After Rout; Morgan-less Spartans Must Win Big Again
Submitted by Paul Mercier on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 18:53
There was about one minute left in the first half of Wednesday night’s basketball game between the Spartans and the Gophers when I looked over and saw my wife sleeping on the couch-unfortunately I had to miss my first conference home game, so I was watching the game from my living room. Wow! That’s a first, I thought to myself. Normally, my wife is just as wired about the game as I. Often times; she will be much more nervous and “loose-lipped” when it comes to expletives being hurled at the screen than I am as well. But here she was, sound asleep during the first half. However, that was a good thing.
The Spartans showed so much control and domination over the 19th ranked Gophers that my wife was literally bored to sleep. To be honest, so was I, but in a good way. To say the Spartans played tough defense would be an insult; the truth is: they played spectacular defense. Compile that with the fact that Durrell Summers lit up the first half, and Kalin Lucas controlled the game like an Army General, and the Spartans played possibly their most dominating game of the season. And this came against a good Minnesota team.
In order to regain MSU’s home court mystique however, Izzo’s team must once again DOMINATE on Saturday afternoon against a weaker Indiana team. Let’s not quickly forget the previous two home losses, games in which the Spartans played down to their opponents and lacked a passionate spark. Indiana should not come into the Breslin and win. Hell, they shouldn’t even compete with MSU in this game. But, if Michigan State relaxes, and relies on the home court advantage like they seemed to do in the earlier home losses, this game could be another disappointment.
My expectation is that this won’t happen. I fully expect the Spartans to come out hungry once again and destroy a young Hoosier team. After watching Wednesday’s game, it was obvious that these Spartans were having fun. Coach Izzo was having fun. The Breslin Center was having fun. For Wednesday evening, all was well in Sparta.
Again without Raymar Morgan, the Spartans need to have fun again and route Indiana, for next week starts a tough stretch of games for the team. One in which they will need their swagger, their stars, and their memories of how much fun it is to win big games.
