Brandon Lang 4-6-09
Brandon Lang
Monday ...
50 Dime Michigan State
Don't be surprised to see the Spartans shock the world tonight.
First and foremost, throw out the first game. It means nothing. Nada. Zip.
Not only was the big man Suton out for the Spartans but they are a completely different team now than they were back then.You don't go through Louisville and Uconn in the manner in which Michigan State has unless you are playing some incredible basketball, which the Spartans are.
In my opinion there are two big keys for Michigan State tonight.
One, they need the refs to swallow their whistle, meaning let the game be physical and two, the Spartans have got to shoot the 3-ball well.Villanova, a solid shooting ball club proceeded to have one of their worst offensive showings of the entire year as evidenced by their 5 for 27-performance from behind the arc and it wasn't like these were contested 3's.The bottom line is I really like the way this team is playing right now and to essentially be getting a 7-point home dog in a Championship game is value I can't pass up.The Tar Heels are as good as it gets but if one team is going to beat them, it's going to be a team that is not afraid to punch them in the mouth and that team is Michigan State.As I said, the first meeting means nothing to me. Teams get destroyed all the time in the first meeting only to make adjustments and come back to win the rematch.
Take a look at the 3 examples from this year below.
Northwestern lost by 29 points at Wisconsin
only to comeback 6 games later and win by 3.
Rice lost by 25 points at home to Central Florida
only to comeback 10 games later and win by 3 on the road.
Stanford lost by 30 at home to Arizona State
only to comeback 16 games later and win by 10 on the road.
Folks, that first meeting was 30 games and over 4 months ago and as Uconn coach Jim Calhoun said, they are a lot better than you see on tape. Trust me when I tell you North Carolina will be saying the same thing after tonight.In my opinion, you just don't dominate the two best teams in the Big East in Louisville and Uconn and get blown out by North Carolina. I just can't see that happening tonight.I did quite a few radio shows prior to the Final Four and I said playing at Ford Field wouldn't be that big a home court advantage for the Spartans. Well, I was dead wrong there. It's a huge advantage. I mean huge.Lastly, Tom Izzo has never lost an NCAA tournament game as a #2 seed. A perfect 10-0 and sports fans, that is good enough for me tonight.Grab the dice Tom and hit the pass line hard at that Indian casino right next to Ford Field because if your team plays the way they did the last 2 games, your coming out roll is an 11 tonight as your gritty Spartans will shock the world.
FINAL SCORE 77-73
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Originally Posted by payingthejuice
