Frankly, Earlier this year, SpartyMSU felt Louisville was the best team in the land… now they’re gone.. Poof.. Disappeared.... Their Press was impregnable, dominating..  Goran Suton, Lucas and team destroyed them.  They were Dismantled…

Spartans dispatched Robert Morris, USC, Kansas (twice this year), and now Louisville to win the NCAA Mid-West regional…. That’s the  5th Final Four in 11 years.  Aaahhhh its Good to be a Spartan… Tom Izzo has built a Family of players at MSU.. Not a team, but a Band of BBall Brothers..  and it will only get stronger next year… and the Years to come… 

2 Game tournament to decide the National Champs…  A Final Four Tourney in our Home State of Michigan.. Just 90 miles from MSU to Detroit and Ford Field.. Effectively a Home game…

Pre-Season SpartyMSU predicted MSU would be playing in the Final Four in Detroit and here we are.. Damn if we aren’t dead nuts on our predictions year in and year out… http://blog.spartymsu.com/2008/11/18/sparty-round-ball-has-begun.aspx



Team: 9 Spartans scored, out rebounded Louisville 37 – 29. 
Shot 46% and 50% from beyond the arc, Louisville was 38% and 37%.

 Lucas maybe the Point Guard leader, but Goran Suton is the Soul of the team. Without his guts, and tough but intellectual brainiac style of play, they couldn’t be here. Goran is in the right place right time. He is vocal, gutsy, selfless and a true Spartan.  19 points 10 rebounds against Louisville.



Raymar, Break my Nose, Morgan.. He threw away the mask that protected his face.. Only played 10 minutes, but they were good minutes..

Freshman Draymond Green is a wonderful surprise, and Delvon Roe has sputter in the last 2 games (Roe is my Wife’s favorite player),  Watching this Freshman crash the boards for 10 rebounds reminds me of why he was Mr. Basketball in 2008 out of  Saginaw.

Durrell Summers is growing into a significant contributor.. 12 points and 3 rebounds.
Travis Walton shut down Terrence Williams, Mr. Big Ten Defensive player of the year shows his stuff…
A total team effort, superbly coached and executed…

The Key to the Spartans is Defense and Depth.. as it has been all year.


As when Suton was injured and out, Roe was out, Raymar was ill for 6 weeks, the Bench responds. And now that everyone is healthy (Except for the busted up snoot 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 avg. aprox. 9 minutes a game or more.. talent upon talent, with time being shared…. 

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

UConn: Besides being investigated by the NCAA for rules violation, they ended up second in the Big East. But with respect to their bench.. not so much.  They have effectively an 8 man rotation.  They have talent, no question,  a huge 7’3” center in Hasheem Thabeet: 13 points per game and 11 rebounds, A.J. Price 14.7 points per game, Jeff Adrien 13.7 points and 10 rebounds.. 

 They can be out hustled.. and with the Spartan game of Pushing it up court, the Huskys might just run out of gas. The Huskies had a 26-6 advantage in Free throws over Missouri. They only beat Mizzou by a score of 82 – 75. So if it wasn’t for the lack of hitting the free throws by the Tigers, UConn would not have won.  In Conclusion, the Huskies are a good team, they did outlast Purdue, but, I doubt they will outlast the Spartans.

Will post UConn and MSU Stats this week as the game approaches..

MSU in the Final 4 Again.. A Shot at the Brass Ring and National Champs once more...

Sparty ON !!!