Also MSU is down to #50 on Torvik now. Projected to go 7-13 in conference play
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Not sure I would agree with that statement at all. Watts has been bad, Wagner hasnāt posted a crazy usage rate.
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Wagner has been better than Watts. My sole point in that was that both were projected all-conference types by basically everyone knowledgeable about basketball in the state of Michigan and havenāt been that.
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Still have Iowa x2, Michigan x2, Rutgers x2, OSU x2, Nebraska x2, Purdue x2, Indiana x2, Maryland, Illinois, PSU. Thatās pretty tough to go 10-7 against to get to .500. Theyād have to split all the double plays and win the single plays. Or beat Maryland and PSU, sweep Nebraska more likely. Possible. But I canāt say Iād be confident in them splitting every single one of those double plays.
I still donāt think weāve learned what the final version of this MSU team looks like. If they lose their next game @Nebraska Iāll start to consider a scenario where the bottom falls out
I think our āeasyā stretch is almost over. PSU, Nebraska and Maryland is probably the easiest three game stretch. Next closest is Maryland, Purdue, Indiana. In February, we play 6 straight ranked teams. Even if one or two of those teams falls out of the rankings, itāll still be hard.
No easy ones in the conference this year.
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That ā¦ probably misses the tournament. Last time Sparty didnāt make it was 1997 (Izzoās second season).
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Gotta say itās been a fun season for Michigan fans so far!
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Down to #49 on KenPom who also now predicts them to be 7-13 in conference.
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Watts is 5-of-29 in Big Ten gamesā¦ Wagner is avg 11 & 7 on an efficient line. One guy is way closer to a top 15 player in the conference. The other guy is in a battle to be one of the least efficient high usage guys in the league.
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Puts him in contention for Worst Newcomer of the Week
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And he did it at 20 years old too!
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Three games was a small sample size when we were looking at Franzā three point shooting numbers earlier this season. I expect Watts to get marginally better because thereās nowhere to go but up.
But like I said, Franz has been way better than Watts, they just both havenāt been what we expected. That says more about our unrealistic expectations for Franz than it does his play. My point was Michigan has found answers elsewhere and MSU hasnāt.
I agree with the latter, but not as much with the former. Iām not sure the expectations for Franz were unrealistic, because he has played really good basketball. We just didnāt expect the offense to run through Hunter, thus Franz not being asked to be the Alpha. Our expectations of what the offense would look like were certainly wrong.
To meā¦Franz typically seems like the best player on the court. Hopefully the Nebraska game was a sign of things to come, because I think he is pretty damn close to putting up those first team numbers after all.
If Watts does move fully away from being a PG then itās either the Foster Loyer or AJ Hoggard show moving forward. Not sure either of those instill much confidence in MSUās future forecast.
At this point Watts at the 1 to me is MSUās Johns at the 5. Itās not either of their natural positions, but so many problems would be solved for both teams if those guys could learn those spots. They also both seem to have the right skill set and physical attributes to make it work. But at this point it just doesnāt seem like it will.
The difference being if Johns plays poorly Michigan can limit him to 6 minutes a game, while MSU has been playing Watts 30ish a game.
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If Minnesota was wearing a Ohio St uniform would people be saying anything?
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Agreed. I am a big Hoggard fan but Iām on record that I donāt think heās a 1, I donāt even think heās a 2. He is more like a miniature 4. Watts has to figure it out or they have to restructure the offense.
I donāt think anyone is surprised Watts has struggled to be a facilitator. I am more surprised by his shooting struggles and if getting him off the point makes him think less and help him that probably helps the team. I imagine they will be trying another starting lineup and it shouldnāt include Loyer starting.
PG Hoggard
SG Watts
SF Langford
PF Brown
C Hauser
It isnāt ideal because they donāt have a true C producing Bingham looks bad, Sissoko isnāt ready.
You can have Henry/Kithier/Loyer/Marble/Hall off the bench. Probably limiting Loyer to 5-7 minutes per game and moving Watts back to PG for certain stretches. Their post game is terrible but forcing Bingham/Sissoko to play isnāt going to help them either. Brown didnāt shoot it well tonight but I am still surprised he only got 13 minutes. He probably has more upside than a guy like Marble, Hall is still young and was showing signs last year of being serviceable.
I donāt think MSU is going to end up winning the conference title unless there is total carnage and they get on a roll. I am really shocked by how poorly they played.
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I would start Hall at the 4 over Brown but otherwise agree with this.