Spartans win big for Detroit

Sunday, March 29, 2009 - Bob Wojnowski Detroit News
Spartans win big for Detroit

INDIANAPOLIS -- It could not have been more perfect. It could not have been more complete. The Michigan State Spartans played with their eyes straight ahead, affixed on a destination a year in the making, or a lifetime in the making. And now, it's hard to imagine a Final Four more tantalizing than the one Detroit just landed.

Michigan State's road here was blocked by a hot No. 1 overall seed. But if you watched the Spartans in a remarkable performance Sunday, you saw what everyone saw -- there was no way they'd be stopped.

So the Final Four will have a magnificent splash of green, just as Tom Izzo and his team dared to believe when the season began. In a game all about a journey, Michigan State thrashed Louisville, 64-52, to win the Midwest Regional and earn a shot at another behemoth, Connecticut, on Saturday at Ford Field.

Detroit needed the boost of home-state flavor. With one tough green team joining bluebloods Connecticut, North Carolina and Villanova, this could be a memorable Final Four.

And isn't that perfect timing?

Let's be honest here. The excitement for the event just ratcheted magically, with an intriguing mix of college basketball glitz and local grit. Our economy is a mess, and cripes, it's still snowy, but there's certainly something worth celebrating this week.

"You couldn't have dreamt this up, it's so incredible," said Magic Johnson, the legend himself, smiling as Michigan State players celebrated. "Oh, my goodness, this is the greatest feeling in the world -- for Detroit and the whole state of Michigan. There will be so many people in town, so much green and white. We needed this."

The storybook symmetry doesn't end there. Thirty years after Johnson and Michigan State essentially birthed March Madness with the 1979 national championship victory, the Spartans are back, pushed by the echoes of the past and the voice of their feisty coach, pulled by the specter of playing for the title close to home.

5th Final 4 berth in 11 years

MSU may be Green, but it's not too green to know what this means. The Spartans were underdogs, but they were the No. 2 seed in the regional, and this is their fifth Final Four berth in 11 years, cementing the program among the elite.

Goran Suton shot them there with 19 points Sunday, but it's never about just one player.

On the floor of Lucas Oil Stadium, players danced and hugged and even cried, and when they climbed the ladder to snip the nets, it was the shortest journey to continue the longest journey. This was about defense -- playing D to get to the D.

"I didn't doubt it one time," guard Travis Walton said. "When things went wrong, I didn't doubt it. I know this -- when things go a little sideways, don't ever give up on your goal. Never think it's unachievable."

Walton symbolizes the Spartans because he's their senior leader, and he plays as if his reputation depends on every possession. Izzo coaches that way, too, and what a dichotomy as the fancy Cardinals tried to race up and down the floor, while the Green Machine kept stepping in their way.

Izzo was pacing and cajoling all game, stomping his foot so loudly at times, you could hear it across the floor. The Spartans' defense often catches opponents by surprise, and they probably won't be favored in the Final Four. But you can bet they won't be overlooked

Ford Field, with the unique configuration of a basketball court right in the middle, will be a daunting place for the visitors. As much as that, it'll be a much-needed gathering place.

"In Detroit, let's face it, it's been a tough time," Izzo said. "I'm just hoping we're a silver lining in what's been a bit of a cloudy year.

"I'm hoping we're the sunshine, something to embrace."

A rebound team in a rebound city? Well, why not?

Remember, this is a team that lost by 35 to North Carolina in a Final Four "preview" at Ford Field in December. This is a team that rolled to the Big Ten title, even as Izzo fretted about the lack of consistency. This is a team that broke away from Louisville with little help -- no points -- from one of its key players, Raymar Morgan.

Suton is shooting force

How do you explain it? How does an easy-going senior like Suton suddenly become such a hot-shooting force? How does a soft-spoken freshman, Durrell Summers, become deadly in the biggest games? For Summers and guard Kalin Lucas, both from Detroit, the pull of the hometown meant everything.

Lucas said he grew up about 10 minutes from Ford Field. Summers nodded toward the back of his locker, toward the cap with the Olde English D.

"We kept it way, way back in our minds, because we didn't want to make it a distraction," Summers said. "But as we got closer and closer, we started talking about it.

"That's what we were playing for, and we were gonna do whatever it took to get there."

Not many people saw this coming (uh, me included), and Izzo wasn't sure he saw it coming until a 10 a.m. meeting Sunday, when he saw the look in his players' eyes.

"I went from worrying about the game to leaving that room thinking we were going to win it," Izzo said. "I don't know if we're at our best yet, but we took a giant step."

That's the scary part -- the Spartans can play better, especially on offense.

But the feeling this day, for Michigan State and Detroit and a crushed area desperately seeking something to root for, it doesn't get better than this.