OT: JJJ going pro, hiring an agent.
He saw Bridges hemorrage millions of dollars in exchange for a year of nothingburger.
MSU's minister of propaganda will ghostwrite a statement that drops a lot of "Spartan Will" and "Spartan Nation" and "Go Green/Go White" etc.
/s
Will they even be able to field a team next year? Schilling, Tum-Tum, and tourney minutes-eater Ben Carter also graduate.
Yikes.
They'll have Cassius and Langford being their only decent players left. Then they'll have their freshmen
They'll have Cassius and Langford being their only decent players left. Then they'll have their freshmen
Since when is Langford decent? Not in any games I watched.
Since when is Langford decent? Not in any games I watched.
Holy chit!
JJJ is right to enter the draft before Izzo squeezes him out of the lottery.
Jordan Poole 1
MSU beatwriters, fans, etc. 0.
I wasn't referencing the actual games.
If you wanna add those in (and by all means do!) it's 3-0.
It's about time other teams deal with guys leaving early for the draft.
Now this is surprising. Thought he would be convinced to return since PSU is looking to be in the hunt for a B1G Title next year.
Lose your two best players and possibly Ward and your arch-rival wins a title.
JJJ saved himself some money today.
Kid will get way better coaching in the League compared to EL's Talent Regression Matrix
smart move
When your Sparty family has accepted reality. pic.twitter.com/ANlZbrnchF
— LongLiveBo (@LongLiveB0) April 2, 2018
not merely testing the NBA draft waters. He's a bigger loss for PSU.
That's a huge blow for PSU. Have to imagine they'll take a step back next season.
I think the standard for Coach Chambers is still "NCAA or else." It will be year EIGHT for Chambers.
PSU did under-achieve this year. It's time to deliver - PSU isn't a basketball power but this "1 NCAA every decade" thing we do isn't good enough.
Watkins, Reaves and Stevens are a pretty good three-some. You can get there with them.
Who is going to be the ballhandler? Neither Reaves nor Stevens seem like a primary guy and Watkins is a really nice big but who is going to feed him?
the National Championship tonight! Who cares about Sparty today? Let's get this!
State is going to suck bad next year.
The sex abuse scandal could be the least of Izzo's problems.
In the 1980s.
Q: Who is the only basketball coach who has ever devised a system to shut down Michael Jordan?
A: Dean Smith
Believe it or not, in 2 of his 3 seasons at UNC, Jordan didn't attempt a SINGLE 3-pt SHOT!
Two entire seasons with 0 for MJ. CJ Baird had more attempts from deep than Jordan in two of his seasons at UNC.
I suspect one day a wise ass might ask the same question about who is the only coach able to stop JJJ.
Michael Jordan's 3PT% for his first four years in the NBA: 0.173, 0.167, 0.182, 0.132. Hey, just like his batting averages when he tried to play baseball. Jordan was NOT a good outside shooter, initially, or maybe ever. For his career, he was only at 0.327. He developed an outside game because he got tired of the Pistons beating the crap out of him when he drove the lane. His counter to the Jordan Rules was developing that post-up, fade-away jumper, not the 3 pointer. Now, maybe Dean Smith should have run more of the offense through Jordan, but saying he didn't let Jordan shoot threes is not a valid criticism of Dean.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jordami01.html
And if nothing else, having him with zero attempts in his junior year would prove to me that he never had the ball in late shot clock situations at all - and that is ridiculous.
There was no shot clock in tournament games when Jordan played college basketball.
I believe it. Jordan's last season was 83-84, his junior year. The ACC didn't even institute the 3-point shot until 82-83, his second year there, and it wasn't universally adopted by the NCAA until 86-87 in any event. So it's not like it was going to win them a national title.
Besides, Jordan was a great player, but he was never the greatest 3-point shooter. He shot 32.7% for his career and didn't get shoot above 30% in a year until his sixth season in the NBA. He never attempted more than 3.6 3s in per game in any season and averaged 1.7 for his career.
Jordan was never a distance sniper. He was good, sure, but not great--his greatness came from the rest of his repertoire.
This day just keeps getting better. Need to top it off with a W tonight!!!
If Wagner somehow comes back, i want Ward to stay. He is a terrible matchup against Wagner.
However, if Wagner leaves, i think Ward matches up much better against Teske. With Wagner most likely going because he is as good as Hakeem Olajuwon and Larry Bird, i hope Ward does indeed go.
If Ward does leave, MSU will probably not be very good next year, but holy shit Winston is going to get 20+ a game (except for 2 games, of course).
Great decision for him.
Sparty will stil have a pulse, but I think they willl be at the mercy of how good the B1G is. If its an up year, they may not makethe tourney. Obviously, lets not just pencil in a win when we play them (see: last fall). I'm sure they will still be scrappy. But no one is putting them in their preseason #1, that is for sure.
Also, got to think Ward stays now. Even if he really does hate Izzo... because who doesn't? Lupe probably doesn't even like him. But Sparty is still a better place to land then where ever else he'd go, and Tom may have no choice but to play him now.
that Jackson was leaving? I think everyone did. Aside from the constant paranoia of some Michigan fans, it was just wishful thinking from some MSU fans who didn't really believe Jackson would return.
Fair point, but I just think you gotta take a second look at that roster if you are Ward. I hate Izzo as much as the next guy, but its a good spot for him. If hes the type who would do well in Europe, good luck I guess. But I can't imagine a transfer is in the cards.
Ward seems like he would be a disaster in Europe, which if I recall from various reading likes guys who can shoot from distance and move. Ward is tall, but he's a statue.
Then again, if he wants to fix that to go to the NBA, MSU is not the place, either.
Maybe for playing in college it is, but as preparation for the NBA I'm not seeing it. His stock has surely gone down since his freshman season. He'll probably make some incremental improvements at MSU, but it's hard to see him becoming a draftable player.
Ward is just a role player. Not very good defensively and very limited offensively.
I'd leave too. Your draft status is even higher than Bridges, and who was honestly the last player Izzo effectively developed from year to year? Maybe Denzel Valentine?
Got get that paper, pal. You're not missing anything by sticking around in EL.