There is about 7 minutes left. We all, myself included, criticize CC. The team is playing really hard and together. Regardless of outcome, the staff and players have done a great job. Surprised the heck out me. Go Cats!
CC Did Not Lose the Team
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I didn’t watch the game. What was different today vs. previous games?
Not trying to troll here. I am genuinely curious. I was of the opinion that NU primarily lost the Penn State game because the Nittany Lions couldn’t miss, even on extremely difficult shots with the shot clock winding down. To a certain extent it was the same story with Ayala and Maryland, although there were plenty of self-inflicted wounds and missed opportunities as well.
Not trying to troll here. I am genuinely curious. I was of the opinion that NU primarily lost the Penn State game because the Nittany Lions couldn’t miss, even on extremely difficult shots with the shot clock winding down. To a certain extent it was the same story with Ayala and Maryland, although there were plenty of self-inflicted wounds and missed opportunities as well.
Massive kudos to CCC. That is an incredibly tough game to win, particularly with your best player out.
The "what was different today" is going to be a massive point of contention, but suffice it to say that the guys who were on the floor made plays and won their matchups much more often.
Kudos all around. Thrilled for Ryan Young. Couldn’t be happier for Nicholson. Great to see him contribute in his home state!
MSU had lots of turnovers and NU actually hit ft’s and lay ups down the stretch.
It is going to be a point of disagreement, but in my opinion it was roster management. Matt Nicholson and Ryan Young got more time in the front court, Casey Simmons and Barnhizer got some run, Roper etc. CC just really shuffled the lineup, kept people fresh and found some new combos that seemed to work
I really liked the minutes we got from Roper and Simmons. Both showed moves we hadn’t previously seen and were active on defense and the glass (box score notwithstanding).
I’d also say our depth and athleticism, especially on defense played a big role. There were important contributions from Roper, Simmons, Nicholson and even Barnhizer at key moments.
It really is that simple. We were smothered the entire second half and struggling, big time, to score. What did we score 24 or 26 pts? RY had 12 or 13.
Audige's defense today was world class. He got his hands on so many balls, won tons of 50/50 loose balls and rebounds, and disrupted MSU on many occasions. He also scored today without a ton of bad shots. Best game of year from him.
his defense was fantastic. Doesn’t give up.
This team had some really depressing losses against MSU, PSU and MD. This team easily could have come in and suffered a big loss. But it did not. Everyone played really hard and smart. They played with grit and determination. I posted that CC did not lose the team before the game ended because I did not want the outcome to affect what I saw.
Tell that to the rest of the team. It’s all due to one guy…that’s a sure way to lose a team.
With the caveat I didn’t watch today’s game: as somebody who is on record in the anti-Audige side of things, when he just takes open looks when he gets them and plays his brand of hard working defense and hustle plays, he’s a really good glue guy type, the Sanjay Lumpkin role. When he’s playing confusing hero ball and jacking up off balance shots early in the shot clock before our better shooters have touched the ball, it’s just murder.
Also, I effing love Ryan Young. Smarter basketball people than me on here have to explain to me how they can’t figure out how to get him and Nance in the floor together more.
I’d also say our depth and athleticism, especially on defense played a big role. There were important contributions from Roper, Simmons, Nicholson and even Barnhizer at key moments.
One guy does not win games. Neither do 2 or 3. But one guy makes the difference. And that was the ask
I guess I did not write clearly. You just said it was all about RY. I said one guy does not win games alone.
That’s my point. If you told the players this game was won by Ryan Young, you’d be wrong and you’d lose the team chemistry.
I have been critical of CC’s roster management, but he certainly has never lost the team. They always play hard and are competitive.
The things that stood out to me:
1) Young was great. He’s not that far off from being a dominant force, rather than just a good post player.
2) D played well and forced turnovers. Audige is a really good defender, but effort was there from everyone.
3) Freshmen+Nicholson weren’t scared at all. They had their good and bad moments, but they all looked like they belonged in that game.
4) Boo had 0 turnovers. There was still the occasional frustrating Boo play, but he didn’t give the ball away.
5) We shots 35% from the field and 59% from the line on the road against a top 10 team and won. We’ve been mired near the bottom of Kenpom’s “luck” rating forever, it’s about time we were on the right end of one of these.
I’ll refrain from any “Ewing Theory” speculation about Nance. I don’t really believe it, but I do feel like we need more Nance/Young at the same time.
In particular in the second half. He was still rotating guys smartly in the second half. His substitutions throughout today seemed to have real purpose.
Do you think someone has tied PWB up to keep him away from his keyboard? Young AND Nicholson getting run? Dude may have spontaneously combusted. 🤣
The nice performance by Nicholson bodes well for the future because Nance never has to play the 5 again. Young can play until either he runs out of gas or racks up a couple of fouls, and Matt can then sub in for him. Neither one fouled out today against a top ten team.
Why you poking the bear like that? Are you trying to start a WildcatReport brawl? 🤣
FWIW, Nicholson had 4 fouls in 13 minutes and Young had 4 in 27. That's living on the edge!
Ryan Young is really good with the tools that he has. Unfortunately there are times where it seems like he's just outmatched athletically. While he has really good feet, his hands are not great. And he predictably always shoots with his right, even if he goes to his left. I do love the fact that his free throw shooting as improved tremendously since his freshman year.
Correct, but neither fouled out and both of them had quite a few rebounds. More importantly, in my view, Matt looked like he belonged out there. Hopefully, Nance comes back soon and can play his natural position, where h is a force. The 'Cats are best, I think, when they have a true back to the basket center. (Hopefully the bear is hibernating.)
He moves very well within the flow of the motion offense. Handled dribble handoffs and high screens really well.
I’ll happily accept three dimes and zero turnovers in 13 minutes from a backup center.
NU can do a lot of the things NU likes to do offensively (high screens and an open lane), which I didn’t expect. I thought he’d be much less involved offensively.
That pass to Greer off Greer’s cut was fantastic. They got that off with 0.5 on the shot clock and it was a big basket.
Audige was 4/8 from three and did not take too many wild and crazy shots. We out rebounded what has typically been the top rebounding team in the BIG. 17 ORs which is more than MSU had given up in any game this year. Fact you probably have to go back several years. And we did not commit many stupid fouls. (We did get called for some phantom ones however)
Rest of the team got the ball to him and got rebounds. They played really good D throughout. Young scored some points but the team made it possible
I thought so too as they did not lead to 4 or 5 starters on the bench. But don’t know if that was purposefully or because our frontcourt did not have much to rotate.
I’m guessing the chances of him coming back for the extra year are 50/50 at worst.
Nothing wrong with going small here and there w nance at the 5. But here and there, not most of the game. We should see young and MN every game for the rest of the season.
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