It is hard to put your finger on exactly what ails us except maybe they are not healthy. Earlier with Geo out, but with Cliff in, Ron , Jacob and Tez, really established chemistry with Jacob getting 5-10 assists a game. The team looked to Ron to take over and he did and was shooting 60% from the field and 50 % from 3. Ron dominated the second half of the Illinois game and that game Cliff got hurt . With Cliff and Myles we were outrebounding teams as well. Geo was eased back in but still obviously hurt . The same formula worked for almost 30 minutes at Ohio State as we were dominating , then the refs screwed Myles and without Cliff , Duke couldn’t handle Lindell , then Jacob fell with 7 minutes left and the unhinging and one on one selfish play without sharing the ball started. We then gutted one out without Ron , as Tez carried us to the win with some help from Geo against Purdue. The Iowa game was a terrific game but you still saw ball movement sharing of the ball , cutting to the hole and dishes for 3. But it was obvious Ron was not himself.. But we played good team ball. We were even on the glass , Iowa shot only 7-18 from 3. We were playing like a top 15 team.
Then Izzo put together a great game plan and challenged his guys to play tough man to man defense which they did. Very obvious in that game that both Ron and Geo were not healthy enough . We got stuffed or took terrible off balanced shots without anyone cutting to help out with no crashing of the glass . Ron stopped playing defense or rebounding and could not plant off his feet for his shooting or his rebounding. Assists almost disappeared with Geo getting the only 2 in a row with the nice bounce pass to Paul, who converts but of course missing the foul shot , and the pass back to Ron for the 3. But we stopped rebounding , especially offensively , and all the guards failed to crash the boards to help Myles . Our elite defense disappeared as MSU literally threw 10 turnovers to us, but we did nothing to stop any of their shooters. Then yesterday against Ohio State , again missing our elite defense , failing to rebound, stopped passing to one another after taking a 26-20 lead on Caleb’s three. Again selfish one on one play with no crashing of the glass , especially offensively.
So have we lost our identity. Defense and rebounding. Yes and yes. We haven’t played elite defense this year compared to any tough defense we played last year. From a distance , it appears we have not tried hard enough to play elite defense nor tried to rebound like we are capable. The lack of guard rebounding especially defensively to help Myles is inexcusable. The offensive rebounding or being in position to rebound is missing. We are more than capable.
Offensively , missing Cliff has hurt Myles on both ends , but we have to play inside out now that our outside shots have cooled down. Put Myles on the block and the guards have to give him the damn ball. The wings can crash or cut as Myles will find them if doubled , plus he can dish out to a now open three point shooter that can get the shooters back on track. Myles can come up and do pick and roll with Jacob once in a while but bringing him away from the basket every time , plus risk the moving screen , is not worth it. Guards have to move , run some down screens , and stop standing around doing crap which has occurred for big parts of Michigan State , first half Ohio State , end of second half first Ohio State game . Post the guards , Geo, Ron , Caleb on the block as well. Trust them to hit a short shot or make the right pass. Jacob can still break down almost everyone and should continue to do so. Another reason guards should crash the defensive glass , is they can all get the board and lead the fast break , which teams are taking away from us. All of them can rebound and all can lead the break. The offense will improve. We have to get our guys healthy. Geo and Ron have to get healthy and then have to step up and we will get back on track.
Most disappointing thing , is our seniors, Geo and Jacob, and our grizzled juniors who have been through the Big 10 wars , Myles, Tez, Ron , did not say enough of this crap , and say we are not losing this game against Ohio State first game , MSU, and Ohio State yesterday. We have an experienced team that you would think this crap would not happen. Really disappointed in Geo and Ron in those 3 losses.
