I posted this on another forum, but figured some folks could use a little bit of insight into this:
I think it's time to face the fact that this Michigan State team was severely overrated out of the gate this year.
When you go over the roster and see Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, Draymond Green & to a lesser extent Delvon Roe & Korey Lucious (expected to make somewhat of a leap this year) and throw in Izzo's brand of coaching, the masses expected more than this team is apparently capable of. Then you look at the numbers of those four:
Summers- Career lows (4 years) in Assists per game (despite most min. per game of career), FG% (43%), FT% (65%)---He shot 46%/80% last year...
Lucas- nitpicking here, but despite playing fewer minutes than the past two years, has lowest assist/turnover ratio due to his lowest AST/game & highest TO/game ratios of career.
Green- stats are up (as they should be with increased PT; but shooting %'s are troubling (56% as a FR, 53% as SOPH, 46% as JR) FT shooting down to 63% from 67% last year
Roe- On a per/minute basis---lowest PTS, REB, AST of career. After shooting 55% or better in each of his first two seasons, shooting 50% this season.
Lucious- Before suspension 2 games ago---just becoming an abysmal shooter. FG % over the past 3 seasons? 38% FR, 34% SOPH, 31% JR... 3-pt shooting? 35% FR, 32% SOPH, 28% JR
To boil that down, MSU's 5 key players are collectively having the worst shooting season of their career, by a mile...
Now, to be honest, I thought they should manhandle Indiana as well, but this team just doesn't have that ability to put away opponents. Take a look at their schedule.
Non-Conference: Lost to Uconn by 3 at neutral site, Duke by 5 on the road, 'Cuse by 14 at neutral site and Texas by 12 at home. Only key non-conf win was against Washington at neutral site by 5. Struggled to put away Chaminade (by 8), Oakland (by 1)...
Big X play: Lost to Penn State, Illinois, Purdue on the road, losing by 4, 9 & 10 respectively. Lost to Michigan at home by 4. Squeaked by NW & Wisky at home in OT, @NW by 3 and beat Minnesota by 9 at home.
That's it. That's their resume. Haven't beat a conference opponent by more than 4, with the exception of beating Minn by 9. Couldn't take care of business against ranked non-conference foes. Just an overhyped, aggressively ranked, disappointing team that is now losing to a fairly atrocious Indiana team in a must-win game at home. Still 7 minutes to go and with any luck, they cover, but this isn't a team capable of turning it on and blowing inferior teams out. With the personnel they have they certainly should have that on/off switch but at this point, it's safe to say they don't.
Hope someone gets something out of this.
I think it's time to face the fact that this Michigan State team was severely overrated out of the gate this year.
When you go over the roster and see Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, Draymond Green & to a lesser extent Delvon Roe & Korey Lucious (expected to make somewhat of a leap this year) and throw in Izzo's brand of coaching, the masses expected more than this team is apparently capable of. Then you look at the numbers of those four:
Summers- Career lows (4 years) in Assists per game (despite most min. per game of career), FG% (43%), FT% (65%)---He shot 46%/80% last year...
Lucas- nitpicking here, but despite playing fewer minutes than the past two years, has lowest assist/turnover ratio due to his lowest AST/game & highest TO/game ratios of career.
Green- stats are up (as they should be with increased PT; but shooting %'s are troubling (56% as a FR, 53% as SOPH, 46% as JR) FT shooting down to 63% from 67% last year
Roe- On a per/minute basis---lowest PTS, REB, AST of career. After shooting 55% or better in each of his first two seasons, shooting 50% this season.
Lucious- Before suspension 2 games ago---just becoming an abysmal shooter. FG % over the past 3 seasons? 38% FR, 34% SOPH, 31% JR... 3-pt shooting? 35% FR, 32% SOPH, 28% JR
To boil that down, MSU's 5 key players are collectively having the worst shooting season of their career, by a mile...
Now, to be honest, I thought they should manhandle Indiana as well, but this team just doesn't have that ability to put away opponents. Take a look at their schedule.
Non-Conference: Lost to Uconn by 3 at neutral site, Duke by 5 on the road, 'Cuse by 14 at neutral site and Texas by 12 at home. Only key non-conf win was against Washington at neutral site by 5. Struggled to put away Chaminade (by 8), Oakland (by 1)...
Big X play: Lost to Penn State, Illinois, Purdue on the road, losing by 4, 9 & 10 respectively. Lost to Michigan at home by 4. Squeaked by NW & Wisky at home in OT, @NW by 3 and beat Minnesota by 9 at home.
That's it. That's their resume. Haven't beat a conference opponent by more than 4, with the exception of beating Minn by 9. Couldn't take care of business against ranked non-conference foes. Just an overhyped, aggressively ranked, disappointing team that is now losing to a fairly atrocious Indiana team in a must-win game at home. Still 7 minutes to go and with any luck, they cover, but this isn't a team capable of turning it on and blowing inferior teams out. With the personnel they have they certainly should have that on/off switch but at this point, it's safe to say they don't.
Hope someone gets something out of this.
