our game Saturday:
- Hoyer is not good, tosses are off base and he seems to hold on to the ball forever, therefore getting sacked often
- That being said, our offensive line seemed to be dominated by Pitt most of the time. I think I heard something about an offensive lineman being hurt.
- T.J. Williams (receiver that was kicked off the team at the beginning of the year) made his first appearance in the second half. He didn't do anything memorable to me.
- The game was close, especially in the second half when we had 120398 penalties for 9483498237 yards. (Okay, really something like 11 penalties for 125 yards)
- Our defense did okay, they sacked Pitt's quarterback a three times at the end to help save the game.
- The running backs continue to do pretty well.
Summary of the game from USA Today:
INSIDE SLANT
For too long, Michigan State won its games by outscoring opponents and making up for a deficient defense. Those days, clearly, are over. With a defensive-minded head coach in Mark Dantonio, the Spartans defense took a bow for the team's 17-13 win over Pitt on Sept. 15. As countless offensive drives stalled in or near the red zone, the defense held tough in the waning seconds. The defense sacked Pitt quarterback Kevan Smith three times on the Panthers' final possession, and Travis Key had a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown for Michigan State, which is starting to make believers out of even its toughest critics. "I thought it was a great win for our football team," Dantonio said. "I think when you win games like this we won so many games like this when I was down in Columbus you start to build a sense of confidence that you can do it in close games."
GAME BALL GOES TO: DE Jonal Saint-Dic As the representative for an incredible defensive effort, Saint-Dic wins it for forcing a fumble and registering one of the three big sacks on Pitt's final possession.
KEEP AN EYE ON: S Travis Key Returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown in a fill-in role. Key could see more time as the secondary tries to heal.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I can't say enough about (Jonal) Saint-Dic he's the sack master. ... You can't block him." Defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi to the Lansing State Journal.
LOOKING GOOD: In a bit of a role reversal, the defense bailed out the offense and won a game for the Spartans. S Otis Wiley began Michigan State's only TD drive with an interception, one of two on the day for MSU's defense. The defense had five sacks, boosting the season total to 17, or one more than it had all of last year.
STILL NEEDS WORK: The red-zone offense struggled against Pitt. Three drives reached the 7-, 24- and 2-yard lines of the Panthers, yet the Spartans came away with only three points. QB Brian Hoyer was sacked six times by the Panthers. The protection must get better, but Hoyer also admitted he has to get rid of the ball quicker. The Spartans were penalized 11 times for 125 yards, stalling drives and killing momentum. It was an old problem for MSU that the coaches need to ensure doesn't return.
ROSTER REPORT: S Nehemiah Warrick and CB Ross Weaver did not play, but Mark Dantonio expects both to be ready next week against Notre Dame. WR T.J. Williams made his first appearance of the year after he was suspended for most of the preseason. He caught one pass for 16 yards. CB Kendell Davis-Clarke and OL Roland Martin sustained leg injuries and walked off the field in protective boots.
Here's Drew Sharp's article for this week - http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070915/SPORTS07/70915010/1055
All kinds of articles about Notre Dame this week too:
This is from Mlive:
EAST LANSING -- Michigan State didn't release its depth chart as it customarily does on Monday because Notre Dame isn't sharing the same information in advance of Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game in South Bend.The report MSU got from Notre Dame is that in the wake of its 0-3 start, FIghting Irish coach Charlie Weis has blown up the team and is starting over. The Irish have reportedly re-opened training camp and all 22 starting jobs are back up for grabs.With no Notre Dame starting lineup available, Dantonio has decided to withhold his projected two-deep as well until Weis comes up with one, possibly on Thursday or Friday.Consequently, there were no updates on the status of injured defensive backs Nehemiah Warrick, Ross Weaver and Kendell Davis-Clark, nor who will start in their positions. There also was no word on injured offensive guard Roland Martin.
From USA Today:
This is not just bad at Notre Dame. This is biblical.
It's not just the 0-3 start.
It's losing three games by a combined margin of 89 points (Subway Alumni establishing a crisis hotline).
It's 23 quarterback sacks allowed. Forty-six teams did not allow 23 sacks all of last season. (Touchdown Jesus now holding his hands over his eyes).
It's being ranked 119th in the nation in rushing, total and scoring offense ... and 111th in rushing defense (Echoes refuse to wake up, roll back over and go back to sleep).
It's three games played without an offensive touchdown yet. (NBC considers replacing Notre Dame television package with Appalachian State).
It's the sobering news that the next five opponents — Michigan State, Purdue, UCLA, Boston College and USC — are a combined 13-1, so how does 0-8 grab you? (That's not thunder being shaken down from the sky, that's the bus leaving town with Demetrius Jones on it. He started at quarterback in the first game, and reportedly transferred to Northern Illinois before the third).
"The bottom line," Charlie Weis said after Saturday's 38-0 meltdown at Michigan, "is we're not really getting good at anything."
Notre Dame is not just losing. That would be shocking enough, at 0-3. The Irish are being obliterated. They have been behind for nearly 149 of the season's 180 minutes so far
How does this happen at a place with so much recruiting might, money, prestige, exposure?
Everything is a fair question now in South Bend.
The reputation of this program.
Charlie Weis' ability to transform his NFL expertise into a consistent college product. This is not the New England Patriots, anymore. The Irish don't even illegally tape the other team's coaches.
And the school's decision — in the blush of Weis' fast start his first season — to offer a very long and very plush contract extension that stretched out 10 years.
Meanwhile, the coach in the middle — who might quickly find out how coaching his alma mater can devour a man — tries to pick up the pieces.
"We're starting training camp (Sunday)," Weis said Saturday, promising he would "come out swinging."
He said he had studied his team closely Saturday. "I was looking at their eyes to see if any of them had thrown in the towel. I was including the coaching staff, too."
That's it for me, maybe Matt will have time to write his opinions later.
By the way, MSU has a new Althletic Director - Mark Hollis. I don't really know anything about him, but he was an intradepartmental hire and Izzo seems happy.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
College Football Week Two: The bliss continues
The Francis Gazette dedicates its first edition to College football. Two words summarize week two, nearly perfect. Because of certain individuals, experiences, and high levels of arrogance I have come to despise a handful of college football teams. Combine this hatred with the lackluster efforts of my Alma Mater and quite often my only Saturday solace is taking joy in other schools losing. On that list are N.D., Georgia, U.M., Hawaii, and most anything associated with Texas.
This Saturday N.D. got pasted, again, this time by Penn State. The fact that N.D. is televised every week on NBC, no matter who they play, really just irks me. It didn't help anything when they found fit to fire Ty Willingham and hire Charlie (jabba the hut) Weiss as their savior. In two weeks N.D.'s new (former NFL offensive) coach and genius has wracked up a total of 134 yards of offense. In two weeks. At one point in the second half the Irish had -1 rushing yards and over 75 yards in penalties. Just writing that makes me smile.
Coming off the worst, most horrific and embarrassing college football loss since the all girl school of no arms and no legs beat Alabama, (the The University of Michigan, Harvard of the West, losing to Appalachian State at the BIG HOUSE) the wolverines set out to redeem themselves by taking on the unranked Oregon Ducks, again in Ann Arbor. This was supposed to remove the bad taste. Four quarters (an empty 110,000 seat stadium for the last quarter) and a 39-7 home shellacking later, the Michigan band is somewhere trying to remember how to play the fight song. All summer I endured the taunts, the hype, and the "Michigan could beat the Detroit Lions" talk from Walmart Wolverines. I can't describe the joy I feel to see next week's match up between N.D. and U.M. described as "a pillow fight of epic proportions," as both teams enter 0-2. Expect Walmart profits to be down this quarter as Michigan fans across the country will not be purchasing maize and blue back to school gear anytime soon.
Georgia lost. I started law school with a GA grad who shared the Ann Arbor arrogance. The loss made me pretty happy.
Hawaii was one of the cheapest teams I've ever seen play. This week they went to overtime to beat an unranked team, and then only on a failed two point conversion did they squeak it out. That would have been the icing, but I'll take a scare.
And finally, MSU. The game was on the Big Ten Network. Comcast Cable has not added the BTN. Comcast and I are not on speaking terms. That said, I've seen the stats, listened on the radio, and have some analysis.
Hoyer is still learning. He will be a good quarterback eventually but he is NOT Drew Stanton. It's not automatic yet. Hoyer has the skill set, he's a junior, and he has run support (which drew didn't really ever have). That said, he doesn't have the moxy or instinct of drew, or at least hasn't displayed such yet. He was more than serviceable but I think in the future he (not necessarily the whole team, but he alone) will lose some games.
The running game is very good. The line is just ok. We have played two games so far, and both teams were smaller. Bowling Green was closer to MSU's size, but still smaller. I worry what will happen when a team of equal or greater size, like Wisconsin, takes the field. It could get ugly. That said, Jehu Caulcrick is a horse and at 255 lbs he is bigger than a lot of linemen at smaller schools, and certainly outweighs all linebackers and defensive ends at any level. He's fast, smart, and makes defenders pay. Ringer is a shifty, fast, and equally punishing back (though a lot smaller he would rather run you over than go around). Jimmerson hasn't played much but is not far behind the first two backs. We are deep and talented at running back.
The surprise so far has been receiver Devin Thomas, a JUCO transfer that John L. Smith saw fit to sit all last season. He has exploded this year. We also have 2 players set to return to the team/lineup after academic and disciplinary/ego problems that are very talented. In my estimation we have 4-5 very good receivers.
The defense is solid so far, though not deep. We will have injury problems in the bruising Big Ten. So far so good. Best of all? WE MADE ADJUSTMENTS! At halftime (of BGSU) we thought about what wasn't going so well (212 passing yards allowed in first half) and adjusted (about 70 yards passing allowed in the second half). Also, in two games, neither team has been able to run against us. Neither UAB nor BGSU exceeded 100 rushing yards as a team. MSU's leading rusher in each game (game one Caulcrick, game two Ringer) has had more yardage than the other team's backs combined. That's a good sign. We also had 7 sacks Saturday, or approximately 60% of last year's total for the season (12 total last season). That should help our defensive backs out, which have been TERRIBLE in recent years, but no pass rush really was just as much to blame as poor coverage.
Punting and Kicking has been about a 7 out of 10. Kick coverage was improved in week 2, and kick and punt returns were solid. I predict two more wins (Pitt at home, N.D. in South Bend) and then a reality check at Wisconsin (could get very, very ugly). But, as Rosenberg from the Free Press said in his article this week, Dantonio's 2-0 start is not like John L's 2-0 starts; this team is learning, avoiding penalties, making adjustments, playing balanced (run/pass) offense and playing defense.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070909/COL22/709090636/1055
(hopefully the link is still good)
Recap: MSU won, UM got spanked, ND lost, the rest of the Big Ten won. It's unfortunate that next week the wolverines or the irish have to win. But hey, the "perfect season" predictions I had to listen to all summer from Michigan fans (that went to MCC) are still alive, here's to 0-12!
This Saturday N.D. got pasted, again, this time by Penn State. The fact that N.D. is televised every week on NBC, no matter who they play, really just irks me. It didn't help anything when they found fit to fire Ty Willingham and hire Charlie (jabba the hut) Weiss as their savior. In two weeks N.D.'s new (former NFL offensive) coach and genius has wracked up a total of 134 yards of offense. In two weeks. At one point in the second half the Irish had -1 rushing yards and over 75 yards in penalties. Just writing that makes me smile.
Coming off the worst, most horrific and embarrassing college football loss since the all girl school of no arms and no legs beat Alabama, (the The University of Michigan, Harvard of the West, losing to Appalachian State at the BIG HOUSE) the wolverines set out to redeem themselves by taking on the unranked Oregon Ducks, again in Ann Arbor. This was supposed to remove the bad taste. Four quarters (an empty 110,000 seat stadium for the last quarter) and a 39-7 home shellacking later, the Michigan band is somewhere trying to remember how to play the fight song. All summer I endured the taunts, the hype, and the "Michigan could beat the Detroit Lions" talk from Walmart Wolverines. I can't describe the joy I feel to see next week's match up between N.D. and U.M. described as "a pillow fight of epic proportions," as both teams enter 0-2. Expect Walmart profits to be down this quarter as Michigan fans across the country will not be purchasing maize and blue back to school gear anytime soon.
Georgia lost. I started law school with a GA grad who shared the Ann Arbor arrogance. The loss made me pretty happy.
Hawaii was one of the cheapest teams I've ever seen play. This week they went to overtime to beat an unranked team, and then only on a failed two point conversion did they squeak it out. That would have been the icing, but I'll take a scare.
And finally, MSU. The game was on the Big Ten Network. Comcast Cable has not added the BTN. Comcast and I are not on speaking terms. That said, I've seen the stats, listened on the radio, and have some analysis.
Hoyer is still learning. He will be a good quarterback eventually but he is NOT Drew Stanton. It's not automatic yet. Hoyer has the skill set, he's a junior, and he has run support (which drew didn't really ever have). That said, he doesn't have the moxy or instinct of drew, or at least hasn't displayed such yet. He was more than serviceable but I think in the future he (not necessarily the whole team, but he alone) will lose some games.
The running game is very good. The line is just ok. We have played two games so far, and both teams were smaller. Bowling Green was closer to MSU's size, but still smaller. I worry what will happen when a team of equal or greater size, like Wisconsin, takes the field. It could get ugly. That said, Jehu Caulcrick is a horse and at 255 lbs he is bigger than a lot of linemen at smaller schools, and certainly outweighs all linebackers and defensive ends at any level. He's fast, smart, and makes defenders pay. Ringer is a shifty, fast, and equally punishing back (though a lot smaller he would rather run you over than go around). Jimmerson hasn't played much but is not far behind the first two backs. We are deep and talented at running back.
The surprise so far has been receiver Devin Thomas, a JUCO transfer that John L. Smith saw fit to sit all last season. He has exploded this year. We also have 2 players set to return to the team/lineup after academic and disciplinary/ego problems that are very talented. In my estimation we have 4-5 very good receivers.
The defense is solid so far, though not deep. We will have injury problems in the bruising Big Ten. So far so good. Best of all? WE MADE ADJUSTMENTS! At halftime (of BGSU) we thought about what wasn't going so well (212 passing yards allowed in first half) and adjusted (about 70 yards passing allowed in the second half). Also, in two games, neither team has been able to run against us. Neither UAB nor BGSU exceeded 100 rushing yards as a team. MSU's leading rusher in each game (game one Caulcrick, game two Ringer) has had more yardage than the other team's backs combined. That's a good sign. We also had 7 sacks Saturday, or approximately 60% of last year's total for the season (12 total last season). That should help our defensive backs out, which have been TERRIBLE in recent years, but no pass rush really was just as much to blame as poor coverage.
Punting and Kicking has been about a 7 out of 10. Kick coverage was improved in week 2, and kick and punt returns were solid. I predict two more wins (Pitt at home, N.D. in South Bend) and then a reality check at Wisconsin (could get very, very ugly). But, as Rosenberg from the Free Press said in his article this week, Dantonio's 2-0 start is not like John L's 2-0 starts; this team is learning, avoiding penalties, making adjustments, playing balanced (run/pass) offense and playing defense.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070909/COL22/709090636/1055
(hopefully the link is still good)
Recap: MSU won, UM got spanked, ND lost, the rest of the Big Ten won. It's unfortunate that next week the wolverines or the irish have to win. But hey, the "perfect season" predictions I had to listen to all summer from Michigan fans (that went to MCC) are still alive, here's to 0-12!
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