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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 19, 2021 9:24:22 GMT -5
There is actually a growing presence on social media of Spartan "fans" who are calling for Coach Izzo to be fired. Some are claiming that he's basically the same as Dantonio was in his last couple of years.
I'm sorry, but Michigan State won at least a share of the Big Ten title the past three seasons, right? And weren't the Spartans in the Final Four in 2019?
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Post by Commissioner on Feb 19, 2021 9:31:43 GMT -5
There is actually a growing presence on social media of Spartan "fans" who are calling for Coach Izzo to be fired. Some are claiming that he's basically the same as Dantonio was in his last couple of years. I'm sorry, but Michigan State won at least a share of the Big Ten title the past three seasons, right? And weren't the Spartans in the Final Four in 2019? Yeah, sure, but what has he done for them lately?
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Post by upbasketballfan on Feb 19, 2021 10:48:28 GMT -5
There is actually a growing presence on social media of Spartan "fans" who are calling for Coach Izzo to be fired. Some are claiming that he's basically the same as Dantonio was in his last couple of years. I'm sorry, but Michigan State won at least a share of the Big Ten title the past three seasons, right? And weren't the Spartans in the Final Four in 2019? Yeah, sure, but what has he done for them lately? I would expect Izzo to go out on top and name his replacement. This is going to be difficult with the job Howard is doing at Michigan.
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Post by motorcitysam on Feb 27, 2021 17:37:28 GMT -5
It's been a strange season for Michigan State. The team got off to a fast start, winning against Duke and Notre Dame in victories that looked better then than they do now. Cracks showed in "closer than expected" wins over Western, Detroit, and Oakland. And then the bottom fell out. A loss at Northwestern got the fall started, and they lost four of six. A two week Covid pause followed, and it didn't help. Rutgers beat the Spartans 67-37 in one of the worst Spartan games I ever saw, and expected road losses to ranked Ohio State and Iowa followed. The Spartans actually got a break when the Michigan game was rescheduled, and the Spartans went on their current 5-2 run.
I've watched a lot of the season, and what appears to be really lacking on the Spartans is solid point guard play, particularly someone who sets up the offense, makes sure players are getting the ball in the right spot, and scoring a bit themselves when necessary. Of course, Cassius Winston was the epitome of that, or, more accurately, the best case scenario for a college point guard. The Spartans don't need someone on that level, but someone needs to do a competent job of filling that role. It's been apparent for a while that Foster Loyer was not going to be the next Scott Skiles as some predicted, but I expected him to do a little better as a facilitator. MSU struggles to maintain a flow to their offense, and too often ends up with forced shots. Outside of Aaron Henry, there isn't really another player that good at creating his own shot. Josh Langford is capable of big games, but would benefit from getting the ball in scoring position. Rocket Watts is super talented, but seems to be struggling to find his role. They tried to play him at point, but not everyone can do that. His offense has been inconsistent. No one else has stepped up on the offensive end.
With all that said, the MSU still have a chance at getting into the NCAA tournament. The work continues tomorrow against Maryland. It won't be easy; the Spartans will be playing their fourth game in nine days, while the Terps have had a week off.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 3, 2021 11:58:58 GMT -5
The Spartans dropped that game against Maryland on February 28, and it looked like they ran out of gas. But they won a game they pretty much had to have against Indiana last night. The minimal downtime pattern continues on Thursday, when they meet U of M. The Wolverines will be focused after getting crushed by Illinois last night, so I expect the Spartans to be serious underdogs in Ann Arbor and again when they host U-M in their regular season finale. I think the best case scenario for the Spartans is a split in two rivalry games, but they would probably still need a win in the Big Ten tourney to feel good about their chances.
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Post by udballer on Mar 3, 2021 13:29:34 GMT -5
The Spartans dropped that game against Maryland on February 28, and it looked like they ran out of gas. But they won a game they pretty much had to have against Indiana last night. The minimal downtime pattern continues on Thursday, when they meet U of M. The Wolverines will be focused after getting crushed by Illinois last night, so I expect the Spartans to be serious underdogs in Ann Arbor and again when they host U-M in their regular season finale. I think the best case scenario for the Spartans is a split in two rivalry games, but they would probably still need a win in the Big Ten tourney to feel good about their chances. At the highest level, if you asked me if Sparty deserves a spot in the tourney... I'd say absolutely not. That said, this has been a very odd year and there are probably spots in the tourney for 15-20 teams that don't deserve in. I'd have a very difficult time not including MSU in the field right now. Any win against UofM and they should be undoubtedly in. B1G conference. 3 wins against Top 5 teams. Tough to argue against being that they have a winning record.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 8, 2021 10:47:54 GMT -5
Some interesting notes from the Twitterverse about MSU.
From Stats by Stats: "Over the last 13 days MSU basketball has beaten No. 5 Illinois, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan. The last team to beat three AP Top 5 teams in a span of 13 days was Arizona in the 1997 NCAA Tournament."
From Brendan Quinn: "Craziest part of Michigan State's 5-2 finish with wins over Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan? It ranks 70th in adjusted defense and 50th in adjusted offense in that span (2/20-3/7). It's not as if these guys are playing some lights-out basketball. They just found a way."
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Post by Rogobob77 on Mar 12, 2021 8:15:32 GMT -5
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Post by ptctitan on Mar 12, 2021 8:32:53 GMT -5
However, I bet they still play as the Michigan State University Spartans. Will they put Rocket Mortgage logos on the jerseys? Will that enable MSU to get around the likeness and image laws? Or was this done deliberately so Rocket Mortgage sponsorship money could be used to pay players to play at MSU under the likeness and image laws? If so, then the NCAA has basically become a professional minor league with the have's getting the bigger deals enabling them to pay the better players to come to college rather than go to the NBA right out of high school. Yes, I'm thinking short-term about Emoni Bates.
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Post by Rogobob77 on Mar 12, 2021 19:57:24 GMT -5
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Post by Commissioner on Mar 13, 2021 7:59:14 GMT -5
You mean the women's teams won't become the Rockettes?
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 27, 2021 12:26:34 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2021 13:09:08 GMT -5
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 29, 2021 14:01:04 GMT -5
Wow. That's a pretty big deal. I did not expect that.
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Post by titantarheel on Mar 29, 2021 14:13:59 GMT -5
He probably just wants to join soon-to-also-be-ex Spartan Josh Langford in the Titans lineup.
But yeah quite a surprise to see him leave EL.
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