MSU Basketball 2010-11 = UM Football 2008?

MSU basketball has seen a rather rapid descent this season and painfully reminds me of what happened to our illustrious football program in 2008. Now... these situations could not be more different in regards to circumstances, but the anvil like falls from grace are eerily similar.

Michigan football has over 100 years of tradition and is the leader in all time wins and win percentage while Michigan State basketball has one national title and 6 final fours in the past decade. Michigan's decline in football started during the Lloyd Carr era with poor recruiting and assistant coach development in the later years. Enter Rich Rodriguez and the spread offense. This was quite possibly the worst marriage since Elin Nordegren and Tiger Woods. Now, I am not part of the anti-RR movement by any means. I actually think his failure was due to lack of support and the perfect storm of extenuating circumstances (attrition, injuries, bad/unfair press, recruiting misses, asst coaching mishaps, transitional struggles, lack of depth/experience, and inheriting a program in decline) Back to 2008...

Lloyd Carr left a couple years too late and the discipline of the program had gone out the window. Players brought cell phones to RRs practices, got yelled at, and thought they were being treated unfairly. I can just imagine Bo's feelings on this. All of the premier players on offense in 2008 vanished by way of graduation, early NFL draftees, or transfer. quick look at the depth chart from 2007 and then 2008.

2007 OFFENSE Returning Starters: 6

QB 7 Chad Henne 6-2, 224, Sr.
15 Ryan Mallett 6-6, 247, Fr.

RB 20 Mike Hart 5-9, 196, Sr.
4 Brandon Minor 6-0, 213, So.
23 Carlos Brown 6-0, 202, So.

FB 33 Mark Moundros 6-1, 222, So.
32 Vince Helmuth 6-1, 245, Fr.
36 Quintin Patilla 6-1, 234, So.

WR 86 Mario Manningham 6-0, 181, Jr.
82 LaTerryal Savoy 6-2, 205, So.

WR 16 Adrian Arrington 6-3, 187, Jr.
13 Greg Mathews 6-3, 207, So.

TE 83 Mike Massey 6-4, 229, Sr.
42 Chris McLaurin 6-3, 236, Jr.
39 Andre Criswell 6-1, 257, Jr.

LT 77 Jake Long 6-7, 313, Sr.
71 Mark Ortmann 6-6, 297, Jr.

LG 57 Adam Kraus 6-6, 296, Sr.
78 Justin Schifano 6-4, 298, Jr.

C 65 Justin Boren 6-3, 310, So.
60 David Moosman 6-4, 298, Jr.
62 Tim McAvoy 6-5, 298, Jr.

RG 73 Alex Mitchell 6-5, 313, Sr.
70 Jeremy Ciulla 6-4, 292, Sr.

RT 71 Mark Ortmann 6-6, 297, Jr. OR
52 Steve Schilling 6-5, 297, So.
75 Cory Zirbel 6-5, 296, Jr.

2008 OFFENSE Returning Starters: 3

QB 10 Stephen Threet 6-6 230 RFr. OR
8 Nick Sheridan 6-1 212 So.
12 David Cone 6-7 214 So.

FB 44 Mark Moundros 6-1 232 So.
32 Vince Helmuth 6-1 261 So.

RB 4 Brandon Minor 6-1 214 Jr.
23 Carlos Brown 6-0 213 Jr. OR
24 Kevin Grady 5-9 228 Jr. OR
34 Avery Horn 5-10 185 RFr.

WR(Y) 17 Toney Clemons 6-3 201 So.
35 Jimmy Potempa 5-7 175 So.

WR(Z) 21 Junior Hemingway 6-1 214 So.
82 LaTerryal Savoy 6-3 210 Jr.
89 John Conover 6-3 199 So.

WR(X) 13 Greg Mathews 6-3 207 Jr.
22 Darryl Stonum 6-2 190 Fr.
26 Zion Babb 6-1 189 So.

TE 85 Carson Butler 6-5 250 Jr. OR
83 Mike Massey 6-5 225Sr.
80 Martell Webb 6-4 249 So.

LT 71 Mark Ortmann 6-7 294 Jr.
69 Bryant Nowicki 6-9 326 So.

LG 62 Tim McAvoy 6-6 288 Jr.
72 Mark Huyge 6-6 292 RFr.

C 60 David Moosman 6-5 292 Jr.
50 David Molk 6-2 282 RFr.

RG 75 Cory Zirbel 6-5 292 Jr.
72 Mark Huyge 6-6 292 RFr.

RT 52 Stephen Schilling 6-5 295 So.
79 Perry Dorrestein 6-7 308 So.

So you return 3 "starters" on offense in 2008, not one of which is at a skill position or was slated to start the previous season. On top of this you fail to recruit Michigan caliber recruits in the final Carr years besides Mallet and Boren and both transferred. THEN, you install a brand new offense that requires speed, agility and precision; none of which the current roster possesses. After missing out on Terrelle Pryor sweepstakes, or should I say "auction", you are left with a walk on QB and a transfer pro style QB to run this new spread offense. At the end of the year your have a team who can't move the chains enough to give its defense a drink of water and by default give up the most points in UM history. Consequently you make the one hired hand that wasn't a carryover from West Virginia, Scott Shafer, the scape goat and fire him. Shafer goes on to have top ten defenses at Syracuse and you fire the head coach two years later. In less than half a decade Michigan went from a perennial top 5 preseason, top 5-15 post season, 33 straight bowl appearances, winningest program in college football history to the laughing stock of college football in just one season. Ugly.

Now... MSU basketball 2010-11 has seen a similar decline but without a coaching change or sabotage from within. Well, it was sabotaged but not in the same way. Tom Izzo is still the Czar of East Lansing and is coming off of his 6th trip to the final four in 10 years, remarkable. Ranked #2 in the country to begin the season, MSU had great expectations for this year's team. Then Lee Corso stepped in and said "Not so fast my friend". Let's take a look at the last year's roster compared to this year's.

2009-10 Roster

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Pos.	Year	Hometown/High School
3	Allen, Chris	6-3	205	G	JR	Lawrenceville, Ga./Meadowcreek
25	Crandell, Jon	6-8	230	F	SR	Rochester, Mich./Rochester Adams
22	Dahlman, Isaiah	6-6	195	G	SR	Braham, Minn./Braham Area
23	Green, Draymond	6-6	235	F	SO	Saginaw, Mich./Saginaw
40	Herzog, Tom	7-0	250	C	RS JR	Flint, Mich./Powers
44	Ianni, Anthony	6-9	260	C	JR	East Lansing, Mich./Okemos (Grand Valley State)
20	Kebler, Mike	6-4	205	G	JR	Okemos, Mich./Okemos
1	Lucas, Kalin	6-0	190	G	JR	Detroit, Mich./Orchard Lake St. Mary's
34	Lucious, Korie	5-11	170	G	SO	Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI
2	Morgan, Raymar	6-8	230	F	SR	Canton, Ohio/McKinley
50	Nix, Derrick	6-8	280	C	FR	Detroit, Mich./Pershing
10	Roe, Delvon	6-8	230	F	SO	Euclid, Ohio/St. Edward
41	Sherman, Garrick	6-10	235	C	FR	Kenton, Ohio/Kenton
15	Summers, Durrell	6-4	205	G	JR	Detroit, Mich./Redford Covenant Christian
13	Thornton, Austin	6-5	220	G	RS SO	Sand Lake, Mich./Cedar Springs

2010-11 Roster

No. Last Name Name Height Ht. Wt. Pos. eligibility Year Hometown/High School 11 appling keith Appling, Keith 73 6-1 180 G 1 FR Detroit, Mich./Pershing -10 byrd russell Byrd, Russell 79 6-7 200 G 1 FR Fort Wayne, Ind./Blackhawk Christian 2 gauna alex Gauna, Alex 81 6-9 240 F 1 FR Eaton Rapids, Mich./Eaton Rapids 23 green draymond Green, Draymond 78 6-6 230 F 5 JR Saginaw, Mich./Saginaw 44 ianni anthony Ianni, Anthony 81 6-9 260 C 5 JR East Lansing, Mich./Okemos (Grand Valley State) 20 kebler mike Kebler, Mike 76 6-4 205 G 7 SR Okemos, Mich./Okemos 1 lucas kalin Lucas, Kalin 73 6-1 195 G 7 SR Detroit, Mich./Orchard Lake St. Mary's 25 nix derrick Nix, Derrick 81 6-9 270 C 3 SO Detroit, Mich./Pershing 5 payne adreian Payne, Adreian 82 6-10 225 C 1 FR Dayton, Ohio/Jefferson Township 10 roe delvon Roe, Delvon 80 6-8 230 F 5 JR Euclid, Ohio/St. Edward 41 sherman garrick Sherman, Garrick 82 6-10 240 C 3 SO Kenton, Ohio/Kenton 15 summers durrell Summers, Durrell 77 6-5 205 G 7 SR Detroit, Mich./Redford Covenant Christian 13 thornton austin Thornton, Austin 77 6-5 220 G 6 RS JR Sand Lake, Mich./Cedar Springs

Who would have thought losing Tom Herzog would make such a difference. Raymar Morgan is the only player of consequence who did not return, however, the dismissal of Chris Allen and Korie Lucious has drastically effected the team as well. Apparently Chris was too busy with American Idol and Korie was teaching drunk driver's ed to fellow Spartan Chris L. Rucker.

The nucleus of the team is back though, so how has MSU fallen so far as to beat Oakland by a single point, OT wins at home against cellar dwellers Northwestern and Indiana, lose to rival Michigan for the first time in 14 years at home, and lose to the worst team in the Big Ten, Iowa, by 20? There are a number of reasons but largest of all it seems that Tom Izzo has lost control of his team. He is still the head coach, he is still in charge of course but he no longer has a Mateen Cleeves or Drew Neitzel on the court to be his in-game coach. Kalin Lucas is by far the best player on the team but is far from the floor generals that came before him. The absent Korie Lucious still leads the team in assists with Draymond Green second. Izzo cannot seem to get through to his players like he has in the past. Off the court issues are becoming a bigger problem by the day and they are getting more and more difficult to sweep under the rug. Somehow his two prized freshman got away with rape in the offseason without so much as a missed practice. This should appall you.

Izzo has always had the ability to get the most of his players. His uncanny knack for motivation and inspiration is unparalled in college basketball. Is he losing his touch?

This team has sabotaged itself with off the court issues, a lack of discipline and coach Izzo's recruiting philosophy. Izzo has always taken the best in state talent but at times it has been solely to spite UM. Derrick Nix won Mr. Basketball but is the biggest project Izzo has ever undertaken. He is basically Tom Herzog minus a few inches plus 100 pounds. Izzo offered Nix in order to maintain instate recruiting dominance and more importantly to snag Nix's teammate Keith Appling. With the slow progress and lack of contribution from 5 star freshman center Payne, MSU finds itself without a legitimate inside presence. Draymond Green was also taken by Izzo to spite UM and has turned out to be a tireless worker and motivator but was not much of a player out of high school. He has developed his game but has become a perimeter big man instead of a force on the inside which MSU desperately needs.

MSU under Tom Izzo has been known as a scrappy, toughminded, aggressive, rebounding team that plays physical "Big Ten" defense. They will foul on every possession because the ref cannot call a foul every single time down the floor even if it is obviously a foul. The combination of the loss of mean-muggin Raymar Morgan,

the 3 point shooter extraordinaire experiment with Draymond Green, the lack of development of Derrick Nix, the whiteness of Garrick Sherman, and the lack of college fortitude of Adreian Payne. MSU has lost it's inside presence and it's bullish swagger. MSU used to push you around, but this year they are the ones picking themselves up off the floor.


Will they bounce back in time to make the NCAA tournament and forge another run at a title. At 13-9, 5-5 in the Big Ten they have their work cut out for them. 8 games left, 4 on the road against undefeated and #1 ranked OSU, #18 Wisconsin, #20 Minnesota, and rival Michigan to finish the season it does not look good. You'd think the 4 home games would be easier but they lost to each of the four on the road this year. Penn State, #24 Illinois, #10 Purdue and the Iowa team that beat them by 20 last night.

Circumstances are much different between Michigan football 2008 and MSU basketball 2010-11 but just like Michigan's 33 year bowl streak MSU's precious 12 year dance party could come to an end unless they make a serious turnaround. I've never counted them out late in the season during this current streak but right now they are on the mat and the referee is up to 6... 7... 8...