Fired Up

I just had a chocolate (mini) candy bar, a sugar free Red Bull, and my normal dose of coffee (2/3 pot). I'm ready to go. Unfortunately my brain is about 7 steps ahead of my typing capabilities.

I have wondered for a while now -- would I hate Wisconsin basketball if they sucked? Unfortunately they have not been cooperative and my question had, until recently, gone unaddressed. I mean, they suck as people and as individual athletes but somehow have managed to be a pretty good (regular season) team. This year the bahdgerrs have managed to complete the trifecta: sucky people, sucky individual players, AND a sucky team. I still hate them. Question answered.

To be fair I like Landry. He is a solid player despite his rec specs, and for the record, I would take Landry over two Olando Tuckers. I really thought Tucker was overrated and got way more calls than he should have, pumping up his stats from the free throw line and affording him an unstoppable move: the travel.

Following the last loss I shared my feelings, through the medium of Haiku, with a friend in N.C. If he is reading right now I would just like to say ... go ahead and take a drink of that coffee ... baby seal. Back on topic. The (not very Haiku-like) Haiku's, written in response to an unanswerable phone call during the game, are reproduced below.

Couldn't speak at game

Aneurysm averted

Coble you bastard

Chris Allen stat haiku:

One for eleven

Seven turnovers two fouls

New love for Chris Hill

or Coble's:

Someone remind him

His jersey says Northwestern

Did THAT just go in?!

As a final comment on NW what is up with Rowley? I mean that head. Come on. Am I the only one that immediately thought of this?

Against OSU Chris Allen continued to be, well, terrible. I mean if you are a guard that: can't defend, can't handle the ball, and (at least recently) can't shoot...what exactly are you in the game for? He has to find his shot soon or is in danger or sliding way, way down the bench.

Suton deserves quite a bit of credit. If not for his rebounding against OSU, especially early in the game, things would have been completely out of hand before half time. Raymar has a mystery disease but his defense continues to improve. Summers had a hell of a game. I actually was impressed with Gray. He rebounded, played defense, and went aggressively to the basket when needed. Lucas was the real difference maker exploding in the second half for all of his 20 points.

In the second half OSU extended their defense to guard more tightly on the perimeter. See: to guard Summers (since everyone else sucked). Bad move. That allowed Lucas more space to penetrate and kick, get to the basket, and create. Had OSU just allowed Summers to score 35 points, but kept the interior defense intact and controlled penetration, the buckeyes likely would have won. That is why Chris Allen shooting well and a big man passing well from the free throw line are so important against a zone. Neither of those two factors were present against NW. We lost. Against OSU Summers shot well enough to consider guarding the 3 point line and Suton became a long jumper threat.

If I were Thad Matta I would thave kepth my dethfense...sorry, thommething about thaying Thad Matta makesth my mowth think therre iths peanut butter sthuck...ok better now. If I were the OSU coach I would have stopped dribble penetration, let Summers score his points, and dared MSU to come up with another perimeter threat. Hell, let Allen shoot all day. Instead OSU came out in the second half with an extended defense that opened up the middle and got the big men involved. It also gave MSU an even greater offensive rebounding opportunity. The final stats showed as much, with MSU out rebounding OSU 35-19 (Offensively 16-3), outscoring OSU 20-10 in the paint, and the Spartans scoring 19 second chance points to the buckeyes 4.

MSU NW

We found out after the Illinois game that Raymar Morgan was battling some sort of bug. It turns out Raymar was only starting to feel the effects and missed or took part in a limited way in practice Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. According to reports there is a fair chance he will not play against NW tonight.

NW is the definition of a "trap game." A bigger game on the horizon (OSU away), a zone defense and constant motion and backscreening on offense (scheming), the ability to heat up from behind the arc (Moore, Coble), and the fact that MSU is home and should win this game set up for a letdown. Throw in that Raymar might not play and this could be ugly.

Three reasons MSU will, nevertheless, pull out a win tonight.

1. Unexpected players will step up. Chris Allen has pretty much sucked of late. Against a zone it is crucial that two things happen; guards must penetrate and force the zone to collapse/rotate and perimeter shooting must be a real threat. Lucas has to get into seems and Allen and Summers need to hit shots. Allen is due. Another great weapon against a zone like NW is a great passing big man. Roe is also due and fits the bill.

2. Izzo will not allow Moore, after torching MSU in their last 3 meetings, to go off tonight from behind the arc. Allen will be focused, Walton will be like a glove, and Suton/Gray/Roe will actually defend on the screen hedges --- not token defense but real attention to the shooter --- making Moore's night tough. Coble, on the other hand, is a tougher matchup since he can play inside and out.

3. Gray loves to play NW. I mean think about it. He doesn't box out anyways, so playing a zone puts him in the same position as everyone else on his team (on the offensive end). NW is long, but not terribly athletic inside. If he avoids the charge Gray should be able to score in double digits. Finally, he doesn't stay close enough to his man on defense to get fooled by a backscreen. That is to say, when you are four ball fakes behind in comprehension you might actually be in the right place at the right time, just for the wrong reason.

One of the funnier things I heard this year came from homer studio analyst (w/ a face made for radio and voice made for...pantomime) and former NW player (sort of) Tim Doyle. During the MSU NW game in Evanston he said "...I really believe that Northwestern could have, should have won the game." Now Timmy come on. In fairness his statement was in regards to Raymar Morgan being the only reason MSU won. But give me a break. Could have? Yes. Should have? You are a fool.

I expect that the crafty NW Wildcats will find a way to make a 3 off a Suton ass inbound assist. Just a shot in the dark.

There is a rumor that, in response to the NW zone defense Izzo will run a take off the box and one. Rather than run one defender man to man and the rest in a zone Izzo will flip it, making Idong Ibok the zone and everyone else man to man. One NW player will be unguarded, unless of course he is in Ibok's area, but Ibok will never be out of position. Gray could also spell Ibok in the paint.

There is a real possibility that Summers will set a career mark in stepping out of bounds tonight. Against the pressuring NW zone an offense can easily be pushed further and further from the basket looking for space to maneuver. This is dangerous for Summer who routinely plays with one foot in and one foot out already.

One note from the Illinois game. Draymond Green did not score any points but should have been awarded a KO for the jumpball-turned-powerslam. Green lifted the Illinois player, twisted at the waist and slammed him on the floor. Rampage Jackson would have been proud.

MSU Illinois recap

At the last minute I scored a ticket to the game against Illinois from a friend. I was excited about the pregame festivities and always like to see a game. It turned out that the game was the more exciting of the two events.

Both teams looked like crap. It was ugly. The refs were yet again terrible both ways. Adding to the bad all around game were the fools behind us. Our normal seats are by old people; long time ticket holders that are pretty funny, pretty knowledgeable, and fairly low key*. My seats for the last game were directly in front of the smartest person ever to attend a game. If you have seen the commercial w/ the guy playing a pickup game and trying to call plays, charges, and 3 second violations you know the guy that was sitting behind me. Besides the retirement of Peterson's 42 the highlight of the game was likely the sign held up by a student: "Suton, get back on your Futon" complete with a drawing of Suton and the aforementioned futon. No word if the drawing was supposed to depict him with a suit on.

I will take credit for saying Suton would struggle. Though he lead the team on paper he was TERRIBLE. I will take my lumps for saying Roe would play well. He did not. He looked just as bad as Suton. Summers did manage to sneak in one foot out of bounds play in the EXACT same place as his last 3. That streak is alive. Suton avoided his ass pass maneuver as expected but should pick up the slack next game (NW is crafty). Travis Walton, with the game still very much in question, air balled two consecutive free throws. That was a new tactic.

Illinois has possibly the worst cheer ever. Some people yell "ILL" and others yell "INI". First it is bad because I could not think of (not for lack of trying) anything witty or vulgar to yell in response (prior to the "INI"). Second, you just chanted Ill. Ill as in your team is Ill. Ill as in your football team gets paid and you st-ill sucked. Sitting here now, seeing "INI" on the screen I finally came up with something. Its not great but its something. I should have chanted "NIT." Though, to be fair, they didn't make the NIT last year. Meanwhile we were in our 11th straight NCAA tournament. How do ya like them apples?

The biggest looming game on the schedule, besides every home game, is the January 25 game at OSU. Lighty is back and OSU is tough at home. With a two game cushion MSU controls its own destiny. Take care of home court, win all the game you should and don't lose more than 2 road games. A win at OSU would go a LONG way to winning the big ten outright, especially since (for the first time EVER) MSU's schedule has a break with no trip to Madison. If you can call 3 of your first 4 B10 games on the road and playing ummmm once, and on the road, a break.

Here is the schedule, color coded for wins, losses, and remaining. This should be much easier than linking.


November
Wed. 5 NORTHERN MICHIGAN (Exhib.) (BigTenNetwork.com) East Lansing, Mich. 7 p.m.
Mon. 10 LAKE SUPERIOR STATE (Exhib.) (BigTenNetwork.com) East Lansing, Mich. 7 p.m.
Sun. 16 IDAHO (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 6 p.m.
Wed. 19 at IPFW Fort Wayne, Ind. 7 p.m.
Thur.-Sun. 27-30 Old Spice Classic Orlando, Fla.
Thur. 27 vs. Maryland (ESPN2) Orlando, Fla. 7 p.m.
Fri. 28 vs. Gonzaga/Oklahoma State (ESPN/ESPNU) Orlando, Fla. 5:30/8 p.m.
Sun. 30 vs. Siena/Tennessee/Wichita State/Georgetown (ESPN2/ESPNU) Orlando, Fla. TBA
December
Wed. 3 vs. North Carolina# (Big Ten/ACC Challenge) (ESPN) Detroit, Mich. 9 p.m.
Sun 7 BRADLEY (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 4 p.m.
Sat. 13 ALCORN STATE (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 6 p.m.
Wed. 17 THE CITADEL (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 8 p.m.
Sat. 20 vs. Texas$ (CBS) Houston, Texas 2 p.m.
Sat. 27 vs. Oakland^ (FSN Detroit) Auburn Hills, Mich. 5 p.m.
Wed. 31 at Minnesota (Big Ten Network) Minneapolis, Minn. 12 p.m.
January
Sat. 3 at Northwestern (Big Ten Network) Evanston, Ill. 7 p.m.
Tues. 6 OHIO STATE (ESPN2) East Lansing, Mich. 7 p.m.
Sat. 10 KANSAS (CBS) East Lansing, Mich. 1 p.m.
Wed. 14 at Penn State (Big Ten Network) State College, Pa. 6:30 p.m.
Sat. 17 ILLINOIS (ESPN) East Lansing, Mich. 4 p.m.
Wed. 21 NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 6:30 p.m.
Sun. 25 at Ohio State (CBS) Columbus, Ohio 3:45 p.m.
Thur. 29 at Iowa (ESPN/ESPN2) Iowa City, Iowa 7 p.m.
February
Sun. 1 PENN STATE (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 12 p.m.
Wed. 4 MINNESOTA (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 8:30 p.m.
Sat. 7 INDIANA (ESPN) East Lansing, Mich. 4 p.m.
Tues. 10 at Michigan (ESPN) Ann Arbor, Mich. 7 p.m.
Tues. 17 at Purdue (ESPN) West Lafayette, Ind. 7 p.m.
Sun. 22 WISCONSIN (CBS, ESPN, Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Wed. 25 IOWA (Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. 8:30 p.m.
Sat.-Sun. 28-1 at Illinois (CBS, ESPN, Big Ten Network) Champaign, Ill. TBA
March
T/W/T 3/4/5 at Indiana (ESPN, ESPN2, Big Ten Network) Bloomington, Ind. TBA
Sat.-Sun. 7/8 PURDUE (CBS, ESPN, Big Ten Network) East Lansing, Mich. TBA
Thur.-Sun. 12-15 Big Ten Tournament Indianapolis, Ind.
Thur.-Sun. 19-22 NCAA Tournament - First/Second Rounds
Thur.-Sun. 26-29 NCAA Tournament - Regionals
April
Sat./Mon. 4 & 6 NCAA Final Four Detroit, Mich.

* The exception to the "low key" knowledgeable ticket holders near our normal seats is the woman right next to us. She might be the dumbest person I've ever had the unfortunate experience of sitting near. She knows nothing at all, is loud, and honestly needs someone to let her know as much. For example: for the last 3 games she has called about 3 different people on OUR TEAM by the same name. Thorton, Dahlman, and Herzog all fall under the title Herzog. I can't wait for her brain to melt one day when Herzog comes in the game for Herzog. Also, in a game against the Citadel she was about to have an aneurism when, with about 12 minutes left in the second half, Izzo hadn't emptied the bench. Now I can understand that running up the score shows a lack of respect. Not letting subs get minutes is short sighted. However, chubby-frazzle-haired-non-athletic-loud-annoying woman, I'm fairly certain T. Izzo has an idea of what he is doing. In fact, to take the starters out and then put them back in 5 minutes later shows less respect. So...you expected Herzog, Herzog, and Herzog to play out the remaining 12 minutes? Can you even begin to imagine what they would look like after just 5 minutes? A lot like you trying to open a jar of peanut butter. Winded, frustrated, and in need of a towel.

PSU Recap and iLL Preview

Before I get too far I have to address commentating. Last night Tim McCormick couldn't have gotten much more wrong. I won't say he's bad at his job but he doesn't understand the rules, strategies, details, or the mental and physical macro-concepts of the sport. He cried about a travel call, then complained about another and both times was on the wrong side of the situation. He said MSU was "lucky" a foul was called late in the game because Lucas "almost stepped out of bounds." 1. He "almost" stepped out of bounds because of a 2 hand intentional push. 2. Last time I checked there is no "almost" out of bounds line on the stat sheet. So explain to me how anyone got lucky? Later Tim called Marquise Gray Goran Suton. I can see how you would mess that up, the two of them looking and playing so much alike.

Two games ago the vaunted CBS crew said Ibong or Iblonk (or something else completely wrong) about 15 times. That isn't an exxageration. They also called Izzo's wife Loopy, his daughter (Raquel) Rocky, and somehow managed to completely mess up about 5 other things.

Guys, just do your job. I understand that it is more difficult than it sounds. However, the stuff you are messing up is mostly your homework. Its not like you failed to speak for 5 straight minutes (at least not that often). You got a name wrong, totally wrong, all night. And the player is in his 5th season. Where is your support staff to say "hey, senile old man, his name is Goran not Grain" or "Willford Brimley, put down your oatmeal and read the notes I wrote you...his name is Ibok and Izzo is married to Lupe."

MSU and Penn State locked up last night at State College and despite the Spartans best effort to give the game away, MSU won 78-73. The reffing was suspect, both ways, although the knitted lions were the beneficiaries of most of the whistles. MSU ended up with 24 fouls to PSU's 22...but you have to take into account the 4-5 fouls at the end of the game that were intentional to stop the clock. In fact, PSU was in the double bonus with 9 minutes left in the second half. Part of that is because of their ability to drive, part because Allen and Summers cannot seem to play defense on the ball (or off) but some of the fault goes to poor reffing.

Suton had the ball inbounded off his ass again. However, in a moment of creativity Goran provided a perfect ass pass that allowed for a DUNK by the inbounder. I don't know how he'll top that one. I believe that is 3 on the season (imagine if he hadn't missed all those games w/ the injury!) and about 6 on his career. My guess is Suton just starts to shoot the ball in the opponents basket with his ass.

Summers stepped out of bounds twice on the sideline. Allen committed two fouls when a guy was hanging on the rim already. I hope some people were sick because we looked dead tired as a team. Gray is...non-existent. Maybe the light will come on in his 6th season.

Roe looked pretty good. Lucas was up and down but finished strong. Goran was actually pretty good and finished with a double double; 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Illinois beat up on Michigan last night in Champaign. Illinois has quite a few weapons -- none dominant but all decent -- and Michigan lived up to its billing. They died by the 3.

Illinois has solid guard play on both ends of the floor and a stable of interchangeable big men. Suton could have problems against this team because they are long and slow. Roe, however, is every bit as good a passer as Suton and should have a decent day. I expect Lucas to have a big game, Allen should find space, and Summers has a favorable matchup if he keeps his head on straight. Summers is more athletic than the people that would have to guard him (should we be in a 3 or 4 guard rotation) and if he makes the first few 3's could slip backdoor.

The most exciting part of this weekend should be the retirment of Morris Peterson's jersey. 42 will be raised to the rafters, as it should be, prior to this Saturday's game. It seems fitting since one of my more vivid memories of Peterson came against Illinois on the road. In a close game Peterson broke to the perimeter, made eye contact with Cleaves, and cut backdoor for the lob. That was one of the first times the pair ran the backdoor alley oop and it became a staple -- even in close last minute situations (Iowa State, NCAA tourney) -- of the offense for 2 seasons.

Summers could take the lob torch from Peterson if he can keep his feet inbounds.

MSU - Ill Predictions
Total Fouls - 117
MSU Inbound Plays from the frontcourt that end up in the backcourt - 6
Assists by Suton's Ass - 0
Travels by Raymar - 2
Lucas Assists - 8
Times Gray boxes out - 2
Combined FT % of both teams - 67%
MSU - 72
Ill -- 61