Pre-Season Countdown | #2 Michigan State

2009-10 Result: 28-9 (14-4 Big Ten) lost to Butler, 52-50 in the national semi-final

Coach: Tom Izzo 364-146 – 15 seasons in East Lansing.

Thirty-seven Spartans have worn uniforms in the National Basketball Association. Current Spartans in the Association include Maurice Ager, Charlie Bell, Shannon Brown, Morris Peterson, Zach Randolph and Jason Richardson.

The Spartans have earned twenty-four invites to the NCAA Tournament winning championships in ’79 and 2000. MSU has six Final Four appearances and three Elite Eight trips.

Notable Non-Conference Tilts: 11/16 vs. South Carolina, 11/23 UConn or Wichita State, 11/24 Kentucky, Okla., Virginia, Washington, 12/1 at Duke, 12/7 vs. Syracuse, 12/22 vs. Texas

Stat of Identity: 8.6 Rebound Margin – Number one in the country.

Key Returners:

Kalin Lucas 31.1 mpg, 14.8 ppg, 4 apg

Durrell Summers  26.2 mpg, 11.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg

Draymond Green 25.5 mpg, 9.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg

Delvon Roe 20.6 mpg, 6.4 ppg, 5 rpg

Korie Lucious 22.9 mpg, 5.6 ppg, 3.3 apg

Derrick Nix 7.8 mpg

Garrick Sherman 7.2 mpg

By Paul Casey Gotham

If it doesn’t kill you, it only makes you stronger. Nothing like starting out a pre-season analysis with an old saying, but it applies to Michigan State.

When point guard Kalin Lucas went down with a season-ending injury during the first half of MSU’s second round victory over Maryland, many wrote off the Spartans’ chances.

Not the Spartans. And certainly not Tom Izzo.

MSU advanced to the Final Four. Few programs could have sustained losing a player like Lucas during the tournament and continue on to win games.

The reason for this comes from how the Spartans play the game under Izzo: rebound, play defense, work for the easy shot and grind, grind, grind.

It’s not pretty, but it is successful.

With the injury, Lucas was forced to return to school for one year. Denizens of East Lansing get to reap the benefits. The senior point guard brings plenty of experience to the Spartans. Lucas also adds the hunger to want to finish his career with a championship banner.

Draymond Green and Delvon Roe will get it done in the paint. The pair take up room and are a difficult block out task. Derrick Nix adds depth to the front court.

Lucas is joined in the back court by Korie Lucious and durrell Summers.

Freshman, Keith Appling, Russell Byrd and Adreian Payne will look to crack the lineup.