Losing a starting point guard would destroy just about every team's run in the NCAA tournament. Not only did Michigan State lose Kalin Lucas, another starter is playing on a torn meniscus and yet another player is hobbled by a bum foot.
All the Spartans did was make it back to the Final Four.
Again.
``Already I know it's going to become one of my more rewarding years because I saw people that I don't think knew how to look at a goal and go after it, I see them growing,'' Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said Thursday. ``That's probably the most impressive thing a coach can see. Or a parent.''
Well, a national title would be pretty impressive, too. Michigan State (28-8) plays Butler (32-4) in the first semifinal Saturday night.
The Spartans have been targeting this weekend since they got blown out by North Carolina in last year's title game. In the locker room after the game, Draymond Green reminded his teammates that those very Tar Heels who were now champions had been humiliated by Kansas the year before.
But winning a title - heck, just getting this far - often requires as much luck as talent. And luck is one thing the Spartans haven't had much of lately.
Lucas, the 2009 Big Ten player of the year, led the Spartans in scoring and assists. How much the Spartans relied on him was painfully clear midway through the season, when Lucas sprained his ankle in the Feb. 2 game at Wisconsin. Michigan State lost that game. The next one, too. Lucas returned against Purdue, but the Spartans still dropped their third in a row.
So when Lucas blew out his Achilles' late in the first half of Michigan State's second-round game against Maryland, the odds of the Spartans ending their season in Indy didn't look so good.
``We had a couple of injuries to a couple of our main guys and that was just for one game. It's tough,'' Butler's Matt Howard said. ``To lose its point guard, which is one of, if not the most important position on the team, to have a guy step up speaks a lot about the team and the coach and the program they have.''
Oh, make no mistake, Lucas' injury threw the Spartans. After barely getting by Maryland - winning with a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Lucious - they called a players-only meeting.
Even before Lucas went down, this hadn't exactly been the smoothest of seasons for the Spartans. Izzo had kicked Lucas out of practice, suspended Lucious for a game and benched Durrell Summers for long stretches at a time. They've used 19 different lineups - so far.
At their meeting, some of the players vented about their teammates. Others griped about their own issues.
``Whatever it was, everybody in the room spoke up and got it out on the table,'' Raymar Morgan said. ``From then on, the team made a commitment to commit to basketball and basketball only.''
Not that it was that easy.
The Spartans won their first four games by a whopping 13 points - combined. That's the lowest margin for a Final Four team since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. While Lucas' injury is clearly the most devastating, it's not the only one. Chris Allen, the team's best 3-point shooter, is playing with an injured arch in his right foot and has made just two 3s in the first four games.
Delvon Roe has a torn meniscus in his right knee, but decided to keep playing rather than having surgery. Anytime he can practice is a gift, and he plays with the knee heavily taped and in a brace. Yet he's still managing five points, four rebounds and almost 23 minutes in the NCAA tournament.
``Some days it feels it's pretty good, some days it feels like somebody is doing surgery on it while I'm playing,'' Roe said. ``The longer I play, the more pain it causes. But the longer I sit, the more stiff it gets. So it's a lose-lose situation.
``I don't think it's heroic,'' added Roe, whom Izzo has called a warrior. ``It just shows how much the game means to me and how much winning is worth.''
No matter what the obstacles, few teams make their games in March count more than the Spartans. This is the Spartans' sixth Final Four in the last 12 years, and they are the only team from last year to make a repeat appearance.
Now they're just one more win away from returning to that championship game that's been driving them since this time last year.
``That's what survival is all about,'' Izzo said. ``You do more than somebody else is willing to do.''
