South Carolina (7-7, 2-0 SEC) 87
Mississippi State (12-2, 0-1 SEC) 82
Final/OT
What an incredibly disappointing opener. For a number of reasons, this was a game Mississippi State didn't need to lose. However, the Dogs played right into the hands of a hard-nosed South Carolina team and came up short. I don't know how any of you feel but I feel let down because I have thought the team had turned the corner. As a fan who wants support and a packed Hump, it feels like these games happen too often over the last couple of years. Just when their is support building and a big time home game on the horizon, the team will lose a frustrating game and we go back to square one trying to convince the casual fan to stay with them. I encourage you that there are still reasons to believe in this team if the appropriate adjustments can be made. SEC road games are very tough and it is unfortunate we started with such a lowly rated team that will cause damage to the resume'.
South Carolina wants to get down and dirty and not allow you to get into any flow on offense because they don't have the horses to match up that way. Tonight, I felt we gave them exactly what they wanted. First, I'll start on defense because I think that's where the root of the problem was tonight. As I said in the preview, Chris Silva is what gets them going. After a few buckets. we adjusted to attempt to double the post any time he touched the ball. It was effective at first causing some errant passes and turnovers. The problems were the corresponding help moves. When Holman would double, the backside defender was a step slow rotating to cut off the pass to Kotsar, leading to him having a big game and severely hampering our rebounding, leading to far too many easy offensive rebounds. In my opinion, the backside help should cut off the post defender and make the pass go to the perimeter. If South Carolina made consistent outside shots, so be it, I highly doubt they would have. I also did not like our closeouts on shooters tonight. Too often approached the shooter without a hand up or a step slow in getting the hand up. Lastly, while these were negatives, when we committed to the defensive end in small spurts, the overall play of the team increased and led to the flow we were trying to establish on offense. If the team will commit to 40 minutes of defensive intensity, they will be okay. Tonight, it just wasn't there.
Offensively, like I said earlier, there was just no flow that we had been accustomed to seeing over the past few games. Most of that is attributed to what South Carolina does defensively. They are very physical and the refs allowed them to utilize that tonight. That's just how it is on the road in the SEC. With that being said, I did not care for some of our plans of attack. If the idea was to attack with penetration and make the extra pass for open shot or layup, that is what Lamar Peters is made for. I thought far too often we had Q in the position to drive. Teams have figured out that Q has a tough time finishing to his left side and is prone to turn it over on a straight-line drive. He does many things well, however, his finishing ability to his left side at the rim is not an area of strength. I thought a drive and kick from Lamar to the wings or underneath would have been very effective with the activeness of the Gamecock defense. Lastly, Aric Holman was 5-8 from 3 in the game and his screen and pop out move was very effective because the post defender did not the quickness to cover him on the perimeter. I did not understand why we went away from that when it came down the stretch and in OT. Also, 13-23 will not cut it at the free throw line. We went 1 for 2 way too much and that has to improve going forward. If we can get every one on the offense to play to their strengths and within the game, the pieces are still there and we saw them in flashes tonight. I thought Nick's mid-range game continues to be solid and Ado played well in the post.
I also thought Reggie Perry looked like a freshman tonight. It will happen from time to time and you could see him thinking more than he has and it led to him being out of position and out of control a couple of times. Overall, it is just one game but it does hurt the resume' quite badly. We will need to go on the road at some quality opponents and pull out some wins to counteract this. The team is very frustrating to watch at times but don't quit on them and let's pack the Hump Saturday and get back on track against Ole Miss.
Thanks and let me know what y'all thought about last night.
Mississippi State (12-2, 0-1 SEC) 82
Final/OT
What an incredibly disappointing opener. For a number of reasons, this was a game Mississippi State didn't need to lose. However, the Dogs played right into the hands of a hard-nosed South Carolina team and came up short. I don't know how any of you feel but I feel let down because I have thought the team had turned the corner. As a fan who wants support and a packed Hump, it feels like these games happen too often over the last couple of years. Just when their is support building and a big time home game on the horizon, the team will lose a frustrating game and we go back to square one trying to convince the casual fan to stay with them. I encourage you that there are still reasons to believe in this team if the appropriate adjustments can be made. SEC road games are very tough and it is unfortunate we started with such a lowly rated team that will cause damage to the resume'.
South Carolina wants to get down and dirty and not allow you to get into any flow on offense because they don't have the horses to match up that way. Tonight, I felt we gave them exactly what they wanted. First, I'll start on defense because I think that's where the root of the problem was tonight. As I said in the preview, Chris Silva is what gets them going. After a few buckets. we adjusted to attempt to double the post any time he touched the ball. It was effective at first causing some errant passes and turnovers. The problems were the corresponding help moves. When Holman would double, the backside defender was a step slow rotating to cut off the pass to Kotsar, leading to him having a big game and severely hampering our rebounding, leading to far too many easy offensive rebounds. In my opinion, the backside help should cut off the post defender and make the pass go to the perimeter. If South Carolina made consistent outside shots, so be it, I highly doubt they would have. I also did not like our closeouts on shooters tonight. Too often approached the shooter without a hand up or a step slow in getting the hand up. Lastly, while these were negatives, when we committed to the defensive end in small spurts, the overall play of the team increased and led to the flow we were trying to establish on offense. If the team will commit to 40 minutes of defensive intensity, they will be okay. Tonight, it just wasn't there.
Offensively, like I said earlier, there was just no flow that we had been accustomed to seeing over the past few games. Most of that is attributed to what South Carolina does defensively. They are very physical and the refs allowed them to utilize that tonight. That's just how it is on the road in the SEC. With that being said, I did not care for some of our plans of attack. If the idea was to attack with penetration and make the extra pass for open shot or layup, that is what Lamar Peters is made for. I thought far too often we had Q in the position to drive. Teams have figured out that Q has a tough time finishing to his left side and is prone to turn it over on a straight-line drive. He does many things well, however, his finishing ability to his left side at the rim is not an area of strength. I thought a drive and kick from Lamar to the wings or underneath would have been very effective with the activeness of the Gamecock defense. Lastly, Aric Holman was 5-8 from 3 in the game and his screen and pop out move was very effective because the post defender did not the quickness to cover him on the perimeter. I did not understand why we went away from that when it came down the stretch and in OT. Also, 13-23 will not cut it at the free throw line. We went 1 for 2 way too much and that has to improve going forward. If we can get every one on the offense to play to their strengths and within the game, the pieces are still there and we saw them in flashes tonight. I thought Nick's mid-range game continues to be solid and Ado played well in the post.
I also thought Reggie Perry looked like a freshman tonight. It will happen from time to time and you could see him thinking more than he has and it led to him being out of position and out of control a couple of times. Overall, it is just one game but it does hurt the resume' quite badly. We will need to go on the road at some quality opponents and pull out some wins to counteract this. The team is very frustrating to watch at times but don't quit on them and let's pack the Hump Saturday and get back on track against Ole Miss.
Thanks and let me know what y'all thought about last night.
