Welcome aboard Marvin Clark

[Sbee]

committed to MSU today

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Marvin-Clark-128041

teammate of tum tum nairn, didn't have the best offer sheet, next best offer was Indiana. big body wing, strong, just started playing organized basketball a while ago. great story, was homeless, moving from shelter to shelter with is mom, got settled and blossomed as a player, doing a post grad year now. I assume this closes the door on Josh Cunningham, maybe it depends on Gill Caesar

 

[jdeb]

Good story. Perfect fit.

 

[Sbee]

I think he missed all of last season with an injury, not saying he would be a 4 star or have more elite offers but the injury didn't help

 

[MSUMatt28]

If say Dawson decides to come back, which I know is unlikely especially given the way he is currently playing, are we at our scholarship limit for next season?

 

[Sbee]

If say Dawson decides to come back, which I know is unlikely especially given the way he is currently playing, are we at our scholarship limit for next season?

that would assume that Harris stays and we don't have any transfers, my guess is that Gauna and or Byrd leave the program to play 1yr elsewhere

 

[MSUMatt28]

that would assume that Harris stays and we don't have any transfers, my guess is that Gauna and or Byrd leave the program to play 1yr elsewhere

That had occurred to me possibly as well as I saw Byrd was a 4th year Junior. Maybe he'd stick around since he has somewhat of a leadership role on the team. Gauna sucks but if he left we'd be pretty thin inside with only Costello at the 5 with Schilling backing him up, and perhaps Kaminski starting at the 4 with no one really behind him.

 

[Sbee]

That had occurred to me possibly as well as I saw Byrd was a 4th year Junior. Maybe he'd stick around since he has somewhat of a leadership role on the team. Gauna sucks but if he left we'd be pretty thin inside with only Costello at the 5 with Schilling backing him up, and perhaps Kaminski starting at the 4 with no one really behind him.

that poses a bit of a problem, there aren't any higher ranked big men available and there's generally a bigger learning curve for those guys than guards or wing players.

 

[Sbee]

and he has his own documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hIWwd-2g2c

 

[Spartanmack]

I don't see any scenario where either Guana or Byrd leaves - Payne is gone for sure as is Harris most likely. That's a lot of minutes opening up in their respective "spots" so unless Izzo is telling them they have no shot at playing, what do they gain by competing for time in a new program?

 

[Sbee]

I don't see any scenario where either Guana or Byrd leaves - Payne is gone for sure as is Harris most likely. That's a lot of minutes opening up in their respective "spots" so unless Izzo is telling them they have no shot at playing, what do they gain by competing for time in a new program?

I'd say Guana being regulated to the iron mountain team is a pretty strong message

 

[MSUMatt28]

I guess we can hope that Gauna becomes the next Adam Ballinger and that Byrd can replicate Austin Thorton's senior season. I won't hold my breath on either though.

 

[Sbee]

I guess we can hope that Gauna becomes the next Adam Ballinger and that Byrd can replicate Austin Thorton's senior season. I won't hold my breath on either though.

If Byrd can't replicate Thorton's 5th year lets hope he has a 5th year like Tom Herzog

 

[Spartanmack]

could you be inflating Austin Thornton's senior campaign just a bit?

 

[LuciousGameWinner]

I'd rather the freshmen get a lot of playing time instead of seeing Gauna and Byrd. I really really hope Dawson stays because if he leaves we are going to get out rebounded every game. We would be left with only 3 big guys (gauna, Costello, and schilling)

 

[Sbee]

could you be inflating Austin Thornton's senior campaign just a bit?

played a few minutes, was solid enough, opportunistic shooter, not a volume shooter, had a high %, he was a functional big ten player

 

[MSUMatt28]

could you be inflating Austin Thornton's senior campaign just a bit?

I think Thornton's contributions on that 2012 team were pretty valuable. Yes he only averaged 5 points per game, but he defended and did a lot of little things. Check out his rebounding numbers per minutes played that season. Unlike in prior seasons he knocked down open shots and was close to a 90 percent free throw shooter. He also provided a lot of steady senior leadership (along with Draymond of course) on an otherwise very young team.

I'll always remember that 2012 team fondly even though they flamed out in the Sweet 16 vs Louisville. That was one of Izzo's best coaching jobs, especially after the disaster that was 2011.

 

[Sbee]

I did watch the clark video, he's a beast physically, 6'7" with a college ready frame. i think he's older, maybe in the Mitch McGary mode, can't find his birthday though. he does have an excuse for being homeless for years, also, had a bad injury last year so he had to sit out through most of the evaluation periods

 

[Spartanmack]

I think Thornton's contributions on that 2012 team were pretty valuable. Yes he only averaged 5 points per game, but he defended and did a lot of little things. Check out his rebounding numbers per minutes played that season. Unlike in prior seasons he knocked down open shots and was close to a 90 percent free throw shooter. He also provided a lot of steady senior leadership (along with Draymond of course) on an otherwise very young team.

I'll always remember that 2012 team fondly even though they flamed out in the Sweet 16 vs Louisville. That was one of Izzo's best coaching jobs, especially after the disaster that was 2011.

2 pts in 11 minutes per game. Obviously, his main contributions were on defense. Far be it from me to crap on another Spartan's legacy but as I recall, he played because we needed a body and didn't have anyone else. That said, it's fair to say he was better than Byrd is now. Next year's team won't be nearly as experienced or talented as 2011 so even if Byrd steps his game up to Thornton's level, it may not matter. I could actually see Byrd doing better offensively but I can't see where he figures out how to defend - it's been 4 years and he just looks lost out there.

 

[MSUMatt28]

2 pts in 11 minutes per game. Obviously, his main contributions were on defense. Far be it from me to crap on another Spartan's legacy but as I recall, he played because we needed a body and didn't have anyone else. That said, it's fair to say he was better than Byrd is now. Next year's team won't be nearly as experienced or talented as 2011 so even if Byrd steps his game up to Thornton's level, it may not matter. I could actually see Byrd doing better offensively but I can't see where he figures out how to defend - it's been 4 years and he just looks lost out there.

Thornton averaged 5.2 ppg and 3.3 rpg in 22 mpg with some good shooting percentages in 2011-2012. Obviously not superstar numbers, but a solid contributor who again provided leadership and stability that season.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/2012.html

With Byrd, I agree. It would be one thing if he simply missed shots, but he turns the ball over, gets beat on defense, etc.

 

[Spartanmack]

Thornton averaged 5.2 ppg and 3.3 rpg in 22 mpg with some good shooting percentages in 2011-2012. Obviously not superstar numbers, but a solid contributor who again provided leadership and stability that season.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/michigan-state/2012.html

With Byrd, I agree. It would be one thing if he simply missed shots, but he turns the ball over, gets beat on defense, etc.

My bad, i was looking at the 2010/11 team and pulled his numbers from there. Either way, the 14/15 team is likely to be younger and less experienced than the 11/12 team was so even if Byrd pumps in 5 ppg I don't think it will matter all that much - especially given my belief that his plus/minus will be awful. I just don't see how his defense is going to improve enough over the summer for him to be a 22 minutes per game guy unless we're ok with a kid that scores 5 and gives up 20.