Duke 81, Michigan State 74
This is about how I expected the game to go. I had set my hopes high because I know Duke isn't what they were last year, but in reality teams with good guards are our nightmare.It's been a while since I've seen a shooting display like the one J.J. Redick put on in the first half. The guy couldn't miss, and he was getting into the lane too. I was somewhat disappointed that Alan Anderson wasn't given a chance to guard him. MSU used a variety of players on Redick, and he pretty much abused them all - especially Drew Neitzel.
I said this at the beginning of the season, and I will repeat it now. I think MSU has a lot of the same problems as last season. There simply isn't a guard on the roster that is capable of creating offense for others consistently. Neitzel clearly will be that guy eventually, but that doesn't help us now. MSU is a jump shooting team, including their "center," Paul Davis. Rebounding will be a sore spot when we play teams that can go big, as Tom Izzo showed that Delco Rowley and Drew Naymick can expect to spend most of the night sitting when we play good teams. Lastly, our perimeter defense is still awful (led by Mr. Stone Feet, Chris Hill). I don't understand why we give up as many wide open three pointers as we do. Guys like Redick, Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Bracey Wright et al. will eat that up.
On the plus side, I thought MSU went into a very difficult environment and came out with a little fire in their eyes. The game couldn't have started much better, but the last 7-8 minutes of the first half put MSU in a hole they just couldn't dig out of. I thought Anderson was outstanding again, especially from a leadership standpoint. Shannon Brown could really be an unbelievable player someday.
In all likelihood, MSU will play Maryland in some sort of invitational tournament coming up. We REALLY need to beat a good team.
posted by Patrick @ 8:29 AM
2 Comments:
I think you forgot to mention a very important problem in this game; free throws. I makes my stomach turn when we miss free throws but not as much as the other team getting offensive rebounds. Al, Al where art thou?
Tim
Neitzel is not physically ready to play a ton of minutes at this level. I AM willing to be patient. I know he'll be very good someday. But for now, he should not play more than about 15 mpg.
As for Naymick, he didn't play because he can't play. It's just that simple. If MSU plays Grand Valley or Northern Michigan again, look for Naymick to do great things. Otherwise, I'd rather he sit.
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