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Tom Izzo started our offensive woes

knight82

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He figured out how to totally shut us down. Other coaches saw what he did and are doing the same. Pike needs to figure out how to counter this
 
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The choke job at OSU crushed their confidence

Except they beat Purdue without RHJ in the very next game.

The Iowa game is the one that took something out of this team, especially the missed FTs. And when they missed the first 7 free throws at MSU that game was over then and there.
 
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Except they beat Purdue without RHJ in the very next game.

The Iowa game is the one that took something out of this team, especially the missed FTs. And when they missed the first 7 free throws at MSU that game was over then and there.
Except it might appear that way but doubt it. Go rewatch the Iowa game , we played like a top 10 team . Despite the missed free throws , we still win the game if the ref calls the obvious foul on Geo with 8 seconds left. Or if Ron grabs the missed shot and rebound that Murray tracked down or if Ron did not compound his failure to get the rebound and foul Murray who was not shooting but ended up hitting the game winning free throws. Also, go rewatch the MSU game , as horrendous as missing the first 7 free throws were., we were only down 8 when Ron hit that three on the pass back from Geo in the second half at the 14:56 minute mark and down 6 when Mulcahy hit the layup with 13:36 mark and down 9 with 12 minutes with Geo’s three. Jacob missed an incredible amount of layups and they were trying hard but nothing went right. They didn’t mail it in .
 
He figured out how to totally shut us down. Other coaches saw what he did and are doing the same. Pike needs to figure out how to counter this

Agree with this completely. Izzo wrote the script for everyone.
 
Agree with this completely. Izzo wrote the script for everyone.
Imo after 4 years most coaches in the league were probably just thinking to themselves that eventually pike would install an offense and after he didnt they were just like okkkkk well, lets just play them assuming the only way they can win is if we give up transition buckets. Teams have got us into the half court consistently and its been a disaster
 
Izzo saw us fall apart against OSU when Johnson was out. OSU put a ton of pressure on our guards on the perimeter late in that game because they knew we had no inside threat with Johnson on the bench, and we fell apart. Izzo took that film and threw that harassing perimeter defense at us all game, and we couldn't handle it.... then we saw that same pressure again in the next two games.

Need to figure out this puzzle, or we're going to see that sort of defense every game for the rest of the year.
 
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I think its a combination of RHJ going cold and 8 vs 5 against OSU and Iowa game. All the major missed calls went against us, led to the non effort game against MSU. Myles 4th foul-offensive, up 16 and the ball led to first OSU run, Myles 5th foul not even touching the shooter, led to the other, and Geo's drove the lane, got fouled, no call and technical at 61-61. Led to a 5 PT swing and altered the end of the game with one badly missed foul. Iowa game, Nunges clear arm grab on a Myles dunk, Flagrant 1, not called but rewarded a block and Garza's 7 second violation not called seemed like Deja Vu from refs. 2nd OSU and Wisconsin games are steps in the right direction to getting back on track.
 
Season isnt over folks. In fact, its only just started. 12 more games plus the BTN tournament.

Its been a unique year. A big loss for us was the RAC atmosphere. Even Akwasi recently talked about how that spurred the team on:

 
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Izzo saw us fall apart against OSU when Johnson was out. OSU put a ton of pressure on our guards on the perimeter late in that game because they knew we had no inside threat with Johnson on the bench, and we fell apart. Izzo took that film and threw that harassing perimeter defense at us all game, and we couldn't handle it.... then we saw that same pressure again in the next two games.

Need to figure out this puzzle, or we're going to see that sort of defense every game for the rest of the year.
I wonder why Painter and McCaffrey didn't pick up on that after the first Ohio State game
 
I think its a combination of RHJ going cold and 8 vs 5 against OSU and Iowa game. All the major missed calls went against us, led to the non effort game against MSU. Myles 4th foul-offensive, up 16 and the ball led to first OSU run, Myles 5th foul not even touching the shooter, led to the other, and Geo's drove the lane, got fouled, no call and technical at 61-61. Led to a 5 PT swing and altered the end of the game with one badly missed foul. Iowa game, Nunges clear arm grab on a Myles dunk, Flagrant 1, not called but rewarded a block and Garza's 7 second violation not called seemed like Deja Vu from refs. 2nd OSU and Wisconsin games are steps in the right direction to getting back on track.
I will not disagree with a lot you said except the no effort MSU game. There was plenty of effort as we stole the ball a ton in the first half but didn’t convert easy layups or foul shots. They were still fighting 10 minutes into the second half as the frustration was building on a shot going down with Ron’s 3 off Geo ‘s pass cutting it to 8 with 14:56 left , Paul’s layup to cut it to 6 with 13:38 and Geo’s 3 to cut it to 9 with12:16 left and only down 11 when Ron hit a shot at 7:36 . Despite the frustration at the line , missing a ton of shots and getting shots blocked they continued to play with effort. They didn’t move enough off the ball and didn’t gang rebound like what returned against Wisconsin.
 
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I wonder why Painter and McCaffrey didn't pick up on that after the first Ohio State game

Iowa just sticks with their zone and expects to outscore people, and against Purdue we uncharacteristically shot the lights out (52.4% from 3P, 82.4% from FT). If we shot against Wisconsin the way we shot against Purdue, we'd have won going away.
 
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I will not disagree with a lot you said except the no effort MSU game. There was plenty of effort as we stole the ball a ton in the first half but didn’t convert easy layups or foul shots. They were still fighting 10 minutes into the second half as the frustration was building on a shot going down with Ron’s 3 off Geo ‘s pass cutting it to 8 with 14:56 left , Paul’s layup to cut it to 6 with 13:38 and Geo’s 3 to cut it to 9 with12:16 left and only down 11 when Ron hit a shot at 7:36 . Despite the frustration at the line , missing a ton of shots and getting shots blocked they continued to play with effort. They didn’t move enough off the ball and didn’t gang rebound like what returned against Wisconsin.
I shouldn't have said non effort, the effort was there, but I should've said no chemistry or cohesion on the court, a bunch of individuals that didn't want to be on the same court with each other for 2 hours. They stayed with them for a half but eventually the give in took place.
 
Objectively...Here is what we haven’t figured out

1.) we have struggled with teams pushing the start of our half court basket further out.
2:) we have not countered that teams are overplaying Toward the top because we are not Going baseline, shooting enough threes from the corner, or throwing the back to the block Or high post from the corner ...hurting floor spacing on top

3.) keeping the ball moving. Paul and Caleb are very guilty of stopping the action. Keep the ball moving
 
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Except it might appear that way but doubt it. Go rewatch the Iowa game , we played like a top 10 team . Despite the missed free throws , we still win the game if the ref calls the obvious foul on Geo with 8 seconds left. Or if Ron grabs the missed shot and rebound that Murray tracked down or if Ron did not compound his failure to get the rebound and foul Murray who was not shooting but ended up hitting the game winning free throws. Also, go rewatch the MSU game , as horrendous as missing the first 7 free throws were., we were only down 8 when Ron hit that three on the pass back from Geo in the second half at the 14:56 minute mark and down 6 when Mulcahy hit the layup with 13:36 mark and down 9 with 12 minutes with Geo’s three. Jacob missed an incredible amount of layups and they were trying hard but nothing went right. They didn’t mail it in .

I agree. I meant that losing the Iowa game and knowing it was within reach if not for FTs damaged the team's psyche.
 
I agree. I meant that losing the Iowa game and knowing it was within reach if not for FTs damaged the team's psyche.
I think it took our confidence and swagger away. First Ohio State game , they thought refs screwed them and Mylesand Jacob out shocked them but didn’t shake their confidence. MSU definitely shook their confidence and it has shown in the second Ohio State and Wisconsin games. Playing with confidence is what we were doing to start the year and it affects shooting tremendously. We got our defense and rebounding back in the Wisconsin game and somehow we have to get our confidence back and then we will be fine and a top 10-15 team.
 
I think it took our confidence and swagger away. First Ohio State game , they thought refs screwed them and Mylesand Jacob out shocked them but didn’t shake their confidence. MSU definitely shook their confidence and it has shown in the second Ohio State and Wisconsin games. Playing with confidence is what we were doing to start the year and it affects shooting tremendously. We got our defense and rebounding back in the Wisconsin game and somehow we have to get our confidence back and then we will be fine and a top 10-15 team.

The Michigan State was lost when the team missed their first 7 or 8 free throws.
 
The Michigan State was lost when the team missed their first 7 or 8 free throws.
That was a big factor. But the game was not over. Go back and watch the full game . We were still in it as late as 7 minutes to go in the game. I watched it a few days ago and as bad as things were Jacob’s steals right before the half cut it to 4 and only down 6 at half , with some momentum. Normally , as bad as we played , Pike had to be feeling okay at halftime. That was carried forward into first 8 minutes of second half but just couldn’t make a clutch shot.
 
That was a big factor. But the game was not over. Go back and watch the full game . We were still in it as late as 7 minutes to go in the game. I watched it a few days ago and as bad as things were Jacob’s steals right before the half cut it to 4 and only down 6 at half , with some momentum. Normally , as bad as we played , Pike had to be feeling okay at halftime. That was carried forward into first 8 minutes of second half but just couldn’t make a clutch shot.

We cut it to 9 with 7:36 left.... and then the next 9 trips down the court ended with nothing. 0-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the FT line, with 1 turnover and zero offensive rebounds.... while MSU went 5-8 from the floor and 3-3 from the line to pour on another 14 unanswered points. We hadn't played well all game.... but that was ugly ugly basketball over the final minutes, and it really looked like the team had packed it in.
 
We cut it to 9 with 7:36 left.... and then the next 9 trips down the court ended with nothing. 0-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the FT line, with 1 turnover and zero offensive rebounds.... while MSU went 5-8 from the floor and 3-3 from the line to pour on another 14 unanswered points. We hadn't played well all game.... but that was ugly ugly basketball over the final minutes, and it really looked like the team had packed it in.
I was responding to. kcg 88 , who said we started game 0-7 in first half of first half and his saying game was over. My point was it was not by rewatching the game.
 
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Izzo saw us fall apart against OSU when Johnson was out. OSU put a ton of pressure on our guards on the perimeter late in that game because they knew we had no inside threat with Johnson on the bench, and we fell apart. Izzo took that film and threw that harassing perimeter defense at us all game, and we couldn't handle it.... then we saw that same pressure again in the next two games.

Need to figure out this puzzle, or we're going to see that sort of defense every game for the rest of the year.
agreed.. what is the typical response? setting up an O farther out and working for intermediate shots with picks and screens? Really ramping up a press and pushing the ball in transition before a half-court D can set up? Little bit of both?
 
It all comes down to Pike’s guard preferences, and rotation preferences being sub-optimal, based on what he has to choose from. Probably because he doesn’t worry about offensive efficiency that much at all.

Stops and ends there.
 
The Izzo chain reaction is still in motion.
Anyone but Paul (by design) has not had a clear step in open 3 since MSU.
It’s up to Pike to figure out how to counteract it.
Amazing thing is, we got most of our points against Wisconsin in the paint, and they still didn’t care enough to stop over-playing our perimeter players
 
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