03
Mar
| SENIOR MOMENT - OR SENSATIONAL MONTH? |
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| Written by Jack Ebling | |
| Monday, 03 March 2008 | |
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Drew Neitzel hit 3s and a layup when the Spartans hit 100. Drew Naymick boosted his career blocked shots mark to 128. And Big Ten bash-oholic Drew Sharp almost had to say something nice. That’s what happens when MSU plays with passion and purpose, especially in the protective bubble of Breslin Center. For too much of 2008, Neitzel and the Spartans’ No. 1 scorer, Raymar Morgan, were only seen on the side of a milk carton. When No. 11 and No. 2 combine for 35 points, MSU can play with any team in the country. They teamed for 37 Sunday and had more help than Habitat for Humanity. Tom Izzo deserves credit, too, for correcting two persistent problems and coaching as well as he ever has. The Spartans were last in the league in 3-pointers _ and not because they couldn’t make them. To make them, you have to take them, and MSU hadn’t tried more than 19 in a game this season. Sunday, the Spartans tried 24 3s and hit 13. That meant 36 more points beyond the arc than they scored in Thursday’s 57-42 asphyxiation at Wisconsin. The way the game is played today, it’s almost impossible to win consistently without being able to score from long range. Hoops-math101 says you should launch an average of 20 3s per game. As Neitzel and Morgan reaffirmed, MSU’s early outside shooting gave everyone confidence and loosened up the soft underbelly of the Indiana defense _ and that’s not a reference to 300-plus-pounder DeAndre Thomas. The other adjustment was racheting up the pressure and producing offense with defense. When was the last time the Spartans scored 17 points off turnovers and 22 on fast breaks in the Big Ten? In MSU’s five conference losses, its opponents had committed just 44 turnovers. It’s hard to believe Iowa and Penn State are that good with the ball. And there’s more than one reason the Badgers surrendered the ball only once, a Big Ten record. Basketball teams either make things happen, watch them happen or wonder what happened. The Spartans were so passive on defense in Madison, Bo Ryan’s players weren’t pressured into errors. And MSU never got an easy basket. Sunday’s defense, particularly the work of Goran Suton in the post, was as important as anything at the offensive end. If you’re wondering how Travis Walton and Kalin Lucas could team for 18 assists and zero turnovers, it all starts with stops. So what are we to make of this effort? Was it a last gasp of underachievers or a hint of heroics to come? That’s really up to them. When the Spartans get solid efforts from Neitzel and Morgan, stretch opposing defenses from outside and score transition baskets, they can beat Texas, Purdue, Indiana or any team this side of the NBA. When they don’t do those things, they can lose in the first round of any tournament _ NCAA, Big Ten or O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. This much we know: MSU conducted a basketball clinic at just the right time to make two classy representatives of the program very happy young men Sunday. If Shawn Respert’s smooch of the “S” at midcourt in 1995 was the start of a special Spartan tradition, Naymick and Neitzel may never have sweeter kisses.
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Four years of sacrifice mattered.
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