Chief’s Briefs - MSU Edition

[Chief00]

Winston - wow - very impressive second half.
- Although, Adams had over 20 he had no legs on his shot.
- Cobb missed an opportunity to help the team - I hope he takes care of himself and helps the team.
- With KO’s scheme you have to be able to shoot - he needs to continue to follow the Blaze tenants and recruit shooters. He tends to recruit KO’s clones but Calhoun gave him shooters Bazz, Giffey and Boat and that’s how he won early in his career.
- Our Bigs were overmatched as I feared.
- Bad result but great opportunity to measure ourselves and identify major areas where we need improvements.
- Gilbert did some things well but showed limitations on shooting again Dr Hoop and further MSU was too tough inside to finish on his drives.
- Izzo made some good halftime adjustments - mainly give it to Winston.

 

[Kitaman]

To be briefer; they were better us.

 

[NielsisGood]

Expended too much energy playing pressure defense in the 1st half (that didn't really result in many meaningful turnovers or disruption) that would have been better used for having a bit more in the tank late in the game to try and hustle & grind in some halfcourt defense.

 

[Danzz]

Adams is playing too many minutes and that may be the reason he has no legs under his shots. Agree, their bigs were too strong and talented for our guys plus a 3-4 guard lineup only makes us weaker against teams like MSU.
I'd like to see fewer minutes from DO against teams with talented bigs. He isn't athletic enough to be effective against skilled players.

 

[Danzz]

Expended too much energy playing pressure defense in the 1st half (that didn't really result in many meaningful turnovers or disruption) that would have been better used for having a bit more in the tank late in the game to try and hustle & grind in some halfcourt defense.

You would have to change the lineup to do that; not happening with 3 guards.

 

[NielsisGood]

You would have to change the lineup to do that; not happening with 3 guards.

That has nothing to do with it. The only thing I can fault Ollie for defensively is the possibility he didn't have a good handle on how long his players can play defense with the level of activity they showed early in the game in addition to the full or 3/4 court pressure that was used probably too much in the 1st half. The team was clearly dead legged for most of the 2nd half as a result.

 

[Danzz]

That has nothing to do with it. The only thing I can fault Ollie for defensively is the possibility he didn't have a good handle on how long his players can play defense with the level of activity they showed early in the game in addition to the full or 3/4 court pressure that was used probably too much in the 1st half. The team was clearly dead legged for most of the 2nd half as a result.

It has a lot to do with it when you are clearly out muscled by bigger and more experienced front court players. I do think we probably pressed too much and didn't substitute enough and I don't remember Jalen getting a blow.

 

[NielsisGood]

It has a lot to do with it when you are clearly out muscled by bigger and more experienced front court players. I do think we probably pressed too much and didn't substitute enough and I don't remember Jalen getting a blow.

MSU was getting inside whenever they wanted even during the final 6-7 minutes of the first half, and it was clear the pressure wasn't really disrupting MSU. Most of the best plays UConn made defensively came in half court situations. It had nothing to do with running big or small lineups, because we didn't have anyone who could match 1 on 1 with the guys they had.


Now MSU were also hitting a lot of contested shots as well so it probably wouldn't have mattered. This is just in response to the posters I've seen get on the team for their 2nd half defense. The UConn guards were tired between the amount of defensive effort they gave in the first half and being the 2nd night of a back2back. Even then, it wasn't like they allowed wide open looks all half, the guards simply just went from being absolutely stifling in the 1st half to guys just catching fire and hitting mostly pretty tough shots during the 2nd.

 

[Jimdish255]

Havent seen it yet but how does Jalen get worn out with 4 solid guards? That totally negates our biggest advantage. Wasting the energy of your central facilitator is, what's the word?

 

[upstater]

Winston - wow - very impressive second half.
- Although, Adams had over 20 he had no legs on his shot.
- Cobb missed an opportunity to help the team - I hope he takes care of himself and helps the team.
- With KO’s scheme you have to be able to shoot - he needs to continue to follow the Blaze tenants and recruit shooters. He tends to recruit KO’s clones but Calhoun gave him shooters Bazz, Giffey and Boat and that’s how he won early in his career.
- Our Bigs were overmatched as I feared.
- Bad result but great opportunity to measure ourselves and identify major areas where we need improvements.
- Gilbert did some things well but showed limitations on shooting again Dr Hoop and further MSU was too tough inside to finish on his drives.
- Izzo made some good halftime adjustments - mainly give it to Winston.

Giffey and Boat were not the shooters early that they were when they left. They improved massively. Open question asto whether our current kids can improve.

 

[Blaneylover]

Winston - wow - very impressive second half.
- Although, Adams had over 20 he had no legs on his shot.
- Cobb missed an opportunity to help the team - I hope he takes care of himself and helps the team.
- With KO’s scheme you have to be able to shoot - he needs to continue to follow the Blaze tenants and recruit shooters. He tends to recruit KO’s clones but Calhoun gave him shooters Bazz, Giffey and Boat and that’s how he won early in his career.
- Our Bigs were overmatched as I feared.
- Bad result but great opportunity to measure ourselves and identify major areas where we need improvements.
- Gilbert did some things well but showed limitations on shooting again Dr Hoop and further MSU was too tough inside to finish on his drives.
- Izzo made some good halftime adjustments - mainly give it to Winston.

Michigan state is a better team. They were better on paper before the game and they were better on the court during the game. With that being said, my main disappointment is that we were unable to deal with Winston in the second half. If we have something to hang our hat on this season it is that our guards can play with anybody. Last night, Winston was the best guard on the court, by far.

Adams played a strong game. Larrier and Gilbert played well, but were streaky (Larrier better in the 2nd half and Gilbert better in the first half).

Big Dave is limited. His stats at Cornell indicated that this would be who he is.

Carlton is improving. Last night was as tough a matchup as he will face.

I am a tad concerned about Vital. Like many on here, I thought we were headed for a double digit, instant offense type of player. We will see how this progresses. I am sure he's unhappy losing minutes to Anderson, but he has to earn any additional minutes.

Anderson was exposed a little last evening. With that being said, I love his defense and his toughness.

There was some visible dissension on the court last night. Adams and Larrier need to be on the same page at all times.

With all of the warts that were exposed, our guys played a National Championship contender without blinking. I'm excited for what lies ahead.