We're 19 games into a 31 game regular season schedule for Michigan State basketball. So far, other than the loss to Florida in Atlantic City, they've done just about what everyone expected. They beat a good Gonzaga team at home and lost to a decent North Carolina team on the road and lost to a very, very good Texas team on the road. They're 16-3 and I just don't see them as a "great" team.
In the Big Ten and in most of their non-conference victories, they were just a much stronger, more athletic team than their opponents. In the two games they played against teams that could match their athleticism and skill, they struggled (@Texas and @ North Carolina). In both those games, they showed glimpses of their talent level. They ran up and down with Carolina in the second half to make what could have been a blow out turn into just a six point loss. Against Texas they actually held an 8 point lead in the first half at one point. In that game, they just let things slip out of control in the final 8 minutes of the game as Texas ran away with things while MSU couldn't buy a basket. Unfortunately, it showed one of MSU's biggest weaknesses: Their half-court execution is not nearly as strong as it has been in year's past. Against teams that play tough half-court defense, they often struggle to get a decent shot. Luckily, they rebound well enough and get enough second chances that they're able to downplay their struggles most of the time. Texas and UNC didn't give them as many second chances.
There are many good things to say about this team. Draymond Green might be the smartest player in the Big Ten and he does all the little things it takes to win ball games. Delvon Roe has proved he's learned to shoot free throws and is looking to be more of an offensive threat. Kalin Lucas still has the ability to take over a game, even though his jump shot has been disappointing at times this season. Raymar Morgan is playing better defense than he ever has before. On top of that, he appears to be doing more little things that don't show up in the box score (solid defense, good help on screens, diving for loose balls, etc).
This team has all the talent in the world, but they can't play games like they did against Iowa last night. In the second half, they had a 19 point lead and appeared to be rolling through the competition. A turnover here, a turnover there, a missed lay-up here, a empty possession there, and all of a sudden Iowa had it down to 8. Then the Hawkeyes hit a couple of ridiculous shots, and it's a 3 point game. At this point, MSU had the ball and seemed completely lost. If it wasn't for Korie Lucious attacking the basket for a lay-up, I'm not sure MSU would have gotten a decent shot attempt in that possession. As coach Izzo and a couple of players have said, this team's stars seem to lack a sense of urgency at times. It's almost like their killer instinct is missing. They often fail to turn a 19 point lead into a 30 point lead and run away with things. More often, they let a 19 point lead get down to a 10 point lead, and then they're just giving the other team an opportunity to make a game out of it.
The true test begins now. MSU plays 6 of their next 8 games on the road. They're 6-0 in the Big Ten. Every other team in the conference has at least 2 losses, with biggest threats Purdue and Ohio State both sitting with 3 losses. Wisconsin isn't far behind the Spartans at 5-2, but they're playing without Jon Leuer (possibly their best overall player) for the rest of the regular season, if not longer. The tough road for MSU is as follows, @ Minnesota, @ Michigan, Northwestern at home, @ Wisconsin, @ Illinois, and Purdue at home. There is not a game in those 6 that will not test the Spartans. Tubby Smith always has his teams ready to play against Izzo's teams. Michigan, while up and down this year, will for sure be ready for their biggest basketball rival. They can't sleep on Northwestern (even after beating them by 20 earlier in the year) as the Wildcats won at Breslin just last year. Wisconsin and Illinois are considered two of the tougher road games in the league. It all leads up to a showdown with Purdue, a team that was ranked as high as fourth in the country at one point this year. If MSU can come through this stretch at 9-3 or 10-2, I'd be ecstatic.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Official start of the busy season
I went to college knowing I wanted to be an accountant. In doing so, I knew that meant I was in for some long hours every spring as long as I wanted to be in public accounting. Whether I was a tax accountant or an auditor, the spring is our busiest time of year. As an auditor, we deal with auditing year-end financial statements and the majority of businesses work on a calender year end. I have a few clients that have their fiscal year end on September 30, but those are few and far between. That means, from about the middle of January until the end of March or early April, I'm stuck being busier than you can imagine. The firm says we have to work a mandatory 55 hour week. This usually works out to about 50 hours Monday-Friday and 5 hours on Saturday. Sometimes it's more during the week and then we have the whole weekend off (which is preferred in my mind), but most of the managers I work with prefer to work shorter week day hours and come in on Saturday. When I'm the manager, it'll be different (whether the people below me like it or not).
For some reason, this season seems to be starting slower than normal. It's January 20th and I'm only at my first client of the year. On top of that, we're off to a slow start as this client really isn't ready for us to be here. They're trying to work with us as much as possible, but they've had some turnover in their accounting department and the new employees just aren't very experienced in their jobs. Part of it is their working with for a new employer, and part of it is that they didn't do a very good job in the hiring process. The CFO understands this, but is trying to get through the spring without having to replace them. Unfortunately, this is making my job more difficult as I feel like I know more about their business than they do. Unfortunately, that makes my job extremely difficult as they are not able to answer any of the questions I have and I have to discuss everything with the CFO. His time is very valuable and it's hard to sit down and talk to him for more than 20 minutes at a time. I'm having lunch with him today, so hopefully that will help open up some communication as it's much easier to discuss his employees with him when we're outside of the office.
So, that being said, I'm pretty frustrated with the busy season already. Usually it takes me until the end of February or early March before I'm entirely put off by it and ready to quit my job. Luckily, this is a small-ish client and I should be done with it by the first week of February. Maybe the next client will be better.
For some reason, this season seems to be starting slower than normal. It's January 20th and I'm only at my first client of the year. On top of that, we're off to a slow start as this client really isn't ready for us to be here. They're trying to work with us as much as possible, but they've had some turnover in their accounting department and the new employees just aren't very experienced in their jobs. Part of it is their working with for a new employer, and part of it is that they didn't do a very good job in the hiring process. The CFO understands this, but is trying to get through the spring without having to replace them. Unfortunately, this is making my job more difficult as I feel like I know more about their business than they do. Unfortunately, that makes my job extremely difficult as they are not able to answer any of the questions I have and I have to discuss everything with the CFO. His time is very valuable and it's hard to sit down and talk to him for more than 20 minutes at a time. I'm having lunch with him today, so hopefully that will help open up some communication as it's much easier to discuss his employees with him when we're outside of the office.
So, that being said, I'm pretty frustrated with the busy season already. Usually it takes me until the end of February or early March before I'm entirely put off by it and ready to quit my job. Luckily, this is a small-ish client and I should be done with it by the first week of February. Maybe the next client will be better.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Long Time, Lots to say
OK, so someone (Katie Beard) pointed out that I haven't written anything in a while and it's about time I added something here. It's time to break out the good, the bad, and the ugly again, so here we go. Quick hits on lots of things.
The Good
- Big Ten Football. After getting destroyed by the national media for much of the past two years, the Big Ten went out this year and had a winning record in bowl games. That included big wins against the Pac-10 champion (OSU over Oregon in the Rose Bowl) and ACC Champion (Iowa over Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl). On top of those wins, Penn State and Wisconsin beat two southern teams that were supposedly "too fast" for Big Ten defenses (LSU and Miami, respectively). Northwestern took Auburn to overtime and was hindered by the loss of their kicker in overtime. MSU, playing severely shorthanded after the Rather Hall Pot Luck Brawl, put in a good fight against a very good Texas Tech team. I'm not all for celebrating moral victories, but it was a good showing from the Big Ten as a whole. Hopefully that will lead to some national respect in the future, but only time will tell.
- Michigan State basketball. After today's victory over Illinois, MSU stands alone at the top of the Big Ten standings (15-3 overall, 5-0 in the Big Ten). The only loss that stands out was their loss to Florida. Other than that, not many teams are going to win games at North Carolina or at Texas this year. They've won 6 in a row and 10 of their last 11. While there is still some work to be done to get back to where they were last year, this team shows some promise. At times Draymond Green and Delvon Roe show they're ready to be big time players in this program. Green is the heart and soul of this team, and Coach Izzo rightfully made him the first sophomore captain since Mateen Cleaves.
- NFL playoffs. There's nothing more exciting than the NFL playoffs. The first weekend was rather dull, until the Green Bay-Arizona game late Sunday afternoon. The two teams combined for one of the most entertaining football games in NFL history. The two teams combined for 96 points in the Cardinals 51-45 overtime victory. The Packers fell behind early and it looked like we were in for another blowout (similar to the New England-Baltimore game earlier in the weekend), but they put it together to come back and force overtime. It's disappointing as a fan of the Packers to know they had the ball in overtime and a chance to win, but the fact that they came back in the game to get to that point is a moral victory I guess. Hopefully the rest of the playoffs won't disappoint.
The Bad
- Disappointing Big Ten Basketball teams. Purdue and Michigan have been very disappointing. Purdue started the year 14-0 including victories over Tennessee, Wake Forest, and West Virginia. Since then they've lost at Wisconsin (always a tough place to win), at home versus Ohio State, and at Northwestern (the same place MSU won by 20). For such a hot start, it's disappointing to see them at 2-3 and in the middle of the Big Ten standings. As for Michigan, this was supposed to be the year. Manny Harris and DaShawn Sims stayed for their senior years. Laval Lucas-Perry had a full year of experience since he transferred into the program. A couple of freshman were supposed to be big role players off the bench. All of that has lead to a 9-7 start for the Wolverines and puts them as a long-shot to make the NIT, let alone the NCAA tournament.
- Pete Carroll's double standard. A year ago USC was finishing a 12-1 season with a victory over Penn State in the Rose Bowl. QB Mark Sanchez threw for 4 touchdowns and over 400 yards in that game. A week later, he declared his intentions to enter the NFL draft that April and forgo his senior season at USC. At the time Pete Carroll, then USC's head coach, openly talked down about his player and his choice to enter the NFL draft, saying that Sanchez make a commitment USC and would be better off staying one more year and playing out his eligibility. Fast forward one year. Mark Sanchez is the starting QB for the New York Jets and won his first playoff game last weekend. USC just finished a disappointing season at 9-4, with a bowl victory over Boston College. Within two weeks of the college season ending, Pete Carroll had an agreement with the Seattle Seahawks to become their next head coach. In doing so, he would forgo multiple years he had remaining on a contract with the University of Southern California. How can he expect his players to stay in school when he's not even willing to complete his paid contract. At least the players leaving are leaving to start earning a paycheck.
In all honesty, it looks like Pete Carroll is leaving just before the NCAA starts major investigations into his program. There are already allegations against the USC basketball team in their recruitment of OJ Mayo and I have a feeling we'll hear something soon about the NCAA football team, especially things that took place while Reggie Bush was in a Trojan uniform. If you ask me, in the near future USC is going to lose scholarships and possibly face bans from post-season play.
The Ugly
- Lane Kiffin. A year ago, Lane Kiffin blew into Knoxville, Tennessee talking about all the places he would take the Volunteer football program. He directly attacked Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators and threatened the entire SEC. Move forward a year and Kiffin is on the move. He's leaving Tennessee to go back to USC (replacing the aforementioned Pete Carroll) where he spent time as an assistant coach and as the offensive coordinator earlier this decade. For a guy that seemed entirely dedicated to the Tennessee Volunteers (hell, he named his newborn son Knox after the city of Knoxville shortly after he was hired), it seems like his heart was never in it in Tennessee. What does he say to the recruits he spent all of last year recruiting? After he spent a year telling them there was no better place to be than Tennessee, how does he turn around and say USC is the best opportunity for him.
The Good
- Big Ten Football. After getting destroyed by the national media for much of the past two years, the Big Ten went out this year and had a winning record in bowl games. That included big wins against the Pac-10 champion (OSU over Oregon in the Rose Bowl) and ACC Champion (Iowa over Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl). On top of those wins, Penn State and Wisconsin beat two southern teams that were supposedly "too fast" for Big Ten defenses (LSU and Miami, respectively). Northwestern took Auburn to overtime and was hindered by the loss of their kicker in overtime. MSU, playing severely shorthanded after the Rather Hall Pot Luck Brawl, put in a good fight against a very good Texas Tech team. I'm not all for celebrating moral victories, but it was a good showing from the Big Ten as a whole. Hopefully that will lead to some national respect in the future, but only time will tell.
- Michigan State basketball. After today's victory over Illinois, MSU stands alone at the top of the Big Ten standings (15-3 overall, 5-0 in the Big Ten). The only loss that stands out was their loss to Florida. Other than that, not many teams are going to win games at North Carolina or at Texas this year. They've won 6 in a row and 10 of their last 11. While there is still some work to be done to get back to where they were last year, this team shows some promise. At times Draymond Green and Delvon Roe show they're ready to be big time players in this program. Green is the heart and soul of this team, and Coach Izzo rightfully made him the first sophomore captain since Mateen Cleaves.
- NFL playoffs. There's nothing more exciting than the NFL playoffs. The first weekend was rather dull, until the Green Bay-Arizona game late Sunday afternoon. The two teams combined for one of the most entertaining football games in NFL history. The two teams combined for 96 points in the Cardinals 51-45 overtime victory. The Packers fell behind early and it looked like we were in for another blowout (similar to the New England-Baltimore game earlier in the weekend), but they put it together to come back and force overtime. It's disappointing as a fan of the Packers to know they had the ball in overtime and a chance to win, but the fact that they came back in the game to get to that point is a moral victory I guess. Hopefully the rest of the playoffs won't disappoint.
The Bad
- Disappointing Big Ten Basketball teams. Purdue and Michigan have been very disappointing. Purdue started the year 14-0 including victories over Tennessee, Wake Forest, and West Virginia. Since then they've lost at Wisconsin (always a tough place to win), at home versus Ohio State, and at Northwestern (the same place MSU won by 20). For such a hot start, it's disappointing to see them at 2-3 and in the middle of the Big Ten standings. As for Michigan, this was supposed to be the year. Manny Harris and DaShawn Sims stayed for their senior years. Laval Lucas-Perry had a full year of experience since he transferred into the program. A couple of freshman were supposed to be big role players off the bench. All of that has lead to a 9-7 start for the Wolverines and puts them as a long-shot to make the NIT, let alone the NCAA tournament.
- Pete Carroll's double standard. A year ago USC was finishing a 12-1 season with a victory over Penn State in the Rose Bowl. QB Mark Sanchez threw for 4 touchdowns and over 400 yards in that game. A week later, he declared his intentions to enter the NFL draft that April and forgo his senior season at USC. At the time Pete Carroll, then USC's head coach, openly talked down about his player and his choice to enter the NFL draft, saying that Sanchez make a commitment USC and would be better off staying one more year and playing out his eligibility. Fast forward one year. Mark Sanchez is the starting QB for the New York Jets and won his first playoff game last weekend. USC just finished a disappointing season at 9-4, with a bowl victory over Boston College. Within two weeks of the college season ending, Pete Carroll had an agreement with the Seattle Seahawks to become their next head coach. In doing so, he would forgo multiple years he had remaining on a contract with the University of Southern California. How can he expect his players to stay in school when he's not even willing to complete his paid contract. At least the players leaving are leaving to start earning a paycheck.
In all honesty, it looks like Pete Carroll is leaving just before the NCAA starts major investigations into his program. There are already allegations against the USC basketball team in their recruitment of OJ Mayo and I have a feeling we'll hear something soon about the NCAA football team, especially things that took place while Reggie Bush was in a Trojan uniform. If you ask me, in the near future USC is going to lose scholarships and possibly face bans from post-season play.
The Ugly
- Lane Kiffin. A year ago, Lane Kiffin blew into Knoxville, Tennessee talking about all the places he would take the Volunteer football program. He directly attacked Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators and threatened the entire SEC. Move forward a year and Kiffin is on the move. He's leaving Tennessee to go back to USC (replacing the aforementioned Pete Carroll) where he spent time as an assistant coach and as the offensive coordinator earlier this decade. For a guy that seemed entirely dedicated to the Tennessee Volunteers (hell, he named his newborn son Knox after the city of Knoxville shortly after he was hired), it seems like his heart was never in it in Tennessee. What does he say to the recruits he spent all of last year recruiting? After he spent a year telling them there was no better place to be than Tennessee, how does he turn around and say USC is the best opportunity for him.
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