Is Michigan State Tournament Ready?

With March madness right around the corner, a lot of final four talk has been going on. And the discussion has been rather or not Michigan state mens basketball team is capable of reaching that level of the NCAA tournaments.

Many were unsure of what the team would be like before the start of the season, but after the games start rolling in and the team began to excel, the final four became a discussion.

At the start of the season, even senior Draymond Green was unsure of what his team was capable of.  In the weekly press conference held on Monday, Green told reporters that he knew that this years team was special, but that didn’t assure him that their season would be successful. 

He said after the first few games he knew the team had a lot of potential, but they all were unsure of it, that’s why they didn’t excel against North Carolina and Duke.

“We weren’t sure, that is why we didn’t push against North Carolina and Duke,” said Green.

And fans were unsure of where the team would be as well.

Senior Khiry Ward said no doubt about he didn’t see the team prevailing at all.

“I thought we were going to be terrible this season like no lie,” said Ward

Ward said with most of the team leaving and with only one returning starter, he didn’t see the chemistry developing.

“A bunch of people left and we got a bunch of new people so I just didn’t think we were going to mesh well. We only had one returning starter. I didn’t think we were going to have the chemistry to be successful,” said Ward.

And Senior Renold Jeanlouis was doubtful as well with the team losing their two stars Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers.

“I didn’t think especially after watching Durrell and Kalin leave we had anybody to step up. I thought Michigan State was going to be trash,” said Jeanlouis.

Some fans kept their faith and had no uncertainty that the team would develop success.

            Senior Jordan Laney said he thought the team was going to be fine and that Michigan State has a down year every once in a while and last year was the down year so this year had to be an up year.

“ I thought that, that was our down year and we we’re going to be fine this year. We never have two back to back down years think about it,” said Laney.

The first few games were tough said Senior Ray Whearley, but he knew the team would take their loses and learn from them.

“First game was tough, as well as the second one. I knew we would bounce back and learn from our mistakes,” said Whearley.

“Clearly we have done that and made our way from unranked to the top ranked,” said Whearley.

But beyond the believers and unbelievers, the real discussion is, can MSU make it to the final four?

            Many fans believed that it all depended on the teams seeding.

“I think we got a pretty good chance depending on what bracket were in, our match ups and our seeding,” said Ward.

And some said it depends on the seeding and the big ten tournaments.

“In the past when we got number one seed we got eliminated in the first round. I’m pretty sure we’re going to make it to the elite eight if we get a number three seed or lower,” said Laney.

“ But in the past, when we do good in the big ten tournament, we do bad in the NCAA tournament,” said Laney.

No matter how the team is seeded or plays in the tournament, Whearley said he thinks the team is tough enough for the challenge and Izzo is fit for the tournaments.

“The way we are playing with the tough schedule we have, demonstrates our ability to overcome adversity with such a young team, also Izzo is a tournament coach, he is the best coach to lead those guys,” said Whearley.

Junior Alex Yavarski said he thinks the Spartans are capable of reaching the final four, but they’re more of an elite eight team.

“I think they’re an elite eight team, not final four,” said Yavarski.

“I think they have a chance to get there because Tom Izzo is Mr. March, but if they have to face Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina or Syracuse, they will lose,” said Yavarski.

Selection Sunday is just right around the corner on March. 11. and the first tournament game not too far behind taking place March. 13.. When the clock starts rolling the outcome can either be the Spartans coming against adversity or upsetting their fans.

Lansing Sexton rolling Over competition

Senior Denzel Valentine of Lansing Sexton knows that his team has the potential to get back to the Breslin, but he doesn’t take getting there lightly and he understands that at anytime a loss could come their way.

“My dad beats it in our heads that We’re not as good as we think we are, we still need to come out there and play every night,” said Valentine. “You never know, you might get beat.  Any given night anybody can get beat.”

Coach Carlton Valentine said that every game counts and preparation is what matters most.

“Every game’s big, it’s all about preparation. Victory loves preparation,” said Valentine.

            And senior Anthony Clemmons said that no game comes with different preparation, but with the same mindset at all times and the goal of getting better.

“Our game plan is the same every single night. We just try to come out and play the same, if not more energy after every game.  We just try to get better after every game,” said Clemmons

With that same game plan, the Big reds were able to clench a share of the CAAC blue title in their 81-39 win against Everett on Tuesday night.

Sexton went on a 15-0 run in the beginning of the first quarter until Everett was able to answer with their first basket with a little under four minutes to go in the first quarter.

By the end of the first, Everett was able to trim the lead by nine, but after a few 3-pointers from sextons Clemmons followed by a 3-pointer by Bryn Forbes in the beginning of the second quarter, Sexton gained a lead that was far too much for the Vikings.  Going into the half the Big Reds led the Vikings 53-24.

Coming into the second half Sexton took over with shot after shot increasing the lead to 71-28 almost triple the Vikings points going into the fourth quarter.  The Vikings were only able to make 2 field goals in the third quarter.

Clemmons said that with a team like this they had an advantage in size and they used it.

“We try to get inside more, you know their undersized against us, so we try to get to the basket as much as possible instead of settling for outside jumpers,” said Clemmons.

Coach Valentine said that with teams like Everett, its easy to find comfort in a lead, but with veterans on the team who understood that, it was easy for them to keep the momentum up.

“Sometimes when you get a big lead its tough to maintain that intensity, but we have veteran guys, we have guys that have been on varsity three and four years so they understand that you have to have that intensity all the time,” said Valentine.

Ultimately the goal is to get to the Breslin and win another state championship title said Denzel Valentine.

“Our goal is at the end of the year to get to the Breslin,” said Valentine.

And what matters said Valentine, are the pay off games and the team sets up the regular season games for playoffs.

“It matters a little bit what you do in the regular season, but it mainly matters what you do in the playoffs,” said Valentine. “We just try to set our regular season up for the playoffs.”

Junior guard Javon Moore led the Vikings with 12 points.  Forbes led Sexton with 16 points and Valentine finished with 13 points.

As Sexton prepares for their next game against Eastern and districts, they plan to do nothing more than what they’ve already done.

“We gone do like we always do practice, watch film, eat pizza and get ready to go,” said Coach Valentine. “We want to make sure that we got the same effort every time we come out.”