MSU Basketball-Garrick Sherman to transfer for 2011-2012 season

The MSU men’s basketball team is suffering yet another loss for the upcoming season; Sophomore center Garrick Sherman has announced his plan to transfer to a currently unnamed university. Sherman will now join Chris Allen and Korie Lucious, who were dismissed and both transfered to Iowa State University. MSU is now pressed for size on the back end of the court. With more playing time expected next year from Freshman, Adreian Payne and Sophomore, Derrick Nix, MSU might sneak by with just enough size to cover the paint.

Sherman cites scarce playing time as his reason for leaving MSU, but as a Sophomore, with more talented people ahead of him, I think his playing time accumulated fairly nicely.  Sherman was the 99th overall ranked player in the country for the college recruiting class in 2009, and was the 12th overall rank for his position in the country, that being center. Compared to some of the recruits ahead of Sherman, his average of 12.1 minutes per game and 3.1 points per game was generous. For example, Sophomore, Derrick Nix, is also a center, who was close to Sherman in overall recruiting ranks back in 2009. Arguably, Nix should have acquired more playing time by now

as well, considering during the 2010-2011 season he averaged 8 points per game, and played less time than Sherman. Freshman, Adreian Payne’s average playing time fell in between Sherman’s and Nix’s, and he still averaged more points per game than both of them, coming in a mean of 9 points per game.

At risk of sounding like I’m bashing Sherman and condoning his decision to transfer, I will add that he was a strong player for MSU, showing up particularly during the beginning of the season. Sherman started exactly half of his games as a Spartan during their 19-15 season, showing that he was needed even in a time of distress and poor play for the team, they still could rely on Sherman’s abilities. But again, we must take into a account that Sherman is only a sophomore, and his playing time was likely to increase in seasons to come. Was his decision to transfer as a sophomore slightly premature? I believe so.

As a sophomore, Sherman still acquired more playing time than some freshman, and some sophomores. Transferring at this point in his career might be ill advised, especially when he currently has not named a school to transfer to. The whole idea in general seems slightly abrupt to me, but then again, I’m sure Sherman has his reasons, considering he discussed his move with Coach Izzo before making it.

~Maddie Fetchiet, The Big Green

Spartans Suffer Early Defeat in NCAA Tournament

The madness has begun and the NCAA “March Madness” Tournament is underway. For some teams, March truly means madness, like for #4 seed, Louisville falling to a #13 Morehead State. But for others, their performances define predictable.

MSU began the 2010-2011 basketball season ranked #2 in the nation, and ended their season with a heartbreaking loss to the UCLA Bruins in the 2011 NCAA tournament, 78-76. The Spartans suffering a 23-point deficit at one point fought hard to close the gap to just a point in the second half. Senior, Durrell Summers helped the Spartans remain competitive in the first half, while senior, Kalin Lucas and Draymond Green couldn’t seem to find their niches. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to pull out a victory over the Bruins, a #7 seed in this year’s tournament.

For a team trying to live up to the expectations a #2 ranking implies, the season, overall, was a disappointment to Spartan fans everywhere. The team suffered injuries, player drama, and sub-par performances all year from star players, Durrell Summers and Kalin Lucas.

However, the Spartans had many notable moments in their season that should not go unrecognized. While Lucas and Summers may not have had the explosive season they were known for in the 2009-2010-basketball season, other teammates picked up the slack and started to come into their own.

Two players in particular that resonated with me this season were Junior, Austin Thornton, and Freshman, Keith Appling.

Once the Big Ten season was upon us, Thornton began adding up the minutes on the court, earning a total of 176 minutes for the season, with an average of 9.8 points per game, helping the Spartans persist in times of need.

Appling, averaging 478 minutes per game this year as only a freshman and being the team’s fourth leading scorer, shows immense potential for future seasons.

The baseline shot is no stranger to Appling. His ability to find his niche shooting and his contribution to three-point field goals gives him an early advantage as a Spartan. A freshman making 37% of his three-pointers will not go unnoticed in upcoming seasons, and his playing time is sure to accumulate even quicker pending his performance remains consistent.

Appling was given the opportunity to play the starting point guard position early in the season, often replacing Lucas while he recovered from his ankle injury he acquired in the 2009-2010 NCAA Tournament.

A season full of high lights and low lights was ended tragically, and losing three seniors for the upcoming season will not play to our favor. Mike Kebler, Durrell Summers and Kalin Lucas were irreplaceable assets to the team, but the Spartans are lucky to have strong players to continue to build the team up to the potential it has always had.

Talented freshman Adrian Payne and Keith Appling increase the team’s potential for a better seasons next year as well as incoming seniors Draymond Green, Delvon Roe and Austin Thornton. Up and coming performer, and incoming junior, Garrick Sherman is expected to contribute more in the rebounding category as well, as he towers over many at 6’10”.

Spartans–stay optimistic. One disappointing season doesn’t necessarily point to repetition during the next season. As I previously noted, we have very promising players still with us, watch out for Appling and Green in particular to carry MSU to a better 2011-2012 seasons. The Spartans will continue to fight, so fans, let’s continue to root on our boys. It was written in the stars for MSU this year, but for the 2011-2012 season, the stars are likely to align.

 

^iDetroitOnline provides insight to the Spartan’s defeat.

 

~Maddie Fetchiet, TBG

 

OSU’s Tressel merely unaffected by sanctions

While I’ve never been a fan of Ohio State University or anything related to them athletically, I’ve always respected their football coach, Jim Tressel. However my thoughts of the classy, well respected football coach wavered when reports were released that Tressel would not take much responsibility for Terrel Pryor and other football players recent scandal. The two players were accused of trading OSU athletic items for free tattoos, etc. Since, matters have become worse for Coach Tressel. Tressel has received sanctions and a suspension for admitting to knowing about Pryor and other players’ trading their OSU gear for favors.

I don’t know what to think now? My next question now would be how will the suspensions of Tressel and the players affect the upcoming Big Ten season.

Michigan State did not play Ohio State in the 2010-2011 football season, which is one of the potential factors that helped MSU maintain their strong record, leading them to becoming co-Big Ten Champions. In the 2011-2012 football season, OSU will land on MSU’s schedule, however. The five OSU players involved in the trading scandal will be suspended for the first five games of the season, but MSU will play OSU at the Horseshoe for their first conference game, a game included in OSU’s suspension. How will the suspensions and sanctions affect the game?

With Tressel and star players out for the beginning of next season, this could possibly play to MSU’s favor. OSU has potential to be less prepared without their head coach, and while the players will still be practicing, the lack of game experience could harm their performance since they open their Big Ten season against the Spartans.

While the suspensions may affect OSU’s early season games, in the grand scheme of things, Tressel and the five players involved in the trading scandal will be merely unaffected by the lenient punishments given by the NCAA. OSU is a great football team with a great coach, and a team like that doesn’t let small setbacks ruin an entire season. I believe the Buckeyes will be back on the ball still early in the season, shortly after the play MSU.

But in the meantime, let’s see what Sports Center reporters Joe Schad and Jay Harris have to say about Tressel.

–Jim Tressel’s violations discussed on Sports Center

MSU Men’s Basketball: Has Anyone Seen Durrell Summers?

In the 2009-2010 MSU basketball season, Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers were the Batman and Robin of college basketball. With NCAA tournament appearances their first three years on the squad, the two young men from Detroit became household names, especially in East Lansing. Last season, Lucas and Summers both hit career highs in scoring with 25 points and 26 points per game,

respectively. But looking at MSU’s 17-13 2010-2011 record, I can only ask one question; has anyone seen Durrell Summers?

As an avid MSU basketball fan, I think I speak for the majority in saying that MSU’s current 17-13 record is less than impressive. But while there are many in the running to place blame on, I will start by saying Coach Tom Izzo, for the most part, is exempt. The Spartans are not losing to teams like Iowa because of lack of competence in coaching, but rather the players on the team have displayed a sheer lack of enthusiasm.

On Jan. 15, 2011, at the Breslin Center, Summers found himself on the bench against Northwestern University due to a lack of enthusiasm according to Coach Izzo. While Izzo claims the decision to bench Summers was not due to a lack of performance, I tend to disagree. I believe it was poor performance fueled by his “lack of enthusiasm.” Most of us can agree that Summers has been rather inconsistent during the 2010-2011 seasons, some games only scoring around five points, as opposed to previous seasons averaging around 11 points per game. In my opinion, it’s an all-encompassing problem with Summers this year. Agreeing with Izzo regarding the lack of enthusiasm Summers has displayed, I believe this has significantly contributed to his inconsistency and so-called slump he’s experienced thus far in the season. In my experience in sports, without the will to play, the talent is irrelevant.

Coming off their second consecutive Final Four appearance in last year’s NCAA tournament, Spartans Lucas and Summers were in the lime light of potential prospects for the NBA draft. To my personal surprise, the two decided to return to MSU for their senior years, a move many thought would catapult the Spartans to another potential Final Four appearance, if not a championship in this year’s upcoming NCAA tournament. However, with Lucas coming off an ankle injury from the previous season and other contributing team drama, the MSU men’s basketball team is simply crossing their fingers to even get a bid for the 2011 bracket.

Some Spartan fans may have jumped to conclusions after MSU had early losses to the unranked University of Connecticut in the Maui Invitational tournament, and a loss to Penn State in their second conference game, but it turns out that the early losses to mediocre teams that MSU experienced was only foreshadowing the rest of the season’s fate.

I’m immersed in the student section throughout the month of January at the Breslin Center watching my Spartans take unworthy teams into overtime and I’m thinking to myself, where’s Durrell Summers? In three consecutive games at the Breslin, MSU took Wisconsin, Northwestern and Indiana into overtime games because of a questionable sense of urgency in their play. Going back to Durrell Summers’ lack of enthusiasm, we would normally see him popping jumpers and hitting three pointers, but instead he was warming the bench.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not solely blaming a slump season on one player, that being Summers. There were many other contributing factors, such as the dismissal of Korie Lucious, who has now transferred to Iowa State for his senior year to join former teammate, Chris Allen. And we cannot ignore Lucas’ slow start at the beginning of the season while he was still somewhat fresh off his ankle injury. But the way I see it is, if one player is unenthused, if one player is in a slump, and if one player has a sour attitude about the game he was given the privilege to play, that has the powerful potential to diminish the overall attitude of the team.

Maybe it was a domino effect? Lucas started the season off with less notable performances than in past seasons, so maybe this got the team down? Seeing Lucas, his play-making partner performing under par, maybe Summers lost his enthusiasm? As the rest of the team stands by and watches arguably two of their best players perform out of character, the attitude is sure to drop, and to top it all off, the release of high performing tournament player, Korie Lucious, puts the icing on the cake of a mediocre season.

With the 2011 NCAA tournament imminent, the Spartans must devise a remedy to the problems with the mental aspect of their game. With the pressures of a year-end tournament, if the mental focus is absent, the winning will also be absent. Luckily, MSU has always been recognized as a good tournament team, with a great ability to perform under pressure. Players including junior, Draymond Green, freshman, Keith Appling, and sophomore, Derrick Nix have picked up some slack this year, and we Spartan fans can only hope they continue to play consistently.

But to win battles, we need our Batman and Robin back. We need Summers in particular to be a playmaker again for Lucas, whose performance has picked up since mid-season. The chemistry the two prospective draft picks had was unmatchable for anyone else on the team, and it was because of that and the overall confidence in the team that MSU made appearances in multiple consecutive NCAA tournaments with two consecutive Final Four appearances.

The true test of the season starts with the Big Ten Tournament. I have faith in the Spartan’s ability to get their act together and break out of the cage that has been holding them back all season. But to do this we need our experienced star performers to play to the best of their ability. We should keep crossing our fingers, but hopefully we can look for the Spartans to show the Big Ten who will be running the tournament this year.

~Maddie Fetchiet, TBG