By any measure, the Spartans had an auspicious season considering they were overlooked by the so called experts prior to the start of the season.
The Spartans went from unranked…to playing the toughest schedule in the country…to beating more Top 50 RPI teams (9) than any team in the country…to winning 24 games…to finishing #8 in the AP poll…and finally culminating with winning their 7th Big Ten Championship during Tom Izzo’s 17 year tenure. Not bad for a team that was picked to finish in the middle of the Big Ten pack.
But after solving the riddle of the regular season, the Spartans have another major problem to solve. The Spartans must find a solution for the loss of Branden Dawson, a budding All American who suffered a torn ACL in the final game versus the Buckeyes.
Dawson, a true freshman from Gary, Indiana, is a powerful 6’6” & 220# bona fide 5-Star high school player who earned McDonald’s All American honors. How good is Dawson? As a true freshman…it took him awhile to ‘find his role’…but he finished the season with some very impressive numbers: 21 min per game…57% FG (best on the team)…4.6 Rebounds (second)…27 Steals (third)…26 Blocks (third)…and 8.5 points per game (third). But his role and impact were growing exponentially as the regular season was winding to a close!
Only Draymond Green, Keith Appling and Brandon Wood averaged more minutes than the freshman Dawson and it should also be noted that only Keith Appling and Branden Dawson started every game. Even Draymond Green missed a start!
Moreover, Dawson was an aggressive Defensive force and frequently earned the assignment of matching up on the best scorer on the opposing team. Dawson was capable of guarding every position (except the 5 spot) and in his defensive role last Sunday, Dawson was matched against William Buford of Ohio State, the Buckeyes great scorer.
As a flashback, Dawson was smothering William Buford to start the game last Sunday and Buford was visibly rattled as the Spartans built a 15 point margin…but then midway through the first half…Dawson went down.
After Dawson’s departure, it took the Buckeyes 30 plus minutes to whittle away at the Spartan lead and Dawson’s absence enabled William Buford to explode for a game high 25 points including the game winning fade away ‘jumper’ as time was expiring.
Would Buford have gotten that game winning shot if Dawson was in the game? A better question is, would the game have even been close if Dawson was in the game? Those questions will never be answered but they are fair questions.
Moreover, in my opinion, Dawson is to the 2012 Spartans what Draymond Green was to the 2009 Spartan team that played North Carolina for the National Championship. He was becoming the quiet ‘backbone’ of a well balanced team…so the loss of Branden Dawson can’t be overstated! At this point, the team is slightly out of balance.
But the Spartans must move on!
And in so doing, what is the best solution to replacing Dawson? Of late, the Spartans have been deploying a 3 Guard starting lineup (including Appling, Thornton and Dawson) along with 6’7” Draymond Green at Forward…and 6’10” Adreian Payne at Center. It’s worth remembering that even though Izzo refers to Dawson in the lineup as a Guard…in my mind, Dawson is more accurately a ‘Hybrid’ between Small Forward and Guard.
Dawson runs the floor well…handles the ball well…slashes to the basket…rebounds with authority…and handles some of the Spartans toughest Defensive assignments!
So now the relay race begins and Coach Izzo must go to his legendary bench to find the best collection of players to pass the baton in relief of Dawson. Who are the best candidates? Considering that 6’1” Keith Appling and 6’0” Travis Trice alternate at Point…and 6’2” Brandon Wood and 6’5” Austin Thornton fill the undesignated role as shooting Guard(s)…then the spot vacated by Dawson will arguably get filled by a rotation of two other freshman:
· Brandan Kearney, 6’5” & 185# Freshman Guard from Detroit (Southeastern)
· Russell Byrd, 6’7” & 205# Redshirt Freshman Guard from Ft. Wayne (Blackhawk Christian)
In summary, Kearney is a brilliant defender…while the oft injured but highly recruited Russell Byrd has the capacity to be a tremendous scorer…but given the limited playing time of Kearney and Byrd respectively, neither is the perfect solution to fill the role left vacant by Branden Dawson. Nevertheless, both Kearney and Byrd are bright young talents who will get great playoff experience and this now becomes their time!
In the end, there is no fear…the Spartan bench is deep and Izzo still has his eyes on a #1 NCAA seed via a Big Ten tournament championship…so the Spartans will go to Indy with the intention of making the best of a tough situation.
The Spartans have been there before!!!
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