MSU and the Injury mantra

Submitted by ijohnb on

A viable reason can easily become a sad excuse.  Just as easily "bad luck" can reveal itself as part of an identity.  Nobody ever wants to see a team decimated by injuries.  Injuries are a variable that many times do come into play in terms of how things play out for any given team in a season.  That being said, this display from Michigan State as to the extent of their injuries and the effect it had on last nights has truly become embarrasing for them.  From the miniute Brandon Dawson puched Dan Dakich in the.....um, table, table I guess, the rhetoric gushing out of East Lansing and onto ESPN and finally, desperately, pouring out of Dick Vitale last night when it became clear Michigan was leaving with a W has left me losing a certain degree of respect for Michigan State's basketball program.  In one way or another, injuries have taken stage front center of the multitude of excuses coming out of East Lansing in the last several season for results on the court.  They are an ace in the hole, a fallback that can be dispersed it seems at the will of Tom Izzo to justify any form of underperformance from his team, in a loss, in a close win, in November, in March, whenever it is needed it is there, and the local and national media just start lathering up in it at a moments notice. 

I used to really respect Michigan State as a basketball program.  At one time, they were a no non-sense, no excuses outfit.  They were tougher than you and they wanted it more that you, and you knew it.  Now, they are a program that diverts the attention from a truly remarkable basketball game last night to an excuse for their loss, and basically, refusing to acknowledge the result of the game as legitimate.  I have never liked Tom Izzo or Michigan State, because they are Michigan State, but I have always respected the hell out of them for the type of program they were.  It was the type of program that I wish Michigan had.  I now could not be prouder of the distinction between the programs and the way it responds to wins and losses and the way it carries itself in regard to a worthy opponent.  That was a great win for Michigan.  There is no asterick, there is no qualifier.  That is the headline after last nights game and I would have a lot more respect for Michigan State basketball if that was their bottom line after a really great college basketball game.

ijohnb

January 26th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^

Guess it doesn't "matter" but it just is. I am not worried about it, but it is noteworthy. Out of all the coverage of this game not once have I heard from anybody local or national that basically everybody in that program is dealing with that game and that loss with the maturity of a 3 year old. That is the most accurate narrative but also the narrative nobody will address. Michigan State is treated with kid gloves. It seems almost unacceptable for them to be accurately assessed in this regard. So I thought it should be said. That is all.

IndyBlue90

January 26th, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^

When I was at Butler, ever time we would win a big game the media would overdue the under dog storyline, rather than analyzing the game. On several of those occasions the game was won by a great game plan and just outplaying the opponent. It was obnoxious to out and out win games and have it basically chalked up to luck, grit or otherwise. Eventually, it happened so many times that the media/announcers had to start acknowledging that the team was for real. I guess what I am saying is the best way to shut them up is to beat them on the court, repeatedly. 

snarling wolverine

January 26th, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^

You make it sound like it's just Michigan fans that take note of this.  I visited some Wisconsin boards after our game against them and they all noted Dakich's jab at Izzo for whining about injuries.

People aren't just reacting to one press conference.  Injury whining is one of Izzo's talking points all the time, whenever he has a microphone around.  If it's not that, it's complaining about players leaving early.  Next year, he'll whine all year about how Gary Harris is gone.

This doesn't in any way affect my enjoyment of our victory; it just makes me appreciate Beilein all the more so.  

mGrowOld

January 26th, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^

I don't give two shits if they had zero starters available last night.  We won and that is all that matters in the long-run.  The media has "feel-good" narrative to promote - poor, gritty MSU having to overcome almost INSURMOUNTABLE obsticles placed in their path last night" and they will pound it and pound it and pound it till they move on to the next one.

Notice how little or no mention is being made of us doing something NO team has done since 1987?  Paying attention to that nagging little detail might actually give credit to Michigan winning the game instead of MSU almost prevailing against all odds.

EDIT: Although it certainly appears like I was responding directly to Space I wasn't.  We were typing somewhat contrarian (as we are want to do) views on something at the same time in the same thread..  

As Alanis would say "isn't it ironic........"

SteelBrad

January 26th, 2014 at 10:30 AM ^

Let's just put it out there like this:



Michigan lost two players to the NBA and one of their best players to a season-ending injury.



MSU lost one of their best players to injury, one starter to European bball and one to an anger-related injury.



I'd say Michigan has had to replace more this season. When MSU loses at home, they've been out-coached and are grasping for straws.

Lampuki22

January 26th, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^

a mixed crowd. Actually some otherwise normal Sparty folks outside of sports.



In the first half it was "we will beat you EASILY despite our injuries". Last year was a "fluke" run in NCAA tourney.



Mention McGary is injured and you get a blank stare like they don't know who he is or he's not any good.



Late second half it became the injuries mantra and the refs have it in for us.



Then when the dagger was in the heart it became a team built to make a tournament run and Gary Harris is a top 3 pick. One guy went so Farr as to say he was POY last year over Burke and a better Shooter than Curry.



Like in his press conference when a blabbering Izzo felt the need to say Harris is the best player on the floor vs giving our team any credit. They are a classless delusional bunch.



Blue Koolaid

January 26th, 2014 at 10:38 AM ^

I went into the game and knowing that that was exactly what Vitale/ESPN were going to talk about all night. They are so predictable it's funny. Only mentioned McGary a couple times meanwhile they gave a thorough breakdown on every player injured for MSU and how it impacted the game. Injuries are part of sports suck it up pussies!

Team 101

January 26th, 2014 at 8:36 PM ^

It's not just the loss in 1977.  Dickie V wanted to schedule regular season games with U-M to provide a spectacle to attract recruits and Don Canham wouldn't give him the time of day.  It really irked him.  When he announced one of the games where U-M knocked off a Magic Johnson MSU team, all he could say was that it was a great game for "college athaletics".

It's long past time for Dickie V to go.

Mgodiscgolfer

January 26th, 2014 at 10:41 AM ^

That State lost, the things I head ranged from State isn't neccesarily worse than UM, to I can't wait till the Spartans get them at Crisler in Feb.They showed Izzo saying how he thought Harris is POY "If he isn't than God bless who is? OMG stick my finger down my throat. Pure sickening.

beevo

January 26th, 2014 at 10:53 AM ^

I watched it twice to make sure I didn't miss a "pro-Michigan" segment.  It was awkward actually.  They spoke more about MSU...never said "Let's talk about this Michigan team" or "Let's talk about a great job Beilein is doing over in Ann Arbor."  It was all Izzo and they were damn near apologetic. I usually find they do a great job but last night was off. 

Damn, B1G, sorry we went into Breslin and beat your boys.  We will try not to do it again until next season.  Love, Michigan Basketball.

lazyfoot10

January 26th, 2014 at 10:41 AM ^

DID YOU KNOW:

Michigan State has NEVER lost a legit game to Michigan in any sport at any time ever. 

Any loss to Michigan has been either due to bad officiating or injuries. 

Well, since they caught the injury bug this year I guess we'll have to wait until next year to finally have a chance to beat MSU. 

MosherJordan

January 26th, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^

Lead-off on Sports Center is the MSU-UM game, and right off they point out the obvious that BOTH teams are missing key players due to injury. The thing I've always respected about Izzo is his ability to get a lot of production out of his bench. Last night, our subs were better. Lets face it, the NC game last year came down to Louivelle's 6th man being better than our 6th. That's how it goes.

JamieH

January 26th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^

by itself didn't decide the game.  But the absolute asshatted officiating that occured all game did.  The fact that the Big East (yes, 2 of the 3 officials were almost exclusively Big East) officials allowed the game to devolve into a rugby match favored Louisville so heavily that the whole thing was ridiculous.  Pitino could have paid off the officials and not gotten better results.

TNWolverine

January 26th, 2014 at 10:45 AM ^

Its not like their other guys that filled in are crap players either. Costello was highly ranked coming out of high school. Its BS they want to discredit our w on the road when we lost mcgary as well.

Billy Ray Valentine

January 26th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^

In her WWL article entitled "No Asterisk Needed for Michigan's Win," Chantel does a nice job trolling Izzo by cherrypicking a quote that makes it seem as if Izzo is magnanimous in defeat.  My motivated bias aside, I have visions of Izzo's head imploding when he reads an article portraying him as giving Michigan credit. 

 

  “Don’t take anything away from them,” Izzo said. “They made some shots. They made some plays. We had our chance.”

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/93116/no-aste…

 

julesh

January 26th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^

On Thursday, when Dawson's injury was announced, one of my coworkers (an MSU alum) told me, "Looks like we are giving you a freebie on Saturday." The excuses were coming even then.

MGoGrendel

January 26th, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^

A 17-1 team* is reviewing film. A starter gets soooo pissed off that he breaks his hand slamming the table. What does that say about the locker room mood?



Got to believe more is wrong with that team. 3:00 left in the game and the bench was defeated.





*before last night!

turd ferguson

January 26th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^

That fan base is completely insufferable and it follows the lead of its coaches. The officiating and injury whining right now especially hilarious. You can complain about injuries, I guess, if a string of bad luck gets you. Payne, like McGary, got unlucky and had to sit out. Dawson just did something quintessentially Sparty-stupid. You don't get to claim bad luck for that.