Playing some defense tonight

[Seinfeld]

Where has this effort been?

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

In front of a raucous, capacity crowd too! We back!!!

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

We're going to lose tonight after making a big deal over Kentucky and LSU losing

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

In front of a raucous, capacity crowd too! We back!!!

There is enough students, alumni and faculty within 30 mins of Hump to fill it up 3 times....

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

“What is this backdoor cutting thing coach? I have never seen that before.”MSU Defense

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Need to take the financial losses and let em all in free. Might double the size from 300 to 600 with free entry.***

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Running the court well. Still showing early season mistakes on that backdoor cut by ULM.

Everyone seems to be starting better. The defense that last team threw at us seems to have helped the effort from everyone.

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

Need to take the financial losses and let em all in free. Might double the size from 300 to 600 with free entry.***

Which was about what $1 tix the other night did

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

Sweet alley oop

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

We will still have rough nights but we have some athletes this year. More shooters as well.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

15 point lead at half. FAAAIIIIHRRR HOOWWWLLLAANZZZ!!

Where is the bitching squad tonight?

 

[Dawgzilla]

I like this team! I was afraid we might take a step back from last year, but Perry is a beast. A legit inside game that doesn't rely on Adu gives us something other than 3 point shooting as a scoring option. Can't wait for Spoon to get back.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I like this team! I was afraid we might take a step back from last year, but Perry is a beast. A legit inside game that doesn't rely on Adu gives us something other than 3 point shooting as a scoring option. Can't wait for Spoon to get back.

Perry and Adu on the boards is something we have not had in ages.

The past couple of years we had to wait for Q to get the scoring started. This year we have several folks who are actually shooting well inside the 3 point line AND they are not just a team full of 3 chunkers.

 

[The Fatboy]

Announcers are right. The play this last 10 minutes is ragged af

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

I'm happy to maintain through that ragged play though. Great minutes for molinar and stewart

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

My reverse jinx worked

 

[T-TownDawgg]

This team is young but looks ripped. Maybe they can show the football team how lift weights and tackle.

 

[engie]

I think this is going to end up being my favorite team we've had since Stans' elite defensive teams long before the end of his career. Just judging by the threads started and the comments in them, maybe I'm the only one here that feels this way. I see plenty of mistakes and lapses with this bunch, which was expected IMO, but I don't see a lot of floor character/basketball IQ stuff that pisses me off like I have with basically all of Howland's previous teams. Nor are we devoid of talent like we were in the Ray era, and we're not lazy with floor character issues like the end of the Stans era. The team being in tremendous shape for a change is a breath of fresh air as well. I still don't love our half court offense, but at this point I've just come to accept that. It'll be better when Nick gets back and Molinar gains experience, as will our turnover rate IMO. Hopefully we do more in transition when we aren't shorthanded without Nick, because we seem to be pretty awesome there. We'll probably get hit in the mouth a few times in the coming weeks, but I look for us to be pretty dang good when we're at full strength.

 

[GTAdawg]

I feel like you’ve been gone. Did you take a Sabbatical?

Anyway...I think the teams dynamic will change greatly when Nick gets back. I know that’s not necessarily a shocker to anyone, but I’m taking the wait and see approach when he returns to decide whether or not these guys can do better than last year.

 

[engie]

I feel like you’ve been gone. Did you take a Sabbatical?

Anyway...I think the teams dynamic will change greatly when Nick gets back. I know that’s not necessarily a shocker to anyone, but I’m taking the wait and see approach when he returns to decide whether or not these guys can do better than last year.

I've been reading and posting a little, but have been pretty busy in the real world. The team doesn't have to actually be better than last year for me to be pretty sure that I'll like them more. Besides, we've only had two teams with a better seed in the dance in the history of our program compared to last year. Just give me a non-bubble dance team. Not sure that's what we are yet but will have a pretty good idea in a few weeks.

 

[Philly Dawg]

It's not always fundamentally sound, but we are long and athletic and work hard on defense. The same is true on the boards; we don't always block out, but we are big and hit the boards hard. Agree that Nick will make a huge difference. He was also our best perimeter defender last year.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I've been reading and posting a little, but have been pretty busy in the real world. The team doesn't have to actually be better than last year for me to be pretty sure that I'll like them more. Besides, we've only had two teams with a better seed in the dance in the history of our program compared to last year. Just give me a non-bubble dance team. Not sure that's what we are yet but will have a pretty good idea in a few weeks.

They definitely have the potential. If they can gel before Nick comes back and he is able to just slide back in with a positive change in our team chemistry, especially on defense, then we can probably be safely in the dance. Maybe we could even land a good seeding for a chance and make some noise.

That said, we also have some younger pieces to this puzzle that need to find their role and the team needs to eliminate or shorten these moments of sloppy, uninspired play.