Hoops 2023

[Spartanmack]

I've only watched the first half of the Tenn game so far but a couple things stand out for me - turnovers were a huge problem and we struggled with Tenn's length.

Both seem to be problems that have plagued the Spartans for a while (although we were much improved last year in the turnover department).

We didn't seem to run a lot of screens in the half court offense to try to mitigate the size issue - maybe because we were too busy handing the ball to the Vols (I think we had 12 1st hlf turnovers).

Coen Carr is a freak but I'm a little concerned he's preoccupied with dunking every ball he touches (a la Jesse Hall), Booker looks longer and leaner than I remember from videos of him in high school and Fears looks like he can be an early contributor.

Maddy is still frustrating as hell and I wonder why he's starting over Cooper if the only thing he's better at is shooting free throws. Sure Cooper sucks from the line but he doesn't turn it over nearly as much, is probably a better defender and is definitely more valuable on the offensive end. I don't see us relying on either to score a ton so what gives?

 

[gotime909]

I see the same team as last year. Basically playing 4 on 5 on offense because we have nothing at center and maddening turnover clusters. 2 years in a row Izzo chose not to address center in the portal.

 

[gotime909]

3 pt shooting and the hole at the center spot will be the death of this team again.

 

[gotime909]

1-20 from 3 lol

 

[Spartanmack]

Haven?t watched the game yet but I see Malik Hall took 4 threes - I guess he?s still under the impression he can shoot. I also noticed Xavier Booker logged a whopping 5 minutes - looks like izzo is still trying to make 5 star big men look like idiots for committing to MSU.

Even at 1 for 20 from 3, this team should beat JMU by 20. Did they just give up a ton of transition points off all the missed 3s or was our half court defense dog shit as well? JMU almost got to 40 in the first half - that?s atrocious.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

Hall, Hoggard and Akins were all garbage last night. Especially, Hall. That bunny he missed near the end of regulation was inexcusable.

Together, they were 6-33. 0-12 from 3.

Obviously, cant have games like that or we lose.

Wasn't particularly impressed with Fears either, but its game 1 of his freshman year.....so nothing much to that.

Hall needs to be better. He's ineffective driving to the basket, and his jumper just looks off. It's not as smooth as his sophmore year.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

3 pt shooting and the hole at the center spot will be the death of this team again.

This.

The question mark in that is Booker, though. 5 minutes last night. Hard to look good or bad in that amount of time. Not one play run for him when he was on the floor, either.

If he gets time to develop and lives up to his ranking.....that C position becomes solid and opens up the shooters. Not sure if we have any, but in theory it does.

 

[gotime909]

Haven?t watched the game yet but I see Malik Hall took 4 threes - I guess he?s still under the impression he can shoot. I also noticed Xavier Booker logged a whopping 5 minutes - looks like izzo is still trying to make 5 star big men look like idiots for committing to MSU.

Even at 1 for 20 from 3, this team should beat JMU by 20. Did they just give up a ton of transition points off all the missed 3s or was our half court defense dog shot as well? JMU almost got to 40 in the first half - that?s atrocious.

JMU jumped out to a early 13 pt lead. After that it felt a combo of the MTSU and Syracuse tourney losses. Just insert Izzo playing Mady/Cooper/Hall over Booker for the Schilling/Goins over Davis and Ben Carter over JJ mistakes.

Msu got back in the game by going with a small lineup(even ran Carr at the 5). Then for some reason went back to mady and Cooper at the end.

AJ had his usual stand around and watch Walker try to win it alone game. As hard as Walker played, he also missed the front end of at least 3 1 and 1's at the line. So even though he had 35, he made plenty of mistakes too.

Hall is still a poor man's Goins.

 

[gotime909]

This.

The question mark in that is Booker, though. 5 minutes last night. Hard to look good or bad in that amount of time. Not one play run for him when he was on the floor, either.

If he gets time to develop and lives up to his ranking.....that C position becomes solid and opens up the shooters. Not sure if we have any, but in theory it does.

Most of those 3s were wide open looks. Not sure how much more opened up it needs to be lol

 

[Spartanmack]

1 for 20 from three is obviously concerning as is the 62% from the free throw line. What concerns me way more than those stats (assuming they're outliers) is the fact that JMU outrebounded us. I haven't watched the game but that stands out to me as something that should never happen - to me that's very different from a bad shooting night...

 

[Spartanmack]

Hall, Hoggard and Akins were all garbage last night. Especially, Hall. That bunny he missed near the end of regulation was inexcusable.

Together, they were 6-33. 0-12 from 3.

Obviously, cant have games like that or we lose.

Wasn't particularly impressed with Fears either, but its game 1 of his freshman year.....so nothing much to that.

Hall needs to be better. He's ineffective driving to the basket, and his jumper just looks off. It's not as smooth as his sophmore year.

From what I saw of Fears in the 1st hlf of the exhibition game against Tenn, I was encouraged. He's a bit raw and not ready for the keys to the offense for meaningful minutes yet but from what I saw he is further along than most of our recent freshman PGs. He should (hopefully) have a steeper learning than guys like Hoggard did.

 

[SpartyNash]

One of the more atrocious performances I?ve ever seen from us. Can?t even describe how awful Hall/Hoggard/Akins/Sissoko were. Malik Hall has not improved one ounce in 4 years. He looks beyond clueless offensively. I?m convinced he can?t jump 6 inches off the ground. Hoggard is the ultimate disappearing act unless he is driving to the basket. Akins can?t even create his own shot barely. Sissoko is utterly useless offensively and is another Spartan big who has not improved offensively in 4 years. We better hope Kohler gets healthy and Carr is serviceable because this frontcourt is going to be a disaster from the looks of it.

 

[gotime909]

Another awful shooting start. Defense has more energy

 

[gotime909]

Fears, Walker, Akins, Booker and Cooper has been by far our best lineup. 16-0 run with mostly them in.

 

[gotime909]

0-5 from 3 in the first half. Woof

 

[gotime909]

Finally made a 3 with 5 mins left. 1-9 now

 

[Spartanmack]

Hope my son recorded it because I forgot all about it. Nice to see Booker get double digit minutes and Sissoko shot 87.5% from the stripe.

Would be nice to see Fears growth push him past Hoggard - wishful thinking as I doubt Izzo would ever play him over AJ.

 

[gotime909]

Hope my son recorded it because I forgot all about it. Nice to see Booker get double digit minutes and Sissoko shot 87.5% from the stripe.

Would be nice to see Fears growth push him past Hoggard - wishful thinking as I doubt Izzo would ever play him over AJ.

Fears popped off the screen when he was in. He should be starting over AJ right now. Offense only flowed when he was in

 

[boogerlovejoy]

2-31 from 3 this year. 7%

 

[Spartanmack]

2-31 from 3 this year. 7%

Getting all the bad shots out of their system early?