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Fighting With a Vim is an editorial blog about Michigan State Spartans sports, primarily basketball and football

Thoughts on the UNC loss

April 7th, 2009

65 schools are invited to the NCAA Tournament, which means 64 have to lose before a champion is crowned. Michigan State just happened to be the 64th team, falling amidst a blitzkrieg of Tarheel Blue.

North Carolina was just a bit too good for Michigan State to get a firm grasp on. Tyler Hansbrough and Deon Thompson used lightning quick post moves that Spartan defenders were not ready for. Wayne Ellington fired up shot after shot with just a sliver of space between himself and a green-shirted defender, and they kept dropping through the net. Ty Lawson took advantage of the Spartans trying to force the ball upcourt and snagged seven steals in the first half. This game was effectively over when the teams headed to their respective locker rooms at halftime.

Of course, it was not all about how well North Carolina played, it was also about how poorly the Spartans returned the favor. The poised and controlled Michigan State offense we saw in the last five NCAA Tournament games did not make an appearance. Instead, the herky-jerky turnover-prone squad showed up for one last fling at the worst time possible.

And still, the Spartans had a little bit of oxygen left in the second half, trailing by just 13 with 4:46 to go. They were in a position where a few buckets and defensive stands could have dramatically tightened the score up. Alas, it was not meant to be.

But you can’t help but wonder what could have been if a few more MSU three-point attempts had gone in (Chris Allen was 0-for-7 and had several wide-open looks), or if UNC hadn’t started out red-hot from the field. After all, the gameplan almost worked. Izzo was willing to give Hansbrough and Lawson theirs in exchange for locking down on the other Tarheel contributors (Ellington, Thompson, Davis, Green). Unfortunately for the green-and-white, those guys showed up in a big way.

This is the kind of game that breeds champions. One year ago, North Carolina was in the Final Four and favored to sweep their way through to claim the 2008 National Championship. The sting of defeat to Kansas (the eventual champion) prompted the collegiate returns of Lawson & Hansbrough, and fueled the 2009 squad to achieve what it did yesterday.

If there is a silver lining in defeat, it’s that the core of this team knows exactly what it needs to do to get back to this stage, and they’re going to be motivated by an intense hunger to return to the Final Four and redeem themselves.

Let’s just hope that Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington feel that they’ve done enough at the collegiate level.

Congrats to the champion Tarheels. Hats off to a one heckuva team, the kind that doesn’t come along very often.

And here’s one last glass raised to Michigan State’s 2008-09 season.

Final thoughts before tipoff

April 6th, 2009

It’s going to be a nerve-racking wait up until tip time for me. So I figured I’d spend a few moments writing what’s been on my mind today.

First, we’ve seen several MSU players really grow up during this tournament run, including Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, and Chris Allen. Lucas has been a formidable, sound, and dependable point guard who picks great spots to push the ball and attack. Summers has done a terrific job getting open looks, breaking out in transition, and rising to grab some huge rebounds. Allen seems much more patient when he drives, and I haven’t seen a travel called on him in a while.

Second, I think Michigan State will have a terrific opportunity to make perimeter shots. Villanova had a lot of wide-open looks (that they missed), and other teams have found similar daylight from behind the arc. The problem with these shots, however, is that a miss means UNC will come back down and attack at full-throttle. Additionally, Tarheel defenders will make a quick play to contest your shot when you take it, even if there’s no hope of blocking it. I’m convinced this has a significant psychological impact on shooters, causing them to tighten on the follow-through and clank it.

As far as Michigan State’s perimeter shooting goes, I’ve never really believed that they’re as weak as some analysts have made them out to be. Their struggle at times this year to make outside shots is probably more a product of Izzo wanting to get the most out of every possession. There’s a mental reluctance from guys to fire those shots up, while we simultaneously saw a lot of success come out of plays run to get guys open looks from three-point land. It seems that their turnaround in the tournament may partly be due to Izzo releasing the chains on their decision making (though he still gets in their faces when they make a dumb play).

Third, UNC is a formidable opponent because they can beat you so many ways. Looking at their schedule, however, they have not played many top-flight opponents. Just one of their regular season non-conference opponents made the NCAA Tournament (Michigan State), and then they plowed through an ACC Conference that has been less than impressive in the Big Dance. Of course, the Tarheels have been outstanding in their last five games, their smallest margin-of-victory a 12-spot against Oklahoma. Looking at their body of work, though, it’s hard to get a sense of how they will play against a deep, defense-oriented team.

Fourth, after reading some articles from journalists close to the MSU program, it really does appear that Izzo’s gameplan will be to shut down the “helpers” on UNC’s team: Ellington, Green, and Thompson/Davis. I’ve got Hansbrough going for 27, Lawson for 21, and everyone else combined in the 20-25 range.

Fifth, I don’t believe this is going to be an incredibly close game at the end, whichever way it goes. Either the Spartans hit their shots and win by 8-10, or UNC hits theirs and wins by the same margin with the final two minutes not particularly influential on the outcome except that one team makes some freebies.

Sixth, I listened to a lot of local sports radio today and was not impressed with the knowledge of people pulling for MSU. Callers would come on all excited and proclaiming a sure Michigan State victory, but then say it’s because Walton will guard Lawson effectively (he’s not going to start on him, initially) or because Duke’s ego is too big (seriously, one caller said Duke about five times before remembering that we’re playing UNC). Even the MSU detractors couldn’t get their facts straight, with one Grand Rapids native saying that the Tarheels have a much deeper bench (they don’t).

Seventh, despite what a lot of analysts and fans are saying, the game will not be decided in the opening four minutes. One team always comes out tight and then corrects by playing harder until they loosen up. Based on what I’ve seen, these games are usually won between the 14 minute mark and 8 minute mark of the second half.

Well, that’s it from me. Best of luck to Michigan State tonight.

One last note: A special thank you to KJ, the blogger behind SpartansWeblog.com. KJ is hanging up his blogging keyboard after Michigan State’s tournament run concludes, which will be just a few hours from now. Your analysis and statistical insight of Michigan State basketball has been outstanding and will be sorely missed.

FWAV’s title game preview recap

April 6th, 2009

Here are some of the posts that Fighting With a Vim has put together to preview Monday night’s national championship game:

And here are some other great reads