Spartans’ New Goal: Get Healthy
Submitted by Paul Mercier on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 19:15
As we head into the home stretch of another exciting Big Ten season, the Spartans will be looking to capture their first conference crown in almost a decade. At this point, it would take a near disaster for the Spartans to finish with anything less than at least a share of the title-everyone else in the conference has at least 4 losses, meaning the front-running Spartans would need a disastrous collapse in order to let someone else take over the top spot. On paper, this seems nearly impossible.
After winning at Michigan, the Spartans proved that they can continue to win on the road, even when their offense struggles. This will need to continue as the Spartans head to what is likely to be a very intense atmosphere in West Lafayette, when they play the Boilermakers on Tuesday. However, the goal for Izzo’s team in the meantime is to get healthy.
It has been quite an accomplishment for the Spartans to be where they’re at in the conference today considering all of the health issues that they have faced this year. From missing Goran Suton at the start of the season, Delvon Roe playing at 75%, and Raymar Morgan sitting out the middle of the Big Ten campaign, these Spartans have faced their share of adversity-and they’ve succeeded.
The problem is that there are some very tough games left on the schedule: obviously beating Purdue in West Lafayette will require the entire team to be ready to play, but don’t forget that they also still have to play at Illinois which is never a treat, and then wrap up with what could be a very important game against Purdue in East Lansing. The point: this team needs all of its players to play, and be on their game, in order to make a strong run heading into the NCAA tournament.
Suton is back to being a force on the boards and Delvon Roe is playing near his potential and starting to dominate; the only remaining factor is Raymar Morgan.
As it stands, the Spartans are on their way to possibly snatching a two seed in the tourney. With a strong finish, and a Detroit Final Four this year, who knows how the committee might reward them come selection time. The Spartans control their destiny, and in order for the outcome to be positive, they must be healthy.
