Bulldog mentality

[muwarrior69]

I really enjoyed the game. After 7 years of Wojo defense I enjoy being able to hang in a rock fight.

Mississippi State is a very good defensive team. All Jans teams are. One more of those open threes goes down and we win the game.

The defense was very very good. Mississippi state isn't an all-world offensive team by any stretch but we shut them down for long stretches multiple times. We did an excellent job keeping Tulo Smith from scoring....but the rebounding was the down fall today.

I like when Kolek makes his threes. Wish he could do it without back breaking TOs in the final minutes.

I came away encouraged. We're going to win a lot of games in the Big East this season. I think we can beat Bucky and the Domers too. Unfortunately, BEast underperformance in the non-con is going to give us a very narrow path to dancing.

I did too. The season is long and maybe we finish stronger than we start for a change.

[nyg]

Well, Shaka better substitute Gold or Itjere for Oso. They are certainly not going to gain experience or contribute by sitting on the bench.

Gold played two minutes last night.  He plays away from the basket, usually facing it on offense in order to shoot a three.  Not working well for him because he hit his first three, missed his next 9 and is 2 for 11 on season.  Forget his defense on opposing centers.

Keeyan was the pre season hit on the fluffy video highlights put out by MU.  Allocades went out for his athletic ability, his motor, etc.  Yet he sits.  Is he really that bad even though he sat out a year to improve. Guess the staff sees it as that.

The recruit Amadou is 6ft 9 and weighs 180.  Waiting for the Todd Smith will get him bigger reactions.......and the "under the radar" recruiting aspect. 

The games against Wisconsin and Baylor with their bigs and the BE gauntlet with Sanago, Soriano, Dixon, Nunge, Kalkbrenner, Croswell, Fremantle and others should be very interesting. Especially if Oso picks up two quick fouls.  Everyone knew the rebounding will be an issue because even with Justin Lewis last year, they got pummeled on the boards. 
Hope some rebounds go their way as season progresses and maybe get a few points scored. 

[mugrad_89]

The game was lost in the first half when the offense was pretty much just chucking up threes, many early in the shot clock.  The second half was better when they started getting into the paint.  Kolek's shooting was encouraging, but he needs to stop with the 'look at me' passes - they are doing more harm than good.  And rebounding needs to be a five man effort.

[muwarrior69]

Gold played two minutes last night.  He plays away from the basket, usually facing it on offense in order to shoot a three.  Not working well for him because he hit his first three, missed his next 9 and is 2 for 11 on season.  Forget his defense on opposing centers.

Keeyan was the pre season hit on the fluffy video highlights put out by MU.  Allocades went out for his athletic ability, his motor, etc.  Yet he sits.  Is he really that bad even though he sat out a year to improve. Guess the staff sees it as that.

The recruit Amadou is 6ft 9 and weighs 180.  Waiting for the Todd Smith will get him bigger reactions.......and the "under the radar" recruiting aspect. 

The games against Wisconsin and Baylor with their bigs and the BE gauntlet with Sanago, Soriano, Dixon, Nunge, Kalkbrenner, Croswell, Fremantle and others should be very interesting. Especially if Oso picks up two quick fouls.  Everyone knew the rebounding will be an issue because even with Justin Lewis last year, they got pummeled on the boards. 
Hope some rebounds go their way as season progresses and maybe get a few points scored.

Well, if they don't play they are certainly not going to get any rebounds much less points.

[Boozemon Barro]

I worry about what it says about our program that we're encouraged by a neutral court loss to a Mississippi State team coming off a season that resulted in the firing of their coach. A team picked to finish 10th in their conference.

I can take a moral victory if we lose a 3 point game at Baylor. Heck even at Purdue. Those are winning, good basketball programs. We lost a neutral court game, with 90% of the crowd behind us, to Mississippi State and their first year (at MS State) head coach.

It's a strange phenomenon on this board where many like to take extremely low outside expectations and use that as what is acceptable for our team's performance. We were picked 9th in the Big East, so we should expect to suck and be ok with sucking.

[dgies9156]

The game was lost in the first half when the offense was pretty much just chucking up threes, many early in the shot clock.  The second half was better when they started getting into the paint.  Kolek's shooting was encouraging, but he needs to stop with the 'look at me' passes - they are doing more harm than good.  And rebounding needs to be a five man effort.

There's somebody who saw the same game I did.

Mississippi State is not a particularly good team. They're big and they're in your face. They're very beatable and will be beaten often in conference play.

In the first half, it was as if nobody watched the game film for Mississippi State. We appeared to have no clue what we were up against. So, we defaulted to chucking 3s. How'd that work out? By the second half, we were playing a game that worked, but we weren't consistent when it mattered.

We have not had a reliable, outside shooter since Markus Howard left. There is nobody on this team so far that has even remotely filled Howard's role. Kolek was supposed to but, hey, it hasn't happened. Until we get a reliable shooter, this offense is destined for fits and spurts.

For us to win regularly, we need a 40 minute effort. Against Purdue and Mississippi State, we didn't get it. We had spurts of excellence, but we lacked the 40 minute consistency needed to win.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Some thoughts:

**Sean Jones might not be fully ready to be starting PG right now, but Kolek has to be better with the ball. The end of game turnovers were just so very frustrating.

**They have to find a decent back up for the post. If Keeyan isn't ready for that, will he ever be? Ben Gold was overwhelmed in the short time he was in there. And if that's Wrightsil, that may be fine but he needs to get healthy...we will see.

**As for outside shooting, I am not sure David Joplin has the quickness to be consistent at this level. And Kam's shot selection is still a problem.

**Unless someone breaks out soon, a la Justin Lewis last year, I think this is going to be a frustrating season. I like the individual players, and defensively they are fine, but I am not sure offensively they just have too many weaknesses. 

[panda]

Simply an observation on the game last night and not the entire season - Sean Jones ran the offense significantly better last night than Kolek. He attacked with purpose and actually looked to score going to the basket whereas Tyler was mostly a non threat driving. The book is long out on his drives that he looks to get into the paint and kick back out. He bogged down the offense significantly last night while Sean played fearlessly going to the basket.

Kam is so crafty in the lane. Need so much more of that.

The game last night is exactly what I envisioned as worst case scenario when I made my predictions pre season. No proven scorer who can get a bucket when the offense stagnates. This team will struggle until someone can step up. I'm still not sure who that is.

Defense was awesome. I love to see the buy in. Need to force a couple more turns and score in transition if we can't score in the half court.

[rgoode57]

You can be a poor shooting team if you rebound well, and you can be a poor rebounding team if you shoot well. But, you cannot be a poor shooting team and a poor rebounding team. That simply does not work. Yet, that may well be what we have. Yes, Kam Jones and Joplin can get hot occasionally, but, over the long haul, neither has proven to be consistently reliable. And, Kam offsets his good shots with all the stupid 30-footers he takes. (Shaka has to rein him in somehow.) This team plays best when they are attacking the paint and moving the ball (most teams do). They do not have the shooters or the rebounders to play a perimeter-heavy game.

[MUfan12]

It's interesting how a game can bring some things into focus.

Imagine you're a Texas fan, you lose to Abilene, and three of the reinforcements coming in are Ellis/Itejere/Joplin. Based on what we've seen so far, I think their anger was probably justified.

Like I said, I like Shaka and love how he wants to play. But there's no more waiting for the prior coach's guys to leave, that happened. Time to get some dudes that'll fit the system.

[tower912]

As an aside, every time they cut to a grumpy looking old guy in MU gear, I was giggling trying to figure out which scooper it was.

[Dr. Blackheart]

There is still room with me on the COLE bus. This is a step back year to get the system in place for the future.

Purdue and MSU won the battle of tempo. The early launch offense was brutal which also put MU out of position on rebounds. But that is the philosophy so the talent will have to grow within it.

MU simply struggled versus the zone in the half court. Sean was successful as he was the only one who could get to the seams. With the schedule and the likelihood of more zones, Sean needs more run time.

Great defensive effort by both teams. MU is still looking for its Alphas to replace Morsell and Lewis at the end of games.

[tower912]

It's interesting how a game can bring some things into focus.

Imagine you're a Texas fan, you lose to Abilene, and three of the reinforcements coming in are Ellis/Itejere/Joplin. Based on what we've seen so far, I think their anger was probably justified.

Like I said, I like Shaka and love how he wants to play. But there's no more waiting for the prior coach's guys to leave, that happened. Time to get some dudes that'll fit the system.

That old line about no matter how attractive a woman is, somewhere there is a guy tired of listening to her can also be applied to recycled head coaches.

I prefer Shaka to Wojo.  I can see the path he has chosen and think he will be successful with this group of players.  It may take another year.

[Elonsmusk]

Seems many Scoopers are melting down over a road loss at Purdue in a game we controlled for 34 minutes, and a hard fought loss on a neutral court to a physical and old Mississippi State team that Ken Pom has at 25.

We are 334th in D-1 experience per KenPom.  It is Year 2 of Shaka.  I don't recall us being a slam dunk winner to matchups on the road/neutral floor against Top 20-25 teams during the Buzz years - years I loved.

I mean FFS, we've been extremely competitive in both of these losses - and probably should have won 1 of the 2, but Scoopers in meltdown mode at this stage?

Right now Ken Pom has Creighton and UCONN at 19 and 20.  Purdue and MS State at 25 and 26.  Nova, Xavier, St. John's, Seton Hall at 32, 33, 34, 35.

Point being, we are going to be very competitive in the Big East, and likely will finish better than 9th, and more likely somewhere in the 4-6th range.

[Newsdreams]

It's a strange phenomenon on this board where many like to take extremely low outside expectations and use that as what is acceptable for our team's performance. We were picked 9th in the Big East, so we should expect to suck and be ok with sucking.

You have no understanding of COLE. Don't be a MOPE.

[Newsdreams]

There is still room with me on the COLE bus. This is a step back year to get the system in place for the future.

Purdue and MSU won the battle of tempo. The early launch offense was brutal which also put MU out of position on rebounds. But that is the philosophy so the talent will have to grow within it.

MU simply struggled versus the zone in the half court. Sean was successful as he was the only one who could get to the seams. With the schedule and the likelihood of more zones, Sean needs more run time.

Great defensive effort by both teams. MU is still looking for its Alphas to replace Morsell and Lewis at the end of games.

No rum for you Wednesday.

[rocky_warrior]

We are 334th in D-1 experience per KenPom.  It is Year 2 of Shaka.  I don't recall us being a slam dunk winner to matchups on the road/neutral floor against Top 20-25 teams during the Buzz years - years I loved.

Not far off, but 304th. 

[warriors141]

Seems many Scoopers are melting down over a road loss at Purdue in a game we controlled for 34 minutes, and a hard fought loss on a neutral court to a physical and old Mississippi State team that Ken Pom has at 25.

We are 334th in D-1 experience per KenPom.  It is Year 2 of Shaka.  I don't recall us being a slam dunk winner to matchups on the road/neutral floor against Top 20-25 teams during the Buzz years - years I loved.

I mean FFS, we've been extremely competitive in both of these losses - and probably should have won 1 of the 2, but Scoopers in meltdown mode at this stage?

Right now Ken Pom has Creighton and UCONN at 19 and 20.  Purdue and MS State at 25 and 26.  Nova, Xavier, St. John's, Seton Hall at 32, 33, 34, 35.

Point being, we are going to be very competitive in the Big East, and likely will finish better than 9th, and more likely somewhere in the 4-6th range.

I don't care what Kenpom says now, there is no way Purdue and Miss St end as top 25 teams. I wouldn't bring up the Buzz years compared to now. We actually had postseason success and the talent difference between then and now is massive.

We lost two games, the main points are this team appears to have way too many flaws and glaring weaknesses. I just don't see them getting any better because most of them revolve around personnel. I just don't see anybody becoming a consistent 3 point threat. We aren't going to get any more size. We aren't going to get any more backcourt depth. Maybe Omax can still make the Justin Lewis jump but I doubt it. This is a poorly constructed team that just isn't that good.

[MuggsyB]

Seems many Scoopers are melting down over a road loss at Purdue in a game we controlled for 34 minutes, and a hard fought loss on a neutral court to a physical and old Mississippi State team that Ken Pom has at 25.

We are 334th in D-1 experience per KenPom.  It is Year 2 of Shaka.  I don't recall us being a slam dunk winner to matchups on the road/neutral floor against Top 20-25 teams during the Buzz years - years I loved.

I mean FFS, we've been extremely competitive in both of these losses - and probably should have won 1 of the 2, but Scoopers in meltdown mode at this stage?

Right now Ken Pom has Creighton and UCONN at 19 and 20.  Purdue and MS State at 25 and 26.  Nova, Xavier, St. John's, Seton Hall at 32, 33, 34, 35.

Point being, we are going to be very competitive in the Big East, and likely will finish better than 9th, and more likely somewhere in the 4-6th range.

I don't think that's the case.  We have very astute observers here.  The frustration lies with the fact that we were in a position to win both games, especially last night.  When you have long offensive droughts, and cannot hit open shots, it's maddening and somewhat concerning.  We have yet to really put together solid offense against three teams and our lack of a consistent shot-maker makes things tough for us in the h-c and down the stretch.  The truth is Elon I do not expect Purdue or Miss St. to be worldbeaters and these games matter.

[MU82]

Seems many Scoopers are melting down over a road loss at Purdue in a game we controlled for 34 minutes, and a hard fought loss on a neutral court to a physical and old Mississippi State team that Ken Pom has at 25.

We are 334th in D-1 experience per KenPom.  It is Year 2 of Shaka.  I don't recall us being a slam dunk winner to matchups on the road/neutral floor against Top 20-25 teams during the Buzz years - years I loved.

I mean FFS, we've been extremely competitive in both of these losses - and probably should have won 1 of the 2, but Scoopers in meltdown mode at this stage?

Right now Ken Pom has Creighton and UCONN at 19 and 20.  Purdue and MS State at 25 and 26.  Nova, Xavier, St. John's, Seton Hall at 32, 33, 34, 35.

Point being, we are going to be very competitive in the Big East, and likely will finish better than 9th, and more likely somewhere in the 4-6th range.

I love the optimism (seriously) and I'm trying to get there, too.

[Newsdreams]

As an aside, every time they cut to a grumpy looking old guy in MU gear, I was giggling trying to figure out which scooper it was.

I feel insulted

[GoldenEagles03]

These 2 losses probably throw a dagger into our hopes for March.

I had to wake up early so I went to bed shortly after the 8 minute scoring drought.

Wake up to see they actually somehow took a lead!? And then still lost. Dang!

Goergia Tech is now an absolute must win. After that we need to win at least 2 of Baylor, UW, ND.

[StillWarriors]

Have you watched him? 

Yeah, he is really that bad.

My hope is that he has looked "that bad" because he is injured. The fact he has been in and out suggests an injury is not resolved. A foot or leg injury certainly could make him look far less than what he can be. That is my hope, anyway. We need bigger bodies in there.

We hear so much about MU's strength program over the years, but it constantly looks (Theo aside) like we are wiry strong going up against bulk. Seems to me one or two 6'7" - 6'9" guys are a must. Length is somewhat of an equalizer, but some brawn is essential or we are prone to being bullied inside.

[dgies9156]

I feel insulted

You feel insulted? Hell, it probably was me they cut to, given where I was sitting.

[Dr. Blackheart]

I feel insulted

That was you wearing the flock of turkeys shirt?  I don't know how Lenny missed you?