How to Drown Your Final Four Sorrows

How to Drown Your Final Four Sorrows

THE SPARTINI

A drink recipe by PMY

Olive Juice (for the green)
4 oz. Skyy Vodka (for the white)
4 olives on skewer (for final four)
One drop each blood, sweat and tears

Shake, Serve, Drink

(Note: for all your gin drinkers out there,
sub lime for the green and gin for the white)

SpartyOn Spartans!

A Game of Survival for Michigan State Center Goran Suton

April 2, 2009
A Game of Survival for Michigan State Center

By JOE LAPOINTE New York Times

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The family photograph from 10 years ago shows 13-year-old Goran Suton and his older brother, Darijan, playing basketball outside their home near Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The backboard built by their grandfather Nikola has their names painted on its bare wood. What the picture does not show is the overgrown field of tall grass and weeds nearby where the loose balls sometimes rolled.

The boys did not chase them there for fear of land mines left from the civil war of the 1990s, which forced the family from its home for seven years. “Our grandfather would say, ‘Please don’t go there, I’ll get the ball,’ ” Darijan Suton said.

Goran Suton said: “We’d beg him not to. He’d still do it. Thank God he didn’t step on a mine.” Later, the men who cleared the mines found three live ones in that same field. “Very close,” Darijan Suton said.

A year later, the family left Europe as refugees to join relatives in Lansing, Mich. The grandfather stayed behind. Goran enrolled at Everett High School, not realizing that Magic Johnson had played there in the 1970s before moving on to Michigan State.

Goran, who had played organized basketball in Bosnia, was rediscovered by his new classmates on a nearby playground. “They went to the basketball coaches and said, ‘Hey, there’s this tall white kid who’s got some moves,’ ” Darijan said.

As Goran Suton’s first decade in America nears its end, he is even taller, at 6-foot-10, and is making more moves on more prestigious courts. As the starting center for Michigan State, he will play this weekend at Ford Field in Detroit in the Final Four of the N.C.A.A. tournament.

In the Spartans’ first four tournament games, Suton has played the best basketball of his career. Last weekend he was the most valuable player of the Midwest regional. But in Saturday’s semifinal, Suton’s opposite center will be Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut.

If the 7-foot-3 Thabeet and the favored Huskies vanquish the Spartans, it will end a magical run at Magic Johnson’s old college. But if Suton and the Spartans prevail, the late-blooming center and his teammates will advance to the championship game on Monday night.

“The guy is a monster,” Suton said of Thabeet. “You have to be smart about it. Keep him away from the basket. Hopefully, get him in foul trouble. It’s a challenge. I’ve been challenged the past four games in this tournament. I’m going to take this challenge.”

It is hardly the biggest challenge of Suton’s young life. When war broke out in the former Yugoslavia, the family fled to Serbia because Suton’s mother was Serbian and Christian Orthodox and his father was Croatian and Christian Catholic.

At that time of ethnic cleansing, people were killing and dying over nationality and religion. “I’ve seen some pretty graphic things,” Suton said. “People walking without legs. What happened over there was a disaster. It’s a tragedy. You just try to move on.”

When peace came, Suton said he helped a cousin search for his father. They had heard he might have died in a mass murder. They went to a large tent, where families looked at bones.

“It smelled so bad there I almost vomited,” Suton said. They never located the remains. After the family emigrated, Suton quickly learned English, adapted to American customs, led Everett to a state championship and became an American citizen.

He followed Johnson’s path to the nearby university, but his college coach, Tom Izzo, was not always pleased with Suton’s intensity. Even after Suton lost 20 pounds of junk-food weight, Izzo complained about his focus and effort.

“The live-and-die of a game usually isn’t the same for people that have seen life and death,” Izzo said. In some ways, Izzo has said, he has learned as much from Suton as Suton has learned from him.

But Izzo also said Suton told him that he wanted the coach to yell at him when his performance lagged. “Some people need to be pushed,” Izzo said. “I just want him to work harder every single minute on the court.”

Suton agreed. “It’s something that works for me,” he said of Izzo’s demanding ways. “I seem to respond. I don’t think anybody’s going to run as fast on the court as if somebody was shooting behind them. At times, I need a motivator and a screamer.”

It certainly worked in this, his senior season and fifth year at Michigan State, as Suton led the Big Ten in rebounding. In the tournament, Suton leads the Spartans in scoring with 14.3 points a game and in rebounding with 11.5.

Against Louisville in the regional final, Suton scored 19 points and hit three of three shots from 3-point range, the most of his career. Even then, however, Suton’s coach and teammates had to urge Suton to shoot.

Guard Travis Walton, Suton’s close friend and roommate, was one of them. Walton said Suton, whose nickname is G, sometimes lacks what is called, in figurative terms, a killer instinct.

“G is a happy person,” Walton said. “There is a kind of excitement and joy to his face all the time.” Izzo agreed, saying, “You won’t find a better kid, a better student, a better person, a better teammate.” Izzo also has called Suton a Larry Birdish rebounder.

Although not a great leaper, he is instinctive about positioning. With good peripheral vision, he passes well. His deft footwork comes from playing soccer in his native country. And his rebounding belies certain stereotypes about European players.

“Coaches have told me European players are usually soft, they spend their time outside, they don’t rebound,” Suton said. “You can’t make a statement about a whole continent.”

Suton’s good-natured bearing does not mean he shrugs off failure on the court. Early in his freshman season, in the Maui Invitational, the Spartans played Gonzaga in a game that lasted three overtimes.

With 4.6 seconds left in the third overtime and the Spartans down by a point, Suton missed a layup that could have won the game. Instead, Gonzaga got the ball back and scored two more points to win, 109-106.

“That still hurts, that will never stop,” Suton said of his missed layup. “I remember crying my butt off, feeling like a loser, and I lost everything in one of the greatest games in college basketball history. That’s something that’s always going to stick.”

If that was his worst moment in basketball, what was the best? “This is it right now,” he said. “I don’t think I’d get to play in front of 70,000 people if I’d stayed in Bosnia. I’m going to get my degree. Things are going well right now.”

Regarding the unusual trajectory of his life, Suton said: “I’ve seen both sides of the world, life and death. Basketball is something I love. There is a difference between basketball and stepping on a land mine.” His world, he said, is “a joy — it’s just a joy.”

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.

Cool hand Lucas: Spartans guard's clutch play puts Michigan State in Elite Eight

Saturday, March 28, 2009
Bob Wojnowski : Detroit News

Cool hand Lucas: Spartans guard's clutch play puts Michigan State in Elite Eight

INDIANAPOLIS -- The run is alive, just barely, just by the skin of Michigan State's tough grizzled chin. The Spartans were tested in every way Friday night, down to the final rattling minute, and when they needed the biggest plays of their season, Kalin Lucas delivered them.

Michigan State's 67-62 victory over Kansas in the Midwest Regional was a testament to perseverance, because this looked for the longest time like a game the Jayhawks planned to swipe. Kansas' two-star tandem of Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich was relentless, but in the end, the Spartans had a few more bodies.

If you're looking for omens, how about this? Lucas hit the big shots to win it right here in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Lucas is the oil in the Spartans' attack, although he got plenty of help from Goran Suton. The Spartans sputtered early, and trailed by 13 against the defending national champs. But Lucas' three-point play with 48.1 seconds left capped the comeback and put them on top 63-60. He created space on his own, drove to the basket and drew a foul on Collins. After that, Lucas hit five straight free throws to seal it.

The Spartans aren't doing anything easily now, but hey, it's the Sweet 16, and it's not supposed to be easy. Speaking of that, top-seeded Louisville is next on Sunday at 2:20 p.m., and if the Cardinals' 103-64 pasting of Arizona is a clue, that will be a huge challenge, the final step before a possible trip to the Final Four in Detroit.

This was just like Michigan State's tense five-point victory over USC last Sunday, and it sent the Spartans to their sixth Elite Eight in 11 years. And trust me, they'll be significant underdogs against the deep, athletic Cardinals, not that it bothers them.

The Spartans don't have the offense to stomp these opponents, but boy, when they need defense and clutch plays, they know where to look. They trailed 60-55 with 3:22 left, but grabbed six straight rebounds and scored eight straight points, as stirring a finish as you could script. Lucas stole the ball from Collins right before his basket that broke a 60-60 tie.

You'd call it unusual if you hadn't seen this before from the Spartans. Tom Izzo's team is compensating for shaky offense with sweaty scrapping.

"Kansas is a very, very good team," Izzo said. "But I'm really proud of the way our guys fought back when they could have died a few times."

Slipping away

Down big in the first half, the Spartans had to be seeing everything flashing before their eyes, including the long-dreamed trip to Ford Field. Various Jayhawks kept flashing before their eyes too, and it usually was Collins.

Michigan State's nerves seemed rattled, especially those of Raymar Morgan, who missed his first five shots, then recovered to collect a game-tying dunk with 1:51 left. Clutch, finally. And if you inspect the numbers, Michigan State's tandem of Suton (20 points) and Lucas (18) ultimately out-dueled Collins (20) and Aldrich (17).

"The type of person Kalin is, when he plays against another big-time guard, he kind of wants to prove himself to the nation," guard Travis Walton said. "I think he took it personal. At the end, he wanted the ball in his hands."

That was what the Spartans needed to see -- someone taking the ball and commanding the offense. For much of this game, they pounded back the best way they know how, with defense. Freshman Draymond Green continued his climb from unheralded to unfazed, one of the big bodies the Spartans kept tossing out there.

Built to outlast

This was a battle of attrition, to see if the Spartans' deep, physical roster could wear down Kansas' twosome, and the tension was obvious. At one point, Collins and Green bumped bodies and jawed, before officials jumped in.

Finally, after a multitude of Sweet 16 blowouts, this was a terrific slugfest between storied programs, and it was nothing like Michigan State's 75-62 hammering of Kansas in East Lansing on Jan. 10. Izzo and the Spartans had downplayed the significance of the rematch, but make no mistake, the Jayhawks wore that first-meeting beating like a bruise.

No one took it more personally than the tough junior guard Collins. He'd been harassed into eight turnovers back in January, although he did manage 25 points, most when the outcome was decided. This time, he went right at Michigan State, right from the start.

This was real danger for the Spartans, who seemed tense on the raised floor in the big football stadium. College basketball is a game of runs, and if anything was ridiculously apparent in the Sweet 16, it's that runs are hard to stop. My goodness, Louisville's 39-point stomping of Arizona here was a clinic in athletes unleashed.

Stilted start a surprise

The Spartans were the last Big Ten team standing, and in the first half, that was the problem -- they were just standing. With Collins' quickness and Michigan State's turnovers, the Jayhawks kept beating the Spartans down the floor. No, they're not a prototypical plodding Big Ten team, so it was odd to see.

Aldrich helped give Kansas a surprising edge in rebounds, sneering at Michigan State's strength. But the Spartans sneered back, and sent their Gang Green after him, including the suddenly effective Green. And when Gang Green sets in, you know what happens. Theoretically, limbs are rendered useless, although it took a while for Aldrich and Collins to finally wilt.

"Kansas played a great game, they were digging and we were digging," Walton said. "I think at the end, us pressuring them and running bodies at them kind of tired them out."

This was classic Michigan State basketball under Izzo, beautiful in its brutishness, and at the end, in its brashness. That was true poise down the stretch, from Lucas and Suton and others. The Spartans showed their best in the desperate waning seconds, just in time to continue a run that somehow keeps churning.