disappointing loss but good signs

[frozena pizza]

2. JJJ looked great.  His problem is that he made some late switches on defense.  It'll take time but I think he's playing big minutes by BE time.

True, but he had our fourth most minutes last night.  Mayo being out obviously has a lot to do with this.  But the 3 he hit was big and the steal and dunk was huge on a night when we couldn't get anything going in transition.

[jsglow]

The Carson vs. JWil foul situation was critical.  Carson picked up his 3rd with roughly 16 minutes to go in the game. DeWil was consistently penetrating on him and forcing contact.  ASU switched Carson off the defensive point and Jake just is not the type of player to be able to force contact.  None of us really want him driving.  Evidence of this can be found in the shot he was forced to take with 22 seconds.  On offense, Jake is at most a catch and shoot (no fake in there) 3 guy.  So bottom line, Carson never picks up his 4th and remains a Warrior killer on the offensive end stirring their pot and their 54% FG percentage.  Obviously a healthy Mayo could have impacted things by forcing Carson to guard a penetrating guard.    

In contrast, JWil picks up his 4th with something like 12 minutes left on an absolutely senseless foul and was never the same after that.  5-15 just isn't going to cut it on the offensive end.  Frankly our offense bogged down somewhat when he returned and missed a few.

[MarsupialMadness]

Limited but effective is the key for Jake... take the open shots, run a few screen plays for him to get open, that's about it though.  Don't need him dribbling or trying to make game winning shots off the dribble either.  He played a great game as the role player that he is. 

[GGGG]

True, but he had our fourth most minutes last night.  Mayo being out obviously has a lot to do with this.  But the 3 he hit was big and the steal and dunk was huge on a night when we couldn't get anything going in transition.

Don't get me wrong...his value on the board and on the offensive end COMPLETELY outweighed his defensive issues last night.

[mu03eng]

Yes, and we were without our leading scorer for the entire game.

This is true, but is he our leading scorer because he is our best scorer or because everyone else sucked to date this season?  Don't get me wrong Mayo definitely has a role on this team, but he is very hot and cold.  He literally could have been the difference last night....in a 10 point win or a 20 point loss with limited in between IMHO.

[mu03eng]

Why are you trying to turn a positive into a negative?

Wilson was good/assertive/smart enough to drive past Carson and draw those fouls.  He's creating the opportunity to play against the next guy on the bench, and responsible for ASU's best player (by a mile) being a spectator for a good portion of the game.

You want to turn that into a negative and say well, we weren't playing against their top guy so not sure what we can take away from the game, or but those foul calls were bogus.  I'd rather say job well done Mr. Wilson, thanks for doing your part to get their top player off the floor and giving us the best chance to win the game.

I just don't get the constant negativity and looking to tear everything down.  And this is not just directed at you...so please don't take it that way.

Hey, are we cheerleading or analyzing the game?    I get you aren't necessarily directing it at me, but I'm not trying to be negative with it....just like we can't say the OSU game represents how bad this offense is we can't say the ASU represents how good the offense is.

Similar take away for Thomas, yes he played much better on offense but he was 5-14 shooting 5-12 from 3pt range, not fire starting.  So encouraging but let's not hang a banner for him.

[mu03eng]

Come on now, eng, you've been around long enough to know we NEVER temper anything on this board with something as silly as reality 

You're right, you probably shouldn't listen to tonight/tomorrow's podcast 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The play I loved the most was the JJJ steal and dunk. Had we gotten any points in transition at all during this season before then? Would love to see more of that aggression on defense

[raul]

I too would like to see a few more steals and turning them into points. I wonder if the new rules are having an effect on how aggressive MU is playing on defense?

[GGGG]

I too would like to see a few more steals and turning them into points. I wonder if the new rules are having an effect on how aggressive MU is playing on defense?

The defense has been fine.  I think the reason we haven't seen many transition baskets is because the two biggest steal leaders from last year are gone.  (Vander, Junior)

[willie warrior]

The Carson vs. JWil foul situation was critical.  Carson picked up his 3rd with roughly 16 minutes to go in the game. DeWil was consistently penetrating on him and forcing contact.  ASU switched Carson off the defensive point and Jake just is not the type of player to be able to force contact.  None of us really want him driving.  Evidence of this can be found in the shot he was forced to take with 22 seconds.  On offense, Jake is at most a catch and shoot (no fake in there) 3 guy.  So bottom line, Carson never picks up his 4th and remains a Warrior killer on the offensive end stirring their pot and their 54% FG percentage.  Obviously a healthy Mayo could have impacted things by forcing Carson to guard a penetrating guard.    

In contrast, JWil picks up his 4th with something like 12 minutes left on an absolutely senseless foul and was never the same after that.  5-15 just isn't going to cut it on the offensive end.  Frankly our offense bogged down somewhat when he returned and missed a few.

But Carson was a warrior killer, even with his foul trouble.