Spartan Basketball: January Analysis

The Spartans head into their second conference game Wednesday night at the Breslin Center. Michigan State has faced a schedule that is second to none with

The Spartans head into their second conference game Wednesday night at the Breslin Center. Michigan State has faced a schedule that is second to none with tough losses to Carolina, Florida and Texas. What else is new?

This is what championship MSU teams are made from. Tough schedules, non-conference line-up changes, injuries and a Christmas holiday tune-up is exactly what previous contenders went through. It is what we have come to expect from a Tom Izzo team.

 

Saturday’s win against the Wildcats says a lot about where the Spartans are at this point in the season. Wednesday night against the hard-nosed physical Badgers will tell us more. It is hard to beat MSU when they are firing on all cylinders. The NU game was MSU’s most complete game of the season. It was a blend of solid defense, good fast break execution and solid ball movement and scoring in the half court.

 

I have said numerous times that the key to MSU’s championship defense is to get Raymar Morgan going early and often. I knew Northwestern was in for a tough night the minute Morgan hit his first jumper. I new the game was over when he buried a three-pointer at the half time buzzer.

 

As easy as it is to see that Morgan is among the most talented players in the conference when he wants to be, it is easy to see that the player with the most potential to destroy an opponent is Durrell Summers. The national media will have us all believe that Manny Harris is the best scoring guard in the state. Manny is special; you can’t take anything away from him. Durrell Summers is an elite athlete that can do it all when he asserts himself. I still believe his is the best shooting guard in the state of Michigan. Seventeen points in fourteen minutes… it borders on ridiculous when you really think about it.

 

The difference between this Spartan team and last season’s is simply a better Draymond Green. If I were to build a basketball team from the ground up, it would start with ‘Day-Day’. The Big Ten’s version of Larry Johnson continues to deliver amazing passes for wide-open looks, he dominates at times rebounding the ball and his confidence appears to be just what the Spartans need to defend their title and reach the Final Four again this season. I love Green’s role as the garbage man. He shamelessly converts missed jumpers into points in the paint and seems to relish his role as a leader.

 

Much has been made about Kalin and his being thrown out of practice by Coach Izzo. I personally believe it was nothing more than a midseason wake-up call that existed between a coach and his best player. I’m not sure it was a news worthy story, but everything is news worthy these days when there is nothing better to report. Kalin is the premier point guard in the Big Ten conference. He is one of the three best in the country and is a Final Four away from being regarded as the best. If Lucas continues to assert himself by taking the ball to the rim and drawing contact, he will make Big Ten defenses look porous with all the weapons he has playing around him.

 

Speaking of weapons, Delvon Roe is quietly finding himself this season. The 6’8” power forward is starting to live up to the athletic billing he received coming out of high school. The explosive first step, quick leaping ability and tough rebounding will come in pretty handy throughout the conference season. If Roe is having a solid night on the interior, Michigan State is that much more potent on the offensive end.

 

Korie Lucious at times impresses me as much as anyone. If MSU is in need of a big perimeter shot, Korie will put it up when the pressure is on. The thing I like about Lucious is that he shoots the ball when he is open almost every time. It is the shooter’s mentality that makes him so dangerous in big games. He doesn’t appear to back down from the pressure and really relishes a big three-point basket.

 

Chris Allen is operating efficiently for this Michigan State team. Allen appears to have found his confidence when shooting the basketball and has become more capable as a rebounding guard. I have been impressed with Allen’s willingness to score the ball inside the paint and become a passer as well as a scoring threat. He and Summers can be the best shooting guard tandem in America by season’s end.

 

Suton and Walton were huge losses from last season’s roster. Early in the year, it looked like MSU was struggling without them. Walton’s defense will never be completely replaced. Suton’s ability to score with his back to the basket is still missed along with his post defense. This Michigan State team is starting to find its identity and is starting to find other defensive stoppers in Morgan and Lucas.  Green’s production as the Big Ten’s garbage man is making up for much of Suton’s point production. He is already a better passer than Suton in my opinion.

 

Everyone loves Purdue right now and why shouldn’t they? They’re playing the conference’s best basketball right now. Have they peaked? I can’t answer that. We’ll have a better idea when we face them later in the schedule. I do believe that MSU has more room to improve and should win the conference if they remain consistent defensively. When you add up all of the weapons Izzo has at his disposal, it hard to argue that MSU has ever had a roster as good as the 2009-2010 Spartans. I like this team, they are getting mentally tougher and the versatility really seems to be paying off. How tough are they? We’ll find out Wednesday night.