NORTH CAROLINA vs. MSU OBSERVATIONS

I sat there and wondered…

“How the hell did the lead just go from 4 to 11 so quickly”.

Sure, North Carolina is a damn, fine basketball team but this was absurd. An 11 point lead turned into a 14 point halftime lead.

And then the game was over.

MSU came out of the locker room and missed every wide open look they had. Tom Izzo blamed it on “dead legs” because it was their 4th game in 7 nights or something like that.

But I wonder if the dead legs accounted for the 22 turnovers the Spartans had.

Its funny, if you asked me what the characteristics of well-coached basketball team were, I would instantly say low turnovers.

But yet, MSU has been a turnover machine the last couple of years. 10th in the Big Ten last year and not looking much better this year.

Does the blame fall on Izzo?

Many Spartans fans have coddled Izzo, telling people he can do no wrong.

Often times I am one of those people. If you ever met Coach Izzo personally, you’d defend him till your last breath too.

But State has failed when its counted lately. They haven’t won a big game away from the Breslin in years. And really, outside of a great run in 2005, what does the MSU program have?

All of a sudden this season has become an important one in Izzo’s legacy. Not making the final four would ruin his “every 4 year player has made one” mantra but more than that, this program hasn’t one a BT championship since 2001.

Suffice to say that “big time” programs don’t do that.

Yesterday was more than a L in the loss column, it was a mark on a legacy.

--- Did you like this article? And you probably like contests, exclusive content, and smug commentary right? Then why aren't you liking Guyism on Facebook? Show some pride and click the "Like" button below right now: