MU/Weasels Game Thread

[Farley36]

This year is shaping up to be one of the lowest points in program history.

[21Jumpstreet]

Couldn't be more disappointed, not acceptable. Guys have to make shots.

[Viper]

I dislike that I felt there were a ton of positives to build on and they still got destroyed.

Growth is happening. But this sure isnt fun at the moment.

Takeaways:

Positive
- Royce is making strides. Liked the game from him.
- Adrien is a stud. Easy to project as a future 3 and D stud.
- NJ looked good. Ive been critical of him getting lost in traffic. He stepped the F up. Next step: Show me 3s to open the lane
- Josh got to a lot of balls in his few mins, altered some shots, and--while raw--looked like he was fighting out there. Nowhere near a finished product, but his length and motor were impressive as hell.



Neutral
-SJ is pressing. But he got better-ish as it went along.
- Tre. Acted as a calm presence. A few good passes.
-Ben--wish you hit those 3s earlier.
- Zaide was more "on" today than off. Bummer on the 3 he missed on the transition.

Negative
- Chase--you are supposed to be a leader. Lead. You can't have lapses and let your emotions screw momentum.
- Time to end the Caeden experiment as a starter. Super timid out there and behind on rotations for D. For all we heard about hook shots, we watched zero happen today.

I'd add Phillips as a +

[NCMUFan]

On to Purdue! Time to redeem ourselves!

[GoldenWarrior11]

This year is shaping up to be one of the lowest points in program history.

This is a 20-loss team, no doubt about it.  I still struggle seeing how we win six games in conference. There is nothing we do well, and we cannot slow down any offense against us.  Absolutely brutal combination.

[Mu8891]

So ...

I did not watch 2d half ... did Ross really drop / lose the ball at the FT line??

I've coached grade school over the years, and seen kids that can't run / shoot / dribble or rebound... but NEVER seen that !?!

[HutchwasClutch]

So ...

I did not watch 2d half ... did Ross really drop / lose the ball at the FT line??

I've coached grade school over the years, and seen kids that can't run / shoot / dribble or rebound... but NEVER seen that !?!

That happened end of 1st half.

[JakeBarnes]

I'd add Phillips as a +

Limited mins so kept him off--guess i have a doublestandard for Clark  . But hard to not be excited about how pure that shot looks

[HutchwasClutch]

On to Purdue! Time to redeem ourselves!

Easy peasy

[HutchwasClutch]

You can definitely find posts of mine frustrated he didn't do anything after O-Max left. Our bench went from solid in 2022-2023 to a trainwreck in 2023-2024. The results were good (Sweet Sixteen), still underachieved, despite a poor process.

Last season I again shared my frustration we didn't do anything. We're gonna finish the year 2025 with ONE (1) top 100 win. That's comical.

That's unbelievable and not a high bar to clear.

[onepost]

Shaka late to postgame. Word is he's reminding the team how proud he is they "poured into each other" down 25 and "got lost on the court" on defense. Encouraging!

[onepost]

That's unbelievable and not a high bar to clear.

That's the Shaka Smart Effect, man. He's doing things his way and has the results to back it!

[Vander Blue Man Group]

At least they didn't score 100. 🤷

One of the thing that bothers me the most is we just seem to be a low IQ team, especially defensively. Poor rotations, not stopping the ball, dumb & unnecessary fouls, etc.

Aw awful as that was, there were some positives.

Get James, Stevens, and Parham as many minutes as possible the rest of the season. If Phillips improves enough defensively get him minutes, too.

Regardless of position and size, Hamilton shouldn't play more than 5-10 MPG.

[onepost]

Get James, Stevens, and Parham as many minutes as possible the rest of the season. If Phillips improves enough defensively get him minutes, too.

Huh. Pretty sure I've been saying literally this for weeks now but because you, wades, MU82 were so hung up on a Miletic redshirt hypothetical (cause he can't defend anything going on here), it was dismissed. Glad you're coming around.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Huh. Pretty sure I've been saying literally this for weeks now but because you, wades, MU82 were so hung up on a Miletic redshirt hypothetical (cause he can't defend anything going on here), it was dismissed. Glad you're coming around.

I wasn't hung up on anything. The thought of pulling redshirts in a lost season was and remains objectively stupid.

But when you're allowimg 90+ consistently to high major opponents, getting someone like Phillips more game experience is more valuable to me, as long as he's not cresting bad habits.

[onepost]

I wasn't hung up on anything. The thought of pulling redshirts in a lost season was and remains objectively stupid.

But when you're allowimg 90+ consistently to high major opponents, getting someone like Phillips more game experience is more valuable to me, as long as he's not cresting bad habits.

As opposed to giving those minutes to worthless players like Tre Norman, Caedin Hamilton, Damarius Owens? Guys who won't ever positively contribute for a winning team. Agree to disagree. Glad you're coming around on Phillips.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

As opposed to giving those minutes to worthless players like Tre Norman, Caedin Hamilton, Damarius Owens? Guys who won't ever positively contribute for a winning team. Agree to disagree. Glad you're coming around on Phillips.

Yes, because wasting a year of eligibility on a bad team when the players are not ready is extremely dumb. I'm not sure what's so difficult to understand about that.

I also never said Phillips shouldn't play.

[CountryRoads]

Young guys looked good for the most part. Excited about the guys coming into the program next year, especially Sheek and Egbuonu. Need some serious house cleaning with the upperclassmen. Pair the young guys with some hungry low major transfers and could have an interesting team next year.

[MuggsyB]

How did Sean Jones finish with 8 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds?

I don't remember any of that.

He had a few nice dimes early in the 2H. 

[onepost]

Yes, because wasting a year of eligibility on a bad team when the players are not ready is extremely dumb. I'm not sure what's so difficult to understand about that.

I also never said Phillips shouldn't play.

And again, I'd usually agree with you 100%! My argument is that Shaka in his time at MU has shown to be a downright dreadful talent evaluator by and large - Ellis, Itejere, Amadou, Norman, Hamilton, Jones, Owens, Gold. So rather than have a guy hold a scholarship who's completely terrible for 3 years (Norman, Hamilton), 2 years (Ellis, Itejere, Amadou), he would be well-served to get a read on it sooner than later. My opinion.

[MuggsyB]

Let's take away our piss poor shooting probs for a moment.  What exactly was our strategy today on both ends of the floor?  I have no idea what Chase and most of our guys were trying to do on the perimeter vs Blackwell & Boyd.  And then there is our "help".  Why on God's green earth would you soft help in the paint and leave Blackwell wide open in tbe corner?  This happened like 4 times.  Our bigs suck helping at the rim and our perimeter guys are not thwarting the dribble drive at all.  And it's not like Whisky has Iverson and Wade out there.  Roadie blew by Chase 3 times.  Chase was also torched on screens and step-backs.  Completely off balanced and not using his quickness or physicality.  I get I'm picking on our best player, bur he was not there mentally today imo.

[MuggsyB]

The other thing that absolutely drove me up the wall today were decisions off the bounce in the paint.  Sometimes there were 3 guys sagging.  Move the fking basketball, and immediately.  Especially if you're never going to take a 6-10 footer. We overdribble constantly and have very little player movement.  And if guys are hesitant?   That's death.  You're never going to win being afraid. 

[Vander Blue Man Group]

And again, I'd usually agree with you 100%! My argument is that Shaka in his time at MU has shown to be a downright dreadful talent evaluator by and large - Ellis, Itejere, Amadou, Norman, Hamilton, Jones, Owens, Gold. So rather than have a guy hold a scholarship who's completely terrible for 3 years (Norman, Hamilton), 2 years (Ellis, Itejere, Amadou), he would be well-served to get a read on it sooner than later. My opinion.

Except I don't think what you're proposing gives him any kind of read whatsoever.  It's setting those players up to fail.  Obviously, agree to disagree but I don't see any value whatsoever in making that kind of decision. 

The staff needs to look in the mirror and do an honest self-evaluation. 

Where are they falling short in recruiting and why?  Where did they fall short in development and why?

Perhaps the success they had with the development of the previous core has clouded their judgment a bit, which is understandable.  That's human nature. 

But how quickly do they self-evaluate and rectify potential shortcomings? 

And then some of it is just going to be the nature of recruiting and development.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Geez I miss Tower's post game threads.

[nyg]

Let's take away our piss poor shooting probs for a moment.  What exactly was our strategy today on both ends of the floor?  I have no idea what Chase and most of our guys were trying to do on the perimeter vs Blackwell & Boyd.  And then there is our "help".  Why on God's green earth would you soft help in the paint and leave Blackwell wide open in tbe corner?  This happened like 4 times.  Our bigs suck helping at the rim and our perimeter guys are not thwarting the dribble drive at all.  And it's not like Whisky has Iverson and Wade out there.  Roadie blew by Chase 3 times.  Chase was also torched on screens and step-backs.  Completely off balanced and not using his quickness or physicality.  I get I'm picking on our best player, bur he was not there mentally today imo.

Haven't you realized that after four plus years that Shaka's offense is if the three point shot is there, take it.  He has stated repeatedly, he has no problem with it. Today they were 9 for 29 and those stats were saved by the second team hitting three for four at the end.  Live or die.  His problem is that he has not recruited/portalled anyone who can actually shoot the three on a consistent basis. A lot of those misses today and in past games this year were wide open.  Wisky makes their wide open.  When not shooting threes, Ross and James just dribble around the three point line, no passing.  Not going to change.

Shaka's defense is aggressive and double teams the ball, bring the bigs out to double and be very handsy.  That leads to doubled player kicking out for shot, doubled player passing inside while MU big out front and excessive fouls on reach ins.  Wisky exploited all of the above. Not going to change.