Pig SIUE

[tower912]

1.  The half court offense was pick and roll with occasional isolation.   And stagnant.
2.  Too many needless fouls.  A little concerned about who would be left at the end.   Also, shooting and making all of those free throws kept SIUE in the game when they weren't hitting 3s.
3.  Too many early shot clock 3s off of turnovers.  There were plenty of driving lanes available during those scramble situations.
4.   Morsell was very good.    Kolek had some really nice passes.
5.  I thought Stevie looked far better than Kam.  Particularly defensively.
6.  Osa is so much better.  Loved him generating all of those turnovers at the back of the press.
7.  I would zone the crap out of this team. Speaking of which, Smart Coach went zone with just over 4 minutes left for two possessions.  One turnover and then a timeout.
8.  So much of this is just part of the process.   Young guys have to learn to defend without fouling.  Learn to not settle for quick 3s after generating turnovers.
9.  I love pressure defense.  I love forcing turnovers.   I am scared to death about what will happen against good teams with good guards who don't turn the ball over. Like 25 point loss scared. 
10. Lewis looks quicker.  Got hot Justin time.
11.  Shaka is undefeated at MU.   So much room for improvement






This was almost called Pep Barone crazy thread.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

All about how we're playing come February and March.

[IrwinFletcher]

Morsell good offensively.  I thought he was not good defensively.

[Pakuni]

A lot of the sloppiness is understandable with so many new players, new staff, first game, etc.
But the rebounding fundamentals ... gross. Can anybody block out, please?

On the other hand, at least we're not Pitt. Or Virginia.  Or Nebraska.

[Tha Hound]

Really liked Kolek and Stevie. Morsell and Lewis also solid. The rest...not good. Kuath poor, Oso needs to learn to box out, Kam needs to work on the shot

[wadesworld]

Very underwhelmed by the fundamentals of this team. A ton of needless jumping around defensively, which left players out of position and the rest of the defense scrambling. I actually thought the offense looked better than the defense, but I don't think the offense looked great either. Lewis needs to keep attacking the rim. The rebounding and transition defense were both very problematic.

A lot of work to be done.

[PGsHeroes32]

Good to be 1-0 with Shaka. Lotta work, lotta potential.

Stevie good be really good. I see the potential with Kam and OMP.

Love Kolek.

2 things that must happen to make us remotely competitive

1. Stop taking pull up 3s off TOs. We can't shoot good. So don't do it.

2. Lewis, plant his ass in the paint. He should take the occasional catch and shoot 3, that's it. Let him work down low.

[PointWarrior]

Looks like they can score more than 50 a game. 

[MuggsyB]

1.  The half court offense was pick and roll with occasional isolation.   And stagnant.
2.  Too many needless fouls.  A little concerned about who would be left at the end.   Also, shooting and making all of those free throws kept SIUE in the game when they weren't hitting 3s.
3.  Too many early shot clock 3s off of turnovers.  There were plenty of driving lanes available during those scramble situations.
4.   Morsell was very good.    Kolek had some really nice passes.
5.  I thought Stevie looked far better than Kam.  Particularly defensively.
6.  Osa is so much better.  Loved him generating all of those turnovers at the back of the press.
7.  I would zone the crap out of this team. Speaking of which, Smart Coach went zone with just over 4 minutes left for two possessions.  One turnover and then a timeout.
8.  So much of this is just part of the process.   Young guys have to learn to defend without fouling.  Learn to not settle for quick 3s after generating turnovers.
9.  I love pressure defense.  I love forcing turnovers.   I am scared to death about what will happen against good teams with good guards who don't turn the ball over. Like 25 point loss scared. 
10. Lewis looks quicker.  Got hot Justin time.
11.  Shaka is undefeated at MU.   So much room for improvement






This was almost called Pep Barone crazy thread.

We were clearly overjacked tonight Tower but there are significant concerns.  Morrell, Kolek, and Lewis will be 30 min guys.  I also thought Mitchell had a very impressive debut.  Offensively I thought we played too fast in the half-court and over dribbled far too often.  The ball movement was suspect and we don't feed the high or low-post.  We're simply going to have to generate better looks and be far, far, more patient.

Defensively we really struggled this evening to put it mildly.  Over pressuring, poor thwarting of the dribble drive, weak help, and very little cohesion.  We were off balance and obviously the fouling was painful to watch.  My gut feeling, as much as I like our 5's, is that this team may have to play small for major stretches.  We have some talent and potential but there's a ton of work that needs to be done.

[rocky_warrior]

Looks like they can score more than 50 a game.

I admire your dedication to this, but it may still be a bit early to proclaim.

[GoldenWarrior11]

12. Playing on Bucks alternate court sounded a lot better than it looked.  Any time we play on a court with NBA three lines, our spacing gets thrown off IMO.  Already looking forward to our "home" court back.

[Lennys Tap]

Very underwhelmed by the fundamentals of this team. A ton of needless jumping around defensively, which left players out of position and the rest of the defense scrambling. I actually thought the offense looked better than the defense, but I don't think the offense looked great either. Lewis needs to keep attacking the rim. The rebounding and transition defense were both very problematic.

A lot of work to be done.

Totally agree.

I'll add:

12. #12 had a rough time.

13. Kuath played really poorly. He's huge but has a lot of trouble getting position. Gave up rebounds on missed FTs to much smaller players at least twice. Hope this game is an outlier.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I thought I was watching a St. Johns game--frantic defense forcing turnovers, but speeding up the offense so much that it was sloppy, playground stuff. Kolek was great defensively, but in the 2nd half I thought he was once of the worst offenders at trying to play too fast on offense.

Thankfully, Justin Lewis is a calming force, though I don't need to see him take more than about one 3 per game.

Mitchell, Kolek, and hopefully Jones have a chance to be really, really good as they progress.

Sloppy and very raw, but energetic, which sounds a lot like every St. Johns team.

[rocky_warrior]

We won!

[mileskishnish72]

Tower, took some notes. Could never aspire to your level of greatness (and I look forward to your game posts longingly), but I did have some thoughts.

FOULS
FOULS
FOULS
At this rate they will kill us against even mediocre competition.
Agree with 3 & 9 vociferously.
Does FS2 not have replay capability? There were several plays that I thought warranted it, but they saved it for one occasion when one of our guys got pushed. Nothing, move on.
Don't know about the (supposedly tenacious) defense. Lots of easy hoops.
Oso seems to have some bad hands.
I had some worries about Stevie and his footing. One time in the 2nd half he seemed to be out of control, but in the first, he slipped a couple of times. Sneakers?
Justin 2 double dribbles? Can't recall having seen that.
Too many 3's get jacked up.
Good moments from Oso, Morsell, Kolek and Stevie.

All in all, a preview. Great to see all these guys but I don't think the season is going to play out as well as I ha hoped.

[MU82]

Must stay positive ... must stay positive ... must stay positive ... must stay positive.

OK. Phew!

Congrats to Coach Shaka on a win in his Marquette debut.

[Its DJOver]

We're going to need more from Kur.  I think Osa has a high ceiling, but he's still about 20-25 lbs away.  He's just going to be physically overmatched by a lot of big in the Beast.  Thought Stevie was good.  Take the win, I fear that there won't be a ton of them this year.

[MarquetteDano]

I can take many of the mistakes early in the season but the defensive rebounding (i.e. blocking out) was absolutely pathetic.  No way should that team have had a offensive rebounding percentage of over 30%.

Hopefully Coach Smart will be spending some time on rebounding drills.

[MuggsyB]

We're going to need more from Kur.  I think Osa has a high ceiling, but he's still about 20-25 lbs away.  He's just going to be physically overmatched by a lot of big in the Beast.  Thought Stevie was good.  Take the win, I fear that there won't be a ton of them this year.

Agreed.  Kuath has to be much better. Especially on the glass and his overall positioning helping at the rim.

[RushmoreAcademy]

None of tonight should surprise anyone.  Nearly this entire team was whipped clean (and they weren't good before that). This is being built from the bottom up. There are going to be long nights.  If you're expecting otherwise it's going to be painful.

[MUfan12]

They're learning. This system asks a lot of these guys, physically and mentally. If the opposition breaks the press, MU goes back into man in the frontcourt they have to make very quick reads and communicate at a high level to get organized.

Energy was great, but it needs to be harnessed. Got a little too exuberant and it led to easy ones and a bunch of fouls that made it hard to find a rhythm.

MU got a lot of good shots they missed. I can live with that. The adjustments I wanted to see at half I got. Lewis got out of the corner and got the ball in some better positions to do damage. They backed off the press a bit when fouls dictated, and threw a few zone looks at a lousy outside shooting team.

Have to say, whatever he did, Greg really let his team down. Having a steady vet presence and reliable shooter would really help.

I'm kinda approaching this season like an overly-supportive little league parent. All I want to see is effort and improvement as the year goes on. Build on successes.

[Its DJOver]

They're learning. This system asks a lot of these guys, physically and mentally. If the opposition breaks the press, MU goes back into man in the frontcourt they have to make very quick reads and communicate at a high level to get organized.

Energy was great, but it needs to be harnessed. Got a little too exuberant and it led to easy ones and a bunch of fouls that made it hard to find a rhythm.

MU got a lot of good shots they missed. I can live with that. The adjustments I wanted to see at half I got. Lewis got out of the corner and got the ball in some better positions to do damage. They backed off the press a bit when fouls dictated, and threw a few zone looks at a lousy outside shooting team.

Have to say, whatever he did, Greg really let his team down. Having a steady vet presence and reliable shooter would really help.

I'm kinda approaching this season like an overly-supportive little league parent. All I want to see is effort and improvement as the year goes on. Build on successes.

I do think that when he comes back (if he can stay healthy) Greg will help the team a lot.  Kolek willget him the ball where he can do damage, and his length and experience will help on the defensive end (not to mention, 5 more fouls to give).

[pbiflyer]

I'm kinda approaching this season like an overly-supportive little league parent. All I want to see is effort and improvement as the year goes on. Build on successes.

I approach every game like a little league parent. Scream at the refs and question the coaching, doesn't every one?

[MuggsyB]

They're learning. This system asks a lot of these guys, physically and mentally. If the opposition breaks the press, MU goes back into man in the frontcourt they have to make very quick reads and communicate at a high level to get organized.

Energy was great, but it needs to be harnessed. Got a little too exuberant and it led to easy ones and a bunch of fouls that made it hard to find a rhythm.

MU got a lot of good shots they missed. I can live with that. The adjustments I wanted to see at half I got. Lewis got out of the corner and got the ball in some better positions to do damage. They backed off the press a bit when fouls dictated, and threw a few zone looks at a lousy outside shooting team.

Have to say, whatever he did, Greg really let his team down. Having a steady vet presence and reliable shooter would really help.

I'm kinda approaching this season like an overly-supportive little league parent. All I want to see is effort and improvement as the year goes on. Build on successes.

"Energy was great, but it needs to be harnessed".  Tremendous, tremendous, point.  This should be passed on to Shaka and the squad.

[MUfan12]

I approach every game like a little league parent. Scream at the refs and question the coaching, doesn't every one?

Ha! I have my thoughts on the refs, but it's the same story every year with college refs.