Men's Basketball Opens Exhibition Season Against Grand Valley State
10/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 31, 2007
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State
vs. Grand Valley State
November 2, 2007
8 p.m. EST
East Lansing, Mich.
Breslin Center
Radio: Spartan Sports Network (Select Stations) - Will Tieman (Play by Play), Gus Ganakas (Color). Flagship - WJIM 1240 AM
TV: Big Ten Network - Roger Twibell (Play by Play), Tim McCormick (Color)
Coach Izzo Press Conference
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Goran
Kalin
Scouting The Spartans - Michigan State returns all five starters and eight of its top nine scorers from a squad that posted a 23-12 record and advanced to the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Spartans are led by co-captains Drew Neitzel and Travis Walton. Goran Suton, Marquise Gray, Raymar Morgan, Drew Naymick and Idong Ibok also all started more than 10 games last season.
Scouting The Lakers - Grand Valley State returns four starters from its 2006-07 squad that advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2007 Division II NCAA Tournament. In the Elite Eight, the Lakers lost in overtime, 83-81, to a Barton squad that captured the national title. The Lakers are led in the post by Callistus Eziukwu, who averaged 12.9 points and 7.2 rebounds last season. Guard Jason Jamerson is the leading returning scorer, having averaged 13.4 points last year.
Spartans vs. Lakers - This year's contest marks the third meeting between Michigan State and Grand Valley State in the last four years. MSU won 77-62 at the Breslin Center in 2004 and 61-57 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids in 2007, after trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half. Last season, Drew Neitzel (27 points) and Goran Suton (16 points) combined to score 43 of MSU's 61 points. Raymar Morgan missed the contest with an injury. Jason Jamerson led Grand Valley State with 23 points and David Thompson added 11 off the bench.
Big Ten Favorites - Michigan State was selected the preseason Big Ten favorite by a 22-member media panel at Big Ten Media Day on Sunday in Chicago. MSU was followed in the polls by Indiana and Ohio State. At the event, Drew Neitzel was also selected Preseason Big Ten Player of The Year, becoming the first Spartan to earn the preseason nod since Mateen Cleaves was the coaches' pick in 1999. Indiana's D.J. White, Ohio State Jamar Butler, Penn State's Geary Claxton and Illinois' Shaun Pruitt joined Neitzel on the all-league team.
Green And White Recap - Freshman Kalin Lucas led all scorers in the Green And White Game with 29 points on 13-of-16 shooting. Senior Drew Neitzel scored 23 points and added 12 assists, committing just two turnovers. Junior Goran Suton scored 24 points and led all players with 13 rebounds, as senior Drew Naymick also posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards. Sophomore Raymar Morgan scored 24 points and freshman Chris Allen added 21. Green defeated White, 103-93, although nine players saw action for both squads as the lineups were changed for each quarter. The two squads shot a combined 55.8 percent from the field.
Returning Talent - Preseason expectations are high for Michigan State and for good reason as the Spartans return a large percentage of the production that allowed them to win 23 games and advance to the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Spartans return 89.8 percent of their scoring (2,043 points), 92.6 percent of their rebounding (1,021 rebounds), 93.2 percent of their assists (522 assists) and 89.4 percent of their minutes (6,256 minutes).
MSU Among Decade's Best - In early May 2007, ESPN.com released a ranking of the top 10 programs of the last 10 years. Michigan State was tied for second in the consensus ranking of five college basketball experts. One of the five voters, Andy Katz, ranked MSU as the top program over the last 10 seasons. In ranking the Spartans at the top of the list, Katz used several supporting arguments including: appearing in a nation's best four Final Fours; winning four Big Ten Championships, two Big Ten Tournament Titles and the 2000 NCAA Championship; 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances; 10 players selected in the NBA Draft; playing 32 ranked regular-season non-conference opponents; 30 graduates; 145 consecutive home sellouts and a .916 winning percentage at Breslin over the last 10 years.
Lofty Expectations - Michigan State is a consensus pick to finish first or second in the Big Ten by virtually every preseason magazine and is considered by many prognosticators to be a Top-10 team nationally. Here is a brief look at MSU's predicted finish in the Big Ten by preseason magazines: Lindy's College Basketball - 1st; Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook - 1st; Sporting News - 1st; Athlon Sports College Basketball - 2nd. Nationally, the Spartans are ranked No. 6 by Blue Ribbon and Jay Bilas, No. 7 by Dick Vitale, No. 9 by Lindy's, The Sporting News and CBS Sports.com, and a Sweet 16 team by Athlon.
Spartans Ranked In Coaches' Poll - Michigan State is ranked No. 8 in the first ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll of the 2007-08 season. The Spartans are the highest-ranked Big Ten team in the poll, followed closely by No. 9 Indiana. Other ranked MSU opponents include No. 2 UCLA (possible opponent in CBE Classic), No. 16 Texas (Dec. 22 at Auburn Hills, Mich.) and No. 24 North Carolina State (Nov. 28 in East Lansing). Big Ten foes Ohio State, Wisconsin and Illinois also received votes, as did non-conference opponents BYU, Bradley and Maryland.
Preseason All-American - A second-team All-American as selected by Dick Vitale and CBS Sports.com in 2006-07, Drew Neitzel opens the 2007-08 season as a popular pick for first-team All-America honors. In fact, Neitzel is a preseason first-team All-American according to Athlon Sports College Basketball, Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and Dick Vitale. Teammate Raymar Morgan made Vitale's fourth team.
All-Big Ten Candidates - Five different Spartans received some sort of preseason All-Big Ten honors from the preview magazines. Drew Neitzel is a first-team all-league selection by Lindy's College Basketball, Athlon Sports College Basketball and Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. In fact, Neitzel is the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year selection for each publication. Morgan is a preseason all-conference second-team selection for both Lindy's and Athlon. Athlon also has Marquise Gray on its third team, while Travis Walton and Goran Suton are third-team picks according to Lindy's.
Spartans On The Run - After Michigan State's season-ending loss to North Carolina in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, Tom Izzo promised that the Spartans would return to the up-tempo style of basketball that he prefers to play. Look for the Spartans to significantly improve on the 65.0 points they averaged last season. Instead, expect something similar to the 2004-05 squad that averaged 78.5 points per contest, the most by any Izzo-coached team.
The Other Foundations - While an up-tempo offense is Tom Izzo's preferred style, his best teams are also built around exceptional rebounding and strong defense. In fact, MSU led the Big Ten in rebounding margin in 2006-07 for the eighth time in the last 10 years. Defensively, the Spartans allowed opponents just 57.2 points per game, the lowest total since 1951-52. While that number might increase due to a faster pace of game, the field-goal percentage defense need not increase. Last year, MSU allowed opponents to shoot just 38.4 percent, the lowest since 1958-59.
