This has been a very good game, with big plays and momentum shifts, but the Spartans just got dicked twice by the refs in the closing seconds of the game, and now trail 62-59 with less than 5 seconds left. This is a real screw; yet again a Big 10 team is over-penalized for their aggressiveness by non-conference refs and it'll cost them a key game. Raymar Morgan is looking very good early on. He has a lot of traits that I've seen in Alando Tucker when he was a young player, but Morgan is already more smooth with the ball. Neitzel played a great second half. DJ Strawberry was excellent for Maryland, and Ekene Ibekwe blocked a bunch of shots.
<div class="quote_poster">Schaddy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">This has been a very good game, with big plays and momentum shifts, but the Spartans just got dicked twice by the refs in the closing seconds of the game, and now trail 62-59 with less than 5 seconds left. This is a real screw; yet again a Big 10 team is over-penalized for their aggressiveness by non-conference refs and it'll cost them a key game. Raymar Morgan is looking very good early on. He has a lot of traits that I've seen in Alando Tucker when he was a young player, but Morgan is already more smooth with the ball. Neitzel played a great second half. DJ Strawberry was excellent for Maryland, and Ekene Ibekwe blocked a bunch of shots.</div> Wow, you have no idea how pissed off that call made me. Three things: 1) The ball didn't hit the damn rim, it should have been a shotclock violation. 2) The foul call was complete bullshit, Ibekwe flopped, and there was barely any contact. 3) Izzo called a damn timeout before the foul even occurred. Last night they gave Texas the call when Barnes called the timeout as James was throwing the ball out of bounds, yet tonight they completely ignored Izzo. If this was just one bad call or a call in the middle of the game, it wouldn't make me half as mad, but the whole game was called horribly, and this was the most crucial play of the entire fucking game. How about the play earlier in the game where Vasquez pulled a Divac and completely shifted the momentum of the game? How about the way that palming was enforced so sporadically? Vasquez palmed the ball the entire game, and they never whistled him for it. This is a heartbreaking loss, but I think it will be a learning experience for a Michigan State team that was never expected to even reach this point of the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament. They'll learn how to deal with the bullshit refereeing, they'll learn how to react in crunch time, they'll learn how to play in front of crowds as big and as rowdy as the one tonight, and they'll learn the importance of ball control when facing a team that can get out and break like the Terps. I was impressed with Neitzel's play in the second half, but in the first half he wasn't assertive enough. After playing on a team with Maurice Ager, Paul Davis, and Shannon Brown, who can really blame him though? He's so used to being the distributer that it's got to be hard for him to consciously force himself to call his own number on offense. When he's on though, he's one of the best point guard in the nation. The growth he has shown has been amazing, and I really think he's got a shot of being in the league two years from now. Raymar Morgan had a solid game, but it was nothing compared to his play earlier on in the season. He played tonight like one of the more talented freshmen in the nation, but that was the problem, he still played like a freshman, making stupid turnovers and committing cheap fouls. Suton is starting to play like Paul Davis in the post, which isn't necessarily a good thing. The Spartans need to give Naymick more time, because Suton's finesse offensive tendencies matched with his clumsiness are a turnover waiting to happen. Naymick, on the other hand, can be over-physical, but he's not going to cost you the game on stupid turnovers. Maurice Joseph also seems to be playing a lot like Maurce Ager last year. It's something about 'Maurice.' I've never met one who wasn't a hacker. Shooting 2-7 (1-5 3pt) is just unacceptable from the guy who is supposed to be your main offensive option. I would much rather see Dahlman starting over him, but apparently Izzo's too concerned about his lack of weight to play him in serious minutes right off the bat. In fact, the word is that both he and freshman center Tom Herzog will be redshirting this season: Dahlman to add weight and Herzog to polish his post game. As for Maryland, they're a dangerous team when they tighten up on defense because of the way they can get back so quickly and kill you on the fastbreak. However, most of those breaks are contingent upon Ibekwe's shotblocking, and he, like Morgan, needs to improve his defensive awareness and not pick up so many cheap, needless fouls. Maryland's fullcourt press was largely ineffective against Neitzel and Walton though. They broke it with success all but once. That's what was really the difference between Maryland's blowout win against St. John's last night and the game tonight: St. John's couldn't handle the pressure. I'm really happy with the results of the tournament though. I'm upset with the way that tonight's game played out, but 3-1 is a great record to take away from Coaches vs. Cancer, especially when you beat a ranked team like Texas along the way (even though I personally don't think they deserved their ranking). For a team as young as this Spartan team, you couldn't have asked for much more. The Spartans should actually be a tournament caliber team this season. They've shown a lot of poise and maturity given their inexperience.
