The Michigan State Choke Job

[Franisdaman]

They were gifted the first 2 games of the NCAA Tourney in Detroit.

They are a top 10 team in the country and they can't beat Syracuse, the last team selected for the NCAA Tournament?

They have 2 first round NBA lottery picks, too, and they still can't come out with the win?

Michigan State ends the game missing their last 14 field goal attempts.

C'mon, man!

 

[CanadaHawk]

The Syracuse Zone makes them contenders in any given game, especially at tourney time, vs teams that aren’t used to seeing it. It just rattles every phase of an opponent’s game.

 

[LetsGoHawks83]

Talk about an ugly pushing match. NOT fun "basketball" to watch. Yuck

 

[LetsGoHawks83]

The Syracuse Zone makes them contenders in any given game, especially at tourney time, vs teams that aren’t used to seeing it. It just rattles every phase of an opponent’s game.

True, MSU was in panic mode half the time on offense. Gun shy for the first 30 seconds of every possession, passing up decent looks for contested 3s.

Enjoy watching MSU, not a fan of Syracuse winning. Wish both could lose!

 

[LuteHawk]

Michigan State shot .25% in field goal attempts and
their best player Miles Bridges shot 4 out of 19 attempts
from the field. The Spartans had no field goals in the
last 5 minutes of the game. Coach Izzo did not have his
team ready to play today.

 

[dsmithqc]

Izzo outcoached by his nemesis AGAIN. His record is like 3-7 over the years. Hard game to watch.

 

[bojihawk44]

Awful game. Want to see the B1G do well, but fvck Izzo and Sparty. Good thing Bridges came back to get bounced by one of the last teams in, lol.

 

[ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAWK]

Izzo outcoached by his nemesis AGAIN. His record is like 3-7 over the years. Hard game to watch.

This. Izzo got a free first hand & up close coaching lesson today.

 

[K OKeefe]

MSU just got swallowed up in the Cuse quicksand, aka The Cuse Zone defense.

 

[doughuddl2]

 

[ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAWK]

Where’s the Spartan fan that comes on this board & likes to talk about how good Mich St is??

It’s time for him to come back & hear about how bad Mich St is!!

 

[Jprimus]

Hawks should copy that Syracuse zone right now.

 

[Hawkfest99]

To be fair, msu had a fair share of open looks against the zone, they did ok finding open players inside, not to mention they had control on the boards. Not taking anything away from Syracuse defense, but msu just didn't have a good shooting day.

 

[HawkCapt1912]

Too bad TV Ted wasn't there to bail them out.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer semi-professional basketball team.

 

[Buffalo43]

Hawks should copy that Syracuse zone right now.

Not athletic enough

 

[JRingo]

I would guess no one has matched the Syracuse zone (with the possible exception of the late 1980s UNLV Amoeba). It's interesting to watch at least three players adjust on every pass and see the intelligence to double the scoring threats and trap suspect ball handlers. Iowa couldn't match that in three years of practice, let alone one off season. But... it might be good for the Hawks to at least study it a bit so that we don't end up double teaming the referee and trapping a patch of air.

 

[hawkisak]

Interesting that MSU and AZ, teams that have been under the microscope of late, could not get their act together for the tourney. I suspect there are other distractions.

 

[Cydkar]

It made TCU look just as inept. TCU isn't MSU but they weren't offensively challenged...until they played 'Cuse. You do NOT want to see them in your bracket unless you are an ACC team that has seen them plenty of times.

 

[Chewback]

Hawks should copy that Syracuse zone right now.

We'd have to get Boeheim to come in and coach it.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

glad to see the rapists lose

 

[Stormn Norman]

Interesting that MSU and AZ, those that have been that have been under the microscope of late, could not get their act together for the tourney. I suspect there are other distractions.

Time for MSU to answer the questions and pay the piper.. Izzo May be the only coach or person I’ve seen put the media and legal system on a time table.. welp seasons over now..

 

[hooper56]

Hawks should copy that Syracuse zone right now.

Well you probably remember that MSU had all sorts of problems with the Iowa 2-3 zone. And we are not even that great at playing it. They barely beat us.

 

[ZumaHawk]

The Cuse defense did end up winning this game but even they couldn’t rebound out of their zone. Maybe the ugliest game so far!

 

[K OKeefe]

The Cuse defense did end up winning this game but even they couldn’t rebound out of their zone. Maybe the ugliest game so far!

I would say it was equally as ugly as the Montana vs. Michigan game.

 

[win1forthe]

Not athletic enough

Iowa does run a 2-3 zone, but they aren’t as athletic and they aren’t as disciplined, with one or more guys being out of position.

 

[HawkLogic]

Well you probably remember that MSU had all sorts of problems with the Iowa 2-3 zone. And we are not even that great at playing it. They barely beat us.

MSU shot 50% plus against us and put up 80+ points. Iowa did well against MSU's defense, but I wouldn't say MSU struggled to score like they did vs Syracuse.

 

[428Hawk]

Michigan State shot .25% in field goal attempts and
their best player Miles Bridges shot 4 out of 19 attempts
from the field. The Spartans had no field goals in the
last 5 minutes of the game. Coach Izzo did not have his
team ready to play today.

The rest of the Spartans must have shot their arms off if Bridges only had 19 attempts. The rest of Izzo's gang must have been gassed making up the difference getting to total attempts of between 7.1K shots (assuming all makes were 3's) and 10.6K shots (assuming all makes were 2's). Loyola Marymount and Grinnell College were/are slackers.

Just being a smartass, basis points matter

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

rip me for this one, but i still think the Orangemen should've been in the NIT.

 

[DodgerHawki]

MSU shot 50% plus against us and put up 80+ points. Iowa did well against MSU's defense, but I wouldn't say MSU struggled to score like they did vs Syracuse.

Actually MSU scored 96 points. It was 96-93. Not one aspect of Iowa's defense bothered Michigan State in that game. Sparty shot 56% from the field and 47% from 3. If it was easy to play defense like Syracuse does, more teams would do it. Need to have tall, athletic guys who are smart and competitive. Cuse has all of those. They get into teams heads because the opponent can't get any easy shots at the rim. So then when they do get open looks from 3, the pressure builds to hit those shots as the opponent knows that's as good as it will get.

 

[kcgolfer]

Hawks should copy that Syracuse zone right now.

Syracuse plays with their hands up and active in their zone. Something Iowa needs to learn. Of course, Fran says defense is not our problem.

 

[Pepperman]

The Syracuse Zone makes them contenders in any given game, especially at tourney time, vs teams that aren’t used to seeing it. It just rattles every phase of an opponent’s game.

Hawks should copy that Syracuse zone right now.

While I see many posters commenting about this already, and some have decent points, my question is why doesn't Iowa learn how to play a 2-3 and *ONLY* play that 2-3? I especially think this would help with the hockey lines that Fran insists on running in and out.

But the bottom line is we just don't have good coaches. I can't wait to read about how many people disagree with such a fundamentally obvious point though.

 

[FairfIowafan1984]

I knew they were going to lose to early on in the tournament the second every “expert” picked them to win it all, they always all pick the same team and are always wrong.

 

[spbc7]

MSU had exactly two regular season wins against tournament teams. MSU turned it over at a high rate. MSU’s guards played piss poor defense all year. MSU had one player that could consistently get to the rim off the dribble. I didn’t have them advancing past the Sweet 16 in any of my brackets. I’m not sure what people saw that would suggest that they’re a final four team or better

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

Interesting that MSU and AZ, teams that have been under the microscope of late, could not get their act together for the tourney. I suspect there are other distractions.

I mentioned that to my brother in law that these "distraction" could be too much to handle OR could be a motivating factor to "band" them together. Looks like it was the former. Didn't watch the AZ upset but MSU played just AWFUL.

 

[mtdew_fever]

Was Michigan St really that good this year?

 

[Ronman]

I suppose now 'basketball" is another subject that Izzo will put on his list of things he will not discuss.

 

[TombItMayConcern]

If Miles Bridges declares for the NBA draft as expected, he may really take a financial hit after that performance.

 

[Hawkeyejay]

3 point shooting was Michigan States "Achilles Heel" all year. They only had 2 or 3 shooters that they could rely on and that was marginal at best. What they lose this year they will restock with talent next year unless Izzo decides to call it a day. Michigan St. will always be the Kansas of the Big Ten.

 

[Rustys Dad]

There is so much parity nowadays. Which is good and bad ... The good is you should be able to take a team that may not have a lot of star players and still be able to make it to the dance ...

The bad is ... you see a lot of "not-very-good" basketball across the board ... My general opinion is the college game is waning ... Too many one and doners ... transfers, etc. It's why a smaller school with 4 or 5 juniors and seniors can compete with the big boys ... because the big boys are often dealing with roster turnover every year ...