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Michigan State Basketball: Spartans silence doubters on way to Final Four

By Ryan Kay

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates with his teammates after a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates with his teammates after a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 15: Xavier Tillman #23 and Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate after beating the Ohio State Buckeyes 77-70 during the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 15, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 15: Xavier Tillman #23 and Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate after beating the Ohio State Buckeyes 77-70 during the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 15, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Combating Reasons Why those who Doubted Michigan State are Wrong

Words, statements, and phrases used to describe this year’s Spartans team, coaches, and it’s players as, “Lucky”, “They won’t beat them three times”, “Cassius isn’t even the best player in the Big Ten”, “Tom Izzo doesn’t deserve to be coach of the year”, and “Michigan State won’t make it out of the first weekend of the Tournament”.  Let’s examine why the above statements are all wrong.

Two of the above statements have already been proven wrong. Michigan State ended up beating Michigan and Ohio State three times this season. Even though that would be a more impressive stat if had the Spartans beat both the Wolverines and Buckeyes three straight times in football, still was a tough task to go 6-0 combined against Ohio State and Michigan.

Also, unlike the past three season, Michigan State beat Bradley and then Minnesota to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2015. Not only did the Spartans make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, they also made it out of the second weekend of the tournament to reach the Final Four. However, what about the more subjective comments made by Michigan State doubters? Let’s breakdown why those comments are misleading or even incorrect.

A common word used to describe Michigan State this season is that they are lucky. Michigan State is far from lucky. Losing two NBA lottery picks from your last season’s team in Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. is not being lucky. Having your second leading scorer in Joshua Langford out for the season having only played in 13 games is not lucky. Having Nick Ward your third leading scorer missing five games and being limited in others is not being lucky.

Add to Matt McQuaid being out for three games and Kyle Ahrens missing eight games and being out for the remainder of the season is not lucky.  Not being a #1 seed after being sharing the Big Ten Regular Season title and winning the Big Ten Tournament and having to play the Missouri Valley Conference champion in Bradley in the first round is not being lucky. Also, the remarkable season Cassius Winston has had and the coaching job that Tom Izzo has nothing to do with luck.

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