Michigan State Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

   What does Michigan State do for an encore? Especially considering that last year’s run to the NCAA Tournament title game has only increased expectations for this year?

“The Final Four appearances have been great,” said coach Tom Izzo, who has led MSU to that magical mark five times in the last 11 years. “But sometimes they are an anchor because I think … probably most of our fans feel that the Final Four is on our schedule and it’s not.”

But it’s fair to say that a working appearance at Indianapolis in the first week of April certainly is a realistic option. Michigan State lost the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year in Travis Walton and the league’s rebounding champ in Goran Suton, but Izzo will try to muddle along with reigning Big Ten player of the year Kalin Lucas at the point and potential all-Big Ten first-teamer Raymar Morgan at forward and stars-in-the-making Durrell Summers and Chris Allen on the wings. Oh, and studly sophomore Delvon Roe is healthy after providing glimpses of his ceiling last year while recovering from his prep knee injury.

Who’s in charge of marshaling this talent and guiding it in the right direction? Izzo wants Lucas to replace Walton as the team’s leader.

“I love the pressure,” Lucas told the Detroit Free Press. “We all have one goal and that’s to get back to the Final Four. I’ve got to get on my teammates. Me and Coach gotta bump heads a little bit, but we’re all on the same page. I’ve got to do whatever I’ve got to do to get to the Final Four.”

And Izzo has to find a center who can handle a bunch of minutes. Roe, who’s more of a power forward, will start in the middle. But when the Spartans take on some of their massive non-conference challenges (Gonzaga, Florida, North Carolina, Texas), they’ll need a true center to help. That probably needs to be junior Tom Herzog, the 7-foot, 250-pounder who played just 100 minutes last season.

“I am concerned about the fact that we have no proven center,” Izzo said.

NOTES, QUOTES

• In Tom Izzo’s mind, Raymar Morgan was playing like the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player before the flu felled him in mid-January. At that point, Morgan was averaging more than 15 points and 7 rebounds per game. And while he returned to the starting lineup down the stretch, Morgan averaged just 7.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 18.2 minutes during the NCAA Tournament. “It hurt when he went down,” Izzo said. “Yet that’s going to be maybe one of the million-dollar questions: Can he stay healthy and play to the potential that he has?”

   —PG Kalin Lucas and F Raymar Morgan earned spot on the John Wooden Award’s preseason Top 50 list. Coincidentally, they were the team’s unanimous choices to be the Spartans’ co-captains.

• The Spartans retain seven of their top nine scorers from last year, but they lost two of their top three guys in terms of minutes played. Big Ten MVP Kalin Lucas led the way with 31.9 minutes per game, but the graduated Travis Walton (27.8 mpg) and Goran Suton (26.7 mpg) were next on the line. Sophomores Delvon Roe (17.9 mpg), Draymond Green (11.4 mpg) and Korie Lucious (9.1 mpg) figure to be first in line for a bunch of those minutes.

Last Year:   31-7 overall, 15-3 in the Big Ten; lost in NCAA Tournament championship game.

   HEAD COACH: Tom Izzo (career 336-137); 15th year at Michigan State (336-137).

   QUOTE TO NOTE: “I know one guy that’s not expecting anything: Me. I’ve been around long enough. I look back to 2006 when we had a top-five team and we got beat in the (NCAA’s) first round.”—Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

   SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS: The Spartans brought in just two players, but they address the team’s biggest need. Six-foot-9, 280-pound center Derrick Nix, who showed up at 310-plus pounds, comes out of Detroit as the No. 88 prospect in the Class of 2009 according to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. Garrick Sherman (6-10, 235) isn’t as hefty and boasts a few more skills, but he’ll need to play immediately as well because there’s just one incumbent center on the roster. If they had entered the program last year, they would have been easy redshirt decisions.

   KEY EARLY-SEASON GAMES: Michigan State stuffs its pre-conference schedule every year, but this might be the most ridiculous slate to date. Gonzaga provides an immediate challenge (Nov. 17), then other name-brand programs such as Florida (Nov. 27 in Atlantic City, N.J.), North Carolina (Dec. 1 in Chapel Hill) and Texas (Dec. 22 at Austin) are lined up. Even a little-known program like Oakland, which will be loaded when it comes to town on Dec. 10, must be considered a challenge.

   PROGRAM DIRECTION: At most schools, there’d be no place to go but down after finishing second in the nation. But the Spartans are more talented than a year ago and belong on the short list of preseason teams that are good enough to dream about cutting down the nets in Indianapolis.

   PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Kalin Lucas, SG Chris Allen, SG Durrell Summers, SF Raymar Morgan, PF Delvon Roe.

   ROSTER REPORT:

• G Korie Lucious needed the entire offseason to rehabilitate his right foot. The sophomore speedster needed surgery to repair the break he suffered in the national title game. He’s using the preseason to get up to speed in a gradual fashion.

• G Chris Allen also broke his right foot in the NCAA title game, but didn’t need nearly as long to allow his injury to heal. He’s expected to jump into the lineup.

• PF Delvon Roe was never quite 100 percent last season after suffering a knee injury in high school, but coach Tom Izzo declared him “99 percent” as official workouts began.