the Final

[L45B]

Something tells me it's gonna be a little different this time around. :wink:

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Beating UCONN was so damn thrilling, I haven't even begun to think about UNC yet, and it's only a day away.

All I want to know is when is Louisville going to send MSU its Big East Champion trophy?

[King Crimson]

if i were Sparty fan i'd load up the NCAA.com player and re-watch the KU, Louisville, and UCONN games....with a few beers this afternoon. they have the full replays available.

Go Sparty.

[SunCoastSooner]

I HATE unc!!!!!!

And did so long before last weekend but that added to it.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Here's a stat I came across that's kind funny, yet somewhat interesting. Teams that have used the Lions locker room at Ford Field are winless. 0-5.

Carolina will be in the Lions locker room tomorrow.

[Cueball]

Here's a stat I came across that's kind funny, yet somewhat interesting. Teams that have used the Lions locker room at Ford Field are winless. 0-5.

Carolina will be in the Lions locker room tomorrow.

Good luck with that one. By no means does anyone expect the same score from December, but the result will be the same.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Hey stranger :?

It's moreso funny than telling. You'll notice I already qualified that in my first sentence.

By no means does anyone expect the same score from December, but the result will be the same

I hope your players go into the game thinking the same thing.

[TheJON]

Well, I win a survivor pool if Michigan State wins and it will make me $150 richer so let's go Sparty!!

GO GREEN!

GO WHITE!

GO GREEN!

GO WHITE!

GO GREEN!

GO WHITE!

GO GREEN!





I think I'm gonna puke now....

[M Club]

ja, i'm going to puke as well. here's my reluctant JA MOTHERFUCKNG STATE KILL THOSE BITCHES IM FROM THE D!!

[buckeye_in_sc]

MGO...where did you come across that stat about the Lions Locker Room?

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Link on a Spartan message board. Admittedly, that one could be tough to prove.

[ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2]

What would be more difficult? m2 proving he lives in California or you backing up the locker room thing?

Perhaps you can post pictures of random teams emerging from a locker room... somewhere... as proof? I'd accept it as gospel.

[M Club]

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/vi ... p?t=535243

[Cueball]

Hey stranger :?

It's moreso funny than telling. You'll notice I already qualified that in my first sentence.

By no means does anyone expect the same score from December, but the result will be the same

I hope your players go into the game thinking the same thing.

I'm pretty sure they're sitting around thinking how it's going to suck when they lose :? I'm not expecting a blow out, but a low double digit win seems about right in a competitive game

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Depth isn't exactly an achilles heel for MSU. I think they play more guys than Carolina, and they seem to have somebody different step up every game. I concede UNC's back ups are probably better, all-around.

What worries me the most I think are UNC's shooters. Hansbrough and Lawson will get theirs, so if MSU can limit what Green, Ellington, and Frasor can do from the arc that'll limit some of those monster runs UNC likes to go on.

I'm also worried about MSU's fouling situation. UNC isn't UCONN or Louisville; they will bury them from the stripe. State put UCONN in the bonus pretty early in the 1st half, but it didn't prove to be a huge deal. That won't be the case against UNC.

[Screw_Michigan]

Fairly comfortable win for UNC.

Yes, and as you believe, Wofford and Furman would clean up the bottom of the Pac 10 in football.

MSU +7 and take it to the bank.

[Shine]

I'm very interested to see how Sparty decides to play this game. When these teams met the first time Izzo had commented that the only way he felt MSU could win was to run with UNC. Tom Izzo knows approximatley 1.7 billion times more about hoops than me but I found that comment ponderous at the time, as I would think the exact opposite. I think the best bet for MSU is to slow the pace of the game as much as possible. UNC is still formidable in the half-court but its nothing compared to how dominant they are in the full court game.

I certainly give MSU a punchers chance in this game but I'm hard pressed to see them winning. Not so much because they aren't good, they are, but because UNC is SO good. Take the champs of the past 10 years and I'd put this UNC squad up against any and all of them.

For strictly monetary reasons I hope UNC does win tonight. MSU wins I net a loss of $60 in my $$ pools. UNC wins I net a gain of $160 in my $$ pools. Also as much as I like Sparty, and I do, the gap between them and IU right is wide enough thank you.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

I tend to agree with that, Shine. I don't think MSU should go into the game with the mindset of running, despite Kalin Lucas saying that. I think they should run when the clear opportunity is there, but otherwise they should establish the half court game as their primary focus.

[PISC]

Yea, I won't take anything from that previous match up. Bwa!
Go Heels

[M Club]

turns out the lions' locker room has netted a 2-3 record.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090406/S ... /FREEPRESS

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Ya, first time I read that it wasn't being reported as 100% fact, hence my "tough to prove" reference.

[M Club]

the first link i posted from the sporting news said that was the case, so it's a fair mistake.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Yea, I won't take anything from that previous match up. Bwa!
Go Heels

Yeah, the same team that lost by 35 without Suton in December is the same team that beat Louisville and UCONN in March at full strength. Whatevs, dipshit.

[TheJON]

I tend to agree with that, Shine. I don't think MSU should go into the game with the mindset of running, despite Kalin Lucas saying that. I think they should run when the clear opportunity is there, but otherwise they should establish the half court game as their primary focus.

I disagree with this. I think MSU wants to run and needs to run. The reason for that is just like any team coached by Roy Williams, UNC doesn't play good defense. Why? Because he's a shit coach. In fact, he's one of the crappiest coaches in the nation. I know, I know.......he wins 30 games every year. Whoopee. Go find me ANY bum off the streets and give them a starting lineup full of McDonald's All-Americans and they would too. But the point is, MSU has good enough ball handlers that they can run. If they try and play a slow down, half court style of play they allow UNC to settle in their defense. It's tough to stop the up tempo style of play when a team has the athletes and ball handlers of MSU. So why make it easier on them?

What Michigan State needs to do are 2 things....

1.Be the more fundamentally sound up-tempo team
2.Shoot better than UNC from the perimeter

If they do those things they'll win. It doesn't matter if this is a half court or an up tempo game, MSU is going to have to shoot better than UNC to win and they're going to have to take care of the ball. They'll out rebound the Tar Heels. I'm not even worried about that. But this notion that MSU would be more successful slowing the pace down against UNC is just bad strategy. MSU wins because they play better defense than you, they outrebound you, and they play more fundamentally sound than you. So beat North Carolina at their own game- just be more fundamentally sound at it than they are. UNC will run and there's nothing MSU or anyone can do about it, so they might as well just accept it and figure out a way to win at that style of play.

I can assure anyone, if MSU tries to keep this as mostly a half court game they will fail miserably and lose by 20. Guaranteed.

[War Wagon]

State put UCONN in the bonus pretty early in the 1st half, but it didn't prove to be a huge deal.

Wish Mizzou could say that, they might still be playing. And that Walker kid who lit us up for 23 off the bench... what happened to him? sigh....

No love lost here for Carolina or Huckleberry Hound, but Hansbrough is a Missouri boy that got away, (I hope that never happens again) so it won't break my heart to see him ride off into the sunset as the ACC all time leading scorer and rebounder with an NCAA title to his credit.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

I can assure anyone, if MSU tries to keep this as mostly a half court game they will fail miserably and lose by 20. Guaranteed.

They tried running with them once. That didn't work out too well.

I realize with that statement I'm sort of kicking my own ass, because I already claimed this is not the same MSU team, but I still feel MSU needs to slow down the pace, but run when the opportunity presents itself. I don't want them to force the running game. Essentially they need to do both well to win. They have yet to lose a game all year when they hold their opponent under 70, so I want them to control the tempo downward a bit.

[King Crimson]

I can assure anyone, if MSU tries to keep this as mostly a half court game they will fail miserably and lose by 20. Guaranteed.

They tried running with them once. That didn't work out too well.

I realize with that statement I'm sort of kicking my own ass, because I already claimed this is not the same MSU team, but I still feel MSU needs to slow down the pace, but run when the opportunity presents itself. I don't want them to force the running game. Essentially they need to do both well to win. They have yet to lose a game all year when they hold their opponent under 70, so I want them to control the tempo downward a bit.

Jay Wright tried to play tempo with Carolina the first 7 or 8 minutes and was down 15 almost immediately. OU, while shooting horribly, did a much better job of keeping the game in the half-court. Roy's teams (at KU and UNC) will eat you alive with easy baskets in the open court. A guy who had as much success as anyone against some very good Willams' teams was Kelvin Sampson (another former Heathcoate assistant). Uglier the better I say, if i'm Sparty.

[PISC]

Yea, I won't take anything from that previous match up. Bwa!
Go Heels

Yeah, the same team that lost by 35 without Suton in December is the same team that beat Louisville and UCONN in March at full strength. Whatevs, dipshit.

Bwahahaha, no dumbfuck it's the SAME TEAM that matched up against UNC. They don't you fucking idiot. Nice try loser. Way to buy the bullshit hype that this was gonna be close.

[Screw_Michigan]

English, motherfucker. Oh wait, this is Duane on a cocktail of bourbon, xanax and percoset. No surprise.