glidinghawk
Well-Known Member
Woodbury, Olesani, Basabe, and White will find the going tough in the paint, despite the absence of Payne and Dawson. Sparty will be rotating four very physical wide bodies in Costello, Kaminski, Schilling, and Gauna. Each of those guys has a 15 to 20 pound weight advantage on the tall guys for Iowa. If they get beat on the dribble, these guys will hammer the arms of the Iowa shooters to prevent FGs, because they will have designated guys fouling. They will crash the boards hard and clog the lane. They also have a designated goon in Byrd, a strong 6'7" guy coming off the bench to get rough and get into the shirts of guys who get in the paint.
Woodbury and Olesani play a little soft and will most likely get beat up and then possibly get frustrated and make a lot of fouls themselves. On the other hand, White and Basabe are very tough and wiry and love to mix it up and play rough in the paint. I'm not sure Uthoff will go into in the paint at all, except on fast breaks.
I think MSU will pack it in a little and force Iowa to take shots outside the paint. But Michigan State also has very good defenders on the perimeter, and they can jump and get through screens pretty well. Marble and Gesell will have a tough time on dribble drives.
So, bottom line, this will be an extremely physical game, and I expect a lot of fouls. FT shooting will be critical for Iowa. I hope White and Marble get to the line a lot, because they have been doing well there (Marble lately). If Iowa turns the ball over more than a dozen times, they will be in trouble. If they get beat by more than 5 on the boards, they will likely lose.
Michigan State has been somewhat of a mystery this year. I have seen games where they were completely out of synch in their half court offense and their passing was poor. Then I've seen them in other games where they looked very sharp in their sets and made great passes.
I hope Appling is still hurting a little bit. He seems to be slightly frail and injury prone, but I've also seen him make very strong moves to the hoop. I also hope Valentine doesn't come out of his shooting slump.
It's hard to predict this game, so I'm not. I'm just fired up. I hope the Hawks are more fired up.
Woodbury and Olesani play a little soft and will most likely get beat up and then possibly get frustrated and make a lot of fouls themselves. On the other hand, White and Basabe are very tough and wiry and love to mix it up and play rough in the paint. I'm not sure Uthoff will go into in the paint at all, except on fast breaks.
I think MSU will pack it in a little and force Iowa to take shots outside the paint. But Michigan State also has very good defenders on the perimeter, and they can jump and get through screens pretty well. Marble and Gesell will have a tough time on dribble drives.
So, bottom line, this will be an extremely physical game, and I expect a lot of fouls. FT shooting will be critical for Iowa. I hope White and Marble get to the line a lot, because they have been doing well there (Marble lately). If Iowa turns the ball over more than a dozen times, they will be in trouble. If they get beat by more than 5 on the boards, they will likely lose.
Michigan State has been somewhat of a mystery this year. I have seen games where they were completely out of synch in their half court offense and their passing was poor. Then I've seen them in other games where they looked very sharp in their sets and made great passes.
I hope Appling is still hurting a little bit. He seems to be slightly frail and injury prone, but I've also seen him make very strong moves to the hoop. I also hope Valentine doesn't come out of his shooting slump.
It's hard to predict this game, so I'm not. I'm just fired up. I hope the Hawks are more fired up.
