Thoughts After NC State

[rgoode57]

1. Did you notice that 4 of the 5 NC State starters, and 5 of their top 6 players, are grad transfers? That's an old team. It took them a long time to figure out how ti play together, but they have certainly figured it out now. In the last two weeks, they have beaten NC, Duke, and MU, and they have done the same thing to every opponent. They are not a fluke.

2. NC State played really well, especially on defense. Anyone who thinks we could have beaten them most nights is crazy. MU needed their A game to win.

3. The team that beat Colorado did not show up against NC State. It was like they were playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

4. Every time MU tried to come back in the second half, they shot themselves in the foot with turnovers. Very uncharacteristic.

5. MU has had bad shooting nights in other games this year but was usually able to score enough in the paint to make up for it. NC State did not let that happen.

6. Hated that the freshmen got no playing time in Dallas and very little in the tournament at all. If you can't use them in a tough game at the end of the year, what does that say about their development? If one or more of them decide to transfer, that may be a key reason. (I hope they stay.)

7. Bad way to end the season, but every team but one loses its last game. I feel really bad for the players and Shaka. They gave us a great, fun season, and I know how they must feel this morning.

8. It seems to me that Shaka is going to have to find a way to get bigger and stronger on the front line.

9. I understand Shaka's philosophy about developing players instead of using the portal, but many other coaches, including Hurley and McDermott, are using the portal really well. It's hard to ask 19-year-olds to play against 22 and 23 year-old guys.

10.

[WhiteTrash]

I'd bet everything I own, that IF MU played NCST again tomorrow, Vegas would make MU the favorite. I'd guess 5 point favorite. 

IMO, #2 is 'crazy'.

[brewcity77]

We shot 1/10 on unguarded threes. Shot our lowest 3PFG% of the year. This was an aberrational performance. It took our worst game score of the year and their best game score of the year to beat us. If we play our D game, we win that comfortably. Play it 10 times we win 9.

We lost to a bad team. It happens. Don't try to make it something it wasn't.

[MuggsyB]

We shot 1/10 on unguarded threes. Shot our lowest 3PFG% of the year. This was an aberrational performance. It took our worst game score of the year and their best game score of the year to beat us. If we play our D game, we win that comfortably. Play it 10 times we win 9.

We lost to a bad team. It happens. Don't try to make it something it wasn't.

Ya....I'm pretty much with you Brew.  Jop and Kam were great the last few games the really struggled until Kam made some late. 

[Zog from Margo]

I tend to agree with #8. One thing that hurts MU when the 3s aren’t falling is that neither Oso or Jop were reliable scorers at the rim if defenders were nearby. In hindsight, they might have been better served to have Oso take more of the mid-range push shots early until they started falling.

I know it won’t happen, but Jop is best coming off the bench. They list him at 6’8” but he looks much closer to 6’5” to me. When he stands next to Lowery, there’s not much difference. In any event, Jop isn’t athletic enough to play the 4 regularly at that size, IMO, unless you have an athletic 5 who can really board, score ant the rim, and defend . As a 6th man, he brings a shot of energy with perimeter scoring (more often than not). (As an aside, he really needs to improve his handle this offseason. His ball-handling was pretty weak this year.)

Other than Oso, the MU starters were not particularly athletic.

Maybe Parham and Hamilton will bring some effective scoring around the basket.

In any event, I trust Shaka. MU couldn’t ask for a better coach.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Last night was MU's worst Adj O-rating of the season.  A measly 86.8.  At Providence was 90.2 (4-20 on 3 FG) and Butler was 91.9 (5-31 on 3FG).

Only other game below 100 was a 30 point win over Georgetown.  Last night was one of 3 bad outliers on the season.  But only one of them was a tournament game.

[JakeBarnes]

We shot 1/10 on unguarded threes. Shot our lowest 3PFG% of the year. This was an aberrational performance. It took our worst game score of the year and their best game score of the year to beat us. If we play our D game, we win that comfortably. Play it 10 times we win 9.

We lost to a bad team. It happens. Don't try to make it something it wasn't.

This. The shots were what we wanted. Those go in, the floodgates open

[CountryRoads]

#6. Agree, the freshman getting zero time was a little disappointing. They’ve both had moments this year where they have stepped up when needed. Shaka told them in the locker room after the Colorado game that we will need them against NC State. In a game like last night, even one 3 from Zaide could have completely changed momentum.

#9. As much as I like and trust Shaka, I think it’s been a bit of a schtick about player development vs portal. I don’t think MU will be a program that casts a wide net and tries to land random talent from the portal, but think Shaka will continue to get high level players from there that he has an existing relationship with and who are guys we missed on the first time around.

[mileskishnish72]

#6. Agree, the freshman getting zero time was a little disappointing. They’ve both had moments this year where they have stepped up when needed. Shaka told them in the locker room after the Colorado game that we will need them against NC State. In a game like last night, even one 3 from Zaide could have completely changed momentum.

#9. As much as I like and trust Shaka, I think it’s been a bit of a schtick about player development vs portal. I don’t think MU will be a program that casts a wide net and tries to land random talent from the portal, but think Shaka will continue to get high level players from there that he has an existing relationship with and who are guys we missed on the first time around.

Agree with both points you picked out. The frosh at this stage of the season should be thought of as sophs. If Shaka doesn't think they can handle it in the Dance, that doesn't fill one with confidence that they have developed as much as we'd all like to see.

With respect to the second (or ninth) point, I get the impression that Shake don't like the portal. As you pointed out, other coaches are deriving significant benefit from the portal. It will be interesting to see if he sticks to the same view. As Brew indicated, we've got to see who leaves and who stays. If all three go, I suspect that
Shaka will change his view.

And, as much as I like and trust Shaka, I do wish that his attitude toward rebounding would change. Yes, we had a very good defense this year, but there were just so damn many occasions when we had to play good D for multiple possessions because of getting outboarded.

We won't see the like of TyKo and Oso again, and it's been an enjoyable ride but it does seem as if it's time to transition to the next phase. Here's hoping Shak has the
cunning to manage it as well as he has managed his time here thus far.

[mugrad_89]

We shot 1/10 on unguarded threes. Shot our lowest 3PFG% of the year. This was an aberrational performance. It took our worst game score of the year and their best game score of the year to beat us. If we play our D game, we win that comfortably. Play it 10 times we win 9.

We lost to a bad team.  It happens.  Don’t try to make it something it wasn’t.

I saw a stat post game that based on the quality of shots, we should’ve won by 15.  We just picked a bad time to have a horrible shooting game.  But I am disappointed we didn’t see Zaide for at least a bit last nite given Jop’s struggles.

[statnik]

We shot 1/10 on unguarded threes. Shot our lowest 3PFG% of the year. This was an aberrational performance. It took our worst game score of the year and their best game score of the year to beat us. If we play our D game, we win that comfortably. Play it 10 times we win 9.

We lost to a bad team. It happens. Don't try to make it something it wasn't.

They didn’t play great either, probably a C game.  If we play our D game and they played their C game, it’d probably be 50/50.

[WhiteTrash]

They didn’t play great either, probably a C game.  If we play our D game and they played their C game, it’d probably be 50/50.

Are we sure about that? Without a 30' prayer, they are not even in the tournament, or any tournament.

[brewcity77]

They didn’t play great either, probably a C game.  If we play our D game and they played their C game, it’d probably be 50/50.

Per T-Rank, they had a game score of 99. That was their highest of the season. NC State played their best, we played our worst (37, worse than at PC), and they got a relatively narrow win. They played their A++ game and we still would've beat them with a D effort.

[rocky_warrior]

This. The shots were what we wanted. Those go in, the floodgates open

I've said this in another thread (I think), but when MU plays well, they take (and usually make) way more 2s than 3s.   Shot selection was a problem yesterday.  Games this year where took more 3s than 2s... (discounting DePaul...because, DePaul)

UCLA (W) 21 (2s) /34 (3s)
Wisconsin (L) 26 / 29
Texas (W) 29 / 30
WKU (W) 33 / 36
NC St (L) 29 / 31

Except for TX, those were not great MU games.

[Big Papi]

I've said this in another thread (I think), but when MU plays well, they take (and usually make) way more 2s than 3s.   Shot selection was a problem yesterday.  Games this year where took more 3s than 2s... (discounting DePaul...because, DePaul)

UCLA (W) 21 (2s) /34 (3s)
Wisconsin (L) 26 / 29
Texas (W) 29 / 30
WKU (W) 33 / 36
NC St (L) 29 / 31

Except for TX, those were not great MU games.

Yes but we need to hit some threes to open up the paint.  Once we missed a few and NC State took out Burns, it become a whole lot harder to get good shots in the paint.

Shaka made a mistake last spring to not go and get one portal player to either provide an inside presence. or a very reliable 3-point shooter. 

Oso had a great year, but he was the only inside presence we had this year and he fell off a cliff here at the end of the year.  It could have been worse.  An injury to Oso early in the year for an extended period of time would have severely hurt our season.

Shaka has to come away from this game realizing that he needs a veteran point guard if no Kolek next year and a veteran 3 level scorer on the wing to replace Kam if he is gone.  Then live with the fact that you have bigs that are very inexperienced and hope for the best.

[willie warrior]

I'd bet everything I own, that IF MU played NCST again tomorrow, Vegas would make MU the favorite. I'd guess 5 point favorite. 

IMO, #2 is 'crazy'.

Agreed. NC State is not very good. But they did kick our ass.

[Viper]

Agreed. NC State is not very good. But they did kick our ass.

we kicked our own ass

[tower912]

Nobody makes me bleed my own blood.