+3 and -3 from MSU vs. Michigan,

+3 1. Beating Michigan. I truly dislike them with every fiber of my being. Stick your JB has Izzo's number, Simpson owns Winston, and all those other trash takes in your earhole. We played minus 2 of our 3 best players, in your yard, with all your former players, a 22 game home winning streak, and the B1G regular season on the line, and we showed guts and courage down the stretch that you simply's didn't have. Jenga. 2. Tom Izzo was magnificent in preparation and execution. I thought in some recent matchups JB has made some moves that we didn't have a lot of counters for. Today, Izzo coached JB into a paper bag. People know that I have a ton of respect for JB, so I don't say that lightly. I could write a book about why I feel that way, but here's 2 quick reasons. * We've NEVER switched 1-5 against UM and their read and react offense. Was it because of Ward being out or we wanted to take away back-cuts, dribble hand-offs first and force them to shoot more 3's because it's his worst 3 point shooting team? I'm not sure. But Beilein loves to run a set look when they need a basket. They ran it three times in the last 8 minutes of the game. There is a back-screen by Teske and then he goes right to a ball screen or dribble hand-off. Michigan always gets a downhill drive, a pick and pop Teske 3, or a Teske roll. We executed two switches against it, combined with weak-side help, like a team that has done it 100 times (One was Kithier ending up on Poole at the top and forcing a missed 3). I can tell you one thing when that happened, Beilein said "Oh-Shi$" in his head, because that doesn't happen to his offense. The fact that Izzo went to this move and then guys executed, is silly. Plain silly. * The number of ball-screen sets we went to. Even though it seemed like 5 per possession, Izzo knew that Michigan has to execute perfectly to stop it each time. Why not make them defend it perfectly over and over? We got Winston to the rim, Goins on pick and pops, and even skips to Henry/Goins/McQuaid as Winston made great reads on the weak side. Most teams go away from ball-screen offense because of how good UM is, Izzo did the opposite. He attacked it and Michigan ended up in stays too long by their bigs and Winston made magnificent reads. 3. Cash Money. 40 minutes, 27 points, 8 assists, ball in his hands 75% of offensive possessions. A special Spartan was special in the biggest moment of the season. McQuaid was great on D, Tillman just keeps getting better and better, loved Henry's D, Goins had a first half for the ages, but this win was all about Winston and Izzo. -3 1. 5/20 from "3" and A LOT of really good looks. This team wants to hang that B1G banner and make a little tourney run, those numbers are not going to cut it. 2. Out-rebounded them 33-32. Sure, when you miss more shots as UM did, there are more rebounds for the taking. I still think we can beat them up more in the paint and on the glass next time. 3. 2 points off the bench earlier this week and 3 today. It was enough both times, and I don't expect 20, but still need to get a little more. MISC * There were some possessions in the last 10 minutes of the game where MSU was almost perfect defensively. If you watch the 10-12 possessions from the 3-minute mark to 10-minute mark, you will see exactly how this game was won. Elite half-court defense. * I've long been a proponent of playing your main players more minutes. I 100% understand the theory of how MSU runs and why they have to play more bodies to run the system they want to run. I completely get that. However, in certain games and certain situations, players can do what guys like Winston did today. Special players can do those things in big spots, not for 4 months, but for games like today. * I thought Simpson was pretty darn good today. 7/15 from the floor, 19 points, 5 rebounds, and worked hard defensively. Brazdekis had good stretches, it was really Matthews that was the no-show today. * Only 7 turnovers for us today...another MAJOR story of the game. * Michigan's 3-point shooting, worst team of JB's career, continues to be their biggest issue. When you don't have any post offense and your system is really centered around 3's, it's not like you are going to stop taking them. I still think UM is good enough with the right draw to make a Final Four run, but if they keep shooting under 30% from "3" in big games, that's going to be really tough. * KenPom had MSU slotted #4 coming in and UM #7. #KenPomKnows. * I can't wait to see the adjustments by both coaches for the game in a couple weeks. I expect a very good one in East Lansing.

* I questioned whether or not this MSU team was as good as last year's version. Well, last year's couldn't beat UM with 2 tries last year and was not competitive the year before in Ann Arbor. This team inches closer...

* I thought the officiating in the first half was amazing. It was a fun half to watch, 11 fouls called total. 2nd half starts and there are 10 fouls in the first 5 minutes. Terrible. But so B1G like.