Let the Rivalry Continue

Facebook is overflowed with it.  One cannot look at Twitter without seeing a tweet about it.  Is it immature?  Yeah, maybe.  But that’s what makes it so wonderful.  Our social networks (and lives in general) can be engulfed with silly fights that lead us to lose sight of more important aspects of life.  Yet, as this game nears, it seems that the rivalry may be one of the more pressing matters in the world today. In the Ann Arbor and East Lansing world, that is.

Tonight the Michigan State Spartans will travel to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines in what will make for a competitive battle between two ranked Big Ten squads.  In the recent past, this game would be written off as an easy win for the Green and White; however, Michigan has grown to be a solid basketball team as of late.  I am going to break down different aspects of the game in order to decipher who has the edge in tonight’s matchup.

Michigan

• Three point shooting:  The three-point shooting game is vital to the Wolverines’ success.  However, they sometimes find themselves aimlessly shooting without moving the ball inside to the paint.  Look for them to push further in the paint in order to create options outside the arc.
• Home crowd:  This crowd knows how to go wild.  If they do so enough to mess with the Spartans’ game, it will have a large effect on the results of this game.
• Turnovers:  The Iowa game showed that the Wolverines need to maintain a large amount of focus if they want to win this game.  Focus will help to limit the amount of turnovers.

Michigan State 

• Draymond Green:  He is the clear leader of his time, and is capable of helping to dictate how this game turns out.  The Wolverines will have a difficult time containing him.
• Tom Izzo:  Izzo is one of the best coaches in the nation, and will need to figure out a good offensive plan to counter the Wolverines’ tricky zone defense.
• Bounce back:  Their winning streak ended with a road loss to Northwestern.  They have another tough road test at Crisler Arena tonight.  We’ll have to see if they can bounce back.

My pick:  Michigan – 65    Michigan State – 62

Michigan’s zone and trap defense will be too much for the Spartans to overcome, and the Wolverines will find their shooting touch once again.  This will make for a great game.

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By: Brandon Klein

(Photo by MGoBlog under a Creative Commons license)