Can we salvage this season?

[Sbee]

obviously a disappointment due to the injuries, they cost us a big ten title. can we still make a run?

I'm not worried about Dawson coming back, he has the kind of game that can get back into shape quickly. with him, it's "see ball, get ball." he can be worked back in easily.

Appling is the key, you saw it today that they could just sag off him since he wasn't a threat to shoot. they could play passing lanes all day and force more TO's.

earlier this year, Appling was getting whatever he wanted, getting his shots, getting others involved, now he's a pass only PG.

can we get healthy enough to make a run this year? we should have 3 games with a full roster and then the BTT.

 

[Monster]

It's not over yet. B1G has been very strange this year. I wouldn't be shocked if Wisconsin somehow won league play.

 

[MSUMatt28]

I think it's very possible. Having Dawson back will help in a lot of ways, particularly defensively. Having him available to put on Stauskas (or GR III) today would have been a nice option.

Appling, I don't know. He gets nearly another week now to try and heal that wrist some more. Who knows if he'll be able to get his shooting back though. It could even be somewhat mental at this point.

The team will have to come together very quickly but it's doable. As long as Payne is on the floor and Harris starts to play the way he can there is a chance. Harris hasn't shown it often enough this year, but he's capable of getting hot for a 3 week tournament run.

 

[Sbee]

we could be a threat but we need Appling to be able to shoot, we can't beat good teams if they can sag back like they did today.

 

[Sbee]

looking back, the georgetown game was really stupid, we needed the break. hindsight is 20/20

 

[tinselwolverine]

No.

 

[Sbee]

the big thing is if Appling can get back to being himself at some point this season. it seems like he has a mindset that he can't shoot or isn't going to shoot. we can't play 4 on 5 on offense and win games against good teams.

 

[jdeb]

obviously a disappointment due to the injuries, they cost us a big ten title. can we still make a run?

I'm not worried about Dawson coming back, he has the kind of game that can get back into shape quickly. with him, it's "see ball, get ball." he can be worked back in easily.

Appling is the key, you saw it today that they could just sag off him since he wasn't a threat to shoot. they could play passing lanes all day and force more TO's.

earlier this year, Appling was getting whatever he wanted, getting his shots, getting others involved, now he's a pass only PG.

can we get healthy enough to make a run this year? we should have 3 games with a full roster and then the BTT.

I doubt it. MSU has good depth but they are a little more banged up than being reported.

 

[Sbee]

I doubt it. MSU has good depth but they are a little more banged up than being reported.

Depth is one thing, we have good bench players and can go 9 deep but you can't expect a star to be replaced by a bench player and perform like that star.

Watching Appling reminds me of watching Cabrera in the tigers playoff run

 

[Spartanmack]

The dilemma is do we rest Appling and give up hope for a share of the B1G Championship and/or the BTT? If we don't, he's going to be playing this 1 dimensional game for the rest of the season and the NCAA. I'm not as optimistic as most about our prospects sans injuries - the league is too competitive to say they cost us a championship. And even with the injuries we still have or at least had a shot. Losing at home to Nebraska will hurt more than any injuries and we didn't lose to Nebraska because of injuries - same for the game at Wisco for that matter.

To me it's simple, sit him and be a long shot for the B1G championship and risk an early exit in the BTT if it means he can be at/near full strength for the NCAA. Play Ellis more and Byrd never. The extra minutes in a title run and BTT will be good pre-NCAA experience for Trice and Ellis.

 

[Sbee]

will the rest help? how much will it take?

you can't just insert a PG in mid march and expect to play championship level basketball.

 

[Spartanmack]

will the rest help? how much will it take?

you can't just insert a PG in mid march and expect to play championship level basketball.

there are no guarantees. The closest you'll get to a guarantee is that if you don't rest him, he's not going to get better. And March isn't that far off, it's not like you're shutting him down in December. Also, he may come back quicker than mid march.

 

[Sbee]

there are no guarantees. The closest you'll get to a guarantee is that if you don't rest him, he's not going to get better. And March isn't that far off, it's not like you're shutting him down in December. Also, he may come back quicker than mid march.

shitty dilemma to have.

hopefully the bye week helps. maybe having a better compliment of players and rotation will mask the weakness of Appling on offense.

 

[MSUMatt28]

I don't think Izzo can even begin to determine what to do with Appling. We should beat Illinois at home without him and he'd have in theory another week and a half to heal the wrist before playing Iowa. However it seems like there's no guarantee it will improve and throwing him back in again later on might just disrupt chemistry again.

This team managed to get by 2 seasons ago with him being a 25% three point shooter, but right now he can barely get it up to the rim. I wonder how much of it is pain/weakness in the wrist and how much is rust and mental. Maybe he can spend some time working honing the mid-range game in the meantime. I don't know.

 

[jdeb]

Depth is one thing, we have good bench players and can go 9 deep but you can't expect a star to be replaced by a bench player and perform like that star.

Watching Appling reminds me of watching Cabrera in the tigers playoff run

Right. The one intangible is that they have the best college coach on the planet. Every time I watch him coach, I am amazed. He could lead them farther than expected. I am not an MSU fan either.

 

[Sbee]

Right. The one intangible is that they have the best college coach on the planet. Every time I watch him coach, I am amazed. He could lead them farther than expected. I am not an MSU fan either.

I'm not doubting our coach, he just needs the pieces to work with. hopefully he has soon so he can work with them prior to tournament time. that includes getting Dawson back and having Appling be a modest threat to score with a jump shot.

 

[SpartyNash]

It's not over yet. B1G has been very strange this year. I wouldn't be shocked if Wisconsin somehow won league play.

Love your optimism but we're done. Congrats on the Big Ten title.

 

[Sbee]

Love your optimism but we're done. Congrats on the Big Ten title.

We still have a slight chance at a shared title but its minute given the schedules. We didn't really lose it yesterday, we lost it vs Nebraska and Michigan in el. We also lost it by playing Georgetown

 

[LuciousGameWinner]

The big ten tournament becomes huge now. That'll give the guys time to gel together again. I think that's the last hope.
I'm not holding my breath, but maybe Dawson's return to the court will spark the team back up. We all know there are two sides to Dawson, the energetic one and the one where he's nowhere to be found. Lets hope the good one shows up.

 

[LuciousGameWinner]

Seems like the guys on the team don't mind losing, they're too cool. Guys like Nix and Green hated it and showed emotion, the guys on this team are just not that way at all. Only player that shows emotion is Dawson and that's only after dunks.
That tape of Appling and Nix going at it during a timeout last year showed just how much they cared and pushed it each other. We haven't seen one bit of that this year. When Harris is laying bricks someone should get on his case and tell him to drive the damn ball, but nope. Izzo keeps saying everyone's a leader, but I don't see it.