All-Geek Team

Here is an interesting excerpt from what is becoming one of my favorite sites: Big Ten Geeks:

Kalin Lucas:
ORtg: 110.2
Shot%: 28.6

Conference player of the year. What's interesting about Lucas is how he adapted his role over the course of the season. Early on in non-conference play, Lucas was a grade-A distributor, with an assist rate around 40.0. But when conference play came around, and Raymar Morgan got sick, and Chris Allen went cold, Lucas became Michigan State's primary scorer. His conference-only numbers make him look like a "shoot first" point guard. The other interesting thing about Lucas is how high his efficiency was despite his lackluster shooting. Lucas posted an effective field goal percentage of 46.1, thanks to a pretty lousy 42% mark from 2 point range. But he made up for it by consuming possessions without turnovers, and by getting to the line at a very healthy rate (where he is deadly). But our modest proposal for Lucas continues - Tom Izzo has a 6-0 player who hits nearly 40% of his three pointers - why is he shooting over 3 times as many 2s? Just imagine if Lucas' shot selection went all Dee Brown. Scary.

It's good to know that what I saw happen is actually backed up by numbers.  Lucas went from big time dime dropper to The Man on this Spartans team when Morgan went down.  It was great to see the transformation and it's really interesting to look at his con/non-con splits.

Just imagine if Lucas' shot selection went all Dee Brown. Scary.

Scary, indeed.

All-B10 Teams Announced

It looks like my hunches were a little more accurate than the UM Hoops blog:

MSU got some props, with Lucas (1st Team, POY,) Suton (2nd Team,) Walton (Defensive POY,) Morgan (Honorable Mention,) Roe (All-Frosh) and Izzo (Coach of the Year) all receiving accolades.

I thought that there was a chance that Morgan would be 3rd team, but I knew it was lofty thinking.  Hopefully this will help his decision to come back next year.

There's Something Fishy....

Notice anything strange about UM Hoops blog's All B10 First Team?

Perhaps two UM players on the first team?  Come on, what about Johnson or Landry?

Morgan Still Out; Does Not Matter...MSU Wins

ANN ABOR, Mich. -- Freshman Delvon Roe scored 11 of his season-high 14 points in the first half and Kalin Lucas had 13 of his 15 points after halftime, leading No. 9 Michigan State to a 54-42 win over Michigan on Tuesday night.

The Spartans (20-4, 10-2 Big Ten) have won three straight to open a 2½-game lead over Illinois and Ohio State, moving closer to their first conference championship since 2001.The Wolverines (15-10, 5-7) will have to finish the season strong, after beating Duke and UCLA, to play in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998.Michigan, which trailed by eight at halftime and 12 early in the second half, pulled within four with 4:48 left but couldn't get closer.

DeShawn Sims scored 18 points while leading scorer Manny Harris had just seven on 2-of-10 shooting for the Wolverines after saying it was a must-win game.The Spartans have won 16 of 19 in the series.Michigan had won its last two home games against Michigan State but led the latest matchup just twice in the opening minutes.The Spartans were without second-leading scorer Raymar Morgan, who missed his third straight game recovering from a batch of illnesses, but are expecting him for their next game Tuesday night at Purdue.

Michigan State is 7-0 in true road games, joining Connecticut, Louisville and Utah State as the only undefeated Division I teams on opponents' home courts.The Wolverines have lost seven of their last nine and might've been tired against Michigan State, playing their third game in just six days.The Spartans scored the first five points of the game, then Michigan outscored them 8-2 to take the lead.One of Roe's four field goals in the lane put Michigan State ahead for good midway through the first half. His 11 points before halftime surpassed his previous best in a Big Ten game and were just two short of his previous career high. He finished with 10 rebounds, one short of his season best.

The Spartans led 23-15 at halftime despite a six-plus minute scoring drought that ended with Lucas' first points with 1:08 left in the half.Michigan made a meager 32 percent of its shots in the first half, made just two 3-pointers on 10 attempts and gave up nine points off eight turnovers. The Wolverines made 35 percent of their shots overall and missed 20 of 24 3-pointers.

via ESPN.com