Play for Blood

The Michigan - Michigan State game got interesting right of the bat, and right away I thought of this scene from Tombstone. It wasn't on purpose or anything, but Nik Stauskas caught a heavy elbow from Branden Dawson and I was reminded - if you go up against a Tom Izzo team, you're going to war.

So State got first blood, and I thought to myself "Michigan is in trouble." They don't hang well in these types of games. I don't know if it's Beilein, the players, or just a Michigan Thing... They're not a physical team and they don't play well against teams that come out strong. They're more Wyatt Earp (before his brother got killed anyway). Fortunately, Trey Burke was up for filling the Doc Holliday role.

This is why Burke is ready for the NBA, and why he'll probably be a lottery pick. He's ready to play for blood. On a night where Michigan, a team that RELIES on the three-ball (shooting .400 3P% in wins, .290 3PT% in losses) shot 0-12 from 3-pt range, they still pulled out a win against a quality opponent. More than quality, actually, since I think MSU is probably a top-10 team and should at least make the Sweet 16 this year. 

So how did they win without making ONE LOUSY THREE, and getting seriously out-rebounded? Defense & Trey Burke. He put the team on his back on both ends of the court, ending up with 21 points, 8 assists and 5 steals. He basically stole the game with the swipe-steal-to breakaway-dunk and then the clinching steal of Gary Harris's pass. And everybody on his team knew he was going to do it.

You know a team that isn't ready to play for blood? The Pistons! They remind me of a line from another movie, Out of Sight. George Clooney & Ving Rhames are watching a prison boxing match and Clooney says "You know why they call him 'Snoopy' Miller? If you pet him, he lays down." 

The Pistons lost to New Orleans (a REALLY bad team), and then were zombified by San Antonio last night, losing by 39 points. Not sure if this is tanking or just supreme sucking, but it's hard to watch (or listen to) either way. It's pretty sad that I think 6 of the 8 teams currently ranked below the Pistons would probably beat them in a 7 game series right now. 

Anyway, Burke is growing on me as a potential draft pick for the Pistons. If McLemore, Oladipo and Porter are gone, I think you probably go after Burke over Shabazz Muhammad. The Pistons need a PG of the future (STILL!), and they need a competitor. I think Burke will be both.