It is amazing how quickly basketball fans panic. It doesn't matter the level, a couple of losses and people go bucknuts. The reason I bring this up is because of MSU and UM basketball. The message boards after State's losses and UM's thriller with Purdue are just out of control. Everybody is saying their teams are done, blah, blah, blah.

It is absolutely ridiculous. In a couple of weeks UM will get a surprise win and MSU will get back on track and everybody will be talking about how great they are.

I don't think some people realize just how long the basketball season is. It's different than football. Every basketball team at every level goes through some tough stretches. They look horrible, but they eventually bounce back. MSU has done this NUMEROUS times. In 1979, a Michigan State team led by Magic Johnson started off 0-4 in conference play. People were panicking big time. Anybody know how that turned out?

Every year the our high school team around the 10-12 game goes into a funk. We start playing bad, no energy, etc. Fans panic and then we finish 17-3, 16-4 something like that. It's like clockwork.

You'd think after years of seeing basketball teams go through ups and downs, we'd all relax and put things into perspective. But, it doesn't happen. MSU is 0-2 in the conference and the sky is falling. In a couple of months they'll be cutting down nets along with many other teams that look terrible right now. And then everybody will want back on the wagon.

I'm not off the wagon, but those last 2 games were junk. Do I think that they will right the ship? Sure. Do I think that they have a great shot of getting to the Final Four again? Absolutely.


However...do I think that Paul Davis has been non-existent for the last two games? You bet your ass I do. Do I think they should have won the last two games? Sure. I'll even go as far to say that they gave those games away. Those were big statement games in the conference and they just flat out blew it. I want to see them lose games like the Gonzaga game. I want them to play their asses off and fall short instead of that vomit fest against Wisconsin.

They're better than this. Way better than this.

I will trade you Sims for Davis..:)


I dont panic. Michigan is in good shape. As long as they beat who they are supposed to beat and maybe knock off a couple of the better teams and Michigan is in easy. Beating the U and ND are good wins for UM right now.


Art

Michigan fans aren't necessarily panicing. We're used to getting less out of our players, so we're just losing hope that the team has turning the corner. Bedises, we weren't on the cover of every magazine at the beginning of the season. Are you panicing because you might not be elite anymore? Hahaha.

Shugadaddi, one thing you have to keep in mind is confidence. It's easy to say Michigan State should have played better in the last two games. But, why didn't they play well? Confidence. You could tell instantly that Ager, Neitzel, and even Brown have been searching for confidence. And when you don't have confidence, you play much worse.

And it's probably the most difficult aspect of coaching a basketball team. How do you give a guy confidence when he's not shooting well? It's impossible. It's the one thing a coach has no control over. The player just has to do a gut check and work through it.

It's especially hard for the State players that have no confidence right now because they are playing a ranked team every night. If they had an easy game mixed in, they would get their scoring up and their confidence back. That's the thing that worries me. We can't afford to carry on without confidence. The first few shot attempts for Ager, Neitzel, and Brown are going to be huge tomorrow. They make em, and they will be a completely different team. Mark my words

I get it....I'm the one that likes the hard schedule...remember?

I know you're right, I'm just bummed. Davis just seems like he disappeared for no good reason and two weeks ago Ager was the hottest hand in the land. I definitely feel what you are saying though. I could watch the despair kick in as Illinois continued to sink three after three.

I also get that the season is long and all we need to do is get hot right before the tournament. There isn't a team out there that even wants us in their bracket and that's a fact. I'm sure we'll do fine....we better...because it's the last time we will see big 'ole Paul Davis in the green and white. He needs to go out like a champion.

I still wouldn't change their schedule. I want the toughest teams in the land. Besides....we're never gonna get many easy games mixed in playing in the Big Ten.

I love the difficult nonconference schedule. That's how you prepare for the tourney.

I hate the BT conference schedule though. It's ridiculous. The 6 best teams in a row and 7 of the first 11 on the road. With that being said, our 2 toughest games of the BT season are out of the way. If State can string some wins together in the next week or two, we will be sitting pretty with the big boys visiting the Brez late in the season.

The Big Ten is always tough....in any sport.

I'm not panicing. Fuck that. 0-2 in confence play big whoop.

I'm with ya Steve. The thing that Izzo said that I really like was, "Our two toughest games of the Big Ten season are out of the way."

Sure they lost them, but other teams still have games like that on their schedule. No doubt their are lots of biggies to still come. But, I like the fact that we've got Illinois and Wisky visiting the Brez at seasons end.

A win against Indiana tonight would be huge.