MSU are big, physical and box out. We are not and do not.
GAME 11 MISSISSIPPI STATE: Accepting the coal in the 2023-2024 Scarlet Knight hoops season stocking
- Thread starter bac2therac
- Start date
I was amazed we had fought back to tie it at half time, and was excited to see if we could shake ourselves out of the late-first-half funk going in the second half. We were up 20-15 at the 10 minute mark, and I was feeling good.... then we went stone cold and fell behind, an 0-10 run over the next 5 minutes. At 29-29, I was expecting Omoruyi to finally wake up and the team to start clicking a bit more after the break. Once we came out flat and Omoruyi picked up two quick fouls in 4 minutes, my hope faded.
From the 10 min mark of the first half to the 10 min mark of the second half, we were outscored 34-17.
Team needs to do some serious soul searching over the next week and a half. Big ten play will be brutal
Paul is a huge loss. He rebounded too and really hustled for loose balls. He also was great at tipping rebounds to guys like Cliff and Caleb even if he didn’t get credited with the stat.
Cliff picking up the 4th definitely hurt but we rebounded much better in the first half.
Despite shooting better so less opportunities, we had 5 of our 7 total offensive boards. Miss State had 6 offensive boards in the first half so we held our own.
I have 4 years of Mulcahy numbers and evidence, I have last year's numbers before the February swoon. It's still under 9PPG for his career with 4 to 5 assists in 32MPG.
What gives you this hesitation or unwillingness to invest those minutes into Davis, Griffiths and Simpson?? Are you not seeing any flashes of solid play from those 3 guards??
And while that is happening, I'm getting Mulcahy level production from Noah Fernandes. We're not asking Fernandes to grab 4 to 5 boards, but we needed a guard who was willing to take shots off the dribble, instead of dribbling into trouble, stopping and then looking for help.
The team is at 60PPG against legitimate competition, which is where we landed most of last year. Why is that some sort of winning standard, when it didn't result in winning last year??
The rebounding item can be better, but requires or should get resolved a little if and when they clear Jeremiah Williams.....if they don't, that's fine as well, I'll take and stash him for a full year and he becomes a part of the bridge before Dylan and Ace and after they depart.
I am really not concerned about what I've seen so far. I expected more production and shot attempts from Gavin, but I also don't want to overload him, like we did Geo in the full rebuild stage, running aside Corey Sanders and Mike Williams.
If Hyatt plays a normal game (10 to 12 PTS) and Cliff plays a subpar game (8 PTS) and Simpson or Noah hit 2 mid range jumpers, RU approaches 67 to 70PTS.
We aren't really far off IMO. I am encouraged from what I'm seeing from Gavin, Davis and Derek (shooting noted of course).
I’m really surprised you didn’t criticize Simpson more. He kept shooting and shooting, bricking everything. Pesky on D at times, but jeez WTF was he doing on offense? I’ve been a big fan of his but yesterday? 3 for 14
You just don’t get it. Davis and Simpson were going to be here anyway. It’s only Noah to compare him to.
And you think it’s been even production? How? You say Noah isn’t being asked to rebound except we desperately need help that Paul would’ve provided on the glass. He’s way better at ball distribution and he shot better from 3 that Noah’s done so far (he was 37% last season).
Also - understand that your comparing Paul’s whole season 2022-23 data (he only played in like 4 games against cupcakes - 9 min in the one he got hurt in) to the schedule Noah’s played so far where more than half the teams we played stink.
Aren’t far off???? We don’t have a single good OOC win. This season is basically over, unless the thrill of competing for an NIT invite excites you . . .
We are?
Per 40 min:
Mulcahy: 10.3 pts (.416 FG, .370 3P), 4.5 rb, 6.1 ast, 1.9 stl, 2.5 tov, 2.45 ast/tov, 2.1 pf
Fernandes: 12.3 pts (.349 FG, .314 3P), 3.9 rb, 3.2 ast, 1.7 stl, 2.5 tov, 1.35 ast/tov, 3.6 pf
Fernandes is getting us 2 more points per 40 min, but it takes him more shots. He's short on rebounds, has about half the # of assists, and has a much worse ast/tov ratio. And commits more fouls.
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and Paul’s numbers reflect much harder overall competition on average.
Does anyone remember the home opener last year or 2 years ago? ( I ve lost my sense of memory ). Lol.
We’re up around 30 and Paul is diving for loose balls.
Paul ended up hurting his shoulder and was out for several games and it impaired him for the whole season.
This is one of many tangible / intangible qualities that this team lacks.
Was thinking about the lack of vocal leadership, toughness and competitiveness. That may be the biggest thing we’re missing right now from Paul and Spencer. Probably the only guy who embodies that is Oskar and he can’t be on the floor. Could see the frustration out of Knight during the game. Team needs to do some soul searching. Wonder how demotivating it could be to think this year is a placeholder between two great eras and their replacements are on the way.
MSU has spent most of the season to date on the road, it’s a couple days before Christmas, they may be tired. For a team that is supposed to play good defense, they weren’t working hard to chase our players on the perimeter, they pretty much let us shoot. They packed it in, took away the driving lanes and controlled the boards. I am sure they watched the Illinois and Wake Forest games and knew it was an easy path to victory. They would have dialed it up if they needed to, it just wasn’t necessary.
It’s still bullshit. There’s no evidence they weren’t playing hard. You’ve just made it up.
Mississippi State plays a similar defensive strategy to a lot of Pike teams. They are very good defensively, but they give up a fair number of open threes. This has nothing to do with not playing hard, it’s a strategic choice.
110% agree Noah is not giving Paul type production. His production is close to same level as Simpson, maybe slightly better.
The guy who dove to the floor in front of Mag was just being silly. He wasnt really trying hard to get the loose ball.
We lost size due to a change of coaches and late transfer portal losses.
Hard to label that a recruiting problem.
How sad that this man is spending his whole Saturday afternoon writing a recap of a game we all saw. The outcome is not important or the players. As long as he gets to write his 8 paragraphs. Thank god for having a purpose because this could be you.
to me its a recruiting problem because its a bunch of okay but not great players..wolf, simpson..no back up for cliff, hyatt is a 6th man type...the whole philosphy is wrong...i know Pike got a bad hand dealt in the portal but he brought Noah in and he has been basically a bust plus Gavin up to now also somewhat a bust even as he has potential
