5 things for the #EducatedFan to watch in MSU vs. Duke,

1. FOULS. And to be honest with you, if this one is out of whack, the next four may not matter. I think the rules of the college game, which the officials are charged with enforcing, are significantly hampering the college game. You all hear me complain about it on here more and more each year. My officials rant from last year at 1:12:28 - https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/episodes/481799-unofficial-visit-pilot-episode. While I won't go into that tirade now, no one takes advantage of that more than the fraud himself, Coach K. He has bastardized the game by teaching his players to flail their way into their opponents in order to draw fouls, on my words, to play the wrong way. Take the early season propensity for officials to call everything and the fact that Duke does it more than anyone and you have by FAR the #1 key to tomorrow's game.

2. How MSU defends in space. Now, this Duke team is different than many in the last decade. It's not as perimeter dominated as many have been. Having said that, no team on the MSU schedule will make you defend players that are this good offensively, with the type of spacing Duke has. How do they do it? Well, they don't screen a ton and they don't cut a ton. That's a little how K's system has evolved over time. It's making you defend dribble drive and ball screen action in space. Big test.

3. MSU offensive gameplan. You'd never think something as little as wing denial would have a big impact on this series, but it 100% has. OK, it's not just wing denial, it's elbow denial, ball pressure into picked up dribbles, then pick 6's and turnovers. Sure, a few pressure release looks help, but they aren't enough to run over the course of the game. I contend this MSU team will run less set plays than any in a decade. I'm interested to see how we plan to combat Duke's extended pressure, on ball and one pass away denials. Purdue is probably the B1G team that closest resembles how Duke tries to defend.

4. 2 personnel pieces. I expect Bagley to be the best player on the floor. If he's not, it's going to be hard for Duke to win. Duval vs. Winston is the #1 matchup I'm most excited to watch.

5. 9 frosh/soph's starting in the game. Which team is less caught up in the moment? Which doesn't get sucked into 1 on 1 matchups? Which is tough instead of too cool? Which team pays attention to detail and does all the little things needed to win? I think something other than just talent wins this game...it's all that other stuff.