uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 15, ed 30: Michigan State

We ran out of gas...emotionally and physically.  We couldn't catch up with their shooters and paid the price.  Truly the tale of the first versus the second half.

Atleast Lawrence seems to be proving he’s capable of being a high end combo guard in the Big ten down the stretch here. Hopefully a nice development for next years team 

When the team came out, at the beginning, with Blaise in street clothes, I’m thinking: this isn’t going to end well.

Defense in the first half was incredible—truly impressive.  Oleg was even serviceable. 

Then the wheels fall off.  To top it off, Jamarques goes down . . . Keisei cramps up . . . 12 of 17 threes in the second half (really?!!), etc., etc.

The main area we lost the game was between the 14 minute mark to the 6 minute mark.  We went 0 - 7 from the floor, 0 - 4 from 3, and 1 - 2 from the line.  MSU was 6 - 10 from the floor, 3 - 6 from 3

We’ll bounce back Sunday, this teams got too much Dawg in it to go out like a Punk…

What happened last night began vs Minnesota. Guys getting selfish and trying to get theirs, make the splash play. Every shot some of these guys take a possession where DW and KT didn’t get a look. Will have to get fixed asap. 

Izzo made half time defensive adjustments that we were not able to overcome.

Izzo showed why he is one of the best in the country.

We didn't lose the game so much as MSU won that game.

In person MSU looked impressive. Long and athletic at almost every position.

Move on from this game to Iowa. We need 1 more win to ensure we finish the season at .500 and get a postseason tournament bid.

I saw more of ending up against the shot clock than hero ball in the second half. Hoiberg got a couple very clean threes when they started the run and couldn’t make them.  Sam was caught up against the shot clock way too much.  Wilcher has to play better for us to be effective.  Multiple illegal screens also did not help.  
 

When we don’t ever get a stop we also have to always face them with defense set up.  And the other way around.  

I thought... when MSU made that initial run and cut it to 3 and we stretched it back to 10.... that it might just be our night.  But man they couldn't miss.

It had been a while since I last let myself feel pain with a Husker basketball team.  

2 hours ago, hskr4life said:

I thought... when MSU made that initial run and cut it to 3 and we stretched it back to 10.... that it might just be our night.  But man they couldn't miss.

It was so loud in there at that point, I agree

11 hours ago, Swan88 said:

When the team came out, at the beginning, with Blaise in street clothes, I’m thinking: this isn’t going to end well.

Defense in the first half was incredible—truly impressive.  Oleg was even serviceable. 

Then the wheels fall off.  To top it off, Jamarques goes down . . . Keisei cramps up . . . 12 of 17 threes in the second half (really?!!), etc., etc.

I was actually impressed with Oleg. He was moving his feet really well for a 7 footer. Hope he can gain some strength for next year.

6 minutes ago, Art Vandalay said:

 

I was actually impressed with Oleg. He was moving his feet really well for a 7 footer. Hope he can gain some strength for next year.

He does have some raw tools that we can work with.  If he can pack on another 15 pounds in the offseason and if Blaise can figure out how to not injure himself every time he sneezes, I think we actually will have a solid rotation at the 5 despite losing Walker.

3 hours ago, Ron Mexico said:

Izzo made half time defensive adjustments that we were not able to overcome.

Izzo showed why he is one of the best in the country.

We didn't lose the game so much as MSU won that game.

In person MSU looked impressive. Long and athletic at almost every position.

 

Move on from this game to Iowa. We need 1 more win to ensure we finish the season at .500 and get a postseason tournament bid.

Michigan State towards the end of the year... what can you say? Often the last possible team you wanna play. 

To add - that's what's always crazy about MSU teams. They can have a bunch of nobodies you've never heard of, but if you actually get to see them up and close you realize, at a minimum, they physically just have DUDES. Probably why it takes them so long to gel at times; not everyone is necessarily a elite ball player but they are an elite athlete. 

1 hour ago, Art Vandalay said:

 

I was actually impressed with Oleg. He was moving his feet really well for a 7 footer. Hope he can gain some strength for next year.

It would be so nice to not necessarily have to double on every post touch, do it more sporadically rather than every touch.  Which should be a possibility next year from what I’ve seen. 

2 hours ago, aphilso1 said:

 

He does have some raw tools that we can work with.  If he can pack on another 15 pounds in the offseason and if Blaise can figure out how to not injure himself every time he sneezes, I think we actually will have a solid rotation at the 5 despite losing Walker.

And he can never attempt that ambitious three footer that missed by about 8 feet ever again, that would  be great. 

1 hour ago, Bugeaters1 said:

 

Yeah, I'd think it was a pretty special place too if I was a Big Ten coach and I won by 15 points every time I went there!  

3 hours ago, Art Vandalay said:

 

I was actually impressed with Oleg. He was moving his feet really well for a 7 footer. Hope he can gain some strength for next year.

One thing about I like about Oleg is whenever he gets on the court, I never see him make blatant bone-headed plays.  At a minimum he seems like he will be a decent backup center.  Not sure what his ceiling is but I like him as a role player.

7 hours ago, basketballjones said:

What happened last night began vs Minnesota. Guys getting selfish and trying to get theirs, make the splash play. Every shot some of these guys take a possession where DW and KT didn’t get a look. Will have to get fixed asap. 

Whether it was selfishness, tired legs, 'end of shot clock' attempts, or all three, we didn't see any of the dazzling basketball movement in the 2nd half that we saw demonstrated in the first.  That we saw it at all is encouraging; the team Can play that way, and are being coached that way.  It seems that we did have a number of 'Good' looks on our FG's and Treys, seems like None of them went in; MSU's did.

Its difficult to point to any particular call that official's made to change the outcome of the game, but it did seem one-sided throughout, both halfs. The cumulative effect on the team may well have helped affect the outcome.

7 hours ago, basketballjones said:

I also saw tired legs last night. Senior night got them through the 1st half with one of the most active and inspired defensive performances I've seen. But then in the second half the juice was gone. Feet weren't as choppy, rotations were late, didn't get loose balls and a lot of rebounds. Think they finally hit an emotional wall from the past month. 

Hopefully they can regroup and kick Iowa's ass. 

At least they have a couple days extra rest.  I think Kent and Jake will hear some F-bombs from Iowa fans leaving Carver Hawkeye Arena, which I lovingly refer to as the inverse porcupine:  they have 15,000 pricks on the inside.

Just bad timing. MSU motivated and mad by their collapse Vs Iowa and we just hit a wall. Didn’t like some of the ball screen fouls, definitely didn’t like the hero ball by certain guys, and for sure hated the cramps. Cramps, to be quite honest, are not injuries. They are preventable. It starts with prep even a day prior. And it’s not like PBA is 115 degree heat index - no excuse for continued cramping…thought I heard that’s what Lawrence went down with as well