Draymond Green Can Lead Michigan State to the 2012 National Title

The adage goes something like this:

Never bet against Tom Izzo in March.

The Michigan State coach, now 17 years into his turn at the helm in East Lansing, has an unfailing ability to draw out the best from his teams each season.

Hence, the reason why we've seen the Spartans make run after run to the Final Four in the past decade.

Since that 2000 national title, Michigan State has been in the last four on four separate occasions (2001, 2005, 2009, 2010), even playing North Carolina in the national title game in 2009. And let's not forget that they'd made the Final Four in 1999 as well.

The players have changed, the areas of strength shift continually. But one thing remains: Michigan State keeps on winning.

This season, they've done that again. Led by do-everything forward Draymond Green, the latest in a long line of stars to grace that iconic green jersey, there's every likelihood the Spartans will find themselves punching their ticket to New Orleans on March 31.

On Sunday, Green was at his all-around best, scoring 20 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, dishing out seven assists and even coming up with a block in a 76-62 road win over Purdue at Mackey Arena. Along with all that, he also played lock-down defense on Purdue star Robbie Hummel.

No big. The kid can do it all.

It was the 14th double-double of the season for Green, who leads the No. 8 Spartans (22-5, 11-3 Big Ten) in scoring and rebounding, with 15.2 points and 10.5 rebounds. His 3.6 assists are second behind point guard Keith Appling, who is averaging 3.8 a game. Green's 1.4 steals are also a team best.

If March is where the stars come out, then Michigan State have a blinding constellation in their No. 23. The 6'7" forward knows how to come up big in the biggest occasions, as his games this season against Gonzaga, Ohio State, Wisconsin (twice) and now Purdue have shown.

Against Gonzaga, which was played at the McCarthey Athletic Arena (aka the Kennel), one of the most hostile environments in college basketball Green dropped 34 points on 11-of-13 shooting (including 4-of-5 from behind the arc) in a 74-67 win.

It was a one-man wrecking crew of a performance, with Green outclassing Gonzaga's own star big man, junior Elias Harris, who slumped to six points on 2-of-11 shooting.

When Green gets in rhythm, like he did against the Zags, there's really nothing to be done to stop him.

His game is so diversified—not only is he one of the best in college basketball at driving and finishing to his left, he can also step back and hit three-pointers (he's shooting 37 percent from behind the arc this season) that often defenders are left simply shaking their heads about how best to guard him.

If he's hitting threes, it's lights out.

Against Purdue, Green was at his destructive best on both offensive and defensive ends. After seeing Boilermakers star Robbie Hummel torch his team for 18 first-half points and helping Purdue to a 38-35 halftime lead, Green ratcheted up his defensive intensity on the All-American forward, and ended up holding him to six second-half points.

Michigan State have lost to some of the teams that will surely be in the national title discussion—they dropped their first two games of the season to North Carolina and Duke, and lost by one point to a very good Michigan team a couple weeks ago—but they've also beaten a number of heralded programs, and they've often done it on the road.

The win at Ohio State was one of the most impressive. The Spartans were physically superior to the Buckeyes in that 58-48 victory on Feb. 11, which ended Ohio State's 39-game home winning streak. The hosts were never really in the game, so thorough was the Spartan dominance.

But Izzo's current edition is no one-man team. All their collective stats check out when placed under scrutiny: They are 13th in the nation in rebounding (39.6 per game), 22nd in the nation in assists (15.7) and 34th in field goal percentage (47.4 percent).

On the defensive end, they hold their opponents to 37 percent shooting, including 28 percent from beyond the arc. Their rebounding advantage is plus-10.

All numbers indicative of a team with a serious opportunity at making a serious run in March.

Besides their star in Green, Michigan State have a healthy supporting cast of additional bigs—Adrian Payne, Derrick Nix and a good collection of guards in shooter Brandon Wood (who transferred from Valparaiso before the season), Appling and heralded freshman Branden Dawson, whose showcase of athleticism on a windmill dunk against Purdue nearly made presiding commentator Clark Kellogg fall out of his CBS seat cushion as he searched for the most apt description of what he'd just seen.

(If I remember correctly, he made a pun about ice cream scoops. Well played, Mr. Kellogg.)

Those six Final Fours in 14 seasons say an awful lot in regards to the team's consistency.

That accomplishment is as much a testament to Izzo's superb handle on his program as his intuitive and uncanny ability to get the best from the talent at his disposal year in, year out.

Often times, his teams exceed expectations. This year's outfit certainly has.

And with Green leading the charge, the Spartans look likely to make some more noise in March. It might even end up in their first title since that unforgettable 2000 team led by Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and Charlie Bell.

Time for Green to put his name alongside those icons in Spartan history.

All material was gathered from ESPN and Michigan State's official basketball site.