 Sparts plan to run against Memphis?
can’t quite figure out if Tom Izzo has lost his mind or if this is just some sort of carefully orchestrated disinformation campaign.
I’m sure we would all agree that Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans are Big Ten to the bone. Their brand of basketball is about as swift as a Great Lakes ice floe and as flashy as Ford Focus.
In other words, State is synonymous with the defensively minded, half-court game that you’d expect from a Midwestern college hoops team.
Just look at their offensive production. In their last four games (two NCAA Tournament games and two in the Big Ten tourney) the Spartans have averaged 67 points. That’s slightly below their season average, but not exactly out of character. And with that kind of production, it’s no coincidence that both of their NCAA Tournament games played under the total.
Nobody would mistake Michigan State for an up-tempo, transition team like … oh I don’t know …. Memphis?
Anyone with an ounce of basketball IQ would expect Izzo to throw a crowbar into the spokes of their upcoming Elite Eight game and try to slow down the freewheeling Memphis Tigers, a team that lives in transition and thrives on pedal-to-the-metal pace.
The oddsmakers in Las Vegas certainly do. They set the total for this game at a relatively low 136 ½ points. Against a team like Memphis, which has one of the most potent offenses in the country and averages almost 80 points per game, the game would have to be played in quicksand if it is to finish in the 60s.
But that’s not Izzo’s plan. According to recent comments made by the Michigan State coach, he isn’t going to try to grind it out in the halfcourt and he isn't scared to let his team run the floor with Memphis.
"I do see this as an up-and-down game," Izzo said Monday at his regular weekly news conference. "I hope it is an up-and-down game because I think we have enough depth and we can run, and they are going to run.”
Excuse me? You want to run with the Tigers?
It’s not like Izzo doesn’t know what Memphis is all about. He said himself, in that same press conference, that "They kind of look like the college version of the Lakers when Earvin (Magic Johnson) was there."
I don’t think anyone has ever used the term “showtime” to describe the Spartans, but when you look past that Big Ten defensive reputation, this team can put up points when they want to.
This is the same team, after all, that hung 103 on the Hoosiers a few weeks ago. Players like freshman guard Kalin Lucas and sophomore forward Raymar Morgan are speedy athletes that can push the pace. Drew Neitzel is one of the best point guards in the country and his 40 percent three-point shooting is an element of his game that is sometimes overlooked and he can have a huge impact on the scoring.
Even though a lot of Michigan State’s conference games finished in the 50s and 60s, a big reason for that is because opponents recognized the Spartans’ ability to run and chose to fall back on defense and clog passing lanes to negate this advantage rather than try to keep up with the Spartans.
In their non-conference schedule, you can notice the difference. State averaged 75 points per game against major conference opponents and the over/under was 3-2.
So I guess it's not completely crazy to think that the Spartans might try to play an up-tempo game on Friday night.
Of course, you never know if Izzo really plans to run with Memphis or if he’s just messing with John Calipari’s mind, but if he’s being straight with us,136 ½ points won’t be nearly enough to keep this game from going over the total.
Raji | 
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