Michigan State

[mauconnfan]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/roster/_/id/127/michigan-state-spartans

Looking at their roster there's not many guys 6'7" or over who are less than 225lbs..........Nix is 270 and is a load for Tyler........."Physicality" is on their side as all of their guard are listed at 6'1" and over while our 2 best struggle to see 5'11"........funny thing is besides Nix and Appling I don't know much about this years team at all......we know how they will play, physical man-to-man and "hit first" rebounding the ball........heard they were 19-49 or something in an exhibition game form the free throw line??

Anyway just thought I would throw this roster out there to start the week leading to Germany!!

 

[RayRay19]

Adreian Payne is a beast...

 

[mauconnfan]

Adreian Payne is a beast...

yeah I do remember him now, real nice athlete/player and will give our bigs fits........hey who can ask for a better test for TO, DD, EW and PK?? Might as well evaluate against a solid line fast to see where we stand.....

 

[Scot-e]

WE ARE SO DOOMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[husky99]

Seriously may not be popular, but if we keep it close, i will be happy. Their size could be a huge issue. Just hoping for not a blowout

 

[Bezzz]

They didn't exactly blow out their last exhibition opponent. BTW, St. Cloud State are...
the Huskies.
St. Cloud State............... 26 23 - 49
Michigan State................ 33 29 - 62

 

[kelde1wd]

They have struggled in their 2 exhibitions. The feeling in Michigan is that they may struggle a bit early in the season but will probably turn into one of those dangerous Tom Izzo teams come tourney time. Remember that they lost Draymond Green from last year. Could run into similar issues we had last year when trying to play post-Kemba. Just a thought.

 

[upstater]

The entire team is from Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, but for one kid from Wyoming.

Unreal.

 

[Waquoit]

We have a chance if our shots are dropping and the guards get serious on D. They were constantly beat off the dribble by D-2 guys this week.

 

[aceboon]

Adreian Payne is a beast...

Both him and Nix have size and are physical but neither one is really all that good. Maybe they've improved(Payne was better than Nix by a good bit) but they aren't guys you can throw the ball into in the post and let them go to work. Not saying UConn will win but this isn't daunting, Draymond Green was there everything last year, they're going to have to an adjustment period not having everything run through them. We'll need all of our starters to be on tho, as will be the case for most of the season.

 

[Scot-e]

They didn't exactly blow out their last exhibition opponent. BTW, St. Cloud State are...
the Huskies.
St. Cloud State............... 26 23 - 49
Michigan State................ 33 29 - 62

I'm guessing that St Cloud state is not the Huskies unless they have at least three players that may be going to the NBA in the next few years.

 

[AfgHusky15]

They didn't exactly blow out their last exhibition opponent. BTW, St. Cloud State are...
the Huskies.
St. Cloud State............... 26 23 - 49
Michigan State................ 33 29 - 62

There can only be one sensible reaction for this outcome by reasonable, knowledgable, and not annoying Mich state fans:


Fire Izzo! How can a team like Mich State ranked 14 in the nation only beat a D2 team by 13?!!!

 

[Vmpaul34]

Very inaccurate statement that Payne or Nix cannot go to work in the paint and score points. Keith Appling is the best perimeter defender, he is the second best perimeter defender in the B1G behind Craft. Kearney who is the second best perimeter defender on MSU did not play because of an abdominal strain. He may or may not play Friday. Izzo wants to play 10 players. He is in the process of working 5 players into the rotation. Dawson is coming off an acl injury. He looked explosive in first exhibition game and could not find his rhythm in game 2.

The reason Green had 2 do everything for MSU last year, is Izzo had 1 freshmen guard on the roster. He had kicked Korie off the team the previous season ,who hit the winning shot in the tourney against Maryland. Appling was forced to learn pg when he was primarily a shooting guard. Had Izzo not kicked Korie off he would have been a sr. Pg on the team last year. This would have limited Green to rebounding and scoring while the offense would have ran through Korie. Green's leadership will be missed. This is Izzo's most deep and athletic team since his 2009 team that went to the final 4. They are a work in progress as at least 5 players get adjusted to their new roles on the team.

 

[mauconnfan]

Very inaccurate statement that Payne or Nix cannot go to work in the paint and score points. Keith Appling is the best perimeter defender, he is the second best perimeter defender in the B1G behind Craft. Kearney who is the second best perimeter defender on MSU did not play because of an abdominal strain. He may or may not play Friday. Izzo wants to play 10 players. He is in the process of working 5 players into the rotation. Dawson is coming off an acl injury. He looked explosive in first exhibition game and could not find his rhythm in game 2.

The reason Green had 2 do everything for MSU last year, is Izzo had 1 freshmen guard on the roster. He had kicked Korie off the team the previous season ,who hit the winning shot in the tourney against Maryland. Appling was forced to learn pg when he was primarily a shooting guard. Had Izzo not kicked Korie off he would have been a sr. Pg on the team last year. This would have limited Green to rebounding and scoring while the offense would have ran through Korie. Green's leadership will be missed. This is Izzo's most deep and athletic team since his 2009 team that went to the final 4. They are a work in progress as at least 5 players get adjusted to their new roles on the team.

Thank you........so as Scot-e said "We're DOOMED"................

 

[CTGoonie]

MSU had 20 turnovers in their win vs. St. Cloud. Bodes well for our huskies.

 

[Kitaman]

UConn jerseys alone make this game different from those MSU exhibitions.

Big guys tire (at least hopefully), and we are built for speed and endurance. If we can avoid the ground em out game and avoid big man foul trouble we should be able to hang around with positive results. If Ollie goes fast break style with some press creating turnovers, and we can avoid the ground and pound of their beefy bigs.

Tyler has the world on his shoulders with this squad but if DD can run, run and run some more I think we can gas their bigs.

 

[3uconn]

Just saw UConns jerseys on twitter an they look almost identical.

 

[Vmpaul34]

UConn jerseys alone make this game different from those MSU exhibitions.

Big guys tire (at least hopefully), and we are built for speed and endurance. If we can avoid the ground em out game and avoid big man foul trouble we should be able to hang around with positive results. If Ollie goes fast break style with some press creating turnovers, and we can avoid the ground and pound of their beefy bigs.

Tyler has the world on his shoulders with this squad but if DD can run, run and run some more I think we can gas their bigs.

MSU has one beefy big, Derrick Nix he is 6'9, 270 and will come off the bench. Payne who is 6'10, a shot blocker and can jump out the gym will start at Center. Nix will see 25 minutes at Center. Payne, 15 at Center and 10 at the 4. Izzo tried Payne at the 4 and Nix at the 5 in exhibitions and smaller 4 were beating Payne off the dribble.

Look for MSU to play 4 guards at least 30 minutes with Payne and Nix subbing at the 5. Dawson who is 6'6 will start at the 4. He will also play significant minutes at the 3. Gauna a red shirt jr will see time at the 4. Also 6'7 Russell Byrd will log minutes at the 3 and 4. There is one other freshmen big Costello who may or may not play Friday. If he does he will log time at the 4. He hurt his tailbone in practice. Gary Harris will start at the 2 with Appling at the point.

Trice, Kearney and Freshmen Valentine will sub in for the 1,2, and 3 spots. Trice is the backup pg from last year. Kearney has practiced and is playing Friday.

 

[upstater]

MSU has one beefy big, Derrick Nix he is 6'9, 270 and will come off the bench. Payne who is 6'10, a shot blocker and can jump out the gym will start at Center. Nix will see 25 minutes at Center. Payne, 15 at Center and 10 at the 4. Izzo tried Payne at the 4 and Nix at the 5 in exhibitions and smaller 4 were beating Payne off the dribble.

Look for MSU to play 4 guards at least 30 minutes with Payne and Nix subbing at the 5. Dawson who is 6'6 will start at the 4. He will also play significant minutes at the 3. Gauna a red shirt jr will see time at the 4. Also 6'7 Russell Byrd will log minutes at the 3 and 4. There is one other freshmen big Costello who may or may not play Friday. If he does he will log time at the 4. He hurt his tailbone in practice. Gary Harris will start at the 2 with Appling at the point.

Trice, Kearney and Freshmen Valentine will sub in for the 1,2, and 3 spots. Trice is the backup pg from last year. Kearney has practiced and is playing Friday.

MSU playing 4 guards for 30 minutes is very good news for UConn.

 

[SirTravKnight]

I have a hunch Giffey will come to play and give Shabazz/Calhoun/Boat a boost. We need a big game out of Olander to compete with their frontcourt, which can probably be said about the rest of our schedule. I hope he's up to the task this year. I can't wait for the season to tip off!

 

[RayRay19]

we are so doomed...

 

[RayRay19]

I wonder for size if we started boat, calhoun, DD, Olander, and Wolf or boat, calhoun, Giff, DD, Olander and have bazz off the bench...but i doubt that bazz would ever be coming off the bench...

I hope the Germans take over the game...

 

[Scot-e]

MSU has one beefy big, Derrick Nix he is 6'9, 270 and will come off the bench. Payne who is 6'10, a shot blocker and can jump out the gym will start at Center. Nix will see 25 minutes at Center. Payne, 15 at Center and 10 at the 4. Izzo tried Payne at the 4 and Nix at the 5 in exhibitions and smaller 4 were beating Payne off the dribble.

Look for MSU to play 4 guards at least 30 minutes with Payne and Nix subbing at the 5. Dawson who is 6'6 will start at the 4. He will also play significant minutes at the 3. Gauna a red shirt jr will see time at the 4. Also 6'7 Russell Byrd will log minutes at the 3 and 4. There is one other freshmen big Costello who may or may not play Friday. If he does he will log time at the 4. He hurt his tailbone in practice. Gary Harris will start at the 2 with Appling at the point.

Trice, Kearney and Freshmen Valentine will sub in for the 1,2, and 3 spots. Trice is the backup pg from last year. Kearney has practiced and is playing Friday.

Thanks for the info on MSU- I like our chances (of not getting our butts kicked) if we are going 4 on 4 with a guard oriented line up. At least it plays into our strengths.

 

[Kitaman]

I wonder for size if we started boat, calhoun, DD, Olander, and Wolf or boat, calhoun, Giff, DD, Olander and have bazz off the bench...but i doubt that bazz would ever be coming off the bench...

I hope the Germans take over the game...

Bazz is too experienced not to start this game. Of all players I think Ollie needs Bazz the most, they started their careers together.

 

[caw]

Nix and Payne are solid players. Neither are dominant, but UConn's bigs probably rate below solid, atm.

As for the guards, I think UConn stacks up decently, but they are more physical than UConn's guards and that could cause issues with Boat and Napier. Omar will be tested. I like Evans to match up well physically.