Coach Ben Howland

[Lord McBuckethead]

We all have seen glimpses of this teams potential. This team could be better than the 2004 team. This team could be the best team we have ever had. We have that kind of talent. We have seen each and every player reach their potential at different points of this season. We are going to need each player to focus and work together to get where we want to be. The last weekend of the tourney. We can beat anyone. But 1 player alone cannot.

[BrunswickDawg]

We all have seen glimpses of this teams potential. This team could be better than the 2004 team. This team could be the best team we have ever had. We have that kind of talent. We have seen each and every player reach their potential at different points of this season. We are going to need each player to focus and work together to get where we want to be. The last weekend of the tourney. We can beat anyone. But 1 player alone cannot.

Sports is such a fickle thing though. That 2004 team was awesome. And they bombed out in post season - getting knocked out in the SEC First Round, and getting bounced in game 2 of the NCAAs. 25 regular season wins means very little when you are 1-2 in the postseason.

[louisvilledawg]

I don't think people appreciate things sometimes because they are prisoners of the moment.

Think about this - we won our 20th game of the season with 4 games remaining. We have 3 very winnable games and 1 long shot left.
We are 2 wins away from having the most regular season wins since 2003-04.

If we win 2 - it will be only the 5th time in program history that we have exceeded 21 wins in the regular season. 2003-4 (25), 2001-02 (23), 1961-2 (24), 1958-59 (24).

Speaking of stats. I was looking the other day and it said we've only been ranked for 153 total weeks in our program's 107 year history. That's unreal!

[Ari Gold]

Just saying a couple of our guys have almost totally disappeared since the Kentucky game. Those players have seemed to have folded. Ben hasn't. He is handling each player pretty well from what I can tell, but at the end of the day we need out players playing as a team. We cannot have 1 or 2 players not in the team mentality. Cause here very soon, it is going to matter.

I cant gauge the temperament of the team in the locker room or at practice, but they have seemed to be pretty engaged all year to me.
I will applaud Holman for accepting his role coming off the bench lot of Srs would have moaned and groan about that he seems to be handling it well .
Even tho Peters has struggled to score lately I dont see any bad body language there .
Just because you a couple of sub par games scoring doesnt mean you have checked out or folded.
And unlike some I have never waivered on the abilities of CBH. Also big props the the staff and CBH and players for the 3-0 stretch without Nick. Thats big time no matter who the opponents were

[StarkVegasSteve]

The emergence of Perry and Woodard and Q's ability to completely take over games at times reminds me a bit of the UCONN team with Kemba Walker. Not saying we're going to make some magical run and win the whole 17 thing, but Perry and Woodard have emerged similar to how Lamb and Napier emerged on that team and this is about the time in the year where Kemba would just take over games similar to what Q has done in February, avg. 22.5 per game. If we can get Nick back and Q continues at this level watch out. Cause this team could be poised for a run down the stretch.

[Ari Gold]

Sports is such a fickle thing though. That 2004 team was awesome. And they bombed out in post season - getting knocked out in the SEC First Round, and getting bounced in game 2 of the NCAAs. 25 regular season wins means very little when you are 1-2 in the postseason.

Agree 100%.
If we go one and done in the SEC tourney that doesn’t mean we are not going to play well in the dance and possible make a run
The SEC is really good unlike years in the past.

[Ari Gold]

The emergence of Perry and Woodard and Q's ability to completely take over games at times reminds me a bit of the UCONN team with Kemba Walker. Not saying we're going to make some magical run and win the whole 17 thing, but Perry and Woodard have emerged similar to how Lamb and Napier emerged on that team and this is about the time in the year where Kemba would just take over games similar to what Q has done in February, avg. 22.5 per game. If we can get Nick back and Q continues at this level watch out. Cause this team could be poised for a run down the stretch.

Excellent post and comparison.

[CadaverDawg]

The emergence of Perry and Woodard and Q's ability to completely take over games at times reminds me a bit of the UCONN team with Kemba Walker. Not saying we're going to make some magical run and win the whole 17 thing, but Perry and Woodard have emerged similar to how Lamb and Napier emerged on that team and this is about the time in the year where Kemba would just take over games similar to what Q has done in February, avg. 22.5 per game. If we can get Nick back and Q continues at this level watch out. Cause this team could be poised for a run down the stretch.

Great comparison

[basedog]

Not so sure Howland isn't the second best Coach we've had at Msu. It's only year 4 but the future looks really good, I see no drama from his teams at Msu so far, that is a big plus in my eyes. He was very happen in the post game press conference, no doubt he really likes his team. What I see in Howland is how well he communicates with the players.

Btw, I see where several moan because Howland doesn't zone, I have to laugh as 95% or maybe more, college basketball teams don't zone, never have in the modern era. Yes, maybe a trip or two but nothing consistently. I can't think of any teams besides Cuse who run zones. If I have to explain to some why then I realize you don't know the game very well** LOL!