vs #5 Notre Dame

[LuciousGameWinner]

Get bridges the fuck out of the game. He's shooting us into a loss

I agree. He has been brutally bad the last 4 games

 

[johnny2x2x]

Cassius has been huge 14 points on 7 shots. 7 assists 5 boards, 2 turnovers. And 4-4 from 3. He's our best shooter.

 

[gotime909]

I agree. He has been brutally bad the last 4 games

I agree with you that it's not the ankle. He's not favoring it a bit.

 

[LuciousGameWinner]

Cassius has been huge 14 points on 7 shots. 7 assists 5 boards, 2 turnovers. And 4-4 from 3. He's our best shooter.

I think it was Seth Greenberg that just said it, but this is Winston?s team. He?s the guy that makes this team go.

 

[LuciousGameWinner]

Miles Bridges...wtf are you doing??? He loves dribbling under the rim going up and just throwing the ball away

 

[LuciousGameWinner]

We win by 20 and we still have so many sloppy turnovers. If they cut down in those this team will have a shot at the national championship. I really think it?s Duke MSU and everyone else as of now.

 

[johnny2x2x]

18 point blowouts of the #9 and #5 teams in the last 4 days.

 

[SpartyNash]

Man Bridges needs to drive the ball a lot more, settles for way too many contested jumpers. Still a great win, Defense has been unreal so far this year. Way too many turnovers though, drives me insane.

 

[Sbee]

Man Bridges needs to drive the ball a lot more, settles for way too many contested jumpers. Still a great win, Defense has been unreal so far this year. Way too many turnovers though, drives me insane.

Agree on Miles, I think a lot of what you're seeing is Miles at the 3 vs Miles at the 4. As a 4, he had a step on the people that were guarding him. At the 3, it's a different story. He did have a few great assists to Cassius, he shot well but he was wide open when the defense collapsed on Miles on a drive.

I think this team is much better in the short term with Miles at the 4, but for them to be a championship caliber team they're better with him at the 3 so he can be on the floor with Ward and Jackson. The good thing is that we have a soft schedule for the next month, 2 big ten bottom feeders and 5 cupcakes at home so we can work on him at the 3 more without losing games.

 

[johnny2x2x]

Agree on Miles, I think a lot of what you're seeing is Miles at the 3 vs Miles at the 4. As a 4, he had a step on the people that were guarding him. At the 3, it's a different story. He did have a few great assists to Cassius, he shot well but he was wide open when the defense collapsed on Miles on a drive.

I think this team is much better in the short term with Miles at the 4, but for them to be a championship caliber team they're better with him at the 3 so he can be on the floor with Ward and Jackson. The good thing is that we have a soft schedule for the next month, 2 big ten bottom feeders and 5 cupcakes at home so we can work on him at the 3 more without losing games.

Agree with all of that, Bridges is still getting used to playing the 3, what the offense needs to do though is run some plays where the D can't switch that end with Bridges getting the ball in the post against a 3. Not worried about Bridges in the least right now, I think him sort of struggling right now will make us a better team. Cassius and Langford have taken big leaps and they could lead this team to a title with Miles playing a lesser role, but I think Miles will be the focus of the offense in another 4-6 weeks anyway.

It's really stunning when you start to look at the talent on the team, we really have everything you could want now that it's been shown that JJJ can guard out on the floor, and Winston has improved as a defender. Winston held 2 of the top few PGs in the country in check the last 2 games, huge progress from him at that end.

 

[Sbee]

Agree with all of that, Bridges is still getting used to playing the 3, what the offense needs to do though is run some plays where the D can't switch that end with Bridges getting the ball in the post against a 3. Not worried about Bridges in the least right now, I think him sort of struggling right now will make us a better team. Cassius and Langford have taken big leaps and they could lead this team to a title with Miles playing a lesser role, but I think Miles will be the focus of the offense in another 4-6 weeks anyway.

It's really stunning when you start to look at the talent on the team, we really have everything you could want now that it's been shown that JJJ can guard out on the floor, and Winston has improved as a defender. Winston held 2 of the top few PGs in the country in check the last 2 games, huge progress from him at that end.

I think a big factor is how good our second unit is, McQuaid has been solid, Carter, Schilling, Tum, all playing well. Those guys playing well allows for us to run the way we do, rebound, etc, get people giving max effort for 22 minutes vs playing slowly for 35

 

[MSUMatt28]

Agree on Miles, I think a lot of what you're seeing is Miles at the 3 vs Miles at the 4. As a 4, he had a step on the people that were guarding him. At the 3, it's a different story. He did have a few great assists to Cassius, he shot well but he was wide open when the defense collapsed on Miles on a drive.

I think this team is much better in the short term with Miles at the 4, but for them to be a championship caliber team they're better with him at the 3 so he can be on the floor with Ward and Jackson. The good thing is that we have a soft schedule for the next month, 2 big ten bottom feeders and 5 cupcakes at home so we can work on him at the 3 more without losing games.

I disagree as I think even in the short term the team is better with Miles at the 3, even if he himself is not more effective yet at that spot. Otherwise, you're playing without JJJ's rim presence or without Ward to throw the ball to on the block. The best thing this team has going is it's strength on the frontline and if you're say sticking McQuaid in there or playing 2 PGs so that Miles can be at the 4, then you're taking away one of the team's biggest advantages over everyone.

It would be one thing if Miles couldn't shoot and/or defend at the 3. Biggest issue for him right now is finding shots when teams aren't giving him the 3. I think he'll figure it out.

 

[MSUMatt28]

I think a big factor is how good our second unit is, McQuaid has been solid, Carter, Schilling, Tum, all playing well. Those guys playing well allows for us to run the way we do, rebound, etc, get people giving max effort for 22 minutes vs playing slowly for 35

I like our second unit too, but I also like that they are merely a supporting unit. Some teams (even some MSU teams in the past) get good production out of their bench, but also don't always know what they're going to get with their starters. We have 5 starters that could all avg double figures and they are going to do the lion's share of the work in most games, but if anyone is out for a bit of time, then any number of other guys can come in off the bench and do the job (including a senior and a 5th year senior).

 

[Sbee]

I like our second unit too, but I also like that they are merely a supporting unit. Some teams (even some MSU teams in the past) get good production out of their bench, but also don't always know what they're going to get with their starters. We have 5 starters that could all avg double figures and they are going to do the lion's share of the work in most games, but if anyone is out for a bit of time, then any number of other guys can come in off the bench and do the job (including a senior and a 5th year senior).

That's the difference between Izzo teams and those old Thad Matta OSU teams that had a ton of talent but played 6 or 7 guys. I saw some posts on another board saying we would have won by 30 if we had played our starters more, you can't help but shake your head at that stuff. Try watching the NBA, a second unit is critical to your success. We also seem to maintain success because guys like Tillman get valuable experience so they're ready for next year. Also, something always happens in the tournament where someone gets hurt or gets in foul trouble and guys can plug in easily and make plays.

 

[Sbee]

I disagree as I think even in the short term the team is better with Miles at the 3, even if he himself is not more effective yet at that spot. Otherwise, you're playing without JJJ's rim presence or without Ward to throw the ball to on the block. The best thing this team has going is it's strength on the frontline and if you're say sticking McQuaid in there or playing 2 PGs so that Miles can be at the 4, then you're taking away one of the team's biggest advantages over everyone.

It would be one thing if Miles couldn't shoot and/or defend at the 3. Biggest issue for him right now is finding shots when teams aren't giving him the 3. I think he'll figure it out.

Good point, I guess I should rephrase and say Miles is better at the 4 but MSU's best lineup is with him at the 3 so we can play JJ and Ward. Of course there will be fatigue and fouls so all of those guys won't be on the floor at the same time. Izzo is still perfecting rotations and we're going to have a lot of weaker opponents so we can work on that. You will see some of that 2 PG look for a while, Izzo went with it late against UNC, a little vs ND.