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Michigan St: An SI Breakdown
Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl examines the Spartans
Posted: Thursday March 25, 1999 08:40 AM
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In a clutch situation, the Spartans will look to Mateen Cleaves to get them through a tough time. AP |
Starting five
Point guard: Mateen
Cleaves
Every time I start thinking he's terribly overrated, an out-of-control
penetrator with a terrible shot, Cleaves goes and has a second half like he had
against Kentucky. All he did was this: hit a three at the first-half buzzer
(setting the tone for the second half); throw an 80-foot baseball pass for one
assist and a two-foot bounce pass in the lane for another; and play the best
defense by a point guard that I have seen all
year.
Guard: Jason
Klein
Klein can be a deadly scorer from the perimeter when his shot is on. So far in
the tournament it hasn't been, although he's still a steady defensive
player.
Guard: Charlie
Bell
Bell may not be a scorer, but he possesses a critical sense of timing. All seven
of his points against Kentucky came in the second half, including five straight
late in the game to give MSU a seven-point lead. Another defensive stopper on
the perimeter next to
Cleaves.
Forward: Andre
Hutson
A blue-collar guy in the lane, Hutson sets a big target for Cleaves and has
learned the underappreciated skill of catching difficult passes. At times he can
disappear,
though.
Forward: Antonio
Smith
The heart and soul of the team, Smith also doesn't score much, but he's an
inside force on the boards and the mastermind of MSU's defense, calling out all
the plays that the opposing offense is running with near-photographic recall
from watching game
tapes.
Bench
Forward Morris Peterson is simply the best sixth man in the country. For
a fun parlor game with your friends, make a bet before the game on who Peterson
will replace when he checks in for the first time. You never can tell who it
will be -- he's that versatile. The surprise of the tournament for MSU so far
has been forward A.J. Granger, the tallest (6'9") Spartan, who has been the
team's best ... outside shooter. Granger was 3-for-3 from trey range against
Kentucky, and he does all the little things right. Count how many mistakes he
makes in a game. You won't need more than one
hand.
Coach
When the Spartans fell behind 17-4 to Kentucky, coach Tom Izzo could have
tinkered with his lineup or tried a gimmick defense. He could have, but he
didn't. "We didn't change a thing," he said afterward. "There was
no need to panic." Izzo knows exactly what he wants to do and he sticks to
it. From now on, though, he has to make sure his team is ready to play from the
first
whistle.
Offense style
When MSU is at its best, Cleaves is penetrating and either dropping a bounce
pass to Peterson or finding Klein for an open three. When it's at its worst,
Cleaves is making a hash of things by turning the ball over or taking wild
shots. It's rarely attractive basketball, but most of the time it
works.
Defense style
Style? Not even close. But the Spartans' man-to-man is tight, nasty and
effective. These guys live for physical play. The night before the Kentucky
game, the coaches even showed them the parts of Jerry Springer's Too Hot for
TV when the guests beat the crap out of each other with chairs and fists.
Every once in a while MSU will spread into a zone, but not
often.
How they can beat you
With defense, muscle and rebounding. If the score is in the 60s or lower, the
Spartans almost always
win.
How they can be beaten
If you get Michigan State into a running game, the Spartans are in trouble. The
same goes for any team that can force Cleaves into making bad
decisions.
At crunch time watch...
Cleaves. He has already hit three first-half buzzer-beaters in the tournament,
and in each case they set up sterling second-half performances by the
Spartans.
Weak link
Inside scoring is a big problem, since neither Hutson nor Smith can be depended
on for points. Klein's outside shooting has also failed Michigan State in the
postseason.
Prediction
We really shouldn't be that surprised to see MSU in the Final Four, considering
that defense wins games in the tournament. If the Spartans can keep the pace
down they can stay with anyone, including Duke, and they're tough as nails. Keep
in mind that Michigan State outrebounded Duke 25-5 on the offensive glass in the
Blue Devils' 73-67 win back in December. Look for Duke to pull away in the last
couple of minutes to win, but by less than
10.
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