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MSU vs UK

MSU had our best players riding the bench because of foul trouble, we couldn’t hit an open 3 to save our lives, and I don’t think it’s crazy to say UK got the benefit of the whistle slightly. And with all that, it was a 2 point game with a minute left.

Edit: Maxey also wouldn’t have a game like that again, especially with Henry on him the whole game and not riding the bench.

Winston played 32 minutes, Tillman played 29 minutes, and Henry played 23 minutes and finished with 2 fouls.
 
Winston played 32 minutes, Tillman played 29 minutes, and Henry played 23 minutes and finished with 2 fouls.
Henry sat the first half aside from the first 2 minutes. Tillman also sat most of it. We won the second half when the both played major minutes.
 
Let me see if I got this right...You couldn't hit an open 3, and Maxey won't have another game like that? That is a great example of what I am talking about. You have no way of knowing if either of those things is true. Hell, Duke thought Jack White could shoot!

Your guys were on the bench because Izzo put them there. There's no rule saying you can't play with 2 fouls.

Fouls: MSU 22, UK 20. Your guys fouled on a couple of 3's, you were down late, and you shot 26 3s.
The fouls were pretty even. Here's where MSU failed. They settled for the 3 point shot (8 more attempts) and UK drove the ball.

So, UK shot more free throws. UK's guards continuously drove the ball hard into the paint. They either got a bucket, got fouled or they got both.
MSU kept firing away from 3 point range, you're rarely going to get fouled doing that.

Also, IDK what MSU would do to negate Maxey, I don't think they have anyone that can stay in front of him. He went right by Watts and Winston at will and that's not going to change.

The huge advantage that MSU had in this game was at the two front court spots. UK really had nobody developed enough to stop Tillman, but MSU rarely exploited that.

Here's the kicker, by March, UK's bigs (Sestina, Richards, EJ and Brookes) are going to be a lot better than they are right now. So is Witney, who can guard the 4.

We're going to learn a lot about MSU real quick. They have a brutal schedule and I hope they play well.

I just hate the excuses I'm seeing. It was the first game of the season and I think both teams played really well considering when and where the game was played. I think both teams are good enough to win the title, they proved that last night.
 
Both teams can always point to a few calls in close games that would've benefitted their team. Cassius hit Ashton on that crossover pull-up and knocked him down. Would've been his 2nd foul in the first 5 mins and he would've sat early. The refs called Maxey for his 2nd when he literally backed out of the way and didn't touch the driver. Was one of those plays where they wait to see if the ball goes in, then call a late foul if it doesn't. He sat because of it. Both of those get called correctly and it benefits UK.

I thought it was well officiated. Would've been more fun if they let em go. But that's how they decided to call it. They didn't change how they called it like they do most games. If you guys don't foul Quickley on two 3 pointers or have to foul late, FTs are pretty much even.

I don't understand how people watch UK play and not realize we're more than likely going to get to the line more. We have quick athletes that drive for contact every year. We don't sit out and shoot 30 jumpers.
 
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After skimming through some of the comments, why is it so ridiculous to think that MSU would have won if fouls were called more loosely and if Maxey doesn’t hit Kobe style 3’s?

Congrats to UK on the win but either team could have won that game and when our starters were in I think we looked a little better. UK won in the end and it will be a nice W come tournament selection time but I have found the champions classic does little to predict end of season success for all 4 teams that play in it.
 
Both teams can always point to a few calls in close games that would've benefitted their team. Cassius hit Ashton on that crossover pull-up and knocked him down. Would've been his 2nd foul in the first 5 mins and he would've sat early. The refs called Maxey for his 2nd when he literally backed out of the way and didn't touch the driver. Was one of those plays where they wait to see if the ball goes in, then call a late foul if it doesn't. He sat because of it. Both of those get called correctly and it benefits UK.

I thought it was well officiated. Would've been more fun if they let em go. But that's how they decided to call it. They didn't change how they called it like they do most games. If you guys don't foul Quickley on two 3 pointers or have to foul late, FTs are pretty much even.

I don't understand how people watch UK play and not realize we're more than likely going to get to the line more. We have quick athletes that drive for contact every year. We don't sit out and shoot 30 jumpers.
I was going to call those two plays out in my post just above this, but it was a long enough post, so I didn't do it.
There were a bunch of calls/non calls that we could call out as well, but we're used to these types of games. I hate it when they call them like that, but it happens a lot.
 
Wow, I thought it was UK fans that complained about officiating???
Turns out, errbody does it.
I saw plenty of bs call that went against uk too, it wasn't just one way.

I've already given UK props for the game. There is likely some bias from either side in the fouls called and whether they were BS or not, but I don't think you could argue that UK had it "worse" from a fouls perspective than MSU did.

I don't like to use refs / fouls as the barometer of "what if", but it clearly took MSU out of the game in the first half and there were at least a couple that were bogus. Happens every game, good teams find a way to overcome it. MSU clawed back to within 2 points, but Maxey and UK made the plays they needed to win
 
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The fouls were pretty even. Here's where MSU failed. They settled for the 3 point shot (8 more attempts) and UK drove the ball.

So, UK shot more free throws. UK's guards continuously drove the ball hard into the paint. They either got a bucket, got fouled or they got both.
MSU kept firing away from 3 point range, you're rarely going to get fouled doing that.

Also, IDK what MSU would do to negate Maxey, I don't think they have anyone that can stay in front of him. He went right by Watts and Winston at will and that's not going to change.

The huge advantage that MSU had in this game was at the two front court spots. UK really had nobody developed enough to stop Tillman, but MSU rarely exploited that.

Here's the kicker, by March, UK's bigs (Sestina, Richards, EJ and Brookes) are going to be a lot better than they are right now. So is Witney, who can guard the 4.

We're going to learn a lot about MSU real quick. They have a brutal schedule and I hope they play well.

I just hate the excuses I'm seeing. It was the first game of the season and I think both teams played really well considering when and where the game was played. I think both teams are good enough to win the title, they proved that last night.
They would put Henry on him. Henry is a great defender. He should have been guarding him the whole game
 
After skimming through some of the comments, why is it so ridiculous to think that MSU would have won if fouls were called more loosely and if Maxey doesn’t hit Kobe style 3’s?

Congrats to UK on the win but either team could have won that game and when our starters were in I think we looked a little better. UK won in the end and it will be a nice W come tournament selection time but I have found the champions classic does little to predict end of season success for all 4 teams that play in it.
Man, we can play the "if" game all day long. The bottom line is, MSU chose to shoot threes, UK chose to drive the ball and Maxey did exactly what he showed in high school and AAU.

If the refs call a shot clock violation in the 2015 FF, UK might have a 9th title, but you know what? They didn't call it.

UK controlled the game for all but 20 seconds and they made a bunch of boneheaded errors, just like MSU did. I think MSU led by as much as 2 points one time, UK led by 13 and kept MSU at arms length all game. Why are you crying about it?
 
Henry sat the first half aside from the first 2 minutes. Tillman also sat most of it. We won the second half when the both played major minutes.

Henry sat 18 minutes in the first half because of 2 fouls and then finished with 2 fouls. Looks like he could have played more.

Tillman played 29 minutes. How many minutes per game are you hoping to play your 245 pound forward? I think 25-30 minutes is the sweet spot for bigs. 30-35 for guards.
 
Man, we can play the "if" game all day long. The bottom line is, MSU chose to shoot threes, UK chose to drive the ball and Maxey did exactly what he showed in high school and AAU.

If the refs call a shot clock violation in the 2015 FF, UK might have a 9th title, but you know what? They didn't call it.

UK controlled the game for all but 20 seconds and they made a bunch of boneheaded errors, just like MSU did. I think MSU led by as much as 2 points one time, UK led by 13 and kept MSU at arms length all game. Why are you crying about it?

I was unaware I was crying about anything. In fact, I even said that the champions classic has little predictive value regarding March.

I have faith in Izzo, expect to win the Big Ten, and be right in the mix come March. It’s November.
 
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I've already given UK props for the game. There is likely some bias from either side in the fouls called and whether they were BS or not, but I don't think you could argue that UK had it "worse" from a fouls perspective than MSU did.

I don't like to use refs / fouls as the barometer of "what if", but it clearly took MSU out of the game in the first half and there were at least a couple that were bogus. Happens every game, good teams find a way to overcome it. MSU clawed back to within 2 points, but Maxey and UK made the plays they needed to win
Here's what you don't understand. UK always shoots more free throws than their opponent. Know why? Because Calipari always has big guards that drive the ball. They make you foul them.
Michigan State chose to shoot threes instead of getting the ball into the paint. Jump shooting teams don't get fouled as often.

Lastly, UK fans get hammered on here for blaming refs, but here we are.

I see this all the time from the fans of losing teams.

UK got hosed quite often last night, but the real story is, UK has bigger, faster guards that drove the ball, MSU is down a key player and chose to take jump shots. There's your reasoning for the lopsided free throw stats.
 
Henry sat 18 minutes in the first half because of 2 fouls and then finished with 2 fouls. Looks like he could have played more.

Tillman played 29 minutes. How many minutes per game are you hoping to play your 245 pound forward? I think 25-30 minutes is the sweet spot for bigs. 30-35 for guards.

This dude is such a lil bro.
 
Here's what you don't understand. UK always shoots more free throws than their opponent. Know why? Because Calipari always has big guards that drive the ball. They make you foul them.
Michigan State chose to shoot threes instead of getting the ball into the paint. Jump shooting teams don't get fouled as often.

Lastly, UK fans get hammered on here for blaming refs, but here we are.

I see this all the time from the fans of losing teams.

UK got hosed quite often last night, but the real story is, UK has bigger, faster guards that drove the ball, MSU is down a key player and chose to take jump shots. There's your reasoning for the lopsided free throw stats.

When you drive the ball you sometimes coax bad calls out of the ref like this:

 
I was unaware I was crying about anything. In fact, I even said that the champions classic has little predictive value regarding March.

I have faith in Izzo, expect to win the Big Ten, and be right in the mix come March. It’s November.
Complaining about refs (you are) and using it as an excuse for the loss (you are) instead of admitting the MSU simply got beat (you aren't) is why you come off as whiny.

You guys are claiming you lost the game because the refs took away your momentum. Look at all the twitter screenshots you guys posted. It's placing blame on the refs and makes you guys appear as though you're whining.

UK's defense was very good last night, Michigan State took and missed way too many threes and UK chose to use its bigger, faster guards to its advantage. That's what happened.
 
Complaining about refs (you are) and using it as an excuse for the loss (you are) instead of admitting the MSU simply got beat (you aren't) is why you come off as whiny.

You guys are claiming you lost the game because the refs took away your momentum. Look at all the twitter screenshots you guys posted. It's placing blame on the refs and makes you guys appear as though you're whining.

UK's defense was very good last night, Michigan State took and missed way too many threes and UK chose to use its bigger, faster guards to its advantage. That's what happened.

I think you have me confused with the other MSU posters or something. Are you reading the posts you’re responding to of mine?

All I see is “if the game was called more loosely”. Is that complaining? I watch a good amount of basketball and games are called differently. It’s just a fact. I don’t place blame on any official for last night. MSU should have adjusted and didn’t.

Weird.
 
I think you have me confused with the other MSU posters or something. Are you reading the posts you’re responding to of mine?

All I see is “if the game was called more loosely”. Is that complaining? I watch a good amount of basketball and games are called differently. It’s just a fact. I don’t place blame on any official for last night. MSU should have adjusted and didn’t.

Weird.
It's a barrage of posts from you and Mile High that make you appear to be making excuses and putting the blame on the refs.
UK played really tough defense, but they too had to stay out of foul trouble. They were ALSO getting called for fouls that weren't fouls, but you guys are acting like it was called one way.
If the refs called it differently, UK would have adjusted.
Look at the video in @hailtoyourvictor 's post above. That happened to UK quite often last night. Both fanbases have a legit complaint in regards to the officiating, but MSU didn’t get down by 13 because they got called for 2 more fouls. Officiating was tough for both teams.
 
Wow, I thought it was UK fans that complained about officiating???
Turns out, errbody does it.
I saw plenty of bs call that went against uk too, it wasn't just one way.
Looking the game over again the problem that Michigan State had on the foul end was the simple fact that the UK players are faster. Plus UK's speed lead to a couple more turnovers.

Michigan State took too many three pointers.

That is the way I see it.
 
It's a barrage of posts from you and Mile High that make you appear to be making excuses and putting the blame on the refs.
UK played really tough defense, but they too had to stay out of foul trouble. They were ALSO getting called for fouls that weren't fouls, but you guys are acting like it was called one way.
If the refs called it differently, UK would have adjusted.
Look at the video in @hailtoyourvictor 's post above. That happened to UK quite often last night. Both fanbases have a legit complaint in regards to the officiating, but MSU didn’t get down by 13 because they got called for 2 more fouls. Officiating was tough for both teams.

Barrage of excuses from me? OK... I quoted a UK fan that said he thought you guys got a friendly whistle. Then I added a few tweets which showed similar thoughts, some from non-MSU people.
 
Henry sat the first half aside from the first 2 minutes. Tillman also sat most of it. We won the second half when the both played major minutes.

You won the 2nd half by one posession. I don't think that's much of an indicator to say you would've won the 1st half as well. Izzo shouldn't have sat him the entire half. This just goes back to my previous post. Our roster, top to bottom, is better. I don't think that can really be disputed. We have more depth and are better equipped to survive foul trouble. If Henry plays more, maybe you do win. I don't think that's a given though. Your starting 5 is very good. But they can't play 40 mins. This game should be a good lesson for you guys. Odds are one of your big 3 get in foul trouble again. You're going to need guys to step up. Time and experience will help them.

I don't think the MSU are wining really, just sounds like you guys are diminishing UK's performance by talking about a few bad foul calls. Click the vid Hail posted and watch from 2:00 to 3:00. Both the calls on Henry were fouls and you can see where Cassius should've gotten called for a 2nd. I know it sucks when one of your better players has to sit. But just because he didn't powerbomb people doesn't mean he didn't foul.
 
To clarify, I didn’t think the issue was a matter of bad calls on state. There were some, but I do think our guards were forcing contact by constantly getting into the paint.

I thought Kentucky got away with a little more contact than Michigan state did. I thought that during the game, I watched it again right before I posted that and it just confirmed what I had thought when I watched it live.

It’s w/e for me. I’m just trying to be fair. If we’re going to have a conversation about where the teams are after that game...how good everyone can be I don’t think it does any good to ignore any impact the officiating may have had on the game. Doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of a big win to admit we got a decent whistle.

I like playing Michigan state because they don’t flop. I respect that about Izzo. They play real defense.
 
sparty-tyrese-maxey.jpg


Sparty is thinking if only
 
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I have a lot of respect for Izzo's teams. they play hard, they're tough and they're battle-tested come March. While it's nice having the W, UK has been on the other side of that too. I don't see any need for UK fans to crow about the win, nor for the MSU fans to feel down about the loss. At this point of the season the winner is usually the team that can somehow be less-sloppy the second half. These 2 teams won't look like they did last night by tourney time.

I don't think UK is better due to the outcome nor MSU worse. UK still has a LOT to work on. I wouldn't read too much into the score last night.
 
Complaining about refs (you are) and using it as an excuse for the loss (you are) instead of admitting the MSU simply got beat (you aren't) is why you come off as whiny.

You guys are claiming you lost the game because the refs took away your momentum. Look at all the twitter screenshots you guys posted. It's placing blame on the refs and makes you guys appear as though you're whining.

UK's defense was very good last night, Michigan State took and missed way too many threes and UK chose to use its bigger, faster guards to its advantage. That's what happened.
We didn’t lose because of the refs. We lost because of bad shooting, partially to do with UK’s defense but to be fair we missed a lot of wide open shots. When I talk about Henry riding the bench because of fouls, that’s more of a bad move by Henry than the refs. The fouls on him were very legit. The Tillman ones were questionable though.

A team getting the slight benefit of the whistle over another happens almost every game. Why such insistence that UK didn’t. They slightly did, but that’s not the reason they won.
 
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We didn’t lose because of the refs. We lost because of bad shooting, partially to do with UK’s defense but to be fair we missed a lot of wide open shots. When I talk about Henry riding the bench because of fouls, that’s more of a bad move by Henry than the refs. The fouls on him were very legit. The Tillman ones were questionable though.

A team getting the slight benefit of the whistle over another happens almost every game. Why such insistence that UK didn’t. They slightly did, but that’s not the reason they won.
Damn, now you're making me feel bad for the sheep/zipper joke.
 
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To clarify, I didn’t think the issue was a matter of bad calls on state. There were some, but I do think our guards were forcing contact by constantly getting into the paint.

I thought Kentucky got away with a little more contact than Michigan state did. I thought that during the game, I watched it again right before I posted that and it just confirmed what I had thought when I watched it live.

It’s w/e for me. I’m just trying to be fair. If we’re going to have a conversation about where the teams are after that game...how good everyone can be I don’t think it does any good to ignore any impact the officiating may have had on the game. Doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of a big win to admit we got a decent whistle.

I like playing Michigan state because they don’t flop. I respect that about Izzo. They play real defense.
Thank you. UK got a decent whistle and won a close game, where neither team shot that well, albeit MSU a little worse.
 
he’s in the restricted area as a secondary defender. Isn’t that the reason that was put there in the first place??

The restricted area is there to draw a line where a player can and cannot draw a charge. No one is saying that should’ve been a charge.

It certainly wasn’t a blocking foul, though.
 
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“If only Izzo would let me get bagmen”.

There it is! There’s the jealousy we’ve all come to expect from opposing fan bases! I mean, a freshman was the best player on the floor, including a senior player of the year candidate, but we only led for :38 so they have to be cheating!
 
I have nothing but respect for Izzo and always have. He’s as classy as they come. As are most of the MSU fans on this board. It’s much easier to play you guys, regardless of win or loss, compared to a lot of other big programs.
 
I thought it was well officiated. Would've been more fun if they let em go. But that's how they decided to call it. They didn't change how they called it like they do most games
1. Agree. I thought the game was well called.

2. "been more fun had they let'em go..."--No. Both teams fouled A LOT, early. It wouldn't have been fun. It probably would've gotten chippy.

3. "didn't change how they called it.."---Seldom do. At this level, coaches and players adjust. Its why we saw a much better second half, with a better flow. Its also why (usually) you don't see stuff called in the 1st half---called in the 2nd half. Teams adjust to how the game is being called.

Overall, I thought those guys were really good. That was a tough game to call. Physical...Lot of driving. Lot of play in the lane. IMO, there was maybe a handful of calls that made you go---"Meh---I dunno, guys."
 
And to add: This was a really good game. Both teams are going to be really good. UK has some questions to answer----So does MSU. IMO, I didn't get that one was better than the other. UK just happened to be better last night.

Two things for sure, though:

Maxey is a dude...

Winston is really good.
 
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The restricted area is there to draw a line where a player can and cannot draw a charge. No one is saying that should’ve been a charge.

It certainly wasn’t a blocking foul, though.
Yes, it was. A SECONDARY defender, in the restricted, cannot make contact with a shooter. If he DOES---its an automatic foul. Only way he can(make contact) is if he is a legal guarding position(outside of the arc), AND JUMPS straight up.

Correct call.
 
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