Rico Beard had a funny line on today's "The Drive With Jack Ebling": "The Big Ten title is like a piece of pizza in a room full of polite guys." (Since I didn't have time to write it down, I'm paraphrasing to the best of my recollection).
That perfectly describes the way the top teams have been playing down the stretch. As either Jack or Rico said (I can't remember), it's not as if these teams don't want to win the title, they just don't seem to know how.
As an aside, Jack Ebling's new drive-time radio show, on WVFN 730 AM in the Lansing area from 3-6 PM, is quite good. It's much better than The Huge Show, which it replaced this week. (If you're wondering, I was not paid for that endorsement!).
I'm coming to you from my Nook, so I apologize in advance for any typos and if this ends up looking like one giant paragraph.
It's been a crazy week in Big Ten basketball. First, Michigan dials it in during the last few minutes in State College and loses to the hapless Nittany Lions. Unfortunately, this probably led Michigan into desperation mode and led to the Wolverines' defeat of MSU last Sunday.
Wisconsin, a team that seemed to be on a role, stumbles mightily to Purdue IN MADISON! (I just hope this doesn 't put the Badgers in desperation mode tonight against the Spartans).
To top off the week of stunning Big Ten developments, Indiana loses to Ohio State in Bloomington on the Hoosiers' Senior Night in front of a partisan IU crowd poised to celebrate an outright conference title. Aaron Craft had a tremendous game and the Hoosiers looked like they were suffering from a bout of stage fright. I don't think I'd seen IU look so tentative all year.
As someone who had all but handed Victor Oladipo the Big Ten Player of the Year award, I am now having second thoughts. As difficult as it is to give credit to a Michigan player, Trey Burke has carried the Wolverines in their last few games, and made huge plays down the stretch against Michigan State and Purdue to seal victories for Michigan. I echo the thoughts of others when I say the award may come down to the showdown between Indiana and Michigan at Crisler. If Michigan wins and Trey Burke has a good-to-great game, he's the POY. Same deal with Oladipo.
Now to the Spartans. They're in a little rut, though it's not as if the three teams they've lost to are chopped liver. I expect Keith Appling to get out of his funk tonight and have a good game against Wisconsin, and for the Spartans to slough out another ugly low-scoring win over the Badgers. Wisconsin may be desperate, but I think MSU will be both inspired and ornery.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Apologies for the typos...and a bummer of a loss
Just looked over my previous post, and--ugh!--typos galore. I wrote it in haste, trying to get it out there before the Michigan game started. Please accept my apologies. I've gone back and corrected them, but may have missed a few.
That was a tough loss to Michigan yesterday, but I'm not surprised MSU lost. However, if you were to tell me that MSU would hold the Wolverines to 0-13 from beyond the arc and LOSE, I'd say you were crazy.
I'll try to get to write more later, but you know how that goes.
That was a tough loss to Michigan yesterday, but I'm not surprised MSU lost. However, if you were to tell me that MSU would hold the Wolverines to 0-13 from beyond the arc and LOSE, I'd say you were crazy.
I'll try to get to write more later, but you know how that goes.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Catching up with Spartan (and college) basketball
I haven't written in this blog since the Indiana loss, and I'm sure all one or two of my readers have missed my presence...right?
Since the resounding win over Michigan at Breslin, the Spartans have been treading water. The trouncing of the Wolverines really was not the catalyst I thought it might be, but then again the schedule has been less than favorable for MSU. The Spartans put in a workmanlike performance on the road against Nebraska for a win, then did not play particularly well against Indiana in the big showdown at Breslin. For whatever reason (in his postgame comments, Tom Izzo mentioned "distractions", which could indicate a multitude of possible scenarios) the Spartans did not play with the same focus and determination as they had against Michigan. I'm sure a lot of that can be attributed to the fact that Indiana is not MSU's arch rival and even with first place on the line, did not elicit the same passion from the players. Accordingly, the crowd at Breslin didn't have the same fervor they had at the Michigan game.
The Ohio State loss was baffling. The Spartans seemed in control at halftime, but the game slipped away in the second half. But let's remember that the game was played on the road in Columbus against a team that had already lost to the Spartans and was unwilling to lose another game against MSU. (Oh, and the Buckeyes are a pretty darned good team, too).
In his press conference this week, Tom Izzo said (and I'm paraphrasing) that the MSU fans are panicking. I don't think that's entirely true, though it may seem that way from his perspective. I'm guessing the only fans panicking are a) the "glass-is-half-empty" folks who freak out over every loss and/or b) the fans who don't follow the basketball team too closely anyway and become despondent over any loss (regardless of the opponent or venue).
Most preseason prognosticators had MSU finishing in the middle of the conference this year, and this team has already exceeded those expectations. Much has been made about how youthful the Michigan Wolverines are this season, but Michigan State only has one senior (Derrick Nix) on this year's squad. Last year's vocal leader, Draymond Green, is in the NBA. Despite being a captain, it doesn't appear that Nix has the same personality as Green, nor do any of the other Spartans. In the future, I can envision Matt Costello or possibly Denzel Valentine filling that role. But this season, those guys are freshman and not really in a position to take on that leadership role. It's a rare freshman who can gain enough confidence and respect from his or her teammates to become a leader, with Earvin "Magic" Johnson coming to mind immediately.
What I'm getting at is that MSU's struggles of late may also have to do with the fact they don't have a vocal leader who takes command when the going gets rough, and that is due to the youth of this year's team. The Spartans have three freshmen (Gary Harris, Denzel Valentine, and Matt Costello) who play significant minutes. Travis Trice and Branden Dawson are still only sophomores, and though Keith Appling is a junior, his personality seems to be that of a quiet guy and not a natural leader.
So later today the Spartans will take on the Wolverines again, this time at the Crisler Center. (I still have a hard time calling Crisler by it's new name. It'll always be Crisler Arena to me. Quite frankly, I'm surprised the folks at Michigan would give the place a new name that sounds so similar to Breslin Center). The general feeling on sports talk radio this week is that Michigan is down after the Wolverines' stunning loss to Penn State and has lost some confidence. I don't buy that for a second. Michigan will be jacked to the moon for this game and will want to prove that the Penn State loss, and the beating they took at Breslin, were anomalies. I expect that Michigan will win a close game today over the Spartans. I certainly hope I'm wrong, but realistically the Spartans will probably have a difficult time winning against the Wolverines in what amounts to a payback game.
The last two games of the season are at Breslin, and I think the Spartans will win those--but it will be interesting to see how a potential three-game losing streak will affect MSU. Wisconsin has become the Spartans' second most hated rival, so maybe the Breslin crowd will be enough to lift the Spartans past their doldrums and on to victory. The season finale is against Northwestern, and not to sound too cocky, but I don't think the Wildcats have a prayer in that game. The emotion of Senior Day will lead the Spartans to a 15-20 point win.
But first up, Michigan. Strap on your seat belts and get ready for what should be one hell of a ride at Crisler.
Since the resounding win over Michigan at Breslin, the Spartans have been treading water. The trouncing of the Wolverines really was not the catalyst I thought it might be, but then again the schedule has been less than favorable for MSU. The Spartans put in a workmanlike performance on the road against Nebraska for a win, then did not play particularly well against Indiana in the big showdown at Breslin. For whatever reason (in his postgame comments, Tom Izzo mentioned "distractions", which could indicate a multitude of possible scenarios) the Spartans did not play with the same focus and determination as they had against Michigan. I'm sure a lot of that can be attributed to the fact that Indiana is not MSU's arch rival and even with first place on the line, did not elicit the same passion from the players. Accordingly, the crowd at Breslin didn't have the same fervor they had at the Michigan game.
The Ohio State loss was baffling. The Spartans seemed in control at halftime, but the game slipped away in the second half. But let's remember that the game was played on the road in Columbus against a team that had already lost to the Spartans and was unwilling to lose another game against MSU. (Oh, and the Buckeyes are a pretty darned good team, too).
In his press conference this week, Tom Izzo said (and I'm paraphrasing) that the MSU fans are panicking. I don't think that's entirely true, though it may seem that way from his perspective. I'm guessing the only fans panicking are a) the "glass-is-half-empty" folks who freak out over every loss and/or b) the fans who don't follow the basketball team too closely anyway and become despondent over any loss (regardless of the opponent or venue).
Most preseason prognosticators had MSU finishing in the middle of the conference this year, and this team has already exceeded those expectations. Much has been made about how youthful the Michigan Wolverines are this season, but Michigan State only has one senior (Derrick Nix) on this year's squad. Last year's vocal leader, Draymond Green, is in the NBA. Despite being a captain, it doesn't appear that Nix has the same personality as Green, nor do any of the other Spartans. In the future, I can envision Matt Costello or possibly Denzel Valentine filling that role. But this season, those guys are freshman and not really in a position to take on that leadership role. It's a rare freshman who can gain enough confidence and respect from his or her teammates to become a leader, with Earvin "Magic" Johnson coming to mind immediately.
What I'm getting at is that MSU's struggles of late may also have to do with the fact they don't have a vocal leader who takes command when the going gets rough, and that is due to the youth of this year's team. The Spartans have three freshmen (Gary Harris, Denzel Valentine, and Matt Costello) who play significant minutes. Travis Trice and Branden Dawson are still only sophomores, and though Keith Appling is a junior, his personality seems to be that of a quiet guy and not a natural leader.
So later today the Spartans will take on the Wolverines again, this time at the Crisler Center. (I still have a hard time calling Crisler by it's new name. It'll always be Crisler Arena to me. Quite frankly, I'm surprised the folks at Michigan would give the place a new name that sounds so similar to Breslin Center). The general feeling on sports talk radio this week is that Michigan is down after the Wolverines' stunning loss to Penn State and has lost some confidence. I don't buy that for a second. Michigan will be jacked to the moon for this game and will want to prove that the Penn State loss, and the beating they took at Breslin, were anomalies. I expect that Michigan will win a close game today over the Spartans. I certainly hope I'm wrong, but realistically the Spartans will probably have a difficult time winning against the Wolverines in what amounts to a payback game.
The last two games of the season are at Breslin, and I think the Spartans will win those--but it will be interesting to see how a potential three-game losing streak will affect MSU. Wisconsin has become the Spartans' second most hated rival, so maybe the Breslin crowd will be enough to lift the Spartans past their doldrums and on to victory. The season finale is against Northwestern, and not to sound too cocky, but I don't think the Wildcats have a prayer in that game. The emotion of Senior Day will lead the Spartans to a 15-20 point win.
But first up, Michigan. Strap on your seat belts and get ready for what should be one hell of a ride at Crisler.
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