[Rosiak's Blog] Kansas State practice/scrimmage

[ToddRosiakSays]

Kansas State practice/scrimmage

The parameters are already well-known to MU and Kansas State fans. For the second straight year the teams took part in a joint practice session/scrimmage, this time at held at the Bradley Center and the Al McGuire Center.

No scores could be kept, no media or fans were allowed in. Basically it was an intense Saturday morning-afternoon affair that featured two highly-thought-of teams from different conferences coming together to try and better themselves heading into the start of the regular season.

MU coach Tom Crean was also limited in what he could recap. Here's what he had to say on Monday about the affair, which featured more situational work in the morning session and a 40-minute scrimmage in the afternoon:

Are you glad you were able to do this again with Kansas State?

It's hard to describe how valuable it is to your team. You want your fans to be able to see as much as possible, and that's why we're very conscious of doing open scrimmages and the fish-fry scrimmage and things like that where our fans can see us. But to get an opportunity to go behind closed doors against a team that is...I know they're ranked 26th in the coaches' poll, but I'd probably have to cut that in half and put them in the top 15 just based on what I know about college basketball going into the season. I think they've got great opportunities to be really, really good. I think any time you can match up like that it's an invaluable experience.

What were the positives and negatives you saw as far as your team was concerned?

I think it was great to see the young guys grow inside of the possessions because it was a chance to go against different people and get more comfortable. I think there's certain things we do offensively with our drive-and-kick and spacing, moving the ball and getting the ball inside-out a little bit that I would say are better, maybe, than where I thought we might be. But we're not as good on the defensive end, we're not nearly as good at keeping the ball out of the post, we're not nearly as good at denying catches. Our blockouts are still an aberration; they're not where they need to be at all. We've just got to continue to address those things on a daily basis because we're playing hard enough. I think we have tough enough people. But we're not playing with a hardened mentality and we're not playing as physical as we need to play. On the offensive side of it we took a step back with our screening. But again, to do that against Kansas State is a lot more valuable to them mentally than to just to do that against each other. I think there's a lot to learn from it, and we will.

Were things set up the same way as last year?

It was, and I think that's the way to do it. We were able to use two facilities. We had to speed up our afternoon session faster than we would have wanted due to some technicalities with the rules but we got that handled with the Big East office and we played through it. It was good in the sense of we learned a lot about where we're at, we learned a lot about what we're not doing as well and it's another experience - just like Vancouver was - for our guys to understand how much better they have to get individually and as a team. I think for me it's incredibly valuable because you can have guys start to understand for us to be successful at this we've got to do A, B, C and D. For you to be successful you've got to do A, B, C and D and maybe eliminate E, F and G.' And I think that's crucial.

What were your impressions of Kansas State's Bill Walker and Michael Beasley, both of whom are being mentioned as future NBA lottery picks?

I would say that if they continue to listen to their coaches, which it certainly appears that they do, and buy into the improvement part of it, those two - along with their teammates - are going to have great years. Because of their talent and because of their work ethic, their leadership has got to be high because throughout every season adversity hits a team at some point in time. And how you deal with that really is a direct correlation not only to your senior leadership, but your young guys' ability to play through it. And when you have two players as good as that, if they can work through that, that's going to really speed the progress up for the Kansas State team. But I think they're extremely well-coached. Obviously Bob Huggins is a great coach and did a great job, and I think Frank Martin, who worked with him for many years, really has a great understanding of how to play the way they want to play.

Crean added that junior guard Wesley Matthews hit his head on the floor early in the first session and sat out for the remainder, but returned to play in the afternoon session. He hasn't missed any practice time since.

http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2007/10/29/kansas-state-practice-scrimmage.aspx

[thenicknameissueneverdies]

Well, I hope Beasley scoring 100 pts convinces Crean that he needs at least adequate talent in the post.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Well, I hope Beasley scoring 100 pts convinces Crean that he needs at least adequate talent in the post.

Did beasley really score 100? Is there a box score available?

[thenicknameissueneverdies]

He did have over 40 pts.

From what I heard, it can't be overstated just how bad MU looked down low.

[ToddPacker]

Whatever.  We apparently looked bad in the scrimmage last year and ended up just fine.  nickname appears to be here to stir the pot a bit just judging from the name chosen and the topics posted about and what has been said.  Good luck in your efforts, pal.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

He did have over 40 pts.

From what I heard, it can't be overstated just how bad MU looked down low.

ok, so 100 was an exaggeration. Thanks for clarifying.

Beasley is a heck of a player, so I would guess that he will do that to several teams this year.

I wouldn't put too much stock into the scrimmage. My guess is that both teams were trying new/different things on both ends of the floor... some probably worked, some didn't.

MU will be good this year... I think we already know that.

[The Man in Gold]

Sports Radio here in KC just announced the stats from the scrimmage that weren't supposed to be kept.

Beasley & Walker combined for 69 points and 27 rebounds.

[MUFanInGreenBay]

According to this article Beasley had 42 and 12. I have thought all along coming into this season, as I'm sure a lot of other MU fans do too, that MU is going to get torn up again in the frontcourt as usual. It's no big secret. The KSU scrimmage just reaffirms that belief even more for me. Guys like Caracter, Hibbert, and Harangody are going to eat us alive again. I hate to say it, but it's true folks. Our frontcourt is atrocious. It's the single greatest reason why Crean can't advance past the first round in the NCAA tourney every year. We have no post-up game nor do we have any adequate post defense.


http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insider/columns/story?columnist=fraschilla_fran&id=3085770&campaign=rss&source=NCBHeadlines&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dfraschilla_fran%26id%3d3085770%26campaign%3drss%26source%3dNCBHeadlines

[ilovefreeway]

According to this article Beasley had 42 and 12. I have thought all along coming into this season, as I'm sure a lot of other MU fans do too, that MU is going to get torn up again in the frontcourt as usual. It's no big secret. The KSU scrimmage just reaffirms that belief even more for me. Guys like Caracter, Hibbert, and Harangody are going to eat us alive again. I hate to say it, but it's true folks. Our frontcourt is atrocious. It's the single greatest reason why Crean can't advance past the first round in the NCAA tourney every year. We have no post-up game nor do we have any adequate post defense.


http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insider/columns/story?columnist=fraschilla_fran&id=3085770&campaign=rss&source=NCBHeadlines&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dfraschilla_fran%26id%3d3085770%26campaign%3drss%26source%3dNCBHeadlines

Holy crap!!!!!  Oh my God!!!!!!  I guess I should just put my tickets on e-bay and stay home this year.  I really want to thank you guys for saving me the gas money I would have used driving to Milwaukee for all the games.  Phew.....that's a load off my mind.

[rocky_warrior]

Our frontcourt is atrocious.

Wow - that's a bit of an overreaction, don't you think?  While I'd like more experience and talent in our frontcourt, Barro stats match those of the average big east center, and Mbakwe has a load of talent - we just have to see what he does with it.  Add in Hayward who was able to get rebounds, put-backs and do dirty work last year, and MU will be ok.  No, they're not going to win any frontcourt awards, but they can also hold their own.

You have know idea how the scrimmage went so it's not good to read too much into it. Maybe Crean told the players not to defend Beasley because KSU's coach didn't want him to get hurt pre-season.  Yeah, that's it.

Plus, I don't think any official score keeping was allowed, so any scores you hear are, well, rumor.

[muwarrior87]

If I remember correctly, we were also a little slow to get going with the front court last year too.  With the addition of young talent, we will be average up front and top of the league in back.  Our youth will mature as the year goes on and we will perform better than we apparently did against KSU in the scrimmages.

[bilsu]

Beasley is probably the best bigman we will face this year. We will have trouble against teams that have athletes in the power positions. It sounds like K St. had athletes in both power positions. We will not come against that very often.

[ChicosBailBonds]

It's the same front court we had last year and we weren't "torn up" last year.  Are we deficient there....yes.  Will we be blown off the court as a result...no.

Is this a NCAA team most likely...yes.

[MUFanInGreenBay]

It's the same front court we had last year and we weren't "torn up" last year.  Are we deficient there....yes.  Will we be blown off the court as a result...no.

Is this a NCAA team most likely...yes.

Well, I would hope we are an NCAA tourney team this year. We return every significant contributor from last year's team that finished in the mid to upper echelon of the BE. Plus, we add Acker and other guys like Mbakwe that should enable MU to be somewhat better than last year. Chicos, what games were you watching last year bud? How can you say we did not get torn up in the frontcourt last year. Do you remember Harangody, Hibbert, MSU's entire frontcourt, Caracter/Padgett, and even that guy from NDSU killing us down low last year? That's just to name a few of the games where our frontcourt was really exposed. In the NCAA's against MSU we got killed badly down low. MSU put on a clinic. Hey, I hope we can at least somewhat overcome our deficiencies down low this year. If we can I think a Sweet 16 run is definately a possibility. I just don't see how we can go really any further than that with what we have for big men right now. That is unless we get a lucky draw that features a team without a strong frontcourt. However, when you get to the Sweet 16 and farther you usually start to see teams that got that nice mix of talent in the backcourt and frontcourt. If you have a lack of a post-up option along with shoddy post defense it makes it pretty hard to advance far in the NCAA's. The fact we don't have much of a frontcourt again this year could mean another "one and done" in in the NCAA's. Plus, it also means some brutal nights in conference play for us when we have to play the likes of Louisville and G-town. Those teams can throw multiple NBA quality big men at you. It's gonna be pretty hard to contain for us. I'm excited about the season, however, I'm still very concerned about our frontcourt getting severely exposed again all year. The lack of frontcourt talent has been our nemesis the last few years.

[mviale]

KSU is thug city - Huggins rebuilt $incinnati in one year.

[Doctor V]

once again people are overreacting. most important thing here is that this is the best thing that can prob happen to the team at this point in the season- can only lead to harder work and improvement.

Now, as far as Im concerned you have to look at the whole picture, not just one aspect. You can argue all day about if its more important to have dominant post players or dominant guards and not come to an answer. It is a plausible argument that MU has a top 5 backcourt in the country, and thats with what we assume will be poor perimeter shooting from the big 3. Imagine if their shooting improves. So, how many teams will have a better backcourt? few if any. I know that everyone knows that our backcourt is good but my argument is that our frontcourt only needs to be formidable. What that means to me is solid defense and rebounding, with an occasional put-back. I know we arent there yet but I would be willing to bet that of the 5 or 6 guys we have to fill those 2 other spots, 2 might be able to defend and rebound enough to not get dominated. Im not saying to be better than the other frontcourt, Im saying not get cleaned up on the glass and outscored by 20 in the paint. SO, if we can be formidable down low I think we are gonna be very tough to beat. In other words, we dont need the great bigs that everyone is asking for, we need good coaches who are gonna teach a good defensive and rebounding scheme. Also, our bigs arent the worst in conference either, with Barro Hayward and Mbakwe (from hearsay) beaing above average. Do not underestimate the amount of bodies we have either, we can throw in many guys to chew up some fouls and put poor shooters at the line if need be.

Ive said this before, but in my opinion perimeter shooting ability will define this team more than the post play. I think we will come around down low and be atleast able to contend. And as a matter of fact, we have seen many times that a good shooting team can beat a better down low team, esp in college. Had we have shot better against MSU we could have won, even with being completely dominated down low.

Give me a better shooting DJ, Mcneal, and Matthews, or 2 of the 3, OR more contribution from the perimeter from one of the already established shooters, and ill let the other teams have their bigs, because in my opinion they wont be able to stop us. Maybe I am too optimistic, but if those 3 guys do not improve on the shooting from last year we dont have too much of a shot to have a good year as is. I feel that many people will be pleasantly surprised by the team this year, and when you start off the season at #12 that means big things-kinda ironic huh 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Green Bay, we beat Pitt twice last year and Pitt's inside game was better than ours.  We were down 1 point AT Georgetown with 7 minutes to play, Louisville we beat once and should have swept, Duke, St. John's, UCONN...they all had a better inside game and we won most of those games.  I don't feel like we were owned or shredded in any of those games quite frankly.

All I'm saying is that there are many ways to skin the cat and if someone has a better frontcourt, we counter with our own strengths.

[bilsu]

Pitt was big , but not athletic. Padget is big, but not athletic.Gonneticut's center is big, but not athletic. Same for Georgetown's. We do not have a problem with good big players who are not athletic. We cannot stop athletic players like Character of Louisville, Green of Georgetown, Michigan St.'s forward, etc. The players that can jump and have a quick first step, we have no chance against. Most teams cannot stop them. Our NCAA tournament run will end when we run into one of these type's. We are a very good team with one big deficinency. We are not a final four team. If we were hot and got the right matchups, we could make the final four, but then we would be subject to another kansas nightmare. We are a border line top 10 team, probably closer to top 20. Number 20 is a good team, not an NCAA champion.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

We are a very good team with one big deficinency. We are not a final four team. If we were hot and got the right matchups, we could make the final four,

You could say that about any of the top 10-15 teams in the country.

The tourney is really about match-ups... AND MU isn't the only team in the country with weaknesses.

The question is: Can MU (or any team for that matter) improve enough (throughout the course of the season) and gameplan well enough to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.

[NYWarrior]

If we were hot and got the right matchups, we could make the final four,

Wouldn't this be true of just about everybody in the NCAA tournament?  (at least those from BCS leagues and a few others)

[BaltimoreMC]

Agree that post play/defense is a weakness.  But better to see early how much of a liability it is & address those issues rather than find out in the 1st round of the NCAAs.  Balanced teams go further in the NCAAs than just a really strong frontcourt or just a really strong backcourt.  We need more balance.  But if it was so easy, everyone would have it. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Agree that post play/defense is a weakness.  But better to see early how much of a liability it is & address those issues rather than find out in the 1st round of the NCAAs.  Balanced teams go further in the NCAAs than just a really strong frontcourt or just a really strong backcourt.  We need more balance.  But if it was so easy, everyone would have it. 

Ding ding ding ding....we have a winner