Spartan D - Rick James example

Submitted by 707oxford on

There has been ongoing discussion regarding MSU's defensive strategy with regards to both football and basketball on this site.  Whether on the gridiron or the hard court, their aggressive grabbing, pulling, hand checking, using the coach as an extra defender, jamming, neck twisting, throat punching, etc. has been well noted right down to their self proclaimed thuggery of "X minutes of unnecessary roughness".  As frustrating as it has proven to be for opposing teams, it has been mostly effective for them.  So when these antics occasionally backfire (see repeated floor slapping, Valentine's woofing, unleashing Russell Byrd in any capacity), it's nice to savor the moment.  

My contribution to said meme is highlighting one of the strategies deployed in attempt to disrupt Stauskas's shot on Sunday.  There were clearly a lot of extra curriculars targeted at Stauskas, as the numerous scrapes on his body throughout the course of the game would suggest, but the focus of this post is the Rick James approach.

As Stauskas was elevating and finishing over every defender Sparty put on him, I began to notice that MSU's players had more or less given up on trying to get a hand on the ball to block his shot.  Nor were they satisfied with simply getting a hand straight up to impede his sight line or the trajectory of the ball.  Instead they resorted to literal face slapping (also not a foul)...

Appling: "What did the five fingers say to the face?"

Stauskas:    ._.

Appling: "SLAP!"

Stauskas:   ._____.

 

TL;DR summary - Sparty's defensive strategy: 

Result:

 

Perhaps people with wrist boo boos should consider fewer slaps of the court, opponents faces, and what not.

PizzaHaus

February 26th, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^

This is about 300 too many words for something as common as putting a hand in someone's face. Maybe he accidentally grazed him, but that's how at least half of all jumpers are contested.

JimBobTressel

February 26th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^

What in the honest f*ck am I reading? If you really wrote this for a guy putting his hand in a shooter's face, welcome to the sport of basketball. Poking fun is great, but some of you need stop bashing MSU Basketball for having the audacity to walk, talk, and breathe oxygen.

Why, those insufferable rapscallions charged onto the court full of bravado and confidence. One even turned his gaze upon Staukas and sneered displeasantly in his direction.

Ruffians.

jsquigg

February 26th, 2014 at 2:17 PM ^

Ah yes, the tired NBA memes.  They only play hard in the 4th Q, don't play defense, etc.  Anyone who has ever played basketball in an organized manner gains a deeper respect for NBA players after playing a back to back or even three times in a week.  NBA players live on airplanes during road trips and play four in five at times.  If you want every game to be like game seven you're out of luck.  If you think NBA teams don't play defense you're not watching.

ESNY

February 26th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^

If Dawson was playing, he would have not only blocked the shot, but grabbed the ball right out from Stauksas' shooting motion, driven down the court and executed a 360 degree dunk, then stolen the inbounds pass and pull off a second consecutive 360 degree dunk and then lightly jog back on D before exhorting his teammates by slapping the floor (lightly).

michfan4borw

February 26th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^

Desperate defense is desperate, but it's still defense within the rules (assuming no contact).

MSU will do well this post season.  Will they win the BTT, or go to the FF or win the NCAA title?  Who knows. I'd rather they not win a championship, but at this point, who should really care?

Yes, Izzo constantly acts like a whiney d-bag (I'm not making excuses, but . . . ).  People outside of Michigan's fanbase seem to see at least some of that.  OTOH, his team is still in 2nd place and could still win a share of the regular season title this year. 

Next year?  that msu team looks relatively tenuous, but TBD.  All I know is 6 out of (m**f**g) 8.  Let's go for 7 out of 9 when that next game arrives.

Michigan isn't going away anytime soon.  If not this year, it looks like next year Michigan will send more first round picks to the NBA. 

Recruits like Luke Kennard, Jalen Coleman and Jalen Brunson are probably seeing and noticing the tremendous improvements Michigan players and teams make each season.

That's a lot of writing to say something as simple as: Michigan is back under Beilein.

Let's take his lead and be classy, humble and appreciative for each win as they come.  One game at a time. It's served us well to not be the entitled pricks that the rcmb fanbase shows itself to be.

 

Jon06

February 26th, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^

Not sure why this post is getting pushback--I guess just the style. For what it's worth, I also thought there was at least one shot where they just slapped him in the face. I think that's the shot you've got stills of, but it's not the shot in the .gif you posted--Stauskas isn't shooting from the top of the key in the .gif, and the defender lands outside the 3 point line instead of inside it. I also seem to remember Stauskas missing the shot where I thought he got slapped, because I was mad there was no foul called.

707oxford

February 26th, 2014 at 2:48 PM ^

Correct - there were several instances of the face slap to choose from in this game.  The stills are from one shot, and the gif is from another.  Both of these were makes, so they didn't bother Stauskas as much as intended.

I think some of the posters are confusing stout defense (which I actually wish M played more of) with literally smacking a shooter in the face...which if you imagine happening to you while shooting is probably not so cool.  Whateva though; to each their own.

Space Coyote

February 26th, 2014 at 2:04 PM ^

Where he saw Valentine (I believe) catch the ball, proceeded to act like he wanted to put his hand up, and then immediately dropped it by his side because putting a hand in someone face would be considered a dishonest practice that Michigan players should not want to partake in. (HT to former Harvard President Charles Eliot on his early description of a curveball)