Spartans Duty Tonight Is Simple, the Task Itself Isn’t. Here is How the Spartans Win!

Spartans Duty Tonight Is Simple, the Task Itself Isn’t. Here is How the Spartans Win! Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN Michigan State has simple task

Spartans Duty Tonight Is Simple, the Task Itself Isn’t. Here is How the Spartans Win!

Lucas Oil Stadium

Indianapolis, IN

Michigan State has simple task tonight at 6:09 PM ET, beat Duke. Well it’s simple to state, maybe not so simple to do. Do pull off the win over #1 seed Duke (33-4) MSU must have more than just Travis Trice and Branden Dawson play well.

I will say it more plainly. If the MSU team that played Wisconsin for 40 minutes in the Big Ten Tournament game shows up, MSU will beat the Blue Devils. There I said it. Still, that is a tall task.

MSU must get Jahill Okafor out of the block on defense. He is a super young man and a great player, but his weakness is on the post. I look for MSU to go at him on defense. Move him. A great player, but not physical is the best way to describe the Devils big man.

If he is playing motivated basketball and goes with his man on hi post pick and roll the Spartans can kick it out for three. If he is hesitant the Spartans can feed the player rolling off the pick for a layup.

Duke is a great team, but let’s not pretend that they are used to the Spartans type of defense. In my opinion you have to look back to the 2013 NCAA Tournament for the key to this game.

It was March 29, 2013 and the Blue Devils won that game 71-61. I thought and still do that the Spartans had the better team that night. The officials called a very tight game. It was almost as if they thought they were officiating ballet and not basketball.

In fairness they called it the same for both teams, but just like this year’s Duke team, that team flourished in a finesse game. The Spartans want physical. If the refs call a tight game again the Spartans WILL NOT win this game. If they do what the officials of the last nine games have done and let them play I like the Spartans in this matchup.

Izzo is tired of hearing about the seventh seeded Spartans and the word underdog. They’ve earned the right to be here. “I would be the first to admit that a month and a half ago I questioned where we are. But we've earned our right to be here, too. So we're not going to apologize anymore. The teams we beat at the end of the year at the Big Ten tournament, and I think we played maybe the toughest of the four teams to get here. So we've earned our right, we're ready to play. We know we're playing a great team in Duke and excited about the opportunity.”

The talk about seeding has somehow burned Izzo’s fires hotter as the national media wants to talk more about that than his Spartans. “I'm a victim of a seven seed beating us and winning the national championship. I've also been here with different kinds of seeded teams. I don't think the seeding as much matters anymore. The one seed is the one seed, and I have all the respect for them. If you look at how this is set up now, there's so much more parity than what there used to be. Some of the seeding goes to who you played during the year, you know. I thought we played a tough non-conference schedule. People think we played a poor Big Ten schedule because there weren't a lot of rated teams. I listen to different shows once in a while. I think the eye test is important. People can see if that's a good team or a bad team. Sometimes I think we get too analytical and we worry about this, that and the other thing. Listen, what we did since about the middle of February, beginning, we played a lot of good teams, we played some great teams on the road. Had a heck of a Big Ten tournament with Ohio State, Maryland, Wisconsin. Then if you look here, we've had as tough a road as anybody. I just look at this whole thing as I'm excited to be here. I don't care about the seed. I've never cared about the seed. I've been a one seed and been beaten. That's not so great either. Just maybe helps you the first game so far. I think nowadays there's getting to be more pressure on the one seed playing a 16, and sooner or later it's going to happen. Maybe I'll just stay as a two and up for now, or two and down.”

I don’t expect MSU to double team Okafor like some teams have this year. In fact I look for some help side doubles on him, but only in the paint. Izzo has even bigger fears than Okafor. It’s senior guard Quinn Cook. Izzo has lain awake at night here in Indy thinking about him.

“I hate to say it because I know Jahlil very well, I know Tyus very well, Winslow not as well. My MVP of that team is Cook. I just think he made adjustments. He's got experience. He plays hard. He plays both ends of the court. He wants to take big shots. Seems like a class guy. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Quinn Cook. I just think he has everything. He's been through the wars, you know. He's been through some disappointments. I think that makes you a better person, I really do.”

For Tom Izzo (who has had success against almost everyone) this game is very personal. Not only is it a Final Four, but he is 1-8 against Duke Head coach Mike Krzyzewski in his career.

Denzel Valentine talked about that stat motivating these players. “Yeah, that's big motivation because that many losses... They're a great team, though. They have a great history. We fear no one. We're going to come out and play them like they're any regular team. We're not going to say, Oh, they're Duke. We've beaten a lot of great teams this tournament, in the Big Ten tournament. We're just going to attack them like they're any other team and play with no fear.”

Here is one last angle for you to consider ahead of this national semifinal tonight. The crowd will be overwhelmingly heavy for Kentucky. Those fans HATE Duke. They will be cheering wildly for MSU as will the Wisconsin fans and of course the Spartan Nation. I still think the refs and how they call the game will decide it, but an overwhelming pro MSU crowd is a big thing.

In fact the Spartan Nation has traveled amazingly this year. Gavin Schilling the Spartans center could help but gush over the support. “There's been quite a lot of Michigan State fans. I'm just happy to see that we have such a great support. It just means a lot. It just shows, you know, how good of a school it is. Our fans are just great and I love it.”

Travis Trice went farther when talking about the fans. “Our fan support has been great, especially in the tournament. Even in the Big Ten tournament. Even Syracuse last week, that felt like a home game, honestly. There was a lot of green in there. It's been great. Even when we came back from winning the Elite 8 game, our arena was packed with our fans coming to see us home. They've been great and hopefully they continue it this weekend.”

I know that the general consensus is that refs favor Duke. I don’t think the refs favored them in 2013, I think they just called a game (evenly) that favored the style of play the Devils like.

Tonight, let’s just all hope they don’t decide this one. If the games are called like they have been, this isn’t a good night to be a Duke fan.