MSU Red Cedar Message Board

I think the team was tired, and for whatever reason, could not find the energy necessary to respond. I don't think the Dawson thing had much to do with it.

Dawson is the most talented player on our roster. Losing him all but ended our season.

Imagine him guarding, rebounding, putting back tonight. We may not win, but it's a different game.

thought and felt teh exact sam thing. Very weird thing to pull him off the bus, Izzo said they tried calling him numeous time On Monday....

Something doesn't feel right.

We may be over analyzing this. The players attended the pep rally last night...which was the first time that's ever happened before a tournament game. They were loose and feeling good.

We just ran into a better team that was better coached on this day...nothing more...nothing less.

Well there is our problem. No more fun for the players!

Dawson was a freshman and MSU doesn't expect freshman to carry the team due to all the defensive / offensive sets they have to learn and the effort they need to be effective in the Big Ten.

My bad feeling was way back in September when Delvon Roe announced his retirement. Everything Izzo did after that was smoke and mirrors all season.

Tonight he ran out of matches so no smoke.

They should not have been tired. If this was the second game of the weekend, maybe. They sure didn't show fatigue during the BTT on no days rest. They just played like shit tonight.

Lame excuse.

No, we did miss his rebounding tonight. He could have also checked that dude Green was checking. His presence could have led to some passes from Green cutting to the basket. Even if he missed, having Green and 1 of our bigs fight on the offensive glass would have been better than just having Payne or Nix. I want to remind everyone of 1 thing. College basketball for the most part still comes down to guard play. UNC has 3 lottery players up front and probably will not win it all because of Marshall's injury. Look at the last 4 national champs and see who the pg's were on those teams. Kemba Walker, Nolan Smith, Ty Lawson and Mario Chalmers.

We have struggled all year against zone defenses. Our loss at scUM. We were down all game against Minnesota's zone until wood came on late, and Northwestern even though our failure to defend was the primary reason we lost, it was still a loss against a team who zoned us. If you think about the fact that our perimeter players to knock down 3's were Thornton, Appling and Wood then you will understand why we lost. Thornton and Wood did a lot for us this season. Illinois is probably the team with the best athleticism on the perimeter in the B1G. Do you recall Thornton or Wood making a difference in that game? Louisville's zone with that athleticism was too much for a former walk on, a transfer from Valpo and a guy who was playing pg in Division 1 for the first time. Just really makes you appreciate the coaching job Izzo did.

Analyst Kenny Smith & Steve Lavin were saying that you can play and win a big game when a significant player is lost to injury, but it is extremely hard to do over the course of 4-5 games. Last night, the match-ups would of dictated the need for a healthy Brandon Dawson.