MBB: Michigan State 82, Connecticut 73

[House G]

What a physical first half! I can't help but think about the contrast in the quickness and strength of these guys vs. those on Duke's team. It further reinforces our weaknesses and suggests that finesse teams will have difficulty getting to the Final Four/winning a national championship.

[Newton_14]

Is it my imagination or does MSU hack like crazy on every possession? On the play in the first half that led to the scrum, Price got fouled like 3 times before Adrien finally got arm wrestled to the floor...

[_Gary]

Is it my imagination or does MSU hack like crazy on every possession? On the play in the first half that led to the scrum, Price got fouled like 3 times before Adrien finally got arm wrestled to the floor...

Absolutely! I hate UConn about as much as I do UNC, but I'm no fan of Izzo's football tactics. Whenever I watch a game MSU is involved in I never feel like I watched a basketball game. More like some bizarre version of "Rollerball" or something.

And of course, it's pretty obvious MSU is going to win this game. UNC will of course dispatch of 'Nova and then in the championship game MSU will play nothing like they are tonight (having shot all their wads in this game) and the stinkin' Tarholes will waltz to an easy victory. Remember, you read it here first.

[House G]

Is it my imagination or does MSU hack like crazy on every possession? On the play in the first half that led to the scrum, Price got fouled like 3 times before Adrien finally got arm wrestled to the floor...
There is no doubt the zebras have let them play. If MSU were not so deep, they would be in serious foul trouble.

[SMO]

There is no doubt the zebras have let them play. If MSU were not so deep, they would be in serious foul trouble.

Did anyone just see Summers' dunk??? That was unreal!:eek:

[_Gary]

The other thing I've noticed over the course of this game is that literally every bounce of the ball has gone to MSU. True, they hustled and created some of the bounces, but they've also gotten a ton of fortunate bounces. No doubt they are "destined" in this one.

[mgtr]

4:12 to go, State up by 8. This game isn't over yet. I expected UConn to run away with it -- hasn't happened.

[_Gary]

4:12 to go, State up by 8. This game isn't over yet. I expected UConn to run away with it -- hasn't happened.

It's over now!

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

The other thing I've noticed over the course of this game is that literally every bounce of the ball has gone to MSU. True, they hustled and created some of the bounces, but they've also gotten a ton of fortunate bounces. No doubt they are "destined" in this one.

The MSU players may believe they are destined. Consider all the "to do"made over the 30th. anniversary of the MSU - Indiana state game.

It's an exciting game whether you like the way it's gone or not.

[House G]

Calhoun getting a taste of his own medicine--he can't buy a call!

[loran16]

Amazingly, CBS found it.

The One camera angle that hadn't been seen previously that is WORSE than any other shot possible.

(I'm talking of course about the ceiling/20foothigh/eye-vision cam. MSU shot a 3 and drained it and you coulndnt even SEE THE SHOOTER IN THE CORNER. That's just awful).

[_Gary]

The MSU players may believe they are destined. Consider all the "to do"made over the 30th. anniversary of the MSU - Indiana state game.

It's an exciting game whether you like the way it's gone or not.

Well, I was only interested in see the team in the Finals that I felt could be the Heels, and that was UConn. I'm just concerned that MSU will play nowhere near the level they've played tonight and UNC will win in a runaway on Monday. If not for the Holes factor I'd be thoroughly enjoying seeing the Huskies get their comeuppance in spite of the fact that I do genuinely dislike Izzo's style of play.

[Newton_14]

Did anyone just see Summers' dunk??? That was unreal!:eek:

Yeah, I saw it. Look up the definition of "Posterized" and that dunk pretty much defines it... Nasty

[mph]

Well, I was only interested in see the team in the Finals that I felt could be the Heels, and that was UConn. I'm just concerned that MSU will play nowhere near the level they've played tonight and UNC will win in a runaway on Monday. If not for the Holes factor I'd be thoroughly enjoying seeing the Huskies get their comeuppance in spite of the fact that I do genuinely dislike Izzo's style of play.

I just can't get upset about UConn losing even if it improves Carolina's chances. I really, really, really don't want Carolina to win, but I at least respect the way they run their program. Now Carolina has to go through two respectable programs to win a championship and I can cheer for both of them with a clean conscience. Go 'Nova!

[_Gary]

I was only interested in see the team in the Finals that I felt could be the Heels...

Obviously that should have read "beat the Heels."

[mgtr]

I'm guessing that a fair amount of money changed hands on that one! Good game for State, like to see them play Villanova!

[rthomas]

Doesn't get better. Calhoun should resign. Get a real coach in there.

[House G]

I'm not so sure Izzo's gang can't compete with the Heels--after all, the Heels aren't in Greensboro anymore.

[moonpie23]

Doesn't get better. Calhoun should resign. Get a real coach in there.


dood...he's got two rings already.....he IS a real coach...

[fisheyes]

My worst nightmare has been averted.....no UCONN vs UNC. Living in CT it would have been a nightmare either way it went. GO NOVA!!!

[moonpie23]

for the paranoid amongst us.....if you buy into CBS having ANYTHING to do with the officiating of the final 4.........well.....they HAVE their underdog....now they need their ratings team...


i'm not saying....i'm just saying...:eek:

[devildownunder]

The other thing I've noticed over the course of this game is that literally every bounce of the ball has gone to MSU. True, they hustled and created some of the bounces, but they've also gotten a ton of fortunate bounces. No doubt they are "destined" in this one.

Bounces tend to go your way when you greatly outhustle your opponent.

Destiny? C'mon. They're waaaay quicker than Uconn with exception of Price and Walker. They outworked Uconn and wanted those loose balls more.

No fate but what we make!

[Travi_K]

This could potentially be the end of the UCON power house that we have seen over the years. (Tark @ UNLV to a smaller extent) If some of these allegations are deemed to be true, we may not see UCON for a while with any resemblance of the success they have had. I am not 100% sure who is advising Darius Smith but I would be hard pressed to commit to a school that could potentially be put under pretty serious punishment. I am not sure if he signed a letter or not but I know we were looking at him.

[captmojo]

Detroit is upset city, baby. Can't ya just smell it? :)

[Greg_Newton]

I just can't get upset about UConn losing even if it improves Carolina's chances. I really, really, really don't want Carolina to win, but I at least respect the way they run their program. Now Carolina has to go through two respectable programs to win a championship and I can cheer for both of them with a clean conscience. Go 'Nova!

It's funny, I can't remember the last time I watched a game that had such a "good guys vs bad guys" feel. On the one hand, you've got MSU - the likeable, overachieving hometown heroes with the hopes of a devastated city on their shoulders. On the other hand, you've got big, bad UConn - embroiled in controversy over their recruiting and full of NBA talent, including the cocky/thuggish Thabeet and Adrien and the shady Price. Sure, I would have liked to see Thabeet and Adrien push around Carolina a little bit, but it did just feel like the "right" team won today.

I know UConn will say the recruiting controversy didn't affect them at all, but I don't buy that for a second.

[willowglen]

I can see why Coach K says such nice things about Izzo. I have heard them often enough on Coach K's radio show - I hear it on satellite radio on Sunday mornings -- to think they are sincere.

Yes, Izzo's team plays a rough style of basketball. But the Big 10 has played this style for years. I grew up watching Purdue and Indiana play on grainy UHF channels in Chicago (Illinois was always on probation so they weren't on much), and the style of basketball was similar. It is and always has been the most physical brand of college basketball. (My first Duke home game as a student was a G-man versus Ralph Sampson match-up, and I thought the finesse and quickness of the game a more entertaining product than a typical Big 10 game).

In any event, I was impressed by the coaching job today. Michigan State crashed the boards against frankly a more talented team, and really impressed me with the high quality shots they took with an offense that more or less relentlessly forced the ball very aggressively inside. And they ran when they could when their rebounds set it up. The first 10 minutes had me thinking that they would win the game - statistically they were just getting easier shots. My wife and fellow Dukie typically only focuses on games with teams she likes (not a great Final 4 for her), but she was making the same comments as I was today about MSU.

Maybe a different game if UConn's guards did well - the tourney is mostly a guards game and most teams live and die by the quality of their guard play. But credit again goes to MSU.

[_Gary]

Bounces tend to go your way when you greatly outhustle your opponent.

Destiny? C'mon. They're waaaay quicker than Uconn with exception of Price and Walker. They outworked Uconn and wanted those loose balls more.

No fate but what we make!

We will agree to disagree on this one. I acknowledged that MSU outhoustled UConn for some of the loose balls. But no way did they get every loose ball because of hustle. They DID get some lucky bounces, and some of those were at very opportune moments where the momentum was about to shift toward UConn. I distinctly remember these type of plays in both halves. But whatever. I just hope MSU comes and plays just as hard and shoots just as well on Monday if they are playing the Heels. But I don't think they will. I have a bad feeling they will play very poorly and UNC will win in a runaway.

[fisheyes]

I have a bad feeling they will play very poorly and UNC will win in a runaway.

Go NOVA!!!!

[Virginian]

I can see why Coach K says such nice things about Izzo. I have heard them often enough on Coach K's radio show - I hear it on satellite radio on Sunday mornings -- to think they are sincere.

Yes, Izzo's team plays a rough style of basketball. But the Big 10 has played this style for years. I grew up watching Purdue and Indiana play on grainy UHF channels in Chicago (Illinois was always on probation so they weren't on much), and the style of basketball was similar. It is and always has been the most physical brand of college basketball. (My first Duke home game as a student was a G-man versus Ralph Sampson match-up, and I thought the finesse and quickness of the game a more entertaining product than a typical Big 10 game).

In any event, I was impressed by the coaching job today. Michigan State crashed the boards against frankly a more talented team, and really impressed me with the high quality shots they took with an offense that more or less relentlessly forced the ball very aggressively inside. And they ran when they could when their rebounds set it up. The first 10 minutes had me thinking that they would win the game - statistically they were just getting easier shots. My wife and fellow Dukie typically only focuses on games with teams she likes (not a great Final 4 for her), but she was making the same comments as I was today about MSU.

Maybe a different game if UConn's guards did well - the tourney is mostly a guards game and most teams live and die by the quality of their guard play. But credit again goes to MSU.

Then his team goes up by 10 with 3 minutes to play and doesn't bother passing the ball even once on offense. Oh well, they pulled it out. And the last guy holding the ball had the good grace not to take it to the hoop in the final seconds as he surely could have.

And how about that foul disparity! UConn shot about 30 free throws to MSU's 10 at one point. Okay, so I haven't seen the box score yet, but the disparity was so huge that had it been in Duke's favor we'd have been hearing the blowback for at least the next 10 years if we had won.

In any case, down with UConn. Sweet! I love it.

But why did Kellogg give that big wet kiss to Calhoun halfway through the game, insisting that he brought UConn out of obscurity with his always-clean program? Kellogg assured the world that when the NCAA investigation is over UConn will be found blameless as always. Why go out on a limb like that for Calhoun? Just weird.

[blueduke59]

No way MSU plays as well Monday night. Just watch that game be called much closer. Suton had a below average game. Maybe he'll have a monster game vs UNC. Doubt if MSU's guards shoot as well. On a side note I HATE watching games in domes.

[slower]

I will record Monday's game and ONLY watch it later if Mich. State wins. There are some things I don't EVER want occupying space in my mind or memory.

[Coballs]

But why did Kellogg give that big wet kiss to Calhoun halfway through the game, insisting that he brought UConn out of obscurity with his always-clean program? Kellogg assured the world that when the NCAA investigation is over UConn will be found blameless as always. Why go out on a limb like that for Calhoun? Just weird.


My thoughts exactly at the time. There has always been a stench about Calhoun and UConn. Why was he so positive and confident about Calhoun's tactics and record? Where there's smoke......

[weezie]

[QUOTE=Gary;282861UNC will of course dispatch of 'Nova and then in the championship game MSU will play nothing like they are tonight (having shot all their wads in this game) and the stinkin' Tarholes will waltz to an easy victory. Remember, you read it here first.[/QUOTE]

Ok, yeah..without the yuck factor of course.

Darkness will cover the earth.

[NYDukie]

Basically UConn got punked! Kind of like the bully who gets stood up to. MSU took it to them and they didn't like it, similar to how Pitt did it to them twice. Did you see how many times a UConn player whined to the officials when they thought they were fouled? Yet they went to the line about 30 times while it seemed half of MSU rotation guys were one foul from fouling out.

Oh and to add more fuel to fire, I read an article a couple of weeks ago regarding free-throw disparity and that UConn I believe was #1 in that. They had a quote from Calhoun regarding this and to paraphrase, he said "it's nice to go into a game knowing we're up 8 pts already" Hey Calhoun, it's only nice if you make them!!!

[HoopsFan]

It's funny, I can't remember the last time I watched a game that had such a "good guys vs bad guys" feel. On the one hand, you've got MSU - the likeable, overachieving hometown heroes with the hopes of a devastated city on their shoulders. On the other hand, you've got big, bad UConn - embroiled in controversy over their recruiting and full of NBA talent, including the cocky/thuggish Thabeet and Adrien and the shady Price. Sure, I would have liked to see Thabeet and Adrien push around Carolina a little bit, but it did just feel like the "right" team won today.

I know UConn will say the recruiting controversy didn't affect them at all, but I don't buy that for a second.
Thuggish Thabeet? I've seen him play all year, thuggish doesn't describe his play.

[dukemsu]

Well, I was only interested in see the team in the Finals that I felt could be the Heels, and that was UConn. I'm just concerned that MSU will play nowhere near the level they've played tonight and UNC will win in a runaway on Monday. If not for the Holes factor I'd be thoroughly enjoying seeing the Huskies get their comeuppance in spite of the fact that I do genuinely dislike Izzo's style of play.

Wow. Can't say I don't have a rooting interest as I obviously do, but I don't agree with some of the statements about State hacking every play. If they do, well, so does Villanova. Very similar defensive style where they are in your shirt. But it's not like State's a football team. They ran a very athletic and high-scoring team to death tonight.

I thought State had played their best game against Louisville. I was wrong as they were even better tonight. I don't think they will beat Carolina, but I'd be stunned if we see another 35 point runaway. I think UNC wins but State pushes them harder than Villanova did. The only teams that I thought could beat UNC at this point were Pitt and UConn.

I'm not going to turn this into a Sparty defense thread, but State has beaten three very good teams in succession to reach the point they are at. They aren't pushovers, and they aren't here by accident. They earned their place.

dukemsu

[Lulu]

I'm just too happy about UConn being out to not contribute a post. At least UNC-UCon was avoided; the only part of me that wanted to see that is a tiny little part that wanted to see Thabeet end Hansbrough's NBA career before it even got started. And anything that put more of a spotlight on UConn's violations wouldn't have been bad either.

Mixed feelings on Izzo, but not when he's playing UNC. This was probably the 2nd worst finals option, but at least there's still a chance things could go right. God forbid the holes get 2 titles since our last. I don't know how MSU can possible pull it off though, the refs will have to really let them play, and they'll still probably need a hot night shooting while UNC goes cold. I'd rarely say this, but GO MSU!

[BD80]

I was at the game, maybe not in the same area code as the court, but in the stadium. It was difficult to determine what happened around the 4:00 mark in the second half. I believe MSU was up by eight and uCon put up a shot around the basket. The scorekeeper seemed to lose it, first giving credit to MSU for the basket, showing a ten point lead, then deducting the 2 points, then crediting uCon with the bucket - cutting the lead to six, then uCon shot TWO free throws to reduce the lead to four!

What happened on the play?

Between games I found they sell earpiece radios that will let you hear the Westwood broadcast or either of the team broadcasts. It is funny how loud the microphones are on the rims, but due to the distance to our seats and the difference between the speed of light and sound, we hear the clang of the rim halfway into the next possession.

GO SPARTANS !!!!!

[longtimefan]

Uconvict is gone so im happy.i will however take the unpopular role and stick with the acc till the end.even though its U.N.C.i believe that a acc team winning the whole thing helps the conference.

[Namtilal]

From ESPN:


But the disappointment of losing to the underdog Spartans, coupled with frustration over allegations that Calhoun's program violated NCAA recruiting rules, bubbled over after the Huskies' 82-73 loss to Michigan State in the national semifinals on Saturday night.

"Those kind of things, that's why Dean Smith told me at 67 he got out," Calhoun said, referring to North Carolina's retired Hall of Fame coach. "It wasn't basketball. It was the other things."


Sorry, Jim, but Dean wasn't referring to getting caught running a program that gives grossly improper benefits to high schoolers when he referenced 'those kind of things.'

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney09/news/story?id=4043021

[Greg_Newton]

Thuggish Thabeet? I've seen him play all year, thuggish doesn't describe his play.

Maybe it's just me, but I really don't like how he plays. Always throwing elbows and pushing people after rebounds, always subtly taunting and trying to "punk" people. His comments about other big men being soft earlier this year probably helped color my impression of him. I'm just not a big fan.