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What We Learned: Louisville

  • http://michiganstate.247sports.com/Article/What-We-Learned-Louisville-66908

    We learned that March is the most unforgiving time of year, as MSU came out flat and never recovered during a 57-44 loss to Louisville Thursday in the Sweet 16.

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    Dan Kilbridge

  • Dan Kilbridge said...

    We learned that March is the most unforgiving time of year, as MSU came out flat and never recovered during a 57-44 loss to Louisville Thursday in the Sweet 16.

    frustrated

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    Snake Plissken

  • Snake Plissken said...

    frustrated

    Must say I didn't see that performance coming. Not sure anyone did. Unusual to see an Izzo team make those kind of careless mistakes in a tournament game and fail to bounce back but give Louisville credit. Those guys played tenacious defense all night and I was thoroughly impressed with the Cardinals' effort on both ends. Gotta feel for the seniors, though. Tough way to go out and a seemingly unfitting end to Green's college career. But I think we all know he'll go on to do great things in the NBA or elsewhere.

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    Dan Kilbridge

  • Dan Kilbridge said...

    Must say I didn't see that performance coming. Not sure anyone did. Unusual to see an Izzo team make those kind of careless mistakes in a tournament game and fail to bounce back but give Louisville credit. Those guys played tenacious defense all night and I was thoroughly impressed with the Cardinals' effort on both ends. Gotta feel for the seniors, though. Tough way to go out and a seemingly unfitting end to Green's college career. But I think we all know he'll go on to do great things in the NBA or elsewhere.

    Missing the perimeter shots is not surprising. You basically have Thornton and Wood and Appling to take the shots. Both Thornton and Wood struggle to score on the perimeter against more athletic players. Appling has struggled period. We all saw our team against Minnesota, Northwestern, and scUM. All those teams played zone against us. We came back and won at Minnesota, but looked stymied most of the game. Louisville's zone is head and shoulders better than any of those 3.

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    Spartyshannon

  • Wood actually had a better overall shooting % than Green did in the tournament. Not by much, but to have him on the "struggle list" isn't totally accurate. Both were around 48%.

    Vegas Vic

  • While Louisville's zone was great we still played like it was just another game... Every time we pushed past the press and then slowed it down and passed dribbled the shot clock down to 10 i wanted to punch Bo Ryan in the face for some reason. I can't imagine playing a whole season that way. Year in and out.

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    The Gruff

  • Spartyshannon said...

    Missing the perimeter shots is not surprising. You basically have Thornton and Wood and Appling to take the shots. Both Thornton and Wood struggle to score on the perimeter against more athletic players. Appling has struggled period. We all saw our team against Minnesota, Northwestern, and scUM. All those teams played zone against us. We came back and won at Minnesota, but looked stymied most of the game. Louisville's zone is head and shoulders better than any of those 3.

    That's a fair point about the guards, they just didn't look as composed as they have in recent weeks. I was also surprised MSU didn't get more production but Dieng was a man in the paint. Incredible performance on defense there and he really took away a lot of what the Spartans tried to do on the interior.

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    Dan Kilbridge

  • I felt the team was stunned by Dieng's play. Without Nix, Payne, and Green going to work down low, combined with the pressure they were bringing on our guards is a recipe for disaster.

    Loiusville countered as well as any team I saw when MSU went on the mini runs they went on. They answered every surge MSU had with a big play. Good for Pitino and co.

    Big offseasons for Trice, Kearney, and Keith. Hopefully coach can finally use one of those European trips coaches can utilize and build on this year with the incoming freshmen.

    Go green!

    MIST

  • I still love this team. Great year.

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    ~We're all armchair coaches & 20 yrs of mediocrity before Dantonio has turned us all into pathetic sociopaths who know no joy or excitement~

    spartan 4show

  • It may be Valentine plays a lot at the point next year. KA struggled at times and seems to have lost his shot. With Harris coming as well, perhaps KA can slide back to the 2 also and provide occasional depth at the point with Trice. Just saying....

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    Mighty Loadking

  • Mighty Loadking said...

    It may be Valentine plays a lot at the point next year. KA struggled at times and seems to have lost his shot. With Harris coming as well, perhaps KA can slide back to the 2 also and provide occasional depth at the point with Trice. Just saying....

    KA is not a point guard and with him doing it for the team this year took away his shooting prowess. Keith is a good shooting guard that slashes to the basket given even a small crease. Play the point as often as he did, limited his natural ability. Hopefully Trice and the frosh Valentine can take it on effectively next year. We should have a multitude of options next year that will enable better matchups.

    CoachL

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