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Okay, now it’s up to intense defense. We frustrate them for the next 5 minutes and we win this game!
I wished he would have found somebody, but that’s what we need Cat doing.
^ yea, he really needed to make a better decision with the outcome, right idea, but ended up forcing it.
Just keep harassing them down low! Even if we don’t win this game, just keep hitting ’em in the mouth.
KW should have driven the baseline and created a chance for someone else. I didn’t really like that shot selection.
Good overall half, nice intensity by our bigs.
I think this half shows us that we don’t have to have Cat in the game running the offense. So, let’s show him how he can fit into it and actually become another offensive weapon for us. Both Dez Lee and Lacey drove the lane and created something wonderful for our bigs in doing so.
SaccoV, I said the same thing out loud, then we he didn’t create a 3 opportunity for himself, I was more disappointed.
Great things have happened with our bigs when the corner entry pass happens. It’s got to simply happen quicker. If we can make the defense guard at least 180 degrees, all kinds of things will open up.
We simply don’t run this offense correctly. Going back to Bill’s article, you have to run this offense like an in-bounds play (proactively), not like a quarterback reading a defense (reactively).
I really like the number of touches our bigs are getting. We’ve got to be more aggressive on the D boards. Ok’s put back on the break was what Gott was furious about late in the UVA game.
C’mon now, just because we don’t have Bennett and the team at his disposal this year, doesn’t mean we need to talk about changing Gott. Did he get out-coached? Sure, but let’s regroup and keep fighting.
I don’t blame Lacey at all. If he doesn’t try to take over, it looks worse. I hate it, but Cat just cannot run this offense, or this offense isn’t meant for Cat to run. He sucks the life out of things on the offense at the point. Reminds me of nine years ago offense.
VW – I’m sure you’re correct, I just didn’t realize the road games really matter that much. Temple is 3-4 in R/N games but that would work out to 4.2-2.4, essentially going from an actual 43% win to a factored 64% win. Does this offset their SOS being 16 spots lower than ours and resulting in an RPI of 18 spots better than us?
Has anyone ever thought of the NCAA tourney implications of playing 2 cupcakes on the road? For a team like State that has lived on the bubble, not only exchanging 300+ teams for 150 teams, but play a few on the road. Give up the revenue and earn yourself 10 RPI spots! Surely you’d make it back in merchandise sales!?!
I was checking out our RPI this morning and we’re setting at 52. Knowing for sure that a win tonight would no doubt boost our RPI, I’m not sure how a loss would affect it, maybe somewhat positively.
It was interesting to compare State’s RPI this morning with Temple and BYU:
RPI W-L SOS vs. Top 100 Best Win Worst Loss
Temple 34 11-4 41 3-3 2 Kansas 147 @ St Joes
BYU 37 11-4 28 3-3 31 Stanford 113 Purdue (neutral)
State 52 11-4 25 3-3 56 Pitt 113 @ PurdueI was amazed at how State comes out tied or on top on all the criteria except best win. I know there are a lot of other factors, but it appears that if we traded the Pitt win for the Wofford loss (Wofford’s at 29 right now), we’d be setting 15 spots better in the RPI right now. Speaking of Wofford, their current portfolio confirms that just playing one more high RPI opponent does wonders for your RPI in the first half of the season. I don’t think it’s lost on anyone what a win in one of our next three games would do for us.
Go Pack!
Thanks, Bill. I started reading that piece on the Eve, but got distracted with family stuff. I 100% agree with the thoughts from that piece and felt like we saw more than usual of it in the 2nd half today.
BTW, I don’t want to overstate this, but I’m struggling a little to understand Cat’s value on this team. I’m not saying he doesn’t have any, but our offense doesn’t really require a field leader, and even if it did, Lacy’s the one we need to have touches.
I think Cat really shines when he can be aggressive with his drives and find an open big man or kick it out to Lacy or Turner. When all he gets to do is fight around the high double team and then reverse the ball, he’s not much of an offensive asset.
Someone help my thinking here.
Great effort. Good response. Playing with house money for the next two. Would love to take 2 of the next 4.
Great stuff, thanks. I love reading these kinds of posts.
I think the following expectations reflects our current level of play:
Must wins: Va Tech, Clemson, WF (done) 3-0
3 out of 5 wins: @WF, @FSU, @Clemson, @BC, @Miami 3-2
2 out of 3 wins (and really where we find out things): Syracuse, ND, Pitt 2-1
If we can produce these eight wins, this gives us 10 games to lose, the above three and then the following seven: @GT, @Louisville, UNC, @UNC, Duke, UVA, @UVA. I think we would need to win 2 of these 10 going into the ACCT to have a shot. This would leave us at 19-12 overall.
The interesting thing is the schedule. Technically, we could be 1-6 going into the must win Clemson game and still be on schedule, but having burned through 6 of our 8 losses, leaving a complete turn-around kind of season as our only hope. I think we’ll know whether there’s a realistic chance 5 games in. If we’re 1-4, we’re playing for an NIT berth. If we’re 2-3, we’re on schedule and have some must wins coming up before the end of January. If we’re 3-2, we’ve put it together and inside looking out.
Go Pack!
I agree the FT misses can get out of control mentally and take on a life of their own. It’s not something that needs to override the entire performance, or the outcome of the game.
But, it’s something you have to keep hammering in practice/personal time. It’s simple muscle memory and keeping your head clear. The only way you do either of those is through massive repetition.
If you look at yesterday’s line objectively, we’re only four misses away from shooting 80%, and you can’t ask more than that. Certainly still a problem, but it’s not the end of anybody’s season! Four points at the end of any game, is a BIG margin.
If Freeman and Anya had made one more, and Cat made two more, we’d be talking about how good our FT shooting was. We’re close.
