Pretty much the only thing they couldn’t do was get past MSU. Win one game and they hang at least one banner.
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Yeah. It’s more like MSU was just a little bit better and then they faced a hot team that was a bad matchup in the Sweet 16
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Yeah just because of those losses to msu people look at that team unfairly. They were one of the best teams in recent history, just couldn’t overcome their rival.
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Also, we have to remember to apply MSU logic and say that team made it just as far as them because both lost to the same team in the tournament
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And not like that team couldn’t beat msu. They were winning by like 6 with 2 minutes left
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Also led by 6 at halftime in East Lansing and led by 6 in the second half at Crisler 
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I mean, they didn’t just lose to Texas Tech, they got absolutely annihilated. I think it’s fair to say they didn’t reach their potential.
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and obviously they deserved to lose…but Poole got fouled on a shot
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Yeah, it was a frustrating offensive team to watch all season and TTU absolutely pantsed them.
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They should have been better on offense with all the talent and would’ve been the clear national champ favorite if they were.
Not going to hit them for losing to TTU – they got to the second weekend of the tournament and then they got good looks from 3 that just didn’t go down that day. That’s how good teams lose. What does really sting is 0-3 against MSU. MSU hunted Poole and it worked, and that still sucks. Absoutely hate getting swept by them.
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Keep in mind a HUGE factor in all that was Charles Matthews spraining his ankle early in the game @ Crisler. I still think the plan was to put him on Cassius at some point and I am curious as to what that would have looked like.
I really don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that if he stayed healthy and was some form of kryptonite for Cassius all 3 games could swing in the other direction.
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Good point. I always forget about that injury to Matthews.
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What hurts is that in each and every game MSU won with almost no margin of error, or at least in 2 of 3 games. Had to play mistake free down the stretch AND make tough shots AND force us to make mistakes, and that’s exactly what they did. Even without Matthews there. You have to give it to Izzo – when he has the pieces to play his way it’s damn impressive.
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Another just fascinating subplot to the 2013 vs. 2021 is the coaching aspect. JB vs. Juwan would be really fun to watch especially over this hypothetical 7 game series. I do wonder if Juwan’s NBA background would help in a series format especially with a veteran high IQ team.
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No disrespect to Trey or anyone on that 2013 team. But I had more fun watching the 2014 team (and thought we were somehow better). No clue how the metrics judge them…I trust you guys will provide that insight for me 
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I also really enjoyed 2014 (obviously coming from your resident Stauskas stan). Won the Big Ten by 3 games. Big Ten POY. Kisses blown to the Breslin crowd. Got the Kohl Center monkey off the back with a sweet step back jumper. Waves to the Illinois crowd. Levert buzzer beater run straight to the locker room 3 against MSU. 2-0 against Aaron Craft. What a fun year. Oh what could have been if McGary stayed healthy.
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Yeah. I remember one of the first times Nik’s freshman year, he pump-faked a close-out, and drove straight to the hoop for a dunk. It was a little startling at the time.
The other players on the team were so good that it didn’t completely register at the time how good Nik could be. We obviously got to see more of that Nik as a sophomore. Definitely more than just a shooter, even as a freshman in my opinion.
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Was that also the GRIII buzzer beater in Mackey? I know Purdue wasn’t that great during that period, but it was still an unexpected win to me!
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Yup that was the same year! Good times!
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