East Lansing – Jeremy fears Jr. Michigan state Basketball Saturday evening.
Even if he has not yet entered the Arena of the Ferme de State as an enemi.
The Illini were one of the three finalists when the player of the year of Illinois Gatorade 2023 chose the Spartans. The native of Joliet felt the juice of orange crushing. His brother, Jeremiah, was initially committed to training Brad Underwood for next year before reclassifying and going to Oklahoma.
“If they go to the race, it will become strong,” fears said after training on Thursday. “It brings them energy and brings them life. So our work is, obviously, you should probably try to control the crowd. »»
However, the fears are not focused on familiarity and the planned animosity on the part of the illini fans which foams for the arrival of the Spartans. He knows that any chance of winning a Big Ten regular season title requires that MSU n ° 11 blocks the noise and corrects the problems that cost him three defeats in the last four games and the first place of the conference.
“It’s just another match,” said Fears after training on Thursday. “Obviously, our goal is to win the Big Ten, and we are still in competition and always in there.”
The Spartans (19-5, 10-3 Big Ten) go to Illinois for a power test on Saturday evening (8 p.m. / Fox) which will be essential to determine if they can bounce from an approximate patch And stay in the running or continue their fade in February.
“The guys were great. I feel good in my team. It doesn’t get easier, “said MSU coach Tom Izzo after training on Thursday. “The Illinois plays well. We are going there. Some years you would say, “Oh my God, we have to go to Illinois”. This year, I say: “Oh well, we can go to Illinois”, because I know they are good. I know they are really good. I know they are better than their file. And I want to see where we are on the road against perhaps the best team we played on the road.
The recent collapse of fears is part of the fainting of Spartans.
After obtaining compliments from an opposing coach after the other during the overvoltage at the start of the MSU season, the 2 -foot 2 inch and 185 pound leader started each match he played, but sat down At home last Saturday against Oregon when he was sick. He returned against the Hoosiers and had not the same energy he showed during the 13 -game MSU game victories sequence, becoming aimless and missing his two shots while committing two reversals with only two assists in 19 minutes.
However, the production of points is not its main impact. Fears, which missed all the matches except 10 last season after being killed in his hometown just before Christmas 2023, is the key to the Trost Tyme of the Spartans which collapsed at a frantic pace during the three first months. It serves as an engineer on fastbreak and the conductor in the half-terrain, playing the role of Brakeman in the defense of the perimeter and the harassment of opposing points as a disruptor and agitator.
When the coaches point out these things, they praise the preparation. And to remove the fears from the flow was a key to the USC, the UCLA and the Indiana, which were all physical with him and slowed him down in transition.
“Obviously, early, some teams would like to miss back or who knows. We would get open layups and dunks, “he said. “But it doesn’t even seem that the teams crush the glass. Or if they miss it, it’s as if everyone springs. … It slows us down so that we cannot take it out and leave.
“Obviously, we must always make sure that we take care of the ball and that we are intelligent on this part and we make sure to do the right reads but to push when we can.”
Scan
In 23 games, Fears is on average 7.4 points and 6.0 assists, which is equal to the 20th rank in the country and third of the Big Ten.
The Spartans seek to sweep the Illini (17-8, 9-6) after an exciting victory of 80-78 on January 19. The fears have collected nine points, six assists and two reversals in this one.
He was part of a mini-tailspin for the Underwood team, which suffered five defeats in a section of eight games, and was a signature victory in the 13 MSU and 9-0 beginner games. The Illinois won its last two, beating the UCLA Tuesday in Champaign, 83-78.
Seven games remain for spartans in the regular season. Izzo underlined the Illini, Michigan of first place, second place Purdue, Indiana and Oregon as some of the most talented in Big Ten. MSU lost at home Tuesday against the Hoosiers, 71-67, to end the loss of five IU games. The Spartans welcome the boilermakers on Tuesday, hoping to have a better gauge on the place where they settled in the continuation of the title of the conference after having emerged as a surprise competitor.
Before their own “crisis”.
“I think that all these teams are where we think they would be, except that some have more losses because of the crisis – the crisis that everyone seems to have gone by somewhere for most teams”, said Izzo. “They lost a few games that no one thought was losing.”
Prediction
Illinois 78, MSU 73: Will Riley remains to play at a high level, and the first year leader Kasparas Jakucionis seeks to avoid the problems that limited him to nine minutes at the first meeting. Spartans are resisting the initial jolt of an orange crushing which is on a blood scale, but the illini continue the recent trend to disturb the msu offensive and amortize and delay hunting at the 11th Big title Izzo ten and recommend the 354th Big Ten victory.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball: Jeremy fears Jr. seeks to find his groove
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