Drew Neitzel really made a name for himself with an 18 ppg season in '06-07, but he hasn't been playing the same caliber of basketball yet this season. I'm not sure what to attribute his decline to, but every night State greatly relies on his offensive contributions, and he rarely delivers. Just look at his first two Big Ten games - 33 minutes, 2-11 FG, 0-0 FT, 0-6 3pt, 4 pts, 3 rbs, 7 asts 34 minutes, 3-8 FG, 2-2 FT, 1-2 3pt, 9 pts, 4 rbs, 5 asts His minutes are down, but his touches are up, and while he's still a great distributor with one of the NCAA's best A/TO ratios, he's not providing the same spark for the Spartans offensively. You could attribute it to all the new weapons State has offensively, but I don't think that's it at all. In fact, I think it works the other way, in that Neitzel used to be the focal point of defensive pressures last season, and now there's less attention on him. Neitzel's getting more touches, and he's still the Spartans' offensive focal point. He's getting good looks, but he's missing a lot of them, and it seems like the type of looks he's getting this season are better, more open looks. Point is, the Spartans aren't the same team when Neitzel plays like he's been playing as of late. In their conference openers, at home, they only beat Minnesota by six and Purdue by three in a game that came down to the wire. I'm really questioning whether he can lead this team to a Big Ten title, and I'd almost advocate sharing more of his minutes with Kalin Lucas.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ Jan 9 2008, 06:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>that's what happens when you rely on a white guy under 6-8</div> Maybe in the pro's, but c'mon, we're talking college ball, a landscape that little J.J. Redick dominated for four years.
If its just missing open shots, than I wouldn't be overly worried. That sounds like a shooting slump more than anything and Neitzel's a good enough player to break out of one eventually. I'm just looking his overall stats, though, and it looks like he's taken on more of a playmaker role this season. He's shooting less often, racking up more assists, and barely turning the ball over. And the team is scoring a lot more than last season and more players are contributing. I haven't had the chance to see him this season, so I'm not sure how true this all is. But its probably good, considering he's in his last season.
I've seen him play quite a few times now. He has plenty of talent, he just seems to be in a big slump. What horrible timing too. In his last year of college ball he is slumping.
Dont worry he'll pick it up. Its still early in the Big Ten seaon. I think his decline in production might have something to do with the emergence of Raymar Morgan, and also Lucas and the other freshmen. Neitzel is a good college player, but this year he has probably 3 other players on his team who have NBA offensive games. I think it would be better if he just tried to get as many assists as possible with all States athletic swingmen.
Good Drew this year reminds me of Hill's Senior year....And you know what happend that year I would say he would split time with Summers, becouse he is more of the SG, and Lucas is the PG??
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ed the Decider @ Jan 10 2008, 07:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Good Drew this year reminds me of Hill's Senior year....And you know what happend that year I would say he would split time with Summers, becouse he is more of the SG, and Lucas is the PG??</div> Neitzel's a true combo guard, especially when they play him alongside Walton. You'll notice that they change positions from offense to defense a lot. So yeah, Allen, Summers, and Lucas should get more burn. I know it's a slump and that it's all mental. It's not like his ability to shoot the ball would just suddenly disappear. The question is though, how long will the slump last? He's had off nights shooting the ball almost every night since the season opener. True, Neitzel's got better options, but he's not doing that much better as a playmaker, and his touches have gone up. It's not that his play has been horrible. I just don't think it's been on the same level it was on last season, and that's concerning when you're gunning for a title.
Neitzel goes 4-14 tonight, and look what happened - <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- Tony Freeman scored 22 points and lowly Iowa stunned No. 6 Michigan State 43-36 on Saturday night, snapping the Spartans' 11-game winning streak. The Spartans, who were second in the Big Ten in scoring offense, had just 18 points over the final 31:52. Michigan State was averaging 77.7 points, but their 36 points were just barely half of their previous season low of 63. The Spartans (14-2, 2-1 Big Ten) went 16-of-52 from the field, hit just one free throw and committed 18 turnovers. Iowa wasn't much better. The Hawkeyes (8-9, 1-3) made just 11 field goals, but that was enough to give coach Todd Lickliter his first Big Ten win.</div> http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=280122294 I'm almost too mad for words at the moment. This Spartan team has been seriously underachieving. They should be ranked nearly as high as they are, and they especially shouldn't be discussed as a candidate for a #1 seed with the way they've been playing as of late. A six point win against Minnesota was somewhat understandable. Minnesota is a tournament caliber team, and even though it was a home game, it was never really in the Gophers' control, so you can't fault Michigan State for that one too much. Their game against Purdue was a real sign of things to come though. Only beating a lousy, N.I.T. caliber team like Purdue by three points at the Breslin after trailing for most of the game? Pathetic. Now tonight, being held to 36 points in a seven point loss to a team that entered the game at 7-9? I can't say I'm surprised, as I was talking about how they'd lose this if they played like they did during the Purdue game earlier today, but I am very disappointed. This is a team that lost to the likes of ULM, Drake, Utah St., and recently got blown out at Ohio State by 31. The Spartans should have run them out of the gym with the talent they have. You can point at Lucas, who had the worst game of his young career with 0-8 FG, 0 pts, 1 rb, 1 ast, 3 turnovers, and 4 fouls, but at the end of the day, most of the blame has to be pinned on Neitzel. Not to say that he's the whole team, but he is the quarterback out there, and he's not only accountable for his own play but that of his teammates. The other talent that he's surrounded by that everyone keeps pointing to is young talent. Guys like Lucas, Summers, and Allen will all wind up in the NBA after Michigan State, but at this point in their careers, they're all innexperienced 18/19 year old kids who average 17.1 mpg. Even Morgan's only 19 years old; Neitzel's more than the ball handler, playmaker, and scorer on this squad - he's the veteran, the vocal leader, and the on-the-floor extension of coach Izzo. Unless he gets his head out of his ass, this team is going to finish third or fourth in the Big Ten, in an off year for the conference.
god, the game pissed me off. Good Drew couldnt even make a ****ing layup...MSU only got 36 points. 36 points, are you kidding me? I would hate to be a player during the next practice...Runnin tell ya puke.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ed the Decider @ Jan 12 2008, 11:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I would hate to be a player during the next practice...Runnin tell ya puke.</div> I can see Izzo busting the football gear out.
