Michigan State To Appear In Final Four...Again

Frankly, earlier this year, the Spartans of Michigan State University felt that Louisville was the best team in the land.

Then on Sunday, they decided that was no longer the case.

Now, the Cardinals are gone. The No. 1 team in the nation is out of here. Poof, disappeared. The MSU press was impregnable and dominating and dismantled Louisville in the Elite Eight game.

To get there, the Spartans had to dispatch Robert Morris, USC, Kansas (twice, including the regular season game) and now Louisville. None of those games were easy. Now, they have won the NCAA Midwest region and made their fifth final four in 11 years.

Aahhh, it's good to be a Spartan fan.

Tom Izzo has built a family of players at MSU. Not a team, but a band of basketball brothers, one that will only get stronger next year and in the years to come.

Two games will now determine who is the national champion, and both are in Detroit's Ford Field, only an hour and a half from East Lansing, MSU's home court. Just 90 miles separate the two, making this, effectively, a home game.

The preseason SpartyMSU blog predicted MSU would be playing in the Final Four in Detroit, and here we are. Damned if we aren’t dead on with our predictions year in and year out. Check it out here: http://blog.spartymsu.com/2008/11/18/sparty-round-ball-has-begun.aspx



During the game, nine Spartans scored and the team out-rebounded Louisville 37 – 29. They shot 46 percent, 50 percent from beyond the arc; Louisville was 38 and 37 percent, respectively.

Kalin Lucas may be the leader and the star point guard, but Goran Suton is the soul of the team. Without his guts, and tough but intellectual style of play, the Spartans wouldn't be here. Suton is in the right place at the right time; he is vocal, gutsy, selfless, and a true Spartan. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday. 



Other standouts included Raymar "Break My Nose" Morgan, who threw away the mask that protected his face and played 10 good minutes, and freshman Draymond Green, a wonderful surprise.  Don't forget Delvon Roe (my wife's favorite player, who sputtered in the last two games but crashed the boards for 10 rebounds yesterday. It reminded me of why the freshman was Mr. Basketball in 2008 out of Saginaw.

Also, Durrell Summers is growing into a significant contributor, with his 12 points and three rebounds, while Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Travis Walton shut down Terrence Williams.

It was a total team effort, superbly coached and executed. The key to the Spartans' success is defense and depth, as it has been all year.



When Suton was injured and out, Roe was out, and Raymar was ill for six weeks (all at once), the bench responded. And now that everyone is healthy (except for the busted-up snout of Morgan), the bench is a killer asset.

Against UConn, the bench will be key for MSU. Marquise, Draymond, Summers, Allen...the bench is deep.  Izzo has 10 players averaging approximately nine minutes a game or more. It's talent upon talent, with equal time being shared.

Then, of course, there is the swarming defense.  If they can shut down Kansas, Texas, USC, Louisville, and Purdue, as sure as the day is long they will shut down the Huskies.

Besides being investigated by the NCAA for rules violation, UConn ended up second in the Big East. But with respect to their bench...not so much.  They have effectively an eight-man rotation.  They have talent, no question; a huge 7-foot-3-inch center in Hasheem Thabeet, with 13 points per game and 11 rebounds; A.J. Price and 14.7 points per game; and Jeff Adrien, with 13.7 points and 10 rebounds.

But UConn can be out-hustled, and with the Spartan game of pushing it up court, the Huskies might just run out of gas. The Huskies had a 26-6 advantage in free throws over Missouri but only beat Mizzou by a score of 82–75. If it wasn’t for the lack of hitting the free throws, by the Tigers, UConn would not have won. 

The Huskies are a good team, obviously, but I doubt they will outlast the Spartans. I will post statistics later this week as the game approached.

But for now, I and all the fans will be happy with MSU in the final four again, with a shot at the brass ring and national championship title once more. Sparty on!