Michigan State University Basketball Blog

Hello World!

We’ve been busy this year in publishing our new comedy book – Brody Boys: Legendary Tales From the Boys of Brody Hall!

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This book is one for the ages, so get it while it’s hot!

Yours truly,

Bucky and Moose

Tonight, the MSU Spartans really pissed me off.  They showed no class led by our main man and hero Tom Izzo in defeating a severely undermanned Alcorn State.  To win a game 118-60 or a margin of 58 points is a disgrace by Coach Izzo.  He needs a boot in the ass.  You don’t pay a school to fly up from rural Mississippi and kick the snot out of them by 58.  The starters should not have even played in the second half.  It really burns by the lack of class on this night by a man who is a legend and reflects class all the time.  Learn a lesson coach and cut the slaughter nonsense out.  This is college and not the pros.

I recently attended the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Florida over the Thanksgiving weekend. Much to my surprise, I ran into former legendary MSU Basketball coach Jud Heathcote. Jud was very gracious and gave me a very firm handshake and greeting. He was at the tournament to see his beloved Spartans as well as his adopted Gonzaga Bulldogs. He attended all of MSU’s games and he even had to sit painfully through the game versus Oklahoma State with former Michigan Governor John Engler sitting in front of him. John looked in horrible shape and seemed to annoy Jud much of the game. But alas, the Spartans rocked the Cowboys world and probably made Jud feel really good. Go Green and Go Jud!

Jud and John at Old Spice Classic

This was brutal and it goes to show how 1) The Spartans probably aren’t a top ten team, at least not at this point in the season and 2) how good North Carolina is. While the Spartans avoided it last night by giving up “just” 98, you don’t see too many teams get close to that century mark on a historically good defensive team.

Raymar Morgan led the way with 21 points and six rebounds. Delvon Roe picked up eight rebounds while Chris Allen was the only other Spartan to score in double figures with 16. .348 shooting isn’t going to cut and that’s what MSU shot last night.

Next up are the Bradley Braves this Sunday. Bradley’s 4-2 but they got destroyed by Florida earlier in the year. The Spartans shouldn’t have any problems with this game considering they’ll be at the Breslin Center.

Spartan Squad at Old Spice Classic

Izzo at the Old Spice Classic

Two out of three isn’t too bad unless you’re a top ten team.  The Spartans got smoked by Maryland in the opener of the Old Spice Classic last week and while they recovered to top Oklahoma St. and Wichita St., the 80-62 beating at the hands of Maryland pushed MSU down to 13th in the rankings.

Next up is the top ranked Tar Heels.  In fact the game is going on as we speak and UNC is up 11-6.  So far, things aren’t going so well.

It’s no big surprise, but the Spartans are 2-0.  Their 70-59 win wasn’t nearly as impressive as their 100 point showing against Iowa, but it was good enough to secure a win.

Raymar Morgan had the hot hand and he drained home 22.  Kalin Lucas scored 17 while Goran Sutton brought home ten rebounds.

The Spartans had an eight point half time lead in this one but came out flat in the second half.  They were actually down by three a couple of different times but a 13-0 run put the game away for MSU.

Now things get interesting.  The Spartans host Maryland on Thanksgiving to kick off the Old Spice Classic.  Then almost a week after that, they play number one ranked North Carolina.  The next couple of week should be pretty telling as to whether MSU deserves that number five rank.

The MSU Spartans will face the Temple Owls (21-12) in the First Round of the NCAA South Region this Thursday at 12:30 Eastern time. However, the game is being played in Denver. Go figure eh!?

It is anticipated that hundreds if not thousands of MSU fans will be at the Pepsi Center in Denver. I can tell you that it is a world-class arena and there are as many as 4,000 alumni in the Denver region. It is literally MSU-West to say the least.

For more information on the Owls, click here.

http://owlsports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/tem-m-baskbl-body.html

If the Spartans can manage to beat the Owls, they will likely face the hottest team in the nation–the Pitt Panthers. Stay tuned. This is one tough bracket.

After being up as many as 10 late in the game, the Spartans did it again–they choked.  Final score Wisconsin 65 MSU 63.  MSU is now at the mercy of the NCAA comittee, and will likely get a 6-7 seed in the tournament.  If they had held on and beaten Wisconsin, and moved forward to beat either Illinois or Minnesota tomorrow, the story would have been much better–a 4 to 5 seed.  Nevertheless, this season is all about honoring Drew Neitzel and winning one or two NCAA games for him!  go Green!

Senior Drew Neitzel pumped in 28 points as the Spartans (25-7) pulled out a victory late against Ohio State–the same team that caused Sparty to wilt like wuss-bags last Sunday in Columbus. Props go to Drew and Travis Walton, who hit some big time free-throws to seal the deal. It’s good to know that MSU will no longer play any road games–all neutral. But next game is against mighty Wisconsin (1:40 Est CBS) who destroyed Michigan today. Stay tuned! go Green!

In the final game at Breslin for the Drews–Neitzel and Naymick, the Spartans began the game on fire, and continued until the final buzzer, destroying Indiana 103 to 74.   From the opening tip, the Spartans looked possessed and ran up and down the court like there was no tomorrow.  To me, it has been utterly amazing to see MSU play at home where they literally were unbeatable (18-0), and then go on the road and look like a very average .500 club at best.  I guess it is true that there is nothing better than home cooking.

Raymar Morgan led all scorers with 20 points for Green, but Goran Suton and Drew Neitzel scored 17 each and looked very smooth.  But the smoothest of them all was Motown’s own Kalin Lucas.  Kalin scored 14 while dishing out 7.  He best move in his career was displayed to national TV.  As he drove to the hoop with an IU man on him, he faked a pass with his right arm, leaving the dude’s jock on the court, and he then proceeded to lay in a silky smooth lay-up with his left hand.  MSU fans better enjoy Kalin while he lasts.  I can’t imagine him staying beyond next season, but maybe we’ll get lucky and have him for three.

With the win, MSU improve to 23-6, 11-5 in the Big Ten, but still in 4th place.  Sparty travels to Illinois on Thursday and then off to Columbs to face Ohio State on Sunday.  With the way MSU has been playing on the road, who knows what’s going to happen!

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We’ll get a good summary of this very imporant game.  MSU needs a quality win in preparation for a decent seed in the NCAA tournmament.

Well, after starting the game 15 to 4, the Spartans then proceeded to get out-scored 76 to 46 en route to an 80 to 61 ass-beating. Simply put, the Hoosiers wanted it more, and were too tough for the Spartans to handle. This is a very talented Spartan club, but make no mistake, they are not a gritty and tough team. Tom Izzo is going to need to reassess his club in the off-season to figure out how to get these talented guys more hungry and tougher.

The loss drops MSU to 8-4 in the Big Ten and 20-5 overall. State will need to work hard now to finish in the top 4 of the league. If they can at least finish 5th, they should get a solid seed in the NCAA tournament from say 6 to 8. Let’s hope that the Sparty men get some grit and give Northwestern and Iowa an ass-beating at Breslin the next two games.

On another note, you gotta feel bad for Coach Sampson. He is a class man and great coach. Yeah, he slipped up but it is nothing compared to the b.s. that goes on by coaches. Former MSU basketball player Andy Penick once told a group of us guys years back how Louisville offered him a Corvette to play for the Cardinals. God knows a lot of illegal stuff goes on every day in college hoops. A few phone calls are nothing.

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Big Ten Standings as of 2/16:

MSU senior guard Drew Neitzel captured Big Ten Player of the Week for is big time performances against both Northwestern and Michigan.  Drew pumped in a two-game average of 19 points.  Against Michigan on Sunday, he smoked the Wolverines for 18 points in the first half and then cruised as the entire team did.  If Drew keeps this up, he is going to help MSU become a major factor in the Big Ten race and a darkhorse come NCAA tourney time!  Drew’s mom and dad must be the most famous TV parents in college basketball.  It seems that when Drew is on fire, ESPN or CBS shows a shot of his mom and dad.  That’s a tribute to his fine character and leadership, being raised in Wyoming, MI.  Good man, Drew!

For the second time in a matter of a couple weeks this season, the Spartans tangled against the Gophers. Once again, this game could have gone either way. But senior leader Drew Neitzel manned up big time, pumping in 19 points, including 5 3-pointers! Drew looked like a man amongst boys, bringing flashbacks of his supreme greatness from last season. Now that this is Big Ten season, I am getting the sense that he is really pumped up looking to make history, and go out a champion. Yes!

In front of a packed house in icy and frigid Minneapolis, Tubby’s Gophers played another tough game against MSU. The Spartans looked very ugly once again this season, turning the ball over 18 times!! Unreal. I know the freshmen Kalin Lucas and Chris Allen played great games, scoring a combined 23 points, but they also turned the damn ball over 6 times. If these young bucks can get the TO ratio down, this club has a good shot at winning the Big Ten. If not, then Bucky and Indiana are going to snare it from our grasp.

Next on deck for the Sparty men is feeble Northwestern (6-9, 0-5 Big Ten) in Chicagoland.

Box Score

This was three smaller games crammed into one.  The first game was MSU dominating the Buckeyes in the first fifteen minutes of the game.  The Spartans built up leads of 27-7 and 32-11 and this game looked like it was going to be a blowout.

The second game was OSU’s big run.  They closed out the second half on a 10-2 run and this carried over into the second half when they expanded their run to 25-7 to make it a three point game.

The third game was a back and forth game.  OSU would pull to within five points before MSU would go on a mini-run and while they never got it back to a ten point lead, they did enough to hold on to win.  The final minutes dragged on with OSU fouling to try to get back into it but the Sparants ended up winning it 66-60.

Raymar Morgan disappeared in this one, mostly due to foul trouble.  He scored just six points and his first field goal didn’t come until there was just 13 points left in the second half.  Drew Neitzel led the way with thirteen and he had three big three pointers.  Two of those were early and the third was in the middle of OSU’s big run and it made the difference between MSU keeping the lead and OSU tying it up.

The Spartans completely dominated on the glass.  They had 39 rebounds with 17 of those being on the offensive glass.  This made up for the pathetic nine for seventeen that the Spartans shot from the line.

Next up are the Gophers on Sunday.  Game time is 4 pm.

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Here’s a great column on how the Spartans aren’t quite over their turnover woes yet.  A lot of good stuff in here.

MSU continued another very ugly Big Ten performance tonight in Iowa City against the Iowa Hawkeyes. This was officially the 2nd road game for MSU the entire season. So no wonder why they struggled so much. They had a cupcake schedule all season with great home cookin’. The Sparty men must have gotten home-sick during their flight to Iowa, becuase their performance was pathetic. Come on guys, your girlfriends and pizza in the fridge will still be there when you get back in one day.

For the game, MSU shot 30.2% from the field and 25% from 3-point range (3-12). The real kicker was turnovers. The Spartans turned the ball over 18 times while Iowa only lost the pill 7 times. Raymar Morgan The Last of the Mohicans dvdrip and Drew Neitzel led the way with 10 points a piece, but had a combined 5 turnovers and shot a mere 9 for 26 from the field.

I may be acting grumpy, but the Spartans tonight let the wind out of my NCAA and Big Ten champ sail. True champions don’t lose to teams 7-9 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten with a brand new coach and transition period on hand. Tom better get the damn pads out in practice and really work this spoiled bunch of Sparty men over and get them playing some good ball! Take them outside in the cold in their shorts and toughen’ these men up! Go GREEN!

Box Score

It was not pretty, but nothing ever is against a team coached by the legendary Tubby Smith. MSU was able to beat the world’s dumbest and ugliest mascot–the Gophers of Minnesota by a score of 65 to 59.

The man of the night was Raymar Morgan. Raymar was 11 of 17 from the field, and 9 of 12 from the charity line totaling 31 points—a career high. This was by far Raymar’s best game of his young Sparty career. I don’t want to talk about any other Spartans but Raymar. He was the man, period. I don’t know how far MSU will go this year in terms of a Big Ten title or getting out of the first or second round of the NCAA’s, but if Raymar keeps improving like he has over the past year and 1/2, then the sky is the limit!

I do not know who created the Gopher as the mascot of Minnesota, but they should be put to sleep. Nothing worse than looking at a buck-toothed, yellow tooth, smelly varmit on your jerseys. I am so proud to be an alum of a Spartan! Go Green!

Box Score

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Basketball Prospectus runs down the Big Ten race in a nice column and he points to the Spartans lack of turnovers being a major bright spot for the team.   It’s looking like it’ll be a three team race with MSU at the top of the heap and Indiana and Wisconsin chasing MSU’s tail.  MSU kicks things off in the Big Ten tomorrow at home against Minnesota.

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