San Diego St. Matchup

[Rocktheworld]

Seriously ? GFY

Hey bud maybe if you made your argument in a less dooshy way I would feel bad for you instead of contempt

 

[bendm]

I was going off Yahoo sports box score. Still, a 1 RB margin isn’t the end of the world.

We win so no it wasn’t. But Hurley also mentioned it in his presser as something that doesn’t happen to us. We don’t want to give sdsu extra possessions in what could be rock fight.

 

[auror]

We win so no it wasn’t. But Hurley also mentioned it in his presser as something that doesn’t happen to us. We don’t want to give sdsu extra possessions in what could be rock fight.

We killed them by reb%, which is the only rebounding stat that matters. We didn't miss enough shots to get more orebs.

 

[caw]

We win so no it wasn’t. But Hurley also mentioned it in his presser as something that doesn’t happen to us. We don’t want to give sdsu extra possessions in what could be rock fight.

At half I want to say they had an oboard advantage of 9-3 or so.

Again, they also grabbed two in the final minute against UConn's walk-ons.

It was close but UConn still basically won the rebound battle and UConn got much better on both ends in the second half.

 

[Rocktheworld]

At half I want to say they had an oboard advantage of 9-3 or so.

Again, they also grabbed two in the final minute against UConn's walk-ons.

It was close but UConn still basically won the rebound battle and UConn got much better on both ends in the second half.

They did indeed. As to which someone alluded though, we didn’t miss a lot (in the first). We were like 50/40+ shooting at the half.

And tip-ins count as O-boards too

 

[gsmooth]

I'm curious to see what the nerds say, but SDSU will be the best defense we've played in the tournament after back-to-back teams with great offenses but only okay defenses. Will be a stylistic change, closer to St. Mary's than Gonazaga.

Great post.I said something similar in another post. The stylistic change between Miami and SDSU will be big just like Iona and St. Mary’s.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I am really relaxed about this game. This team will be ready.

Felt like that all week leading up to last night. A weird sense of calm before the game that ive never had before. I was a wreck before the Gonzaga game but for this F4 im chill. Cant explain it. I think i just feel if this team plays its game like it has been we are tough to deal with.

 

[TheChamps990411]

First team to 60 wins. If we knock down outside shots it’ll be a laugher

Im honestly not sure SDSU even reaches 60. The most we`ve given up is 65 all tourney. I think 65 or more points we likely win. SDSU is not a very good offensive team and we can match them defensively. If Uconn goes in at halftime with a significant lead SDSU is in trouble. Only way they have a chance is if theyre up 30 to 18 and nobody is hitting shots and Sanogo and Clingan are sitting because of foul trouble. Thatll give them a chance but theyll have to with stand most likely a big run by Uconn at some point and if they fall behind they dont have the firepower to come back.
I know they came back on FAU but FAU was absolutely putrid in the last 6 minutes and quite a bit of it was their own doing.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I'm curious to see what the nerds say, but SDSU will be the best defense we've played in the tournament after back-to-back teams with great offenses but only okay defenses. Will be a stylistic change, closer to St. Mary's than Gonazaga.

Have they played an offense and pair of bigs as good as ours? Seriously lol was Kalkbrenner the best front court player they’ve played all tournament? And by the way if he didn’t command the offense more then they played, who knows if SDSU is here now; he got almost whatever he wanted in the first half of that game

 

[auror]

Have they played an offense and pair of bigs as good as ours? Seriously lol was Kalkbrenner the best front court player they’ve played all tournament?

Offense, maybe Alabama (though Miller was hurt). Bediako isnt either of our bigs though.

 

[giddyup]

You don’t get the finals being a weak team. Don’t think for a second they don’t believe they can’t beat us and they are going to go after it on D and the boards. Getting second and third shots is the great equalizer for an O challenged team. We need to dominate the boards and punish them inside out.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Offense, maybe Alabama (though Miller was hurt). Bediako isnt either of our bigs though.

Yeah I thought about Miller but he isn’t like Adama, who has at least 40 pounds on him. They play different games. I’m talking about players who do most of their work in the paint.

 

[alphasigko]

They did beat Creighton

With or without Kalk?

 

[caw]

With or without Kalk?

Err, in the tournament.

 

[gsmooth]

You don’t get the finals being a weak team. Don’t think for a second they don’t believe they can’t beat us and they are going to go after it on D and the boards. Getting second and third shots is the great equalizer for an O challenged team. We need to dominate the boards and punish them inside out.

Excellent post. I remember when I was in St. Petersburg in 1999 for all 3 Final Four games. When I asked the Duke fans on Monday morning at a restaurant if they were excited for a good game in the championship, they arrogantly said, “Mich st gave the closest chance to beat them and that the championship vs UConn won’t be close”. I just remembered the arrogance that oozed out of them like Duke winning was a foregone conclusion.

I don’t want us mimicking that and then getting humbled. Let’s not be like those Duke fans. San Diego St is a very good team that deserves respect for what they have accomplished so far. Respect all, fear none.

 

[gsmooth]

With or without Kalk?

They beat Creighton in the Elite Eight

 

[MexicoHusky]

I've watched their last threes games and I've come away with the same thought each time. I have no idea how they are winning. They don't appear super tall, nor are they fast, nor do they shoot great. But they are very strong and scrap like crazy.

They've been able to out muscle taller, but lighter teams. I feel that sanogo and Clingan will be too much for them.

It also feels like another game where Karaban could get out muscled by an older stronger body. Although, it's been a bit since that's happened.

 

[superjohn]

How do we match up against San Diego State?

Really well.

 

[That Guy]

This could end up being the most physical game for us in the tournament. We will most likely struggle offensively a lot more in this game because of how elite their defense is. They will want an ugly game, we have to take advantage of our scoring opportunities and continue playing the elite defense that we've also displayed this entire tournament.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Make the players watch the Creighton game at least twice. Creighton let SDSU off the hook on all of their hand checking and bumping by not forcing officials to make a call. We have to go right into the SDSU defender's arms every time they try to grab UConn. We should be in the bonus with 8-9 minutes left in both halves.

 

[gapere]

If we play our game, we should be ok. My concern is what happens if the game is close? The SDSU style of play gives them the best chance to keep it close. Are our guys going to play tight if the shots aren't falling? I'm cautiously optimistic and expect a great game on Monday night.

 

[caw]

I have

I've watched their last threes games and I've come away with the same thought each time. I have no idea how they are winning. They don't appear super tall, nor are they fast, nor do they shoot great. But they are very strong and scrap like crazy.

They've been able to out muscle taller, but lighter teams. I feel that sanogo and Clingan will be too much for them.

It also feels like another game where Karaban could get out muscled by an older stronger body. Although, it's been a bit since that's happened.

Watching their defense, it is impressive. They are the opposite of Miami. Miami ball watched and tried to play passing lanes. SDSU stays connected and does a very good job of tracking man and ball. I haven't seen them play a game against a team that runs as much off ball action as UConn, but you can see them tracking ball and man at all times. The few minutes of off ball action I've seen them defend they fight around screens to get after their assignment. I could see Hawkins getting fouled with how quickly he stops and pops off the screen and how quickly they chase after the shooter.

As most teams don't run stuff UConn does, it's a bit hard to tell how well they will do against UConn's actions but they do a good job of doing what UConn does defensively. They track man and ball. They stay between man and basket. They fight over screens. They challenge but try not to foul on jumpers and they have their big's challenge at the rim on help.

They are also deep. They will go for steals but in the tournament they seem to have played more of a set defense than a pressing defense. Not saying they can't, as they go 9 deep, but they haven't much so far in the tournament.

Offensively, they grind points. No other way to put it. They work the possession and try to get an open shot and it doesn't seem anyone is shy about taking the shot if open. They aren't particularly good passers or shooters but they do just enough in conjunction with their defense.

They will, or have during the season gotten a bit of a rep of playing a bump and grind/clutch and grab game but honestly I didn't see a ton in any of their games. Or at least nothing like ISU and OKST, nor even PC.

Have to watch a few more of their games to get a better idea but that's what I've seen based on the tournament.

 

[cohenzone]

There is no such thing as an awful championship game that you win. It’s binary — you win and it’s great or you lose and it’s awful. We get confused because we’ve never lost a championship game, but if you lose one you stop worrying about how you win.

If we beat them 15-12 Monday night, it will still put us ahead of Kansas and level with Duke and Indiana, tied for 4th, for most championships EVER.

If we beat rhem by any score it will be a championship. If we win 15-12 it will be the year 1923 and a lousy game to watch. But i agree with your sentiment.

 

[mauconnfan]

They’re a very mature and very physically strong basketball team. They play 2 bigs often who can defend, clog the lane and rebound.

Don’t sleep on the Aztecs. If the refs let them play as they have been this will be a big East type battle.

I like ours!

 

[Fan1978]

With or without Kalk?

With