By Stan4Hoops
As we left the Cardinal before Christmas,
the ESPN announcers were making a huge deal about BYwho’s
upset over the Cardinal. At the same time, the Spartans squeaked
by Seten Hall at home by four points. Like last year we are
playing one of ESPN’s favorite teams and coaches. Once
again, the Cardinal needs a victory to remind the nation that we
are a perennially national power.
A look at the Spartan schedule finds that
they are a perfect 9-0 at home and 0-3 on the road / neutral
courts. Their Sagrin and RPI rating is nearly identical as is
their strength of schedule. The Spartans return 1 starter from
last year’s team. Game time is 10:30 p.m. East Lansing time.
Spartan players have probably spent more time flying than playing
the last 3 days. Power Forward Adam Ballingar is out with a bad
ankle (10.6 ppg). Am I saying that Michigan St. is vulnerable?
Only if Stanford plays to its potential, with a chip on its
shoulder, hits the boards, be physical and leaves all of
themselves on the floor.
The Players
Starters
| # |
Player |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Year |
Stats |
Nickname |
| 25 |
Aloysius Anagonye |
F |
6-8 |
255 |
Jr |
7.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg |
Mr. Blue Collar |
| 3 |
Adam Wolfe |
F |
6-9 |
230 |
So |
10.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg |
Mr. I Want to be like Pete Sauer |
| 15 |
Allan Henderson |
F |
6-6 |
230 |
Fr |
7.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg |
Mr. My Job is to defend Casey |
| 23 |
Kevin Tolbert |
G |
6-4 |
225 |
Fr |
9.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg |
Mr. Mickey D “I’m going to blow right by
you” |
| 1 |
Marcus Taylor |
G |
6-3 |
195 |
So |
15.1 ppg, 5.6 apg |
Mr. Main Man |
The Bench
| # |
Player |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Year |
Stats |
Nickname |
| 5 |
Chris Hill |
G |
6-3 |
185 |
Fr |
11.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg |
Mr. Best 6th Man and Freshman in the Big 10 |
| 44 |
Jason Andreas |
C |
6-10 |
245 |
So |
2.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg |
Mr. I have five fouls to Give |
Michigan State in a Nutshell
The Spartans play like Montgomery teams of
old. Tough, physical and crashing the boards is their game. They
make 35 % of their first shots and 65 % of the rest. They run a
set offense. Zones and pressure defense have given the Spartans
trouble. On defense the Spartans will play primarily man-to-man
with some zone mixed in on in-bound situations.
Keys to the Game
1.
This is a macho Vs macho game. The Cardinal needs to come out
tough, physical and will need to crash the boards. One way or
another the Cardinal will learn what it takes to beat a quality
opponent and to be a National Championship contending team. With
Ballingar out, we can wear them down if we play physical.
2.
Contain Tolbert. Tolbert creates an interesting match up. He
is a bruiser who could dominate Barnes. Do you put Casey or Josh
at the 2? Henderson is a pretty wide body 3.
3.
When Hill comes in at the point, Taylor will move to the 2.
How do the Cardinal match / defend theQ&A. Given keys 1 &
2 it will be interesting to if Monty tries to match up with
Michigan St. or try to settle into a rotation. Monty most years
would settle into a rotation. At this point, I am not sure.
4.
When the Cardinal play zone, can they move to the fast enough
to the ball and can they put a body on the players crashing the
boards.
5.
We need to make shots.
This will be a great final test for the
Cardinal. They will be able to measure where they are now and
where they need to be by January 4th.
by Simon Sez
Whenever the Pete Newell Challenge rolls
along, you know there is going to be a tough team waiting for
Stanford to play. Two years ago it was a tough Temple team that
limited Stanford to two field goals in the second half. The next
year it was eventual national champion Duke who dominated
Stanford for nearly the entire game. The last two years are very
different teams; Stanford won each of those games, and last years
was in thrilling fashion. As Stanford heads into this years Pete
Newell there are many questions swirling about this team after
last week’s meltdown in Las Vegas. Last week could have been
two things, either a wake-up call or a reality check. This team
could have just had a bad game, or it could be team that isn’t
going to be in the top 25 this season. BYU isn’t exactly a
team filled with great athletes and great players, but they
really exposed Stanford as a team last weekend.
This is what makes this matchup a huge game
for Stanford. If Stanford were to come out with a victory in this
game all would be well. We would all stop worrying about the
point guard play, the team defense, Casey’s shot selection
and look forward to the upcoming Pac-10 season. This is all IF
Stanford wins, Michigan State has been to the Final Four
three-straight years, and it isn’t because of tournament
luck. They play extremely hard-nosed defense as seven of its 12
opponents have failed to shoot 35% from the field. Who can forget
the Michigan St.-Arizona when the Wildcats started 2-20 from the
field. Most of Michigan State’s stellar defensive games have
come at the Breslin Center where they are unstoppable but this is
still a big cause for concern. Michigan State also is struggling
too albeit against much better competition than Stanford has
played. This is Michigan State’s sixth game against a ranked
opponent and so far they are 2-3. They are also a surprising 0-3
on neutral or road gyms this season, which is also a good sign.
With a lot on the table Saturday night, here is what the starting
lineups will look like when the teams take