Beating MSU again
So. Winning last night was great. And losing on Sunday really would be meaningless. I know Juwan won’t tank this game and rest the starters, but I’d be lying if I said I was not concerned about a blah effort in the last game. We have literally nothing to play for, and this game is their super bowl. They win, they are in the tourney, they lose, they likely aren’t. Izzo will make adjustments and we know MSU is tough and gets calls at home. How are we feeling about the rematch? We have a better team, no doubt. But is anyone else concerned this might be a throw away game that they can sneak out? Would love to beat them again.
I’m feeling like I hope Juwan plays 10 guys in and out the entire game. I personally don’t care if they win but boy MSU better figure out how to score.
“I personally don’t care if they win...”
This is a statement I do not understand from a UM fan. Beat Sparty at everything, all the time. Win. The. Game.
Beating your rival in their own house and keeping them out of the tournament is "literally nothing to play for?"
#1 seed in the NCAA tourney too...
That's a foregone conclusion. Signed, sealed, delivered. Locked up. Done-zo. Clinched. It's not even close.
Unless they meant “the” #1 seed in the tournament, in which case the Zags would have to lose, but we would still need to keep winning
Nothing to play for? It’s state. That’s plenty.
Stopping their tourney streak would be huge! One because F'em! Two, they rightfully use that in recruiting.
Yes. And for the same reason we want to tell recruits they should come play for the NCAA coach of the year. One more W closer to making that a reality for Juwan.
With half the world expecting maybe a let down happens, it'd be a nice feather if he shows he can get his team motivated to win a road game when it seemingly doesn't matter.
I'm much more concerned about the jobbing we're probably going to get from the officials.
If we play like how we did the 2nd half last night, we could play an extremely long bench and still win in a close game.
Hammering MSU and ending their tournament streak should provide motivation. Johns getting revenge on tiny tim for berating on the phone for his decision to go to UM would be worth something to him personally. Davis, Brooks, and Livers would like to return the favor of a 3 game win streak vs Staee. And Juwan gets an opportunity to widen the gap between the programs. Lots to play for IMO.
And as others have mentioned there's a long layoff between Sunday and their first BTT game
Johns getting revenge on tiny tim for berating on the phone for his decision to go to UM
Izzo is a little man in more than just stature. What an asshole.
But I'm always told by the media what a "class act" Tom Izzo is!
I was thinking that last night! That had to be awesome for johns! Winning the big 10 championship after just clubbing izzo and msu! Celebrating and having tiny Tim watch!
Izzo is so classy for wearing teal for a few games to raise awareness after he helped run a cesspool for a couple decades.
Izzo is so classy for wearing teal for a few games to raise awareness after he helped run a cesspool for a couple decades.
Pedal to the metal tonight! Just be intense and take care of business!
I want to see the anguish in Izzo's eyes!
It is impossible not to wish to punish Izzo to the greatest extent possible! Lets call it his well deserved .............life achievement award.
His past players assaulting women ............and never getting charged!
His whiny crap excuses................and never giving any credit to the opposition!
Not a role model to be emulated ..............regardless of his success!
I turned the sound off on the game last night. I do not know why ESPN wanted to show Izzo constantly on the sideline when he wasn't even doing anything interesting, even to the extent of missing some real action on the court.
MSU is pretty much getting every chance to punch their ticket. Even if they blow this next game, they still can make the tourney by winning two games in the BTT. They were on relatively good behavior last night (only two flagrant fouls), but I expect the goonery to come out if they get down big on Sunday or in the BTT
NCAA will use every justification to get more blue bloods in the tourney. I'd bet even one win in the BTT will get them in because they'd have to beat a tourney team as a low seed. Announcers last night were talking about how Duke and UNC are battling this weekend in a huge game to get in because they need quality wins. Umm.. if both teams are battling to get in then it's not that quality of a win.. Name recognition is everything.
A win over a bubble team is a quality win, relatively. If it's on the road, it's a Q1. It also knocks a team off the bubble.
Honestly I don't even think they need 2 wins to get in. I think as long as they win their 8/9 game in the BTT they are on the safe side of the bubble. Maybe if M blows them out 3 times that wouldn't look great for them, but I still doubt it would keep them out. I also doubt we'll blow them out 3 times.
It's pretty remarkable how out of absolutely nowhere they beat OSU and ILL to 100% save their season. Just one win out of those probably wouldn't have done it for them. I know there were a lot of "variables" at play, but the fact that this MSU team got both is pretty incredible.
I think you're probably right about their chances of getting in to the tournament, but if you look at their resume, it doesn't look like a tournament team.
Let's say they lose to us on Sunday.
That leaves them 8-12 in the Big Ten and 14-12 overall.
They're currently #61 on Kenpom and #74 on the NCAA Net Rankings...and they'd presumably move down a few spots if we beat them on Sunday.
How is that the resume of a team that should be included in the tournament? Looking at their record - as well as the fancystats - it's not.
Name recognition (right or wrong), wins against fellow bubblers IU (x2) and Duke, two top 5 wins, pretty weak bubble this year...they are already in a lot of brackets as it is. Not saying I necessarily agree that they should get in but that seems to be the way things are pointing. Hope I'm wrong though!
Really have to hope for some smaller tourney upsets that may steal a bid or two.
You forgot to look at the name on the top of the resume. With the NCAA, it isn't about who the best teams are, it's about furthering the product they've built up with shared hype on ESPN/CBSSports/SI/etc.
I don't think anyone still has them in after last night do they? They need at least one more win.
Margin of victory doesn't matter. (Thankfully for MSU, since a ton of their losses are blowouts.)
If we beat Sparty again, they will be 8-12 in league play, and no matter how strong the Big Ten is, it's tough to justify a bid to a team with a league record that bad. The wins over Illinois and OSU give them a shot, but don't seal the deal. I think they're pretty much playing for their tourney lives on Sunday.
According to Bracket Matrix, they are currently the last non-auto qualifier in the tournament. Listed as the last #11 seed.
I know that their "brand" is the difference-maker...but it seems difficult to justify their inclusion if they lose on Sunday. I think they'd have to win at least two games in the Big Ten tournament to be invited to dance.
I'm not sure their "brand" is even that important. This is not Duke or Kentucky we're talking here. Random people in Idaho or Arkansas do not cheer for Sparty.
What I was referring to is how their "brand" might matter to the selection committee.
To reiterate, I think if they lose to us on Sunday they shouldn't be in the tournament. Their resume and "fancystats" rankings wouldn't justify their inclusion.
That being said, I think the selection committee will give them every benefit of the doubt and probably sneak them in as the last 11th seed.
Keep them out of the tourney. End their streak. Start the sweet Sparty tears about how this season didn't count. Solidify some decommitments from their incoming class. Set up Juwan for 10 more years of dominance. Beat Sparty. Always.
The team still looked sluggish in the first half but I think some of that had to do with how terribly whistle happy and inconsistent the refs were both ways. Felt like we never got in a rhythm despite winning by 19 but I do think we were able to grind our momentum into gear again after Illinoi and hopefully will be back on track. I think if they were going to win one it was going to be last night because I'd imagine it will be tougher for them to get up emotionally after already letting us take the title, especially in a blowout.
I expect Michigan will come out spitting fire. There may not be a lot to play for on paper, but you don't think these guys will be motivated to beat msu potentially the last time they play them? To potentially ice their season? You think Livers, Johns, Davis who grew up playing against msu players don't want to win so they can have bragging rights at home for the rest of their lives? I could see that sort of possible letdown against some other random, lower-tier Big Ten Team, but not against this particular lower-tier team.
When I was a kid I had to eat everything on my plate. And my dad served us so he decided what you "wanted" and what you got more or less of. And my mom always cooked veggies so they were a part of every meal.
Anyways I hate parsnips. I mean HATE, HATE, HATE those bastards and for the love of God and all things holy I swear they had to be either my mom or dad's favorite god damn vegetable because those fuckers showed up on my plate seemingly once or twice a week. And i had to eat them....or else the unthinkable would happen. My dad would set the timer!!!!! Now, I have no idea what would actually happen if the timer went off (the thought of it was too horrible to chance) so I always forced those demon fruits down my throat, washing them down with milk, water and whatever else I could get my hands on. And I usually ended up gagging at some point.
Oh....you were asking about my random thoughts on the game on Saturday, not just my random thoughts in general? Sorry, my bad.
I think they'll try real hard and I think they'll probably win.
Parsnips are delicious. Mom or Dad has great taste and thanks for the timer idea. I may implement that one.
Weirdo.
LOL! Had a very similar experience, only it was rutabaga (sp?) - pure torture choking that stuff down.
I'm Chinese-American and my parents always exhorted me to eat everything in my bowl, saying that every grain of rice left uneaten would be another mole on my future wife's face. (Apparently I wasn't alone in this.)
Anyways, I countered by telling them, fine, I just won't get married. Spoiler alert, that didn't work.
Wow, so many questions. What did Chinese parents tell the girls would happen if they didn't eat all their rice? Do you have a face full of moles? Can you post a picture of your wife's face? Is she mad at you for all those uneaten grains of rice? Are you mad at her for all your moles?
So many answers!
What did Chinese parents tell the girls would happen if they didn't eat all their rice?
Sadly, I don't have many Chinese women contemporaries to share notes with but I think they got the same spiel. There's generally some more societal pressure on them to marry (which is a thing that I think cuts across cultures), but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax
Do you have a face full of moles?
Stereotypically, I love rice so that wasn't that much of a problem. If it'd been tofu, I'd look like the elephant man, because tofu is the fucking worst
Can you post a picture of your wife's face?
The only aspect of life I overachieved at was significantly outkicking my coverage but will obviously decline posting her face on the internets. We've been together 17 years but are not actually married, which might explain her good looks. (Then again maybe her good looks stem from standing next to me as a basis of comparison?)
Is she mad at you for all those uneaten grains of rice? Are you mad at her for all your moles?
We're not all that different than Americans of other heritages in that our parents have incredibly selective memory about all the goofy ass shit they did when we were kids.
Thank you for your awesome reply!
Question: So how do you all feel about parsnips/rutabagas etc. now? I used to have a few vegetables that I would refuse to eat as a kid (mom also employed the timer, and if you did not clean your plate you got the whole bowl of leftovers too). Most of those I now actually love to eat--all the root vegetables, brussels sprouts, etc. The only one I absolutely will not go near even to this day is creamed corn. It came in a can and actually had the consistency and aroma of warm barf. I would never make my own kid eat that crap.
I feel the same way about those horrible, horrible things that I did as a kid. That if hell is real, and have the misfortune of being sent there, my daily diet will be those fuckers for all eternity.
For what it's worth the US Military had a little known, but highly effective, method of extracting information from the most hardened spies to torture. They put a plate of parsnips, rutabagas and turnips in front of them and turned on the timer. This was considered incredibly inhuman however so they switched to waterboarding.
Funny thing - as a kid we had creamed corn every now and then and I loved it. I haven't ever eaten it once as an adult and wouldn't even try now.
Honestly letting our guys play super loose might be the best way to win a game like this. We're clearly the more talented team, so letting them go have fun in a no-presh game, we could win by more.
Since the Zach Novak "aneurysm of leadership" game the series is 11-11, Sunday would be the tiebreaker. Juwan Howard has a chance to start 3-1 against Tom Izzo. That's all the motivation you should need.
Here’s another question. Did we play great? We played great D and I’m sure Izzo will make adjustments but our offense was sloppy. We will probably get a better effort from them but I suspect we can play better also.
I wouldnt say we have nothing to play for. Ending MSU's season is a fun little carrot for this team
Sweeping MSU and making them miss the tournament would definitely bring their program down a notch. Izzo is still a good coach and MSU will most likely bounce back next season. And missing the tournament one year is not a huge deal when you've been so consistent as a program like MSU, but there is a decent chance events like this could also set their program back for a few years. Especially if it impacts recruiting. I doubt the players think about it that way, but maybe Juwan does.
Stomp em out.
I wouldn’t be so sure about them bouncing back next year. They will be relying on a try freshman or Foster Loyer to run the point and they most likely won’t have Henry