Men's Basketball Faces Nike Elite In Second Exhibition Contest
11/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
2003-04 Michigan State BasketballMichigan State vs. Nike EliteNovember 13, 20037:00 P.M. ESTBreslin Center (14,759)East Lansing, Mich.
Radio: Spartan Sports Network - Will Tieman (Play by Play), Gus Ganakas (Color). WVFM (730 AM)
TV: None
Michigan State Game Notes
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The Opening Tip
Spartans Get Last Tune Up - Michigan State faces Nike Elite in its second exhibition game of the 2003-04 season. The Spartans lost to the Harlem Globetrotters, 97-83, on Nov. 2. The MSU game will mark Nike Elite's sixth contest in an eight-game, 18-day trip. Through the first five games, Nike owns a 2-3 record. MSU opens the regular season on Nov. 21 at home vs. Bucknell.
The Good Stuff
That's What Exhibition Games Are For - With a deep and talented squad, the Spartans are working on developing a rotation and looking for how different groups play together in game action. Against the Harlem Globetrotters, 12 different Spartans saw action, including eight players with 11 or more minutes and 11 players with eight minutes or more. In addition, Maurice Ager sat out the contest to rest an injury. His return to the rotation provides another player who should see significant minutes.
Get There Early - Prior to Thursday's game, the Michigan State athletic department will be handing out eight different schedule cards. This season, there are 16 different schedule cards, which fans are encouraged to collect. At Gate A, fans can collect Chris Hill, Kelvin Torbert and two cards representing highlights of the Tom Izzo era and MSU's incredible schedule. Cards with Maurice Ager, Tim Bograkos, Rashi Johnson and Brandon Cotton will be available at Gate C. The other eight cards will be available prior to the season opener vs. Bucknell.
Exh. Game 1 Notes - Harlem Globetrotters 97 - MSU 83
* Michigan State shot 50 percent from the field (30-of-60), but just 66.7 percent from the free throw line (18-of-27).
* Paul Davis' 19 points led four Spartans in double-figure scoring, including Alan Anderson (15 points), Chris Hill (12 points) and Kelvin Torbert (12 points).
* The contests was tied at 63 with 12:37 remaining. After that, however, MSU went more than four minutes without a point and more than five minutes without a field goal, allowing the Globetrotters to pull away.
* Earvin "Magic" Johnson played 16 minutes for the Globetrotters, scoring five points and dishing out four assists.
* Harlem held a 43-21 rebound advantage over MSU, including a 14-4 edge on the offensive glass.
* Maurice Ager missed the contest while resting an injury.
Statue Specifics - The statue honoring Earvin "Magic" Johnson was unveiled on Nov. 1. The structure, entitled "Always A Champion", symbolizes Johnson's championships at the high school, collegiate, NBA and Olympic levels with a statue of his body erupting from four abstract figures. The total height of the structure and base is approximately 12 feet tall, with the actual statue of Johnson less than 9 feet tall. The cost of the project is approximately $250,000 and is funded entirely through private donations. In the sculpture, Johnson is looking up the court with the basketball in one hand and is directing his teammates with the other hand, all of which were attributes that made him one of the greatest basketball players of all time and the man who made "triple-double" part of the basketball vocabulary. The statue was designed by sculptor Omri Amrany from the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt-Amrany, based in Highland Park, Ill. Amrany's previous works include the Michael Jordan statue in front of Chicago's United Center, a Harry Caray statue at the entrance to Chicago's Wrigley Field and six statues of great Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Most recently, he's completed statues of Vince Lombardi and Earl "Curly" Lambeau at Green Bay's Lambeau Field and a statue of Al McGuire at Marquette.
Playing The Best - Michigan State's 2003-04 schedule has the possibility to go down as one of the greatest in college basketball history. Opponents on this year's slate have combined for 32 National Championships, 406 NCAA Tournament appearances, seven of the 11 all-time winningest programs, five of the six all-time winningest Final Four teams, eight 2003 conference champions and 14 2003 postseason teams (10 NCAA Tournament and four NIT).
One Of A Kind Schedule - Michigan State's 2003-04 schedule is heading into uncharted waters. No team has ever played Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and UCLA during the same regular-season.
Preseason Favorites - Michigan State was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten Conference by both the league's media and coaches. This is the second year in a row and the fifth time in the last six years that MSU has been selected as the preseason favorite.
Davis And Hill Earn Individual Honors - Junior guard Chris Hill and sophomore center Paul Davis were both selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team as selected by the league's coaches. Hill also earned a spot on the media's all-conference team. Davis is the only non-guard to earn a spot on either team, while no seniors were honored. Davis and Hill were also named John R. Wooden Award Preseason All-Americans in August and Naismith Award candidates last week.
Sustained Excellence - The mark of an elite program is sustaining excellence over time and doing it against top-flight competition. There are 13 programs that have amassed 125 or more victories over the last five seasons. Michigan State is third on that list with 134 victories. However, MSU is also the team most willing to play top-notch competition, ranking first with 59 games against ranked opponents, while winning a nation's best 38. Michigan State and Kentucky are tied with 21 games in the regular-season against non-conference ranked teams. A look deeper into the numbers shows that of those 21 games for MSU, 13 were against top-10 teams. (Rankings based on The Associated Press Top 25 poll at the date the game was played.)
Returning Talent - Michigan State is a popular preseason pick for the 2004 Final Four based upon its returning talent from the 2003 Elite Eight squad. The Spartans return five of their top six scorers from last year, 71.6 percent of their scoring and 70.7 percent of their minutes played.
Embracing Expectations - Several preseason magazines have released their rankings. Across the board, MSU is a top five pick, including the following predictions: Athlon - #2; Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook - #3; Slam Magazine - #2; Sporting News - #3; Street & Smith's - #2. Each publication predicts the Spartans will capture their fifth Big Ten championship in the last seven seasons.
Winning The Right Way - In addition to excelling on the court, the Spartans are standouts in the classroom. Ten Spartans have received their undergraduate degrees over the last three years, including five each in 2001 and 2003. MSU entered the semester with a cumulative grade point average of 3.04.
U-S-A, U-S-A - Four Spartans had the opportunity to represent their country in international competition over the summer. Sophomores Maurice Ager and Paul Davis played for the USA Basketball Junior World Championship Team that posted a 7-1 mark in Greece. Davis was the squad's leading scorer (17.7 ppg) and rebounder (8.7 rpg). Junior Chris Hill was a member of the USA Basketball Pan American Games Team in the Dominican Republic with Tom Izzo serving as head coach.
New Faces - With Brian Gregory and Mike Garland becoming the latest members of the Tom Izzo coaching tree to get head coaching jobs, Izzo was forced to add two new assistants to the staff. Doug Wojcik filled one of the positions after serving as an assistant at Navy, Notre Dame and North Carolina. The other opening was filled by former Spartan letterwinner Dwayne Stephens who had served as an assistant at Oakland and Marquette.
Breslin Success - Since the start of the 1998-99 season, Michigan State has won 73 of its last 77 regular-season games in Breslin, a winning percentage of .948. In addition, the Breslin Center has been sold out for 83 consecutive games.
The Golden Arches - Michigan State is becoming the home for McDonald's Al-Americans. Over the past five seasons, seven McDonald's All-Americans have joined the Spartan squad, including Jason Richardson in 1999, Marcus Taylor and McDonald's All-American All-Star game MVP Zach Randolph in 2000, Kelvin Torbert in 2001, Paul Davis in 2002 and Shannon Brown and Brandon Cotton in 2003.
Home To Mr. Basketball - Four of the last five recipients of Michigan's Mr. Basketball Award, presented to the top high school player in the state, have gone on to wear a Spartan jersey. Jason Richardson (Saginaw Arthur Hill HS) won the award in 1999, followed by Marcus Taylor (Lansing Waverly HS) in 2000, Kelvin Torbert (Flint Northwestern HS) in 2001 and Paul Davis (Rochester HS) in 2002. Although Brandon Cotton (DePorres HS) finished second in 2003, Shannon Brown (Proviso East HS) captured Illinois' Mr. Basketball Award.
