Game thoughts

[Alan Smithee]

Dug ourselves too deep a whole early in the first half - and did it while once again getting deep into foul trouble.

Great effort to claw back into the game by halftime - but the foul trouble screwed up our rotations in and out. As a result, the energy expended on defense, which was fine, and dragging ourselves back into the game during the middle, left us with nothing. When we had the lead down to four, and held MSU scoreless for a stretch, we had nothing going ourselves on offense - little passing or meaningful ball movement. Just trying to go one on one.

McIntosh's turnovers early contributed to the big deficit in the first half, and he still hasn't found his shot. Unfortunately Brown isn't a viable alternative because he wants to shoot one on five every time he gets the ball in the half court.

I'm not that down - good effort to try to dig back out, and good defense by MSU was just too much in a tightly called game. We're going to need to win a few of these before it's done, though.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

Dug ourselves too deep a whole early in the first half - and did it while once again getting deep into foul trouble.

Great effort to claw back into the game by halftime - but the foul trouble screwed up our rotations in and out. As a result, the energy expended on defense, which was fine, and dragging ourselves back into the game during the middle, left us with nothing. When we had the lead down to four, and held MSU scoreless for a stretch, we had nothing going ourselves on offense - little passing or meaningful ball movement. Just trying to go one on one.

McIntosh's turnovers early contributed to the big deficit in the first half, and he still hasn't found his shot. Unfortunately Brown isn't a viable alternative because he wants to shoot one on five every time he gets the ball in the half court.

I'm not that down - good effort to try to dig back out, and good defense by MSU was just too much in a tightly called game. We're going to need to win a few of these before it's done, though.

We could have played better, but I think many of our problems were due to the great energy that MSU was playing with on the defensive end. They made everything tough for us, so while I know we could have played better, I do think MSU's great defense was the root of our problem and I tip my cap to them...even though I don't wear hats.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

We simply cant go the distance due to no depth. Having rap, faalzon, and pardon out means that we better jump out early then hang on because we are certain to be gassed later. In this game that meant 4 of our starters going 36 or 37 minutes. Msu had 9 guys with at least 14 minutes. Skelly fouling out with only giving us 12 minutes just crushed our minutes even more.

Im not convinced that Macintosh is in the best shape anyways. He actually gasses out in the first half and gets slack with turnovers.

With Ash still out, it falls on Brown. But he is intimidated and still has to become comfortable. His shot is better than what he is giving us. But he still needs to play more than 12 minutes.

Macintosh shouldnt see anymore than 30 minutes unless he is in better shape. He will be more productive at 30 minutes.

Not saying im right because there is no easy playing time solutions when you are down to 8 players. Seems like 30% of our team gets wiped out for the season prior to bigtem ball and this year isnt an exception.

Things may have been different today if skelly played smarter and could spell more minutes.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

We played horrible but we still be ranked top 30 in the AP

 

[Jonny2TheP]

We simply cant go the distance due to no depth. Having rap, faalzon, and pardon out means that we better jump out early then hang on because we are certain to be gassed later. In this game that meant 4 of our starters going 36 or 37 minutes. Msu had 9 guys with at least 14 minutes. Skelly fouling out with only giving us 12 minutes just crushed our minutes even more.

Im not convinced that Macintosh is in the best shape anyways. He actually gasses out in the first half and gets slack with turnovers.

With Ash still out, it falls on Brown. But he is intimidated and still has to become comfortable. His shot is better than what he is giving us. But he still needs to play more than 12 minutes.

Macintosh shouldnt see anymore than 30 minutes unless he is in better shape. He will be more productive at 30 minutes.

Not saying im right because there is no easy playing time solutions when you are down to 8 players. Seems like 30% of our team gets wiped out for the season prior to bigtem ball and this year isnt an exception.

Things may have been different today if skelly played smarter and could spell more minutes.

You can say a lot about Brown, but of the first thousand or two that come to mind, "intimidated" is not one of them.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

You can say a lot about Brown, but of the first thousand or two that come to mind, "intimidated" is not one of them.

It looks to me that he is intimidated. Just because he isnt shy doesnt mean he isnt intimidated. Watch him during warmups and you will see that he has the purest shot of all. It could be the crowd or the pace of the game or the opposition but something is making him miss wide open shots that are his to make.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

It looks to me that he is intimidated. Just because he isnt shy doesnt mean he isnt intimidated. Watch him during warmups and you will see that he has the purest shot of all. It could be the crowd or the pace of the game or the opposition but something is making him miss wide open shots that are his to make.

Fair enough- I don't see it that way though. I think he's got nothing but confidence, but he's still trying to figure it out at this level. I think his issues are due to that adjustment and not any lack of confidence or a feeling of intimidation.

 

[hdhntr1]

It looks to me that he is intimidated. Just because he isnt shy doesnt mean he isnt intimidated. Watch him during warmups and you will see that he has the purest shot of all. It could be the crowd or the pace of the game or the opposition but something is making him miss wide open shots that are his to make.

He has not hit those shots all year

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

Brown somehow always finds a way to the line and that's a good sign for a young player. He has also been running the offense a little more lately. This kid is a baller just has to work on decision making.

 

[Sec.112]

... but I think many of our problems were due to the great energy that MSU was playing with on the defensive end ...

I'll go with the idea that I'm "not that down."

Just a few cheap thoughts.

1) I'm not sure we lose that game with Pardon. Benson and Skelly were really over-matched. I think Benson played like a freshman early and was a strong contributor to the early deficit.
2) Speaking of Pardon, they didn't say it on TV. The league's network doesn't say a lot. But the radio pre-game reported Benson was in uniform and practiced a bit this week. Collins said there was no way he was going to play tonight because (something along the line of) it just wasn't fair to put him in this soon after the injury. It sounded like Minnesota was a definite possibility.
3) If I'm Collins, I might get to the point where I pull BMac every time he shoots that floater/teardrop. Enough with that low-percentage junk.
4) Same for Isiah if he shoots in the lane with two guys on him.
5) I'll agree Sparty's defense put the screws to the Cats, but I don't think it was stunning energy that outclassed the Cats. Despite a few deficits, they had a chance to tie that ballgame several times.
6) OTOH, I thought MSU was allowed to get away with a TON of grabage based on their reputation. I'm sorry to be this guy, but can we get some friggin' consistency on calls? Either call the game tight or keep it loose. Don't call it based on what your dumba*s perception as a referee of whether the game is about to get out of control. Call what's in front of you.
7) Having said that, the Cats did a job keeping their composure tonight.
8) To me, the real dagger (besides 13 minutes without a field goal) was that sequence with 8 minutes left in the game. Cats are down by four and MSU gets three shots at a bucket with two offensive rebounds, followed by the Sanjay three-point attempt with plenty of time left on the shot clock.

Still some work to do. Damn.

 

[Sec.112]

Brown somehow always finds a way to the line and that's a good sign for a young player. He has also been running the offense a little more lately. This kid is a baller just has to work on decision making.

It's pretty obvious the game is still a little too fast for him.

I look forward to him catching up. He will.

 

[Fitz51]

Barely down at all on KenPom, so that's good.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

It's pretty obvious the game is still a little too fast for him.

I look forward to him catching up. He will.

Ya but the glimpses he's showing provide lots of potential.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

We need to keep learning!

 

[olshin]

Some of us are acting like a tight loss at Breslin is the end of the world. That's awesome! I think we'll learn a lot more about our growth as a team Thursday. We gotta win the home games to be a tourney team, especially the ones during the week.

 

[Catreporter]

This team needs a little rest and Pardoe back for Minnesota. That will be an important game. Gotta protect home court. If we do, this could be a special season.

 

[Figrating]

Exactly the kind of game we didn't want to play against such a strong opponent. Essentially over in the first 5 minutes as MSU held a 10+/- lead the entire game. Zero on the poise meter.

 

[NJCat]

Some of us are acting like a tight loss at Breslin is the end of the world. That's awesome! I think we'll learn a lot more about our growth as a team Thursday. We gotta win the home games to be a tourney team, especially the ones during the week.

Yup. Even the most optimistic Cats fan probably had the Cats barely over 0.500 at 10-8 in the Big 10 this season. If NU wins as many Big 10 games as they lose it will be a very successful season.

 

[olshin]

Yup. Even the most optimistic Cats fan probably had the Cats barely over 0.500 at 10-8 in the Big 10 this season. If NU wins as many Big 10 games as they lose it will be a very successful season.

I think that's fair. I also believe that will end up getting us into consideration for the tournament. We need to keep in mind, the last 5 years or so, the bubble has been really weak at the end. Had we gone 9-9 in conference a couple of those NIT years, we probably would have gotten in.

 

[pawildcat]

It's pretty obvious the game is still a little too fast for him.

I look forward to him catching up. He will.

It's a pretty rare freshman who comes right in and dominates in the B1G. It definitely is a huge step up from high school.

 

[NU Houston]

I'll go with the idea that I'm "not that down."

Just a few cheap thoughts.

1) I'm not sure we lose that game with Pardon. Benson and Skelly were really over-matched. I think Benson played like a freshman early and was a strong contributor to the early deficit.
2) Speaking of Pardon, they didn't say it on TV. The league's network doesn't say a lot. But the radio pre-game reported Benson was in uniform and practiced a bit this week. Collins said there was no way he was going to play tonight because (something along the line of) it just wasn't fair to put him in this soon after the injury. It sounded like Minnesota was a definite possibility.

The shots I saw on TV, Pardon was in full uniform on the bench, with no brace or cast on his hand. I was half expecting Collins to surprise everyone by putting him out there in the second half, especially since the other two bigs were in foul trouble. I'd expect him to be ready for Minnesota.

 

[Medill90]

Thoughts:

• Ward was fun to watch;
• B Mac has to take those open looks but can't he square up once in a while instead of that floater?;
• You can't miss open looks like the Cats had in the first half and expect to win a road game;
• Whereas the Cats missed on open looks early, the decision making broke apart in the second half;
• Lindsey and Law weren't on the same page;
• NU got out rebounded by a ton, NU shot like crap, NU turned the ball over;
• I thought NU played decent defense. MSU made shots and made some ridiculous shots (Ellis III);
• Law was out of his mind rebounding;
• I'm still trying to figure out the game the refs were calling. What's the point of the double foul on bumping. Why not talk to both players at a play break?;
• Bottom line, MSU made shots and NU did not. Plenty of chances to win that one;
• We're not writing about sanjay which is a bad thing.

 

[chicagocatfan24]

It looks to me that he is intimidated. Just because he isnt shy doesnt mean he isnt intimidated. Watch him during warmups and you will see that he has the purest shot of all. It could be the crowd or the pace of the game or the opposition but something is making him miss wide open shots that are his to make.

I wouldn't say he's intimidated at all, I'd say he's more out of control. He's got nuts the size of cantaloupes. Just doesn't know how to harness them yet

 

[Medill90]

Oops. Forgot the free throws. A combo of NU shooting free throws better and the refs making a couple obvious calls (like the Vic Law throw down) pretty much ties the game.