MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS



  • @wrwlumpy That’s Ratso with “not a real cowboy maa’m, but one helluva stud!”



  • @Statmachine Beware of the smoke & mirrors…



  • United Center

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  • @globaljaybird I am not scared our bench contributed 46 pts last game! How many teams can say that? We are DEEP!



  • @Statmachine

    This is a game that Self most likely cuts the bench in half and plays the guys he trusts because the competition gets no better. With that way of thinking, Bragg & Mickelson will see limited minutes unless sparty successfully exposes Lucas/Mari. Either Greene or Svi will feel the minutes crunch unless foul trouble changes that aspect. Expect Vick to get a Zero on the minutes board…Just sayin this is the Self we know



  • @BeddieKU23 Swish !



  • @BeddieKU23 If he cuts the bench in half you cut Manning, Self, Vick, Young, and Lucas or Mickelson? If you are playing your starters for example and you sub in Greene/Svi the opposing team has to put their best defender on them. They can sub when we sub BUT their best guy will have to pick up Greene/Svi which leaves a gap in the defense if you ask me? A tired defender match up with Greene/Svi and a lesser opponent on one of our starters. Its going to be fantastic and we have 2 superb bench players in our back court to do it with. Then you have Ellis, Bragg, Trailor, and Mickelson in the front court. 3 seniors (two 5th year seniors) and a freshman McDonalds all American. Who has that? Who has a 4th big that is a 5th year Senior OR a McDonalds all American? This team is LOADED. Our Bench is why we are who we are this year and that’s whats going to take us all the way until April. When Cheick Gets cleared its going to be even more problematic for opposing teams to keep up!



  • @Statmachine

    I would love for our “bench” to be one of the reasons this team is a terror to beat over the season. But its the 2nd game of the season and unless our starters are foul happy everyone not starting will feel the minutes crunch. Self has 12 great athletes on his team but 4 or 5 of them better yell at him during the game and say HEY I"M HERE because otherwise some will know where they stand starting tomm.



  • @BeddieKU23 The 2010-2011 team Self had enough talent to give 10 guys 10 minutes or more and KU was picked to win it all that year too. We should have too BUT we all know how that went… Self COULD give 10+ minutes to 9-10 guys this year depending on Cheick getting cleared or not?



  • @Statmachine

    Excuse #2397343:

    “Izzo also said point guard Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn has been dealing with a case of plantar fascitis, but that it is having a minimal impact on him.”

    It’s the old “plantar fascitis” excuse… oldest in the book… 😉



  • @Statmachine In Self’s tenure, the 9th man has never gotten significant minutes except for injury. Rodrick Stewart started when Rush was injured, and when Rush came back he hardly saw the floor.

    I’m talking about the whole season here. Self tends to go with a longer rotation during the fall semester, so I do hope more than 8 players get their chance against MSU.



  • @Statmachine

    I’m with you I’m certainly not trying to argue whats right or wrong. I just know that Self never uses or does what we want him to do. If our bench is playing a lot of minutes, I think it assumes our starters aren’t getting it done, we are losing & he’s trying to find anything that will work. Anything outside of a blowout for us or them, I’m assuming our starters will get 30+ minutes and its going to negate some key players minutes. Hopefully I’m totally wrong and Self understands his deep team is one of his best assets.



  • @ParisHawk BG only needs 14 minutes to rack up 18pts lol!



  • @BeddieKU23

    I’m thinking the opposite… that Self will run a lot of bodies tomorrow. I don’t think he has a clear enough picture of who to play this year and he’ll run about everyone to see who stands out. Plus… he better think about guys not rusting out on the bench. We will surely need most of the 12 guys that can really ball during the season.

    It would be great to see us run about everyone anytime we can. Depth is something that has to be given attention to or it will rust away and the chances of transfers grows. That is a real issue with us because Self’s system takes time to learn. For every player that transfers out we lose someone who we put time into teaching the system.



  • I feel right now- - - at this very moment, today we need to be starting Mickelson, Length, Rebounding, and some rim protection , not sayin this is rock solid, I just think as a starter right now, then follow with Bragg/ Traylor, I lean more to Bragg way more athletic, stretch the floor, I love Jamari but just feel Bragg has the upper hand. So in MY # 5 spots the rotation would be Mickelson- - -Bragg- - -Traylor- - -Lucas, you talk about having fouls to give at the 5 spot, no reason they can’t go out and be really aggressive on the defensive end, the 5 spot by committee right now, then if and when Cheick gets cleared, can always move Brag to back up Perry, again he has range, stretch the floor great athlete. My starting 5 RIGHT NOW , not that it really matters would be Mason, Graham, Seldon, Ellis & Mickelson. Then you got the 5 spot by committee, & you have Seldon, Greene, & Svi at the 4 you also can use Wayne at the point in an emergency situation or slide vick in at the 2 when need be, that’s just me. Call me crazy it’s ok I can take it ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY



  • @BeddieKU23 said:

    Hopefully I’m totally wrong and Self understands his deep team is one of his best assets.

    Coach Self understands this and lets his players know daily that the combination of quality, depth, and experience is what’s going to take them all the way this year. I FORGOT TOUGHNESS!



  • @drgnslayr

    I watched a 39 year old QB yesterday in person w plantar fascitis and he looked HORRIBLE!!!



  • @VailHawk

    I watched it, too.

    Is that what his issue was yesterday? I never saw him play that bad before. At least he got his well-deserved record before looking that bad. Do interceptions count as “reception yards?”

    His backup looked pretty good after a while.

    I hope he doesn’t continue playing too much longer. He should want to go out on top… or at least near the top.

    I have to say that I’m not a Denver fan… I’m pure Chiefs. But I don’t like seeing Manning have performances like that. He has played hundreds of quality games and is a true HOF’r.



  • @Statmachine Izzo scareeeed! 😉 Nah, I mean I watched MSU play their first game. They went up by 20ish on the other team then basically traded baskets til the end. They went for rebounds like mad and played defense well but couldnt convert free throws at a decent rate and if its a foul fest like the first KU game was, that plays into our favor. Both teams have certain MUA’s but I think KU is the deeper and more experienced team and will win by attrition or KU will have excellent spacing and shoot lights out again. KU by 5.



  • @BeddieKU23 Agreed but I think Bragg can help stretch the floor and help on the boards. We need that. Mickelson, Bragg and Ellis out there together are scary.



  • @drgnslayr If this was a game after the 1st of the year it would be a BG12, butt ugly, grind it out, low scoring melee. But it may not be that low scoring with the refs being so flippin whistle happy. I say over/under on fouls is at least 50. Izzo is in the same boat as to who to play that’ll play his game, so I really don’t know what to expect. However, Bill is always Bill; hi/lo & weave, pass it for at least 15 seconds every possession, then take what they give you or what you can take. I’ve really nota clue how to guage this other than there will be copious quantities of whistles and commentator slobber jobs for Konsonants, the Squid, Ratso, & yes even HCBS. Tough enough for me to watch & listen to espn period, so I won’t be tuning in the 1st game, at least not with the sound bar active.



  • @VailHawk I know Vail. I read and saw that on Espn today about Manning. One of the greats to be sure. Breaking records til the very end. It is his end though. He is almost 40. Not many QBs last that long. If he is smart, this should be his last season

    But, what does that have to do with KU ball? I dont see the connection.



  • @wrwlumpy Eeeek. Blackhawks. Clearly an old picture though 😉



  • @jayballer54 Crazy is GOOD. I’ve been call so many things crazy sounds like a compliment !



  • I didn’t get to watch the game last week but the highlights were all transition lobs/dunks. How many points did we score in transition? I had mentioned that our guys were working on moving the ball up the court and posted a video of it and from what I saw on the highlight reel we certainly had some really good moments passing the ball forward. I LOVE seeing some experience on the floor! I think there were more assists in the last game than in the entire non conference schedule last year!





  • I imagine both teams are still trying to find the right combinations but with this game being so big (both teams have votes in ESPN to win the NCAA) and with both coaches being competitive, I can see here both will revert to using tested players and not do much experimentation. Unless the game becomes one sided, I expect to see an 8, maybe 9 man rotation, with 7 getting the lion’s share of playing time.



  • @globaljaybird

    " I say over/under on fouls is at least 50."

    I agree…



  • @Lulufulu

    “But, what does that have to do with KU ball? I dont see the connection.”

    The connection was ‘plantar fascitis’… something one of MSU’s players is currently dealing with, and I guess it was an issue yesterday for Manning, slowing his movement and throwing off his entire game.



  • @Statmachine Don’t recall if it was PSU or Hays but I heard Davis say we had 50+pts on transition & opponent had zero. Think maybe it was Pitt just not sure.



  • Two great coaches and to great future coaches in Turgeon and Skiles





  • @Statmachine Didja ever get your dish feed hooked up?



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  • @BeddieKU23 Lucas was exposed by Northern Colorado. Realize he may have been sick or injured, but Mickelson EFF was solid in short minutes.



  • @globaljaybird you talking to yourself again?😉



  • @Crimsonorblue22 Yep. Thanks Mom… I guess @Statmachine didn’t get the hoot… Never even noticed…



  • @globaljaybird always 👀 you!!💃



  • @wrwlumpy The clock malfunction game which benefited us but somehow Larry got a T out of and it looked like we were dead.

    And that was back when cheerleaders actually wore cheerleader outfits!

    Great work as usual @wrwlumpy, but an extra bonus for all the Chicago pics and Blackhawks Cup banners!



  • @Bwag

    No, that’s just Lucas at this point. Good in stretches for rebounding & experience, still probably the worst player on our team at offensive awareness.



  • @globaljaybird said:

    @Statmachine Didja ever get your dish feed hooked up?

    I have yes but the internet is still down so no espn 3. I will be watching the game tonight!



  • From this morning’s nbc CBT Late Night Snacks scoreboard - UVA, SDSU, & beloved Big 12 Baylor…all losers last night. http://www.nbcsports.com/college-basketball



  • For the first time since we started playing in the Champions Classic I feel confident that we will come out ahead tonight! I thought we had a chance most years but never have I felt like “We got this” before. This year is going to be great! I don’t believe our season rides on weather Diallo gets the green light either! It surely cant hurt our situation but I honestly hope he will stay for 2 years. If he doesn’t get cleared by the NCAA I think the chances are good he stays for year 2 and dominates college basketball! It would be great to see him and Bragg with our returning cast next year!



  • @globaljaybird

    The loss by Virginia was a surprise…is their perfect storm stretch over?



  • I also don’t understand why the winners and losers of both games in the Champions Classic don’t play each other for bragging rights?



  • They should also add Arizona, and North Carolina to the field.



  • Arby’s 5 for 5 player of the day Brannen Greene!brannen.jpg



  • @Statmachine

    Self is expecting Diallo to leave, regardless of outcome he’s recruiting posts like he’s leaving.

    It’s too early to tell what this teams main weaknesses will be. I think Michigan St has the caliber of players to make the Final 4 again but like most years their best basketball is ahead of them so I’m inclined to think KU has an edge right now. Injuries to key MSU players only helps.

    What KU desperately needs is either Bragg or Mickelson to clearly establish themselves as a starter. If we use the revolving door next to Perry we are going to see the same inconsistencies of last year. I think tonight we can mask what Diallo would potentially bring but over the course of the season and into tournament play a player like Diallo who excels at blocking shots, rebounding, and playing unbelievably hard all the time is basically non-replaceable. If Rim Protection & rebounding are 2 of our main weaknesses again the what if’s will have valid arguments



  • I fully expect Self to tighten his rotation up tonight so we’ll get an idea of who he trusts in some key battles. I haven’t read every comment on here so I might I have missed it somewhere above, but KU is going to be without Lagerald Vick tonight because his eye got scratched in practice and doctors told him no basketball activities for a few days.

    In order for KU to win tonight, they have to win the rebounding battle and take advantage of offensive rebounds. KU only scored 5 second chance points on 9 offensive rebounds. KU has to do better than that to beat Michigan St. The best way for KU to win the rebounding battle is to get their bigs in foul trouble and make them play less aggressive. Mason and Selden have to aggressive and take the ball into the lane and force the issue. If KU can win the rebounding battle, they will more than likely win the game.



  • If Traylor is starting plays more than 20 minutes, we are in trouble. Give me Ellis’ versatility, Mickelson’s length, and Bragg’s passing. We don’t have room a post player to get 25 minutes and rack up 7 points and 3 boards while being late on defensive rotations.

    Bring him in, gain momentum with a dunk or block. That is all.


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