This is a Final Four type game
- Thread starter 615dawg
- Start date
For those making claims that this year's MSU WBB team is as good or better than last year, its time to stop. We have a very good starting 5 normally but no depth. Also, something was wrong with McCowan tonight. That was pretty obvious. We won't ever beat many good teams with her being an absolute non-factor on offense and not moving to prevent layups on defense like she did last night.
One thing I noticed was Oregon had a solid plan for whenever T left her spot to try to disrupt the guard drive whenever they tried a pick and roll. They would immediately collapse towards the basket and T would wind up getting burned by the inside pass.
The 3rd quarter is normally when we begin to see separation in our favor due to our athleticism and relentless pressure. Instead we got into foul trouble trying to prevent them from playing 'pretty ball', couldn't stop the dribble drive, had poor shot selection and T got lazy. Oregon just flat out executed throughout. Simple as that.
Are they better than us? They were last night. But put us on a neutral floor and we win that game.
The 3rd quarter is normally when we begin to see separation in our favor due to our athleticism and relentless pressure. Instead we got into foul trouble trying to prevent them from playing 'pretty ball', couldn't stop the dribble drive, had poor shot selection and T got lazy. Oregon just flat out executed throughout. Simple as that.
Are they better than us? They were last night. But put us on a neutral floor and we win that game.
A couple of notes from this game. McCowan took a nasty shot to the head and may have had a minor concussion. She wasn't close to her normal self after that, and even the coach noted that she was just standing around going through the motions. While I think we have one of the best coaches we have ever had at MSU coach this team, I really hope he uses some of our younger players more in these big games. We have fantastic shooters on the bench and if we are going to lose the game anyway it would be great to get them experience in a game like of this magnitude. For those saying this team isn't as good etc, this team was up 8 in the 3rd in a spot to put some distance between them and Oregon and could have won the game. My take away is that Vick has to get our starters some rest in games like this or they are just not going to have the energy to finish out the game. Also we need to run more sets to get Bibby open. Overall I am still very excited to watch this team develop and gel as the year goes on. We may not make the final four again but honestly if we can even get to the elite 8 then anything is possible.
I think it was good for T to get pushed around and exposed tonight some because I think she has gotten soft lately. She's read all the hype and is believing every word of it. Her effort lately has been minimal (but production still outstanding) because that was all that's been required while playing minimal time against inferior early season talent. Most times when she commits a foul she rolls her eyes or makes faces like she shouldn't get those called against her. She seldom jumps and fights for a rebound because she doesn't have to usually. She just doesn't seem to have a mean streak in her and doesn't have that killer instinct because she so seldom has to. I'm a big fan of hers and the lady dogs, haven't missed a home game in 3 years. I just hate to see some talent not being used when its there for her to bust out and explode.
Chloe needs to start running off of shoulders on screens. She needs to run her defender into the screen or make them go around. She's leaving way too much room for the defender to slide through. I always teach my players that the responsibility for the screen is on the player RECEIVING the screen, not the player setting the screen. TWe got called for one illegal screen because the screener had to to step out to get in the defender's way. Also, last night will force Vic to figure out what to do against a triangle and 2 or chaser. Kelly Graves better hope they don't get us in the NCAA tournament. He basically showed his hand early for a regular season win. This game reminded me alot of our win against South Carolina at home a few years ago. Was a HUGE win for the program, but didn't mean much during the post season.
True. This is an Oregon team that lost to an unranked Michigan State and barely beat Syracuse and South Dakota State. They aren't a team that can beat UConn. Honestly, after UConn, everyone else looks a little suspect and has some obvious flaws.
Well whether fans stop talking about something or not is irrelevant but I get your point. Of course we are not anywhere close to being as good as we were last year. Not yet anyway particularly from a leadership perspective. We are still good enough to make a lot of noise and certainly good enough to win the SEC going away. I expect we will have another loss or two though.