Sparty physicality just too much. Their overall team rim protection is an impressive variable going forward.
Although UNCâs offense was out of whack, UNC still shot very poorly across the board. If they hit freethrows at a normal clip and sink more than 1 of 18 threes then they are in the game and possibly win.
MSU looks very beatable if refs are willing to call fouls when they occur.
MSU is a turnover machine. Many of their turnovers are unforced.
Honestly, i thought MSU was going to be a lot better than they are.
They just beat DePaul, Connecticut, and North Carolina by a combined 60 points at a neutral court site.
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This always seems to be what I say going into every MSU game.
Somehow, it seldom works out in Michiganâs favor. Sparty almost always adopts a âthey canât call every foulâ mentality and the refs get worked over to the point where they stay after the game to help carry Izzoâs bags to the bus. I usually end up cursing at the refs endlessly during and after those games.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
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Not in love with this MSU team, sorry.
Arkansas blew out UCONN very badly as well. MSU usually has the kind of turnovers you can live with if you are Izzo. Because they are fast outlet and transition turnovers early in the season and then it gets smoothed out as the time goes by. This yearâs MSU seems to have a ton of boneheaded turnovers. They are good but donât see MSU as an unstoppable juggernaut.
UM is 7-6 in the last 7 years against MSU.
Theyâve looked pretty good though this year. Crushed some decent teams on a neutral court and were up on Duke late. Theyâre going to be a top team all year. Doesnât mean that they donât have weaknesses, and if UM can keep them off the offensive boards and force some TOs, then we could be in fine shape. Only one game this year, though, and itâs in East Lansing, and theyâre going to put a ton of pressure on us. The team will have to play really tough, mentally, to have any kind of chance.
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Well said.
For whatever reason the refs chalk it up as âphysical style of playâ whenever they are dealing with MSU. It is depressing when our team is the victim of MSUâs insane and strategic over fouling.
IMO, Izzoâs effective strategy of fouling more than the other team is bad for basketballâŚIzzo is bad for basketball. Sorry, izz, just my opinion.
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Thatâs true, but to be fair Sparty has taken 5 of the last 6 games. In the MSU wins in that stretch, only once was Michigan able to keep the final margin to single digits. Blame recency bias for my take if you like.
That said, I enjoyed the first half of last yearâs game in A2 so damn much. Exercised some demons with that one.
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Four of those five MSU wins were against injury plagued Michigan teams. One was a game we lead until the last couple of minutes in EL with Spike on two bad hips as our full time PG. When the talent on the floor has been more even, weâve been better than them.
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You can always look at things different ways. UM outscored MSU by 21 over two games last year. So, while I agree with you that sometimes MSU gets away with âaggressiveâ D that puts the pressure on refs to actually call fouls, once JB got his program here going heâs had fine results against MSU and his better (i.e., non-decimated) UM teams have fared even better.
âŚand this is what Iâd like to get back toâwhich I admit is still a hijacking of the thread and subject to Dylan jettisoning these posts into the voidâmoreso than Coach Bâs record vs. Sparty. Even in Michigan victories, Stateâs M.O. is to play so physically that only the most egregious fouls are called, whether a result of ref intimidation or Sparty taking advantage of refsâ inclination to not give a player their third foul in the first half or fifth foul in the second half.
This is why I felt compelled to respond to GTFOMC when he said âMSU looks very beatable if refs are willing to call fouls when they occur.â Thatâs a statement that shouldnât need to be said but makes perfect sense to those of us who have watched too many games where Sparty has been allowed to play like that one spastic kid we all played against back in middle school.
Anyhoo, Iâm cool with us all going back to taking B1G-ACC games this week.
This has often been their M.O. in football, too. Oftenâacross sportsâthe less talented team adopts a bullying stance against finesse teams. But while it may have brought MSU relative success in both sports, I wonder if it has paid off on the highest stage for Izzo. Arguably it has not.
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I think the titles would argue that is has paid off.
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Title*, if weâre talking about Izzoâs philosophy.
I guess if winning one title means it has âpaid offâ then sure, it has. I get that opinion and itâs certainly legitimate. Iâd give a lot to see Michigan win one in either sport. However, since that title theyâve lost a lot of final fours (many of them in blowout fashion), which yes, getting there is impressive, but certainly not the ultimate goal, and theyâve won only 4 Big Ten championships in 17 seasons. For a program thatâs supposedly on the edge or part of the blue bloods, I donât think 4 conference titles in the 17 seasons since their last national championship is very good.
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Iâve always wondered if there is any evidence to support the idea that âphysical teamsâ are rewarded in the first few rounds of NCAA tournament because of the unspoken need to keep games on scheduleâso the physical team gets away with some of their fouling without a punishment. Also, Iâve wondered if there is a disadvantage to playing more physically in the final four because of an unspoken need/incentive for longer games because stopping a game and making it longer gives more opportunity for more commercials. Sorryâthis belongs in a conspiracy theory threadâŚ
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Come on man. We would all probably sacrifice a pinky toe for Michigan to have Izzoâs record over the last 20 years. I think its silly for us to try and down play it any way, shape or form.
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Keep your hands off my pinky toe.
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Iâve never thought about that but I buy it.
Also I enjoy refs who let physical hoops go.
Wisconsin dropped a whopping 37 points against Virginia tonight! Shot 31% from the floor. Theyâre 3-4 now with a big game against Ohio State coming this weekend
The B1G is off to a very slow start to OOC play. Unless things turn around soon, the conference could be capping itself off at 5 tourney teams? Likely too much in-conference blood-letting for more teams than that to build strong resumes?