Nobody Gives Spartans a Chance - That's the Way We Like It!
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There's hope in the heart of this MSU Spartan.
Every sports pundit in the country, it seems, picks North Carolina over Michigan State in the NCAA basketball final game Monday night.
However, it's not going to turn out that way; the Spartans will prevail, and certainly should if all that is right and proper comes true.
The main reason the green team will win is this: DEPTH.
And, the fact that they are underdogs will give them extra motivation to succeed.
MSU really doesn't have a superstar like Hansborough or Lawson, and we believe that will work to the advantage of the green.
The economy, the auto industry, Detroit's troubles -- none of this has any relevance except to the blathering sports guys who play follow the leader and are afraid to make any prediction their pals don't join in.
We see the bigger picture, comparing the entire team and the imponderable -- SPIRIT -- as the key elements. Past records, conference strength, superstar status, etc., etc., are just sports talk.
Let's just say Goran Suton comes up big and holds superstar Tyler Hansborough to the game of an ordinary human. Suton may need a little help from Idong Ibok, but with intensity they can contain the whining Tarheel.
OK, now let's assume Travis Walton plays an inspired defense and puts the stopper on the other N.C. superstar, Ty Lawson.
Danny Green, Wayne Ellington and Deon Thompson are held in check by MSU's Raymar Morgan, Delvon Roe and Kalin Lucas.
Beyond that, the Tarheels have no threats except perhaps 6-10 freshman Ed Davis.
Who is left to carry the water for State? How about Durrell Summers, Draymond Green, Chris Allen, Korie Lucious and Marquise Gray!
Those players are the Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse who will ride roughshod over North Carolina.
Even if the first five Spartans pile up heavy fouls in wearing out the Heels, there are another five of nearly equal ability left to mop up the floor.
Summers, Green, Lucious and Gray combined for more than 30 points against UConn on Saturday night. And they are considered the bottom of the batting order.
That's the Spartan edge and we expect that to make the difference on Monday night, regardless of the comments of Dick Vitale, Bob Knight, Greg Gumbel, Len Elmore and comrades.
Those nattering nabobs of negativity have been piling on the Spartans big time, pointing to the seeming invincibility of North Carolina.
"The classic Big Ten-ACC clash," they babble in unison, agreeing that the ACC is the nation's top conference in terms of basketball talent.
The Big Ten gets short shrift because the teams are all so equal and they beat up on each other all season long.
Four ACC teams were upset in the first round of the Big Dance, including one-time national No. 1 Wake Forest. And two of those "upsets" came at the hands of Big Ten teams.
So, the superiority of the ACC over the Big Ten, the Big East and the other conferences is a myth existing only in the minds of the punditocracy.
The Big Ten had seven teams in the tourney field. Besides MSU, the league champs, Purdue and Illinois, which were tied for second, Wisconsin and Ohio State, tied for third, and Minnesota and Michigan, which shared fourth place, all went dancing.
Penn State, that tied for third in the conference, was shunted to the NIT, but the Nittany Lions won that tourney.
Five seed Purdue fared the best in the NCAAs, reaching the round of 16 with wins over 12th seed UNI (Northern Iowa) 61-56 and 4 seed Washington 76-74. Surprising Michigan, a 10 seed, topped 7 seed Clemson, a perennial ACC power, 62-59 and reached the second round. So did Wisconsin, a 12 seed, which toppled 5 seed Florida State of the ACC 61-59 in the first round.
Wisconsin went out to Xavier 60-49, Ohio State, the Big Ten tourney winner, was dropped by Cinderella Siena, a 9 seed, 74-72 in the first round, Minnesota, a 10 seed, was eliminated by 7 seed Texas 76-62 and 5 seed Illinois was upended by 12 seed Western Kentucky 76-72.
So, all in all, the Big Ten-ACC comparison is no comparison at all. Big Ten teams did much better at the big dance. Now we all await the Belle of the Ball, North Carolina, to take its seat as MSU waltzes to victory.
That's the hope in the heart of this Spartan.###
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Dave Rogers |
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