Beilein certainly hasn’t kept anyone on the team who has had serious issues, so yeah, I’d say you’re at most a bit off while your point still very much stands.
Such a strange Big Ten season. Michigan State wins the league outright and has won 12 in a row since it lost to Michigan at home on Jan. 13th.
Only 1 of those 12 wins (home vs. Purdue) has been against a team projected in the NCAA Tournament. And two over winning teams in conference (add PSU, for now).
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Lets see how battle tested they are going into the tournament.
MSU is really good IMO. They can’t control who they play or how bad the league is this year. It’s not always convincing but for every 5 point win at Wisconsin there’s a 30 point win at Minnesota.
They’d be my bet to win the NCAA tournament right now and our win against them this year is as impressive as anyone’s in the country
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They’d be my bet to win the NCAA tournament right now
That’s the thing, though: What is that assessment based on? Purdue, OSU, Michigan, Penn State—MSU didn’t outclass any of those teams when they played. They did smoke UNC and Nebraska, but that was a long time ago.
Granted, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if they went all the way, but we’re all still guessing when it comes to them.
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It’s based on the talent of their rotation. They start two lottery picks (more than anyone else in the country), a dominant offensive center, a point guard that led the country in assists last year and also is shooting 56% from three on the season, and the 5th wheel is a McDonald’s All American.
Obviously they might not win it all or even make a final four. But I think it’s really dumb when everyone is evaluating them off of “who have they beaten?” Their schedule is what it is and they’re 28-3. Duke, Michigan and OSU are their losses…none of which are remotely bad.
The teams around country in general this year are lacking in talent. that’s why I like MSU.
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But I think it’s really dumb when everyone is evaluating them off of “who have the beaten?”
Well, what else are we supposed to go off of? NBA Draft projections?
What I see from MSU is a team that plays hard maybe half the time and continually has to scratch and claw to beat subpar opposition. Maybe they can flip a switch in March, but that generally doesn’t happen.
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I think MSU will win the Big Ten Tournament, I also think they can make a run.
They will lose if they face a team that can spread and shred. With a lot of good guards and a stretch big man. Or if Winston/Bridges don’t hit a bunch of threes. Their other guards are their weakness.
That being said, Izzo going with JJJ at the 5 down the stretch and switching everything today shows me that he’s ready to go all in with that lineup in crunch time. That’s scary for any team and that will be MSU’s best lineup IMO.
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MSU has three road conference wins by 10 or more. They won other games in conference by 29, 30, 28 and 30 points respectively.
So they comfortably won about half of their conference wins. Lots of close ones, yes but any road win to me is a good one.
If the assumption is that this team hasn’t played close to their full potential yet, then that’s a scary thought to me.
As @umhoops mentioned, a team that can space them out is the bad matchup. Or any team with a guard that will feast on Winston one on one. Villanova, Oklahoma, Kansas come to mind. But in general, I just don’t agree with the sentiment that a 28-3 (16-2) MSU team with zero bad losses has been unimpressive.
Wouldn’t mind a rematch at all. Simmons might be able to take advantage of Winston.
I think MSU is a elite team, but picking them as a favorite to win is a really poor decision IMO. You need the guard play. It’s exceedingly rare for a team to be able to win 6 games in a row against high level comp when you don’t have ball handlers
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I’ll eat a shoe if this MSU team makes the Final 4. They look good on paper, but fall behind far too often for their own good. Their bench depth is rather atrocious on the wing and they’re 22nd in non-home quadrant 1 and 2 conference games this season per Torvik and 9th when including non conference. Good, not great.
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Thats a bet that I would take… Their talent is too much to ignore in a down year and if it doesnt transpire then I am happy to see Izzo blow the most talent that he has ever had.
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I don’t see how a team that’s in a major conference and went 28-3 (16-2) and yet finished the season with 2(!!!) victories vs NCAA tourney teams can be described as impressive enough to declare them high odds title contenders.
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MSU is so much better when Bridges is posting, slashing or coming off pin downs. Especially when it generates FT attempts.
His three ball chucking is futile. 0-7 today .355 on year.
Thank goodness they don’t give Winston 6-7 three point attempts per outing. What a shooter.
Still believe that 11-14 day break before any B1G teams first round NCAA game, is going to spawn some unpredictable results.
Speaking of that 11-14 day break, has there been any updates on potential scrimmages?
Fair enough. Who is more impressive this year then?
Gimme Nova. They’ve lost some games as they missed a key starter, but they are really fucking good and have the best guard in the country
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Bridges - Jackson 1-13 from three today. Winston 6-6.
Nova, Virginia, Kansas, Xavier, Duke, Purdue, UNC, and Cinci are all teams I’d put money on before MSU. The latter pending their game at Wichita St, as they have a similar lack of good wins as MSU.