K State Suffers a Date with Fate

[GoldenDieners32]

Great to see Greg back into it, gonna need his energy going into the UCLA game and BE play

[willie warrior]

Yes, his impact was he almost shot them out of winning.

I guess that 8 rebounds and 7 assists almost shot us out of winning also.

[Lennys Tap]

3-7 or 4 more assists would would a lot better and the game would not have been close.

42.9% from 3, 11 assists, 8 rebounds and 2 steals would be a lot better? Yeah, like first team AA better. That kind of performance at every position would insure a national championship. Keep dreaming.

[Shooter McGavin]

We make a ton of passes as a team to wide open three point shooters that are out of the shooting pocket.  There were multiple times last night that the shooter had to catch the ball at his knees or way too far to the left or right.  It completely disrupted the rhythm of multiple shots and led to multiple bricks.

That isn't the entire reason for our shooting woes as a team, obviously, but it’s one of them.  We need better passes to wide open shooters.

[tower912]

1.   Shaka isn't afraid to play a little zone from time to time.
2.   He isn't afraid to ride a hot hand.    Yay, Greg.   Sorry, Stevie.
3.   Lewis was the man.   
4.   Kur and Osa are doing great.   They aren't making moves.    They are just finishing when they get the dish around the rim.   
5.   MU was actually running a set last night.    Did you see it?   Elliot and Jones corner 3's were off of a play.    They use the scouting report on Lewis and give him the ball in the wide post, perhaps a little closer to the foul line than usual.     He has his back to the basket, starts pounding the floor and surveying the court.    Weakside, Kur/Osa are setting a screen on the corner shooter's man.   K-state had that guy collapsing almost to the lane.   Pick is set and a passing lane appears from Lewis to Greg/Kam.   Baseball pass, recovering defender is bumped just enough.   Open look.    Very nice, very subtle, something I haven't noticed before last night.   
6.   Kolek is not getting any lift on his jumper.
7.  Morsell is limping when walking.   
8.  Osa has come so far.    And he still handles the ball on the perimeter like a wing.    If he develops a decent 3 pt shot....
9.   A road win against a Power conference opponent.   
10.  This team fights.   

[CTWarrior]

We make a ton of passes as a team to wide open three point shooters that are out of the shooting pocket.  There were multiple times last night that the shooter had to catch the ball at his knees or way too far to the left or right.  It completely disrupted the rhythm of multiple shots and led to multiple bricks.

That isn't the entire reason for our shooting woes as a team, obviously, but it’s one of them.  We need better passes to wide open shooters.

We take an awful lot of not-in-rhythm 3 pointers to be sure, often with a lot of time on the clock.  That is not a good recipe for making a high percentage.  We substitute skip passes for drive and kick-out passes too often to get our step into it 3 pointers.  While those work, it is much more difficult to put the pass into the shooting pocket.  If you catch one of those passes at your ankles, you don't have to shoot it.  Keep the ball moving or drive yourself.

[jesmu84]

Kam Jones was wide open every possession down the stretch. It just took kolek to find him. Greg and Justin should have found him earlier.

Our record is probably better than it should be, but I am not displeased with that fact.

Greg missed an EXTREMELY wide open Kam at the top of the arc in the last couple minutes when he drove and forced a terrible shot.

[Elonsmusk]

Greg missed an EXTREMELY wide open Kam at the top of the arc in the last couple minutes when he drove and forced a terrible shot.

Yep.  Saw that too.

[Lennys Tap]

We take an awful lot of not-in-rhythm 3 pointers to be sure, often with a lot of time on the clock.  That is not a good recipe for making a high percentage.  We substitute skip passes for drive and kick-out passes too often to get our step into it 3 pointers.  While those work, it is much more difficult to put the pass into the shooting pocket.  If you catch one of those passes at your ankles, you don't have to shoot it.  Keep the ball moving or drive yourself.

Agree - nothing I hate more than hurried, early in the shot clock, quasi off balance 3s - especially from guys who aren’t drop dead shooters. Our interior passing and our kick outs off dribble drives are really good - let’s take advantage of those strengths.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Kolek was very good.  Basketball is more than shooting.

[UWW2MU]

Not to be negative or that this matters in the least when it comes to MU’s resume, but MU caught a break in this game and the Illinois game where both teams were missing arguably their best player. It’s not MU’s problem though, but a little bit lucky on that front.

I'm ok with this and here's why: I've already seen incredible growth in this team since the beginning of the season.  If they continue this trajectory, they'll be quite good by the end of the year.  This sets up our resume for that time without making (hopefully) the end of the season into as much of a nail biter.

[Miss Katie’s]

7.  Morsell is limping when walking. 

This.  Someone else (sorry, don’t remember who) had mentioned last week that the trainer has been working on him during the breaks, and I noticed the limping last night as well.  Something is up there. 

[tower912]

I heard/read somewhere quad and shoulder.   

[zcg2013]

Yep.  Saw that too.

Right after the play Greg looked at Kam
 and pointed at him. He knows he missed it.