It is always an interesting mystery as to what version of Izzo we are going to see after a tough loss (or sometimes even after a win).
Was Izzo going to blame the pick-and-roll defense? The poor shooting? The officials? Last night, Izzo took all or most of the blame himself. He was clearly very, very frustrated.
That said, a lot of things simply did not go well. Malik Hall being sick created a major match-up issue for the Spartans, especially if Crowl was going to suddenly become Seth Curry from the perimeter. MSU was down almost double digits, again, in the blink of an eye. As Izzo pointed out, MSU had some wide-open looks early and just could not hit them.
A major issue was rebounding, and Hall being slowed is not going to help that stat either. Izzo pointed out that Wisconsin did most of the kill-shot damage late due to second chance points. That seriously pissed him off and he threatened to pull about the football gear in practice. We will see how that goes.
A lot of folks have asked about why Booker did not play. All I can say is have you seen him play so far this year? We knew that he was coming in raw not strong enough yet for Big Ten play. Wisconsin's bigs would have eaten him alive, no matter what his high school ranking was. He is simply not ready yet. At all. By March? Maybe. But not right now.
A bigger question for me is Akins. He played only five minutes in the second half and Izzo clearly did not want to discuss why. He did not appear to be injured unless he tripped on his way into Izzo's doghouse. Hoggard was reasonably good last night, and Walker looked for a while in the early part of the second half like he was going to hero-ball MSU into a comeback. But I am not sure that he is 100% back from his illness yet either. He didn't make a single jumper in the entire first half.
So, if Hall is sick, Walker is not quite 100%, and Akins is MIA... MSU is not going to very good unless one of the role players (Holloman, Carr, Carter, or Sissoko) goes nuclear. That's just the way that it is.
Also, Wisconsin is pretty good folks. They are clearly at least the second-best team in the Big Ten right now and I think that they played really well last night. That looks like a team who will still be playing in the second weekend in March. The four teams that MSU has lost to this year are currently ranked No. 1, No. 18, No. 22 and No. 23 in the AP Poll. MSU competed will all those teams and probably should have won at least two of those games.
It is not time to panic, but it is time to start to be a little concerned. I still believe that there is a good to very good team in there somewhere, but the chances to pick up good wins are getting sparse. MSU needs to beat Nebraska on the road this weekend, much like how last year they needed to beat Penn State on the road after dropping the home game to Northwestern. Wisconsin this year is a lot better than that Wildcat team and Nebraska is likely not as good as Penn State was last year. Then, there is a week off before the final major non-conference test against No. 6 Baylor. That is also going to be tough, but MSU can absolutely win that game.
If MSU goes 1-1 over the next two games, it will not be a disaster, but 0-2 would be... concerning. If MSU can bounce back and go 2-0, the rest of December and into the new year should be smooth sailing. The Big Ten is not that strong this year, so MSU is going to need to finish 2-3 games over .500 to not be sweating on Selection Sunday. I am still confident, but I am getting concerned.
One more thing. Izzo did not talk about the officiating. There were no serious issues there, but I continue to have a MAJOR problem when teams come into Breslin, play very physically, and yet shoot twice as many free throws as a Tom Izzo coached team. That. Should. Never. Happen. MSU's guards drive into the lane ALL THE TIME, seem to draw a lot of contact, but rarely make it to the FT line. Never in a million years would that happen to a Coach K, Roy William, Bill Self, etc on any sort of consistent basis.
I don't think that officiating cost MSU the game, but it is getting very frustrating to watch other teams consistently get the benefit of the whistle. It has been happening to Izzo for decades now and it needs to stop. I don't buy the "style of play" or "not being aggressive enough" lines of argument. That's B.S. Sorry (not sorry.)
Anyway, here is my full article on Izzo's postgame:
michiganstate.rivals.com
Was Izzo going to blame the pick-and-roll defense? The poor shooting? The officials? Last night, Izzo took all or most of the blame himself. He was clearly very, very frustrated.
That said, a lot of things simply did not go well. Malik Hall being sick created a major match-up issue for the Spartans, especially if Crowl was going to suddenly become Seth Curry from the perimeter. MSU was down almost double digits, again, in the blink of an eye. As Izzo pointed out, MSU had some wide-open looks early and just could not hit them.
A major issue was rebounding, and Hall being slowed is not going to help that stat either. Izzo pointed out that Wisconsin did most of the kill-shot damage late due to second chance points. That seriously pissed him off and he threatened to pull about the football gear in practice. We will see how that goes.
A lot of folks have asked about why Booker did not play. All I can say is have you seen him play so far this year? We knew that he was coming in raw not strong enough yet for Big Ten play. Wisconsin's bigs would have eaten him alive, no matter what his high school ranking was. He is simply not ready yet. At all. By March? Maybe. But not right now.
A bigger question for me is Akins. He played only five minutes in the second half and Izzo clearly did not want to discuss why. He did not appear to be injured unless he tripped on his way into Izzo's doghouse. Hoggard was reasonably good last night, and Walker looked for a while in the early part of the second half like he was going to hero-ball MSU into a comeback. But I am not sure that he is 100% back from his illness yet either. He didn't make a single jumper in the entire first half.
So, if Hall is sick, Walker is not quite 100%, and Akins is MIA... MSU is not going to very good unless one of the role players (Holloman, Carr, Carter, or Sissoko) goes nuclear. That's just the way that it is.
Also, Wisconsin is pretty good folks. They are clearly at least the second-best team in the Big Ten right now and I think that they played really well last night. That looks like a team who will still be playing in the second weekend in March. The four teams that MSU has lost to this year are currently ranked No. 1, No. 18, No. 22 and No. 23 in the AP Poll. MSU competed will all those teams and probably should have won at least two of those games.
It is not time to panic, but it is time to start to be a little concerned. I still believe that there is a good to very good team in there somewhere, but the chances to pick up good wins are getting sparse. MSU needs to beat Nebraska on the road this weekend, much like how last year they needed to beat Penn State on the road after dropping the home game to Northwestern. Wisconsin this year is a lot better than that Wildcat team and Nebraska is likely not as good as Penn State was last year. Then, there is a week off before the final major non-conference test against No. 6 Baylor. That is also going to be tough, but MSU can absolutely win that game.
If MSU goes 1-1 over the next two games, it will not be a disaster, but 0-2 would be... concerning. If MSU can bounce back and go 2-0, the rest of December and into the new year should be smooth sailing. The Big Ten is not that strong this year, so MSU is going to need to finish 2-3 games over .500 to not be sweating on Selection Sunday. I am still confident, but I am getting concerned.
One more thing. Izzo did not talk about the officiating. There were no serious issues there, but I continue to have a MAJOR problem when teams come into Breslin, play very physically, and yet shoot twice as many free throws as a Tom Izzo coached team. That. Should. Never. Happen. MSU's guards drive into the lane ALL THE TIME, seem to draw a lot of contact, but rarely make it to the FT line. Never in a million years would that happen to a Coach K, Roy William, Bill Self, etc on any sort of consistent basis.
I don't think that officiating cost MSU the game, but it is getting very frustrating to watch other teams consistently get the benefit of the whistle. It has been happening to Izzo for decades now and it needs to stop. I don't buy the "style of play" or "not being aggressive enough" lines of argument. That's B.S. Sorry (not sorry.)
Anyway, here is my full article on Izzo's postgame:
Tom Izzo blames himself for a lack of toughness in MSU's loss to Wisconsin
Poor shooting, a flawed defensive scheme and second chance points help to sink the Spartans against the Badgers
