Do the Spartans have what it takes?

By: Byron Parker

It's no secret that the Michigan State basketball squad have underachieved this season. Don't confuse that statement with me saying that they're not a good team because that would be false. The Spartans are equipped with talent at all positions but their young minds aren't capable of using all of that talent when it is needed the most. This is a team that started off the season strong and showing that they had a chance to bring home a NCAA Title back to East Lansing. But some minor slip-ups around midseason may have caused others to give MSU a second look and ask, "Is this team really championship bound?" It's not like they were automatically picked to have a big season but with only little competition surrounding them, it's kind of hard not to give them the title as "favorites".

The Spartans showed some of their bad habits and their inconsistency by losing to teams that should've been easy wins. Teams like Iowa, Northwestern and even Ohio State. It kind of reminded me of some of the bad habits that the Michigan Wolverines football team had. I don't know if it was cockiness or just a sign of mental flaws. Whatever it was, it showed the weaknesses of the Michigan State Spartans.

This really was the year that State should've won the Big Ten, and if not that, they had a great shot at winning the Big Ten Tournament. They only came minutes...seconds from pulling off a close game against the Wisconsin Badgers, but costly fouls and immature play led them to basically blow that game. The Spartans had four key players foul out within a span of two and a half minutes and that led to a 65-63 loss in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Not to mention, they had a fourteen point lead with about 8 minutes to go in that game. With that, Wisconsin was able to take the title home after an easy win against the Illinois Fighting Illini; a team that I'm sure the Spartans would've been able to beat. Don't get it twisted though because I'm not ripping the Spartans. This is a talented team with mental flukes in the regular season. They are capable of knocking off tough opponents, but losing at the wrong times. One of the wrong times was in the Big Ten Tourney.

Despite that, the Spartans still have a #5 seed in the NCAA Tourney and they have to face off against Temple. As much as people want to yell out "Upset Alert, Upset Alert!", I highly doubt that it'll happen. Why is this? Tom Izzo is one of the smartest coaches in the NCAA and he knows how to prepare his team for a run in the tournament. It may seem like the Spartans haven't gone deep in the tourney in the past couple of years, but that is only because they've ran into tougher opponents. For instance, last season they were knocked out by a pretty good North Carolina team. They did make it a close game, but the youth couldn't find a way to get past them. And since 1999, they've made the Final Four four times.

So State has shown that they knows what it takes to make it to the Final Four. One of those players who has experienced the thrills of going deep into the tourney is star senior, Drew Neitzel. Neitzel was on the team that made the Final Four in his freshman year along with stars like Maurice Ager, Paul Davis and Shannon Brown. This year is different because there aren't any stars like that on this years team. And as much as college basketball analysts like to be superstitious about seedings and little things like that, the last time Sparty made the Final Four was when they were a five seed and they are a five seed in this years tourney. State plays team basketball and Izzo is good at talking players into what roles they will play in each game. The closest Spartans to stars are Neitzel and Raymar Morgan. Morgan is probably one of the most underrated players in the NCAA. He's played solid all season long and hasn't gotten the recognition that he deserves. But this is his time to shine. Neitzel has already done his shining in the green and white, and this will be his last season. Morgan however may have another year left and this gives him the chance to show teams who he is. Neitzel may be capable of putting up 20+ points in a game, but he's not even the leading scorer on this team; Morgan is with 14.5 a game. Morgan plays consistent basketball, and Sparty will need consistency throughout the tournament. Neitzel is the go to guy during clutch time, so that is what Izzo will rely on him for.

The region that they are in gives them a better chance of going deep into this tournament as well. Notable teams include Texas, Pittsburgh, Kentucky and Memphis. Kentucky and Pitt has shown inconsitency throughout the season and even though Texas is a good team, State has already beaten them once this season when the Longhorns were ranked #6 in the country. So MSU most likely has the edge over them mentally. Memphis...we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Right now, their main focus is on Temple. State needs to take it one round at a time and not look ahead because there is no need to believe that the first round will be given. It's win or go home right now and anything can happen in this tournament.

Freshman Flurry: Freshmen to watch in the NCAA Tourney

By: Byron Parker

There may not be a lot of fun stories coming into the NCAA Tournament, but we do have a lot of things to look forward to. You can call the Georgia Bulldogs little "run" into the tournament a big story, but I highly doubt that it will be a Cinderella. The main thing that I'm looking forward to in this tournament is all of the big-name freshman that is looking to bring a title home to their school. Right now, we have six big name freshman that have the oppurtunity to go deep into this tournament.

Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Eric Gordon and Jerryd Bayless are among the most talked about freshman in the NCAA. Beasley is just considered "Beastly" when it comes to the court. He's the most popular guy at Kansas State and he has showed us all of his scoring capabilites as he's put up 26.5 points a game and snags 12.4 rebounds. As one of the front runners against Tyler Hansbrough for Player of the Year, he is probably the second best player in the NCAA. The only problem is that he seems to be the only guy that can step it up on his team.

O.J. Mayo has proved that he is all of the hype. As a freshman this year, he has been among the top of the Pac 10 scoring 20.8 points. Similar to Beasley, he is probably relied upon the most to take over the game if it is necessary. And the battle between Beasley and Mayo in the first round of the tournament is already turning heads. Not to be disrespectful, but the USC Trojans and Kansas State aren't really the best in the NCAA, just mediocre if you ask me. But the two freshman going at it will make this an interesting game to watch, especially coming out of the first round. This gives us a chance to see the tournament kick off with a bang! This is an attractive matchup and there would be no reason to miss out on this one.

Eric Gordon is Indiana's star at the moment. Unlike Beasley and Mayo, Gordon has help around him and his team can excel at least a little without him (not too much though). Gordon may have been surrounded by contreversy since his tenure began as a Hoosier but that doesn't stop him from being a dangerous guy. With the whole situation at Illinois when he was heckled at and ripped by the fans, he was able to come through in crunch time and hit a couple of big shots to send them home with a win. And the whole Kelvin Sampson ordeal hasn't hurt him as a player. Gordon is still doing what he's done before that whole situation imploded. He is definitely the Big Ten's top freshman and maybe even one of the best overall in the Big Ten. Gordon shows consistency and he will be a major part in whether or not the Hoosiers go big in the tourney.

Kevin Love out of UCLA is a surprise to me. I didn't expect him to be the player that he is now. He doesn't get a lot of respect, but neither does his top-seeded team. That's the reason why UCLA is dangerous. The respect factor motivates people and Love who has performed at a consistent level all year, is the guy to watch. We all know what the Bruins are capable of doing and Love is their "goto" guy in the paint who still has the ability to knock down the short jumper. 17.1 points and 10.6 rebounds a game just shows that he is a major role in the UCLA gameplan. He is a factor in the playbook, but he is not the most depended on. UCLA plays team basketball and Love doesn't want to be the star on the team (not saying that the other freshman do, but their actions sort of show it).

Derrick Rose may not be among the talked about freshman in the NCAA, but he has capabilities that can be put to use at any time. But the Memphis Tigers are similar to the Bruins because they play team basketball as well. Especially with Chris Douglas-Roberts complimenting Rose in the lineup, Rose doesn't need to worry about putting up numbers like all of the other top freshman. But we do know that Rose has the ability to put up consistent numbers and if he's needed, coach will put it in his hands towards the end of the game if Douglas-Roberts isn't on that night. Don't sleep on Rose because he is on one of the top teams of the country and he may not be one of the high scoring freshman, but that because it isn't necessary.

Jerryd Bayless out of Arizona is another surprise to me. He basically came out of no where and he puts up 20 points a game. Bayless is a constant threat at the three point line because he is shooting 41% from beyond the arch. A dangerous threat at Arizona, but Arizona is not a dangerous threat in the tourney. So his name may not be as big as the other teams. Arizona was a bubble team so Bayless doesn't get the same amount of respect as the other freshman who are on big teams.

This years crop of freshman is a pretty decent set, but this may be your last chance to get a look at them. With more and more freshman going to the NBA every year, it's hard to enjoy them in their NCAA career. This years tourney has us looking hard at them though because these are good freshman on good teams. So we may have the chance to see them go deep into the tournament.