Game 4: Michigan State Game Discussion

Quote from: Snazzy on November 23, 2016, 09:53:25 PM

While there were some clear glaring flaws in this game(lack of Offense from bigs and rebounding) we still have some great young pieces. We just lost to a Izzo coached team by 11 and we already are seriously questioning everything from IQ to coaching to talent. Everyone needs to relax, next year we add simon, clark, and Zach brown(the big man we desperately need). Give the staff more time and stop jumping to conclusions 4 games into a season with one of the youngest teams in the country.

Michigan st has 9 players who are freshmen and sophomores

They are also Michigan St.

Quote from: Snazzy on November 23, 2016, 09:53:25 PM

While there were some clear glaring flaws in this game(lack of Offense from bigs and rebounding) we still have some great young pieces. We just lost to a Izzo coached team by 11 and we already are seriously questioning everything from IQ to coaching to talent. Everyone needs to relax, next year we add simon, clark, and Zach brown(the big man we desperately need). Give the staff more time and stop jumping to conclusions 4 games into a season with one of the youngest teams in the country.

Michigan st has 9 players who are freshmen and sophomores

They have a lottery pick and the best coach in the country.

Only 7 assists...as a team!  A lot of that is our bigs can't finish ...

Big key for this season is to make sure Lovett doesn't get totally frustrated with his teammates, especially the bigs.

Quote from: Marco Baldi on November 23, 2016, 09:58:47 PM

Quote from: Snazzy on November 23, 2016, 09:53:25 PM

While there were some clear glaring flaws in this game(lack of Offense from bigs and rebounding) we still have some great young pieces. We just lost to a Izzo coached team by 11 and we already are seriously questioning everything from IQ to coaching to talent. Everyone needs to relax, next year we add simon, clark, and Zach brown(the big man we desperately need). Give the staff more time and stop jumping to conclusions 4 games into a season with one of the youngest teams in the country.

Michigan st has 9 players who are freshmen and sophomores

They are also Michigan St.

We are...

Quote from: Marillac on November 23, 2016, 09:30:45 PM

It's frustrating watching your team not even compete for offensive boards. The only battle I saw was from Alibegovoc coming away with one. MSU pinned everyone every shot. Those guys are well coached. It's getting a little old watching boys go up against men every year. Ward made Owens look like a child. What was the deal with Darien Williams on Bridges for six straight pts? I'd rather see Ponds on him to be honest. At least there is a chance for a strip.

We need to start recruiting smarter players from better programs. We have talent, but yet again a low hoops IQ.  Our guards pass the ball to our bigs while they are running up the court, our bigs are never ever in the right place to rebound, no nose for the ball. This should all be learned years ago, not at the college level

I don't think this is about smart players...it's coaching. Ponds is as sharp as they come. MSU was just as young as us. We iso or launch threes. Backdoor was there all with the way they defended so hard on the perimeter. The staff was too stubborn to go zone even at the risk of leaving Ward to bully Owens and Bridges to outclass Williams. Izzo went
right at every big mismatch.

Some of this is expected with a young team and new staff, but it's not looking good.
Night

We can nit pick all the way down to the last possession but our last two losses came down to losing to teams who have NBA players who took over the game.  Yes, our bigs are below average right now, and who knows how much they improve but player for player we can stand toe to toe with most schools we play.  We just do not have a player of the bridges or Coffee caliber.  I am disappointed in Yawke the most, because he is the guy who I really felt would be the Soph that would be the team leader and the rest feed off him, but right now, he just is not playing well and without him down low, we are at a severe disadvantage.

Lovett and Ponds are really good, but they are good college players, not pros.   Bridges and Coffee took over the game when it mattered most and it cost us in both games.  Not going to blame coaching, its silly.  If this Mullin experiment is going to work, we have to win more this year and big the next few, because that is the only way we are going to get a player who can take over a game like Bridges and Coffee did.

Who is our floor general? Who is the leader on the court? Who is our glue guy?

Who is our floor general? Who is the leader on the court? Who is our glue guy?

Are we going to start blaming Lovett for being better than everyone else? You guys hyped Sima and Yakwe up to much too soon. Ahmed has been uneven at best . Mussini is what he is and not even sure what to say about RF.
If Ponds and Ahmed had played better we would have been right there at the end. Frontcourt is not ready. Yes Yakwe and Sima have potential but would be nice if we had a solid guy who could contribute now. Someone like Chris Jones

Quote from: Marco Baldi on November 23, 2016, 10:21:33 PM

Who is our floor general? Who is the leader on the court? Who is our glue guy?

Are we going to start blaming Lovett for being better than everyone else? You guys hyped Sima and Yakwe up to much too soon. Ahmed has been uneven at best . Mussini is what he is and not even sure what to say about RF.
If Ponds and Ahmed had played better we would have been right there at the end. Frontcourt is not ready. Yes Yakwe and Sima have potential but would be nice if we had a solid guy who could contribute now. Someone like Chris Jones

He's got to make better decisions. Like I said earlier in the thread, he's top 3-4 pgs in the big east imo. But he Needs to learn when to penetrate, when to pull it back, when to not get the bigs the ball,  when to get the the  ball near the hoop., point them at at where they need to be. This is learned in high school hoops

Our Floor general is Lovett, but he is a score first guard.  He is averaging 5 assists a game and that should be 7-8 if we had bigs who can score.  We don't have a guy to lean on, we are 349th out 350 NCAA schools in experience and glue guy, none yet.  However, Mullin had to bring in scorers this year, which he did.  Next year he has Simon who can play with the 3 guard set, a tall guard who can defend the one and two.  If I had to pick a glue guy, it would be Ahmed, but again, he needs to be a scorer first. 

I go back to watching pointer play.  For 3 years, couldn't throw the ball in the ocean but he wanted to be the best defender on court at all times. We are missing that, but again, he had scorers and I go back to the fact that we needed scoring first.  Scoring wins in College Basketball.  The best teams win in the tourney that can score.  The defense will have to catch up, offense is always a step ahead, especially with young players.  Mullin's first two years, he needs to build an identity with these players.  Year one is was building a team, year two is establishing a competitive team.  Year 3, 4 and beyond, will create his identity as a coach and team.

Quote from: we are sju on November 23, 2016, 10:30:29 PM

Quote from: Marco Baldi on November 23, 2016, 10:21:33 PM

Who is our floor general? Who is the leader on the court? Who is our glue guy?

Are we going to start blaming Lovett for being better than everyone else? You guys hyped Sima and Yakwe up to much too soon. Ahmed has been uneven at best . Mussini is what he is and not even sure what to say about RF.
If Ponds and Ahmed had played better we would have been right there at the end. Frontcourt is not ready. Yes Yakwe and Sima have potential but would be nice if we had a solid guy who could contribute now. Someone like Chris Jones

He's got to make better decisions. Like I said earlier in the thread, he's top 3-4 pgs in the big east imo. But he Needs to learn when to penetrate, when to pull it back, when to not get the bigs the ball,  when to get the the  ball near the hoop., point them at at where they need to be. This is learned in high school hoops

As a point guard your main job is to get the best shot for your team. For us that is him. SIma and Yakwe could be good one day, but right now they are not.

Our Floor general is Lovett, but he is a score first guard.  He is averaging 5 assists a game and that should be 7-8 if we had bigs who can score.  We don't have a guy to lean on, we are 349th out 350 NCAA schools in experience and glue guy, none yet.  However, Mullin had to bring in scorers this year, which he did.  Next year he has Simon who can play with the 3 guard set, a tall guard who can defend the one and two.  If I had to pick a glue guy, it would be Ahmed, but again, he needs to be a scorer first. 

I go back to watching pointer play.  For 3 years, couldn't throw the ball in the ocean but he wanted to be the best defender on court at all times. We are missing that, but again, he had scorers and I go back to the fact that we needed scoring first.  Scoring wins in College Basketball.  The best teams win in the tourney that can score.  The defense will have to catch up, offense is always a step ahead, especially with young players.  Mullin's first two years, he needs to build an identity with these players.  Year one is was building a team, year two is establishing a competitive team.  Year 3, 4 and beyond, will create his identity as a coach and team.

Ahmed needs to get his head of his arse asap. Another guy who should be way further ahead than he is imo

Quote from: Marco Baldi on November 23, 2016, 10:36:43 PM

Quote from: we are sju on November 23, 2016, 10:30:29 PM

Quote from: Marco Baldi on November 23, 2016, 10:21:33 PM

Who is our floor general? Who is the leader on the court? Who is our glue guy?

Are we going to start blaming Lovett for being better than everyone else? You guys hyped Sima and Yakwe up to much too soon. Ahmed has been uneven at best . Mussini is what he is and not even sure what to say about RF.
If Ponds and Ahmed had played better we would have been right there at the end. Frontcourt is not ready. Yes Yakwe and Sima have potential but would be nice if we had a solid guy who could contribute now. Someone like Chris Jones

He's got to make better decisions. Like I said earlier in the thread, he's top 3-4 pgs in the big east imo. But he Needs to learn when to penetrate, when to pull it back, when to not get the bigs the ball,  when to get the the  ball near the hoop., point them at at where they need to be. This is learned in high school hoops

As a point guard your main job is to get the best shot for your team. For us that is him. SIma and Yakwe could be good one day, but right now they are not.

And to make others around you better. He needs to take ownership now, this is his team the next 4 years.  Get in Sima, Ahmed and Yawkes face.

lovett will be fine, he practices with simon and clark and knows zach is coming. This season is about finishing as high as they can and development.

Quote from: rdstr25 on November 23, 2016, 10:37:18 PM

Our Floor general is Lovett, but he is a score first guard.  He is averaging 5 assists a game and that should be 7-8 if we had bigs who can score.  We don't have a guy to lean on, we are 349th out 350 NCAA schools in experience and glue guy, none yet.  However, Mullin had to bring in scorers this year, which he did.  Next year he has Simon who can play with the 3 guard set, a tall guard who can defend the one and two.  If I had to pick a glue guy, it would be Ahmed, but again, he needs to be a scorer first. 

I go back to watching pointer play.  For 3 years, couldn't throw the ball in the ocean but he wanted to be the best defender on court at all times. We are missing that, but again, he had scorers and I go back to the fact that we needed scoring first.  Scoring wins in College Basketball.  The best teams win in the tourney that can score.  The defense will have to catch up, offense is always a step ahead, especially with young players.  Mullin's first two years, he needs to build an identity with these players.  Year one is was building a team, year two is establishing a competitive team.  Year 3, 4 and beyond, will create his identity as a coach and team.

Ahmed needs to get his head of his arse asap. Another guy who should be way further ahead than he is imo

Ahmed is either going to learn real fast, that he needs to change his habits or he will be spending a lot of time on the bench.  However, I like the way he plays, hes tough and works hard.  He has to break bad habits that I am sure never got corrected on the juco level.   We saw tonight what a difference he makes in a game when on the court.  He hit 2 threes to start and the team really fed off that, when we were up.  However his fouls got the best of him and then we went cold.  He is the 3rd scorer this team desperately needs, he just has to learn to play within the game,

lovett will be fine, he practices with simon and clark and knows zach is coming. This season is about finishing as high as they can and development.

Agreed. He has the talent for sure. Decision making and leadership needs to improve

Post game quotes

http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/112316aab.html

Agreed.  And he's 4 games into his career.  He'll be fine as will a lot of these guys.  We got beat up on the boards against as good a coached and physical team as we'll probably see all year, and that traditionally plays very good D.  By and large I was happy with how our guys competed; transition D much better.  Of course things need to improve, but it will take time and the talent level is there.  And these kids will get better as they play more together, which will only happen with time.

Quote from: valgoth on November 23, 2016, 10:46:54 PM

lovett will be fine, he practices with simon and clark and knows zach is coming. This season is about finishing as high as they can and development.

Agreed. He has the talent for sure. Decision making and leadership needs to improve

A win tomorrow will cure alot of ills.

A win tomorrow will cure alot of ills.

So will some mashed potatoes and booze