Michigan St goes down again

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I'm just not buying into Michigan State this year.
 

MSU is going to finish 5th or 6th in the Big Ten at this rate. I'm not sure the MSU nonconference performance merits an NCAA at-large berth - they should be somewhat worried about just making the tournament at this point. Tonight was the end of MSU's nonconference home winning streak, and I think you'll see some other streaks end this year (namely their winning streak against Michigan).
 

I'm holding off judgement. They usually seem to get it together towards the end of the season.
 


I'm with Gophersontherise on this one. Izzo (midget) and a pretty good resume to back him up so I will also hold off judgement until we get deep into the conference schedule.
 


Draymond Green makes me ill. I can't stand the guy ever since last year when he took the dive on Colton and pretended like he was hurt so his fat a-- could get a rest.
 

I am starting to worry about this MSU team. For whatever reason this doesn't seem like the MSU team of years past. Lucas might have lost a bit of a step, Green seems to be the only guy being a leader or the ability to score down low regularly. With that said, I'm MSU should be no where near panic mode. I will truly start worrying if midway though B10 season they are still struggling.

As much as it pains me to say OSU is clearly the class of the B10.
 

Why WORRY about msu. Your purdue team has its own issues without hummel.
 

mnboiler said:
I am starting to worry about this MSU team. For whatever reason this doesn't seem like the MSU team of years past. Lucas might have lost a bit of a step, Green seems to be the only guy being a leader or the ability to score down low regularly. With that said, I'm MSU should be no where near panic mode. I will truly start worrying if midway though B10 season they are still struggling.

As much as it pains me to say OSU is clearly the class of the B10.
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I agree.
 



The thing with MSU is that they have the talent to beat anybody, but so did that awful Illinois team a few years ago. Who knows if they ever put the pieces together.
 

tap said:
Why WORRY about msu. Your purdue team has its own issues without hummel.
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Tell me about it. Only difference is that MSU seems much easier to fix than Purdue's.
 

Yuck. Rough night for the Big Ten. Illinois loses a close one, that was a pretty questionable intentional foul.
 





This is sarcastic, right? You usually seem like a reasonable poster.

OSUfan said:
MSU is going to finish 5th or 6th in the Big Ten at this rate. I'm not sure the MSU nonconference performance merits an NCAA at-large berth - they should be somewhat worried about just making the tournament at this point. Tonight was the end of MSU's nonconference home winning streak, and I think you'll see some other streaks end this year (namely their winning streak against Michigan).
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They'll be fine. I still think they finish 2nd. I don't know who else could. I've never been high on Illinois. I still can't get over the fact that stupid Gottlieb has them in the NC game.
 

Everyone is beatable at any time. I say our odds are inching towards 50-50 for the game in East Lansing on the 31st. Would be great to get out of there with a W. Still pissed about the home game we lost to them last year though..
 

In terms of recent times, Sparty has never looked more beatable/vulnerable than they do right now. Looks to me like they've lost some confidence, they play little defense & most shockingly (gasp!) they're a very unIzzo-like soft. No post presence whatsoever.

If the Gophers are ever going to get them in East Lansing, looks to me like New Year's Eve could be the time to get it done. But first things first. ... there's that matter of winning at the Kohl Center.
 

ISAIAH DAHLMAN assists coach Tom Izzo

From the Strib today

Here is a good article by new Strib Sports Reporter Amelia Rayno on Rebakah Dahlman.

"Rebekah's brother Isaiah graduated as Minnesota's all-time scoring leader (a record later broken) before playing at Michigan State, where he currently assists coach Tom Izzo."

I did not realize Isaiah was still with MSU - now in some coaching capacity.

http://www.mngirlsbasketballhub.com...DUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUvDEhiaE3miUsZ
 

I didn't get to watch the game last night, but I assumed it was on a neutral court somewhere....to get beat like that at home...ouch. The worst part about it, from the highlights I saw was that it just looked like Mich. St. was playing real lazy, just not picking guys up on fast breaks....that is very un-Izzo like. Are they burnt out or something??

That being said, I would guess they will find their stride before long...
 

I hope Sparty waits until at least January 1 to find its stride.

Looks to me like the Gophers' game plan against MSU should be pretty simple. Pressure their guards (especially Lucious, who's loose with the ball) and pound the ball inside. The Gophers should have a huge advantage inside with Mbakwe, Iverson, Sampson and Walker.
 


underground629 said:
This is sarcastic, right? You usually seem like a reasonable poster.
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No, not joking. I've been criticizing MSU all season, been very critical of how highly regarded they were. I honestly believe, at the rate MSU is going - they are losing more games to BCS conference opposition than they win - that 5th or 6th in the Big Ten is a fair estimate of where they will finish. I expect them to finish behind OSU, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, possibly Purdue as well, and Michigan has an outside shot of finishing ahead of MSU as well. The Spartans have performed much worse than Michigan against two common opponents this year - unless something changes dramatically (for either or both teams) the Spartans will lose in Ann Arbor this year, snapping their winning streak over UM.
 

I guess it's true that at their current rate they could finish 5th or 6th, but I find it extremely unlikely they don't pick it up and go on a run. I guess that's a somewhat reasonable statement. I think it's ridiculous to think that they need to or will need to worry about making the tournament though. I can't imagine you really think there's more than about a 5 percent chance of them not making it.

OSUfan said:
No, not joking. I've been criticizing MSU all season, been very critical of how highly regarded they were. I honestly believe, at the rate MSU is going - they are losing more games to BCS conference opposition than they win - that 5th or 6th in the Big Ten is a fair estimate of where they will finish. I expect them to finish behind OSU, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, possibly Purdue as well, and Michigan has an outside shot of finishing ahead of MSU as well. The Spartans have performed much worse than Michigan against two common opponents this year - unless something changes dramatically (for either or both teams) the Spartans will lose in Ann Arbor this year, snapping their winning streak over UM.
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A little wager?

OSUfan,

If you're a gambling man, not sure if you are, I'll bet you $50 Michigan State doesn't finish 5th or lower. Not gonna' happen. If you accept the bet, we'll go by the Spartans' Big Ten Tournament seed. For example, if they finish in a tie for 4th and get the #4 seed, I win; if they get the #5 seed, you win.

I'm a man of my word, so if I lose, you'll get your money.
 

I don't think it's obvious enough to bet on - it's my opinion is that 5th or 6th is where they should finish, but I don't really care whether they finish 3rd or 7th - all I really know is they're not going to be close to finishing first. With things the way they are right now, yeah they're 5th or 6th best team in the league, but of course there are going to be injuries and suspensions that invariably affect the conference standings. I don't think it's worth it to bet money on partly because I don't really care where they finish. If you want to bet that Izzo will win another national title before Matta wins one, I'll take Matta in that one. You were rather adamant that Izzo was such a superior coach to Matta, implying that no objective person could prefer Matta - why not throw your support behind Izzo there? :) But betting on exactly how average MSU is this year, is not very interesting to me. Pomeroy has projected MSU as the #4 team in the Big Ten, one game ahead of Illinois, and of course Pomeroy's stats are not really representative of how good the Gophers are since they haven't been at full strength missing Nolen or Joseph all year, but are appear to be nearly full strength going forward (and Pomeroy has projected the Gophs to tie for 6th). To claim that MSU should finish 5th in the Big Ten is hardly unreasonable.
 

I'll take that as a no.

I'm game for that wager. How about $25 that Izzo wins another one before Matta gets his first? That one should be easy enough for both of us to remember. I figure I win either way 'cause I like it when the Big Ten wins it all. The conference is way overdue to win a national title.
 

SelectionSunday said:
I'll take that as a no.

I'm game for that wager. How about $25 that Izzo wins another one before Matta gets his first? That one should be easy enough for both of us to remember. I figure I win either way 'cause I like it when the Big Ten wins it all. The conference is way overdue to win a national title.
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OK, you're on for the Izzo-Matta $25. I am taking Matta, of course. And maybe neither will win one, who knows - I guess I'm like you in that I'd rather lose than have no more NCs for the Big Ten whatsoever.

Yes, you should take my response to the MSU conference standings bet as a 'no.' I actually think it would make more sense for me to bet how many games back of first MSU will finish, rather than what place they will finish, because I think they're going to be several (i.e., at least 4 and likely 5 or more) games back of the champs. But I'm not saying I want to bet on that. :)
 

Fair enough. We're on for Izzo vs. Matta. Hope one of us wins the bet sooner rather than later.
 

Has anyone played the buzzsaw Non-Conference schedule that Sparty has played? Seriously, how many of their opponents were/are in the top 15 in the country? Those losses are going to hurt, but no one is as tested in big games with quality opponents. Sparty is going to be in the thick of it again. There is no drop-off in talent for them.

I'm hopin' the Gophers get the Sparty-monkey off the back this year!

Go Gophers!
 

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