00:00Tell people what you are looking for here with Sparty going up against Pat Kelsey and the Cardinals.
00:06Well, if you look at, you know, Michigan State, they were as impressive as anybody on Thursday with the way
00:12they dominated North Dakota State.
00:14And you look at Louisville, obviously 4-1 without Mikel Brown since injury.
00:19Both teams ranked in the top 25 on offensive and defensive efficiency.
00:22So all these things are leading to lines, right?
00:26So then you start thinking about, okay, where can you find an edge, right, as a coach?
00:31I look at intangibles, right?
00:34The ability to block shots and not get your shot blocked.
00:37Michigan State, 20th and 59th and not getting their shot blocked.
00:41You look at owning the boards.
00:43Michigan State is number one in defensive rebounding, number nine in offensive rebounding percentage, right?
00:48You look at free throw rate, right?
00:49The percentage of times they get to the free throw line.
00:51Michigan State inside the top 100, Louisville outside of the top 100.
00:56And then there's the health.
00:58At some point, they're going to run out of steam here.
01:02Sparty got their guys out of the game, blowout.
01:05You're looking at Pat Kelsey's team having to put their guys back in to kind of escape that game.
01:12And then you lean on the coaches.
01:14I've talked about this a lot with Tom Izzo.
01:16Yeah.
01:16One day prep.
01:18That's a problem because he's going to have a wrinkle you're not ready for or even at halftime.
01:25Michigan State, minus four and a half.
01:27They get the job done today.
01:30So, I, you know, kind of there's, especially when you get into the round of 32, there's kind of different
01:35processes you'll go with here.
01:38You can see I'm trying to, look at me, I'm in a flow state, right?
01:40I'm trying to be in a flow state with this game.
01:43I looked at it and said, man, Sparty probably rocks this team, man, baseball bat style.
01:49But sometimes you just pick up a vibe.
01:53And there's something about Louisville getting to play the little old Louisville role.
02:01Like, it's Louisville basketball, right?
02:05But this is a team who a lot of people were counting out against South Florida.
02:10And now they're in here and they know it, coach.
02:13They are an underdog.
02:17And it's something I talked about with Miami of Ohio against SMU.
02:22They're going to show up.
02:23They're going to bomb threes.
02:25If they go in, they got a chance to make something happen here.
02:27And it happened.
02:29Now, it's something I talked about with Queens against Purdue.
02:31And I, quite frankly, don't appreciate you bringing it up.
02:34All right?
02:35I'm still trying to figure out what in the world happened in that game.
02:37Why was Purdue making all those threes?
02:39That was not in the plans.
02:41I'm still angry about it.
02:42Gosh!
02:43Here's my point.
02:45Louisville is all of a sudden the why not...
02:48J.Y. knows I'm nuts.
02:51Louisville is all of a sudden, coach, the why not us underdog just keep pulling from three, baby.
02:58Because Michigan State's going to allow them to attempt those threes.
03:01And Louisville fires them away.
03:04Conwell's due for a good game here.
03:06Maybe McNeely's hot.
03:08I took a Louisville team total over 73 and a half.
03:10Because I don't fully trust Louisville.
03:12I really don't.
03:14And if Fears is on it, he might control this whole game.
03:18Like, I don't think 23 and 12 is off the board today from the Sparty's point guard.
03:25But I think Louisville gets theirs.
03:27I really, really do.
03:28So, I played a team total here, J.Y., at a 73 and a half spot for Louisville.
03:35I can see it.
03:37There's another way you get up and over.
03:39Because I'm taking minus four and a half.
03:41This could be a close game.
03:43We get the foul game late.
03:44And then they pull away by eight to ten points.
03:46So, there's a way you can see it.
03:47I think the reason why I like Michigan State minor supports is because, in fact, I think Fears is going
03:52to go off.
03:53But if Brown is on the other side, they can get Fears into foul trouble.
03:57And that's why I kind of looked at it.
03:59I was like, okay, one main guy there, one main guy not.
04:02They probably guard each other at times.
04:04So, they could get each other into foul trouble.
04:05I think there's going to be a key here.
04:08And I've talked about this.
04:09And it's not getting a lot of puff.
04:12And Michigan State, folks, is going to make a run.
04:15People are going to look at Fears.
04:16They're going to look at Cohn.
04:17They're going to look at Jackson Kohler.
04:19To me, the guy they have to try and unlock is the freshman Cam Ward.
04:24Cam Ward is such a dynamic player.
04:27And he just hasn't really done it.
04:30Now, he had 16 minutes, 13 points.
04:33Is this what they need to get him going?
04:36Because if he can be that next guy coming off the bench,
04:40that is something to watch.
04:42Cam Ward is going to be an interesting guy to watch for Michigan State.
04:44Because if he can get going, another score that makes Sparty really tough to me.
04:49Because sometimes they do struggle offensively besides Fears.
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