If you are like me, you woke up on Monday morning with a serious March Madness hangover. From Thursday at noon, until Sunday at around midnight, you were consumed with college hoop. There were the buzzer beaters, controversial missed calls, upsets, and an urge to set fire to your bracket. Definitely enough to make you feel basketball drunk. Here are a few thoughts from what was a wild, first weekend.
Representing B1G Time: Coming into the NCAA Tournament people from Charles Barkley, to fans of teams in the ACC and Big East were praying for the B1G's downfall harder than Biggie felt his enemies were on Life After Death. They were hoping the conference would prove that it was overrated, and have a lot of teams get sent home before we even got to the Sweet Sixteen. That definitely was not the case.
Outside of Wisconsin, the B1G acquitted themselves well during the first weekend. There were dominant performances by Michigan State and Michigan in what were expected to be tough tests. The conference also had controversial(Ohio State) and gutty(Indiana) wins in games on Sunday. Minnesota got a solid win in their first game. They ended up losing to Florida, in a game that was the nail in the coffin to Tubby Smith's tenure there. Then, Illinois fell victim to a questionable call, that cost them a chance to win the game against Miami.
All in all, it was a very good showing for the B1G in the first weekend of the tournament. There is still much work to be done, but to completely silence the naysayers, I think they need to place a team, maybe two in the Final Four. Nothing that I saw from them this past weekend makes me think that is impossible.
"Gone-Zaga"- The groundswell against Gonzaga coming into the tournament was very strong. They were perceived as the weakest #1 seed, and picked by many to be the first #1 seed to be dismissed from the tournament. Their "Second Round"(still can't get used to calling it that...) game against Southern did nothing to change that. On Saturday night, Wichita St hit the Zags with one of the more special three point shooting performances and sent them back to Spokane. This was all that people needed to confirm in their minds that Gonzaga did not belong mentioned with the "elites". There loss will forever tarnish what was a great season for this group, and give pause to people from here on out about giving a team outside of the "Power Six" conferences a number one seed. The Zags had a great chance to change perception, and blew it.
Gulf Coastin- Filling out my bracket, I placed Georgetown in the Final Four. Needless to say, I expected their game against Florida Gulf Coast to be a relatively easy win. Clearly, the Hoyas came in thinking the same thing, and in the end we both were wrong. The crazy thing is, as I watched the game, I found myself saying forget the bracket, this team is fun to watch.
As a favorite, you can not allow the underdog get confidence. You need to exert your will on the team, and make them feel they do not have a chance. Watching the game Friday, FGCU turned the tables on Georgetown, and made it seem like they were the favorites coming in. It was impressive to watch the confidence, attitude, and borderline disrespect they came at Georgetown with. It reminded me of the year that Golden State was the eight seed in the NBA playoffs, and beat Dallas in the first round. They punched them in the mouth, got them down, and kept beating on them with flair. That confidence helped them to a win against San Diego State Sunday night as well, and set them up for a game with Florida in the Sweet Sixteen. Not sure if they can get a win in that one, but I'm looking forward to seeing how they compete.
Well there are my thoughts as I work my way through this March Madness Hangover. The good thing about this hangover is, you don't have to lie in a prayer, and say "If You make me feel better, I'll never do it again". You simply woke up Monday morning, and thought, "I can't wait to start it all over again on Thursday night". At least that is what I was thinking. Is it Thursday night yet???
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Showing posts with label B1G. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B1G. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Pre-Game Key Components for Sparty
We are hours away from one of the biggest match-ups in the history of the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry in any sport. Both teams are coming in ranked in the Top 10 for the first time that I can remember(or find through research) ever. The closest was the 1999 football game where UofM came in ranked #3 and the Spartans were ranked #11. This game has huge implications in the tight B1G as we head towards the end of the regular season. It is a game chocked full of interesting match-ups on the floor, and should come down to a tight finish. Here are the key components that I feel MSU needs to pull off a win.
1. Keep Appling On The Floor- In some of the Spartans' recent games Appling has spent good amount of time on the bench in foul trouble. The Spartans will have a tough time winning this game with Appling spending more time on the bench, than on the floor. They were able to stay in the game at Indiana with a great effort from Travis Trice. However, there is a possibility that he will still be out with concussion symptoms. Denzel Valentine has done an admirable job when he's filled in, but the offense still tends to bog down with Appling not on the floor. So, Appling has to do a great job of trying to contain Trey Burke without getting into foul trouble. That will be a tall task, but as a junior, and co-captain, he has to figure out how to accomplish that.
2. From the Inside Out- This is a very simple concept that has been around since Dr. James Naismith put that peach basket up for the first time in Kansas. The game of basketball functions a lot easier in the half-court when you can work from the inside out. For MSU, that means early, and heavy doses of Adreian Payne, and Derrick Nix.
Payne is starting to show the game of a guy that could be an NBA player for a long time. He is posting strong, and making aggressive moves around the basket. The Spartans need to look to him early, and try to exploit the Wolverines down low. Nix has been a frustrating player to watch during his time at MSU. However, these last few games, he has been getting buckets at a decent clip. He has an array of post moves that are tough to guard one on one. Looking to him and Payne early will open up things on the perimeter for Appling, and Gary Harris. This will be very key for the Spartans in this game.
3. Defending the Three- The Spartans have been pretty inconsistent defensively against the three-pointer. Teams have been getting a lot of good looks from behind the arc. That can not happen against the Wolverines. They are a team that whether they want to acknowledge or not, live and die by the three. Tim Hardaway is shooting 10-17 in his last three games from there. Nik Stauskas is a shooter that you do not want to leave open, and Trey Burke can bury them as well. The Spartans have to close-out strong on the shooters early, and not let them set. Allowing any of these guys to get going could be a recipe for disaster.
4. Keep The Crowd In It- As stated earlier, this is the biggest game between these two that I can remember. The crowd at the Breslin will be ready to go at around 9 A.M. The Spartans have to capitalize and feed off that energy. A good, aggressive start will do just that. As talented as the Wolverines are, they are still a young team, and have shown that they have difficulty on the road. Quality play by the Spartans should keep the crowd involved, and have the Wolverines on their heels.
So, there you have my key components for a Spartan victory. This game has all the ingredients to be a close affair from start to finish. It is my belief that the home court advantage, and edge in experience will lead the Spartans to victory. For fun, I'll throw out a score of 77-73. Feel free to leave a comment if you agree or disagree. Feedback is always welcomed.
I'm Jimmy L. Wilson Jr., and I approve this message.
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1. Keep Appling On The Floor- In some of the Spartans' recent games Appling has spent good amount of time on the bench in foul trouble. The Spartans will have a tough time winning this game with Appling spending more time on the bench, than on the floor. They were able to stay in the game at Indiana with a great effort from Travis Trice. However, there is a possibility that he will still be out with concussion symptoms. Denzel Valentine has done an admirable job when he's filled in, but the offense still tends to bog down with Appling not on the floor. So, Appling has to do a great job of trying to contain Trey Burke without getting into foul trouble. That will be a tall task, but as a junior, and co-captain, he has to figure out how to accomplish that.
2. From the Inside Out- This is a very simple concept that has been around since Dr. James Naismith put that peach basket up for the first time in Kansas. The game of basketball functions a lot easier in the half-court when you can work from the inside out. For MSU, that means early, and heavy doses of Adreian Payne, and Derrick Nix.
Payne is starting to show the game of a guy that could be an NBA player for a long time. He is posting strong, and making aggressive moves around the basket. The Spartans need to look to him early, and try to exploit the Wolverines down low. Nix has been a frustrating player to watch during his time at MSU. However, these last few games, he has been getting buckets at a decent clip. He has an array of post moves that are tough to guard one on one. Looking to him and Payne early will open up things on the perimeter for Appling, and Gary Harris. This will be very key for the Spartans in this game.
3. Defending the Three- The Spartans have been pretty inconsistent defensively against the three-pointer. Teams have been getting a lot of good looks from behind the arc. That can not happen against the Wolverines. They are a team that whether they want to acknowledge or not, live and die by the three. Tim Hardaway is shooting 10-17 in his last three games from there. Nik Stauskas is a shooter that you do not want to leave open, and Trey Burke can bury them as well. The Spartans have to close-out strong on the shooters early, and not let them set. Allowing any of these guys to get going could be a recipe for disaster.
4. Keep The Crowd In It- As stated earlier, this is the biggest game between these two that I can remember. The crowd at the Breslin will be ready to go at around 9 A.M. The Spartans have to capitalize and feed off that energy. A good, aggressive start will do just that. As talented as the Wolverines are, they are still a young team, and have shown that they have difficulty on the road. Quality play by the Spartans should keep the crowd involved, and have the Wolverines on their heels.
So, there you have my key components for a Spartan victory. This game has all the ingredients to be a close affair from start to finish. It is my belief that the home court advantage, and edge in experience will lead the Spartans to victory. For fun, I'll throw out a score of 77-73. Feel free to leave a comment if you agree or disagree. Feedback is always welcomed.
I'm Jimmy L. Wilson Jr., and I approve this message.
Follow me on Twitter @JimmyLWilsonJr
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