"But if Michigan would have won, Trey Burke would have been God" - Nix
"I just watch a lot of basketball, and a lot of guys get credit that I don't think (deserve) it," Nix said. "I think there's a lot of overrated players out there. Like me and (Adreian) Payne, I think there's a lot of underrated players. I just feel that way.
"I don't know if it's us as players, I don't know if it's Michigan State, I don't know what it is. I just feel like none of us get credit. (Indiana's Victor) Oladipo is no different than (Branden) Dawson. Dawson's not on the draft board, Oladipo is in the top 15."
"But if Michigan would have won, Trey Burke would have been God," Nix said. "Tim Hardaway would have been God. Glenn Robinson would have been God. The freshmen would have been God. We won, and they didn't even show our highlights. That's pitiful."
http://www.freep.com/article/20130216/SPORTS07/302160048/Nix-says-Spartans-sorely-underrated
February 16th, 2013 at 10:30 AM ^
Sparty in a nutshell.
February 16th, 2013 at 12:24 PM ^
being Little Brother.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:33 AM ^
Yeah, Oladipo and Dawson are totally the same...
Oladipo: 14.3 points/game, 5.9 rebounds/game, 2.4 assists/game, 64% shooting, 52% 3FG
Dawson: 10.8 points/game, 6.4 rebounds/game, 1.4 assists/game, 56% shooting, 0% 3FG
February 16th, 2013 at 11:06 AM ^
the whole defense thing.
February 16th, 2013 at 12:30 PM ^
Let us not forgot that Mateen Cleaves was a god, and a sure fire NBA star. Those Spartans, never get any respect.
February 16th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^
why aren't they putting up similar numbers?
February 16th, 2013 at 10:33 AM ^
I don't want to be too hard on him just because he's a Sparty, but he can have his own say in this.
If MSU wins the Big Ten/Big Ten Tourney/Final Four, they'll get lots of credit. Just like nobody remembers who was #1 in January, nobody remembers who was rated a lottery pick in January.
Just play and let the results at the end of the season speak for themselves.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:34 AM ^
Well based on the way we played last Tuesday I think what he meant to say was "FOR Michigan to win on Tuesday Burke would've needed to be replaced by God."
And even then I'm not sure we could've won the game. God would only be one player and I don't know if he could've carried the load on his own with zero help from Hardaway, Robinson and Stauskas.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:34 AM ^
I only had to endure beat down at the Breslin on BTN for a week and turn off Sportcenter for 24 hours.
Shut up.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:34 AM ^
I'm sure Izzo loves this. Can't believe this guy made it for 4 years at State
February 16th, 2013 at 10:34 AM ^
Acting like their football team. Geez last time I checked they have owned our ass in basketball. Looks like they are getting a little doubt in their mind now that we are actually good again and football is back to normal. Sparty on
February 16th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^
We've won 3 of the last 5.... not sure that they've "owned our ass"...
February 16th, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
Well since Basketball is twice a year, what you're saying is we've been competitive for a few years now. Which is true, we've been good for a few years now, but for most of the preceding decade they stomped on us
February 16th, 2013 at 11:24 AM ^
Yeah, so? The statement was "last time I checked, they have owned our ass." Untrue, unless the last time he checked was three years ago.
February 16th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^
Holy hell, you sound exactly like most Spartans do when talking football. "Well we've been competitive the last few years, so we'll just ignore everything else that happened beforehand!"
February 16th, 2013 at 12:49 PM ^
If you want to sound like a Michigan fan you would point out Michigan leads the overall series by 19 games. 91 - 72 according to MGoBlue.
February 16th, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
...because basketball from the 40s and 50s is just like today's game
February 16th, 2013 at 1:28 PM ^
Do you mean other than the short shorts and three point line?
February 16th, 2013 at 4:28 PM ^
...because basketball from the 40s and 50s is just like today's game
I mean, it's a lot more similar than football is compared to that time.
But what would it matter anyway? Sports evolve - even baseball. Does that mean we ignore older time periods? Are you suggesting that had a sport been similar to how it is today 80 years ago that for some reason it would be more advantageous to another team?
Wow, those were complicated sentences. I hope my point got across.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ^
They owned us for most of the 2000s but we've won 3 out of the last 5 games against them.
Edit: Damn, too slow
February 16th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^
Have been all season. But if a player is talking about this, then he cares to much about rankings.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^
Biggest reason Sparty keeps the characterization "little brother" is because they work so hard to earn it.
February 16th, 2013 at 11:07 AM ^
It really is amazing how their mindset is so similar whether it's football or basketball. Even more remarkable considering all of the success their basketball program has had in the last 10-12 years.
I'd love to see an in-depth psychological study on why certain programs and fanbases think the way that they do. Like how do Georgia Tech and Georgia fans interact? USC - UCLA. Is there anything weird between ND and Indiana?
February 16th, 2013 at 11:32 AM ^
There's not really anything between ND and Indiana, but there surely is between Indiana and Purdue.
Purdue fans have developed the same "little brother" syndrome as MSU fans - they're more concerned with how IU does than their own team. To them, an IU loss is more important than a Purdue win; especially recently with IU being pretty good.
February 16th, 2013 at 11:51 AM ^
I went to Purdue and Purdue is the little brother of IU in basketball and a bit of a little brother to Notre Dame in football. But even still, Purdue isn't even close to as bad as Sparty. MSU sets the standard.
February 17th, 2013 at 1:07 AM ^
As a Texas resident, I feel A&M falls into this category. It may change a little now that they're in the SEC but most seem more concerned about UT rather than how their team is doing. A lot of them even have logos on their truck windows of a longhorn with his horns "sawed off". Meanwhile Texas seems more concerned about Oklahoma (kind of like UM with Ohio).
February 16th, 2013 at 10:40 AM ^
was nix wearing his training bra? clearly he has little brother syndrome.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:43 AM ^
Yep, and your coach is underrated too. Just listen to him whine and cry. Your team has no leadership. Good luck in Europe with the rest of your brothers. Dray will be there soon too.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:44 AM ^
spartin' again. You played a good game. Move on.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:46 AM ^
we'll see what he says after they run through their tough stretch and we play them when we have rest...
February 16th, 2013 at 10:57 AM ^
Well, they get a week off before playing us at Crisler.
February 16th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
short rest. Have to beat them anyway.
February 16th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
short rest. Have to beat them anyway.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
with the Spartans. Give 'em credit, they get good mileage.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:50 AM ^
but keep spouting off Sparty, we'll see you in AA soon and things will be different. Our team went through a rough patch where a bad decision by Coach B not to have an inbound defender against Wisc kept us from going 2-2 in that stretch.
I still believe in the team, they're growing up and taking their licks and hopefully will mature from it.
In 1989, we went through a tough stretch and won it all, in 2006, Florida started out 14 or 15-0 before losing, they were young, went through a tough time, lost 7 games before the tourney started and they matured enough to take the whole thing.
U-M can do that as well, we shall see.
February 16th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^
Yeah this is true. How come we never hear how great of a coach Tom Izzo is? /s
February 16th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^
I'm sorry, but all I heard was "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!"
February 16th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^
Can we stop comparing this team to past great teams. All those teams would crap on this team because they play DEFENSE. Even that Florida 06 team played DEFENSE.
This team is built to outscore you and if you get them in a halfcourt set they are in deep trouble. Let's not worry about sparty as they clearly do what they need to do to get motivated. Maybe we need to find something to get motivated and play D at some point.
This tough stretch excuse is getting really annoying. Tough teams that grind it out win those type of games and this team didn't.
February 16th, 2013 at 12:09 PM ^
UNACCEPTABLE! WE NEED TO WIN ALL THE GAMES!
We are 20-4. Playing 4 ranked teams in a row, 3 on the road (including two top 10 teams), is a tough stretch for anyone. But you are right, how annoying that people look at that stretch realistically. I WANT MOAR WINS!
February 16th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
Had Michigan gone 2-2 during that stretch I don't think anyone would make a comment. But a supposed top 5 team should not go 1-3 no matter how difficult the stretch is. That's the difference between being elite vs. good. Michigan proved they are not an elite team this year. After the start they had, that's a tough adjustment for some fans.
February 16th, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
We get the win we squandered in Wisconsin nobody is complaining. We need to beat MSU and Indy and run the big ten tourney to return to that conversation IMO.
February 16th, 2013 at 2:46 PM ^
21 - 4
February 16th, 2013 at 12:34 PM ^
Ha, ha. Ever hear an NBA team complain about back-to-back games or long road trips?
February 16th, 2013 at 12:59 PM ^
you can't get that four games in nine days is murder on the third-youngest team in college ball? "Tough teams, tough teams," blah blah blah. Playing the man-card from your sofa is just lame. It is what it IS, for god's sake.
Further, I don't think you have been watching much, because they had lots of glorious half-court buckets earlier in the year. The O is predicated this year not so much on outscoring (what does that even mean?) but on having the threat come from all sides. Shut down GRIII and minimize Stauskas and--yes--this is a far easier team to defend.
As if a coach shouldn't build his team around what he's got.
February 16th, 2013 at 11:02 AM ^
Why they are little brother...but we need to drastically improve before we can beat them, anywhere.
February 16th, 2013 at 11:03 AM ^
I shouldn't be surprised Sparty found a way to whine and bitch even after a 20+ pt win, but oh well.
February 16th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^
It's almost as if Nix was just moving his mouth and Izzo was talking. Three points:
1. Izzo and his merry band of future gas station attendants are all whiney bitches.
2. Even after they crushed us, Izzo was complaining about Michigan having an unfair recruiting advantage...in 1991 (and omitted how he had no recuriting competition for the rest of his career...thanks, Brian Ellerbe!)
3. State's obsession with Michigan is a big reason they won so handily. While we were preparing for Ohio, Indiana and Wisc, they had one team to prepare for. They'd gladly lose every other game if only to beat us; which says a lot given our lengthy hiatus from relevance.
February 16th, 2013 at 11:18 AM ^
Your 3rd point is spot on. Same goes for football.
February 16th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^
I don't really pound the "Lil Bro" thing as much as others ... but that is exactly what this sounds like. The red-headed, little step brother.