January 11th, 2014 at 4:23 PM ^
WELP. Pretty impressive win for MSU playing without Payne.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:29 PM ^
When I first turned it on I wondered how this Minnesota team was hanging with MSU in Breslin and then I saw Payne in a suit and it made sense
January 11th, 2014 at 4:32 PM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
Foot thing I believe. Plantar fasciitis or something.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^
Plantar fasciitis sucks. Got it running track and basically had to walk around by taking little shuffle steps.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
Payne is a much larger part of their team than McGary is of ours. We're actually pretty deep, not with McGary talent all the way down the bench, obviously, but MSU has no one else with Payne's skillset.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:46 PM ^
If their depth is that bad and they're dependent on a guy with a foot condition that will probably linger all season (plantar fasciitis needs time to heal), they probably aren't really a top 5 team.
Scraping by a Gopher team that is probably NIT-bound and has a rookie coach isn't that big a scalp on their wall.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:19 PM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 6:09 PM ^
I can buy that, but I don't think they'll be there at season's end if Payne's foot doesn't heal.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:33 PM ^
Depth? He's their big player. What do you get if you take Trey Burke off of Michigan's squad last year?
January 11th, 2014 at 5:55 PM ^
I don't follow your point. Payne's plantar fasciitis isn't going to miraculously heal in a day or two. It's going to probably be a season-long problem. If he truly is as important to them as Burke was to us, and he won't be 100% all year (which could well be the case), are they really top 5 material?
January 11th, 2014 at 6:40 PM ^
You criticized the depth of a team when a major player went down, which doesn't make a lot of sense because just about nobody can survive losing their best player.
Either Michigan State will lose and the ranking will drop or they won't and they'll stay. Only the pre season ranking is a projection.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:48 PM ^
State plays Valentine, Trice and now Kaminski off the bench--and even Ellis and Schilling play every game. We play Horford, Irvin and Spike. Payne is not more valuable to MSU than Mitch is to us under ordinary circumstances--the best you can argue is that it may be true because we have had to play without Mitch much of the year.
Even then, we beat Minny at their place and not at home---a huge difference.
January 11th, 2014 at 10:57 PM ^
while the one-game matchups for the road are OSU and Illinois.
Last year we only got one game against Wisconsin on the road.
B1G scheduling seems to disfavor Michigan a lot lately. Wisconsin and others seem to get the better end of it too.
Will the B1G ever get to time when every team plays every other team twice?
January 12th, 2014 at 12:33 AM ^
With a 14-team B1G starting next season, that would require a 26-game conference schedule, AKA basically an entire regular season.
So, no.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:02 PM ^
without McGary? And we aren't the #5 team in the country.
They won their game against the #1 team in the country. We didn't.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^
But that was 1) against an overrated UK team (whereas Arizona seems legitimately worthy of the #1 ranking) and 2) before Payne developed the foot problem.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:02 PM ^
Michigan also hasn't beaten Kentucky and Texas.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:49 PM ^
so what?
January 11th, 2014 at 6:15 PM ^
They also just beat OSU...
January 11th, 2014 at 8:11 PM ^
That's right they are.
January 12th, 2014 at 12:48 AM ^
What has Texas done?
January 11th, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^
Payne or no Payne, they shouldn't need OT to beat Minnesota at the Breslin Center.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^
Double-post.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:30 PM ^
MSU dominating the OT it would seem, just turned it on and they're up 80-71. Minnesota hasn't scored in OT and there's 57.7 seconds left.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:26 PM ^
There was a reason nobody made a post -- nobody wanted to jinx it. Bad form Mattinboots.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:29 PM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
Not really that impressive. Minnesota is probably 8th in the big ten. MSU should be able to beat them easily with Harris, Appling, and Dawson.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^
8th in the big ten? Besides Wiscy, OSU, UM, and MSU who else is head and shoulders above Minnesota? Certainly not IU or Illini and after that even less of a chance.
Minnesota should be a 10 seed, they have a decent starting 5 and the Hollins boys can win ya a game or two on any night.
Our win was a good win and the MSU win w/o Payne is a good win.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
You forgot Iowa. And I'd take Illinois over Minnesota, even if they got killed in Madison (which has happened to plenty of teams) - they have better depth and a much more proven coach.
January 11th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^
I think MN is a pretty good team; I think they are more likely 6th in B10 than 8th. And, any time you get out of a B10 game with a win, it's a good thing.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:02 PM ^
Your latter point holds for road games - any road win is good. But at home you should take care of business. Homecourt is huge in this sport.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:01 PM ^
Helps when you shoot like 26 free throws in the second half before intentional fouling starts.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:29 PM ^
Wisconsin, Iowa, MSU, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and maybe Indiana. They're either 7th or 8th.
January 11th, 2014 at 5:33 PM ^
Kentucky is a good win but Big Blue nation isn't anywhere near # 1 as of now and especially when they played state.
January 11th, 2014 at 6:35 PM ^
Too bad Sparty won, but kudos to them. All big ten games on the road are tough. Like Michigan beating Nebraska, any road win is a good win.
The SEC may say they are the best fball conference, but no one debates the Big Ten is the best in bball.
January 12th, 2014 at 3:05 AM ^
January 11th, 2014 at 9:46 PM ^
They're coached by Rick Barnes. So?