Basketball exhibition game

[msstate7]

Turnovers still a problem early

[msstate7]

Weatherspoon is gonna be a really good player

[drummerdawg]

Weatherspoon is gonna be a really good player

Yes! He's a player.

[Dawg61]

Spoon looks GOOD! 13 points 3 threes. Very smooth long guard that can shoot. Ndoye also tremendously improved. We are getting massive amounts of easy points from the transition. Sword and Houston have pogo stick legs. Ware has trimmed down. He had 3 easy dunks in a row. MSU 47 FVS 27 at half.

[Dawg61]

Oh yea RW mentioned that the previous three years we lost to UAB in scrimmage. This year we beat UAB by 20. UAB went to the sweet 16 last year and returned all five starters.

[msstate7]

Now the bad... Turnovers were a problem and that concerns me with our history the last few years. We are paper thin in the frontcourt. Ware and ndoye both foul too much and we have no one to turn really once they get in trouble. Zuppardo has rebounded in this game, but I'm not sure he can do it vs good competition. He did stroke a 3 though

[AlmostPositive]

I J Ready is good as hell. Hard to know whether to be more optimistic about Newman and Weatherspoon or the guys we had that Howland coaches up...

[msstate7]

Newman, Q, sword, ready, and Fred are a nice set of guards.

My concerns are frontcourt though. Is strugg gonna play?

[AlmostPositive]

If Ware plays at 100%, never gets tired, and never fouls out, we'll be fine.

Seriously, though, we are going to be outmanned under the basket a lot of the time...

[smootness]

Now the bad... Turnovers were a problem and that concerns me with our history the last few years. We are paper thin in the frontcourt. Ware and ndoye both foul too much and we have no one to turn really once they get in trouble. Zuppardo has rebounded in this game, but I'm not sure he can do it vs good competition. He did stroke a 3 though

The turnovers aren't that bad. I'll take a 19-10 A/TO ratio all day.

[msstate7]

The turnovers aren't that bad. I'll take a 19-10 A/TO ratio all day.

Well it's obviously gotten much better as the game has gone on. We started very sloppy. Hopefully it was just a sloppy start

[Hattdawg]

These new fouling rules will hurt us down low all season.

[msstate7]

Losing kasongo to Tennessee is looking like a big miss right now. We really could've used another big body

[mstatefan91]

Howland letting IJ know that Howland calls the offense, not IJ.

We still like to turn the ball over but offense and defense both look good. These refs are giving Fort Valley all of the calls.

Either that or the new fouling rules are over the top.

[msstate7]

These new fouling rules will hurt us down low all season.

Yep

[mstatefan91]

Chicken either has cramps or a hammy

[ScottH]

This all Ray's guys from last year plus Q and Zup?

I think thats correct with Malik and Aric out.

X's and 0's

[thf24]

Don't know where to begin on all the things I saw that I liked. I'll stick to two specific observations: 1.) Q is a baller. He's obviously been mostly in Malik's shadow as far as the press in concerned so far, but he's going to be really fun to watch for the next 2-3 years. 2.) I really like Zuppardo. He showed some outstanding touch and skill towards the end, and while, unfortunately, I don't think he has the athleticism to put it to use most of the time against good teams, he's going to play an important role for us this year with everything else he does well.

[Dawg61]

These new fouling rules will hurt us down low all season.

Just when fouls in cbb couldn't possibly get any worse they add 30 more points of emphasis. Basically you can not touch an offensive player EVER or it's a foul. Whoever is deciding these new rules needs about a billion kicks straight into the nuts.

[Dawg61]

Don't know where to begin on all the things I saw that I liked. I'll stick to two specific observations: 1.) Q is a baller. He's obviously been mostly in Malik's shadow as far as the press in concerned so far, but he's going to be really fun to watch for the next 2-3 years. 2.) I really like Zuppardo. He showed some outstanding touch and skill towards the end, and while, unfortunately, I don't think he has the athleticism to put it to use most of the time against good teams, he's going to play an important role for us this year with everything else he does well.

Zuppardo is going to get a ton of cleanup points. He's skilled under the basket and with the zero contact rule he could be going to the foul line often. Nice player. Sucks we only get one year from him.

[Treemydawg]

Oh yea RW mentioned that the previous three years we lost to UAB in scrimmage. This year we beat UAB by 20. UAB went to the sweet 16 last year and returned all five starters.

I'm not positive, but I think they only returned 4.

[tcdog70]

I thought Houston played well. Q is a talent. We are light years ahead of last year.Falu will help us as well as Johnny Z. Travis looks like he is twice as good. I'm fired up.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

We will play a lot more zone during the season to keep Gavin out of foul trouble.

[ScottH]

I'm not positive, but I think they only returned 4.

Correct

[mparkerfd20]

Sword and Zuppardo with Double Doubles and Ready with 17pts, 9 assists and only 2 TOs. I wanna see lots and lots of that all year.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Losing kasongo to Tennessee is looking like a big miss right now. We really could've used another big body

Totally disagree. The "big miss" is Holman being out right now with an injury- he is the other big body we need.

[gravedigger]

Just when fouls in cbb couldn't possibly get any worse they add 30 more points of emphasis. Basically you can not touch an offensive player EVER or it's a foul. Whoever is deciding these new rules needs about a billion kicks straight into the nuts.

Is it hand check calls or more body calls ? Reason i say that is that ive NEVER thought "bodying up" someone should be a foul. Hands and arms and legs fine. But using your trunk to hold position and to gain it is just the phyaical nature of the game.

[msstate7]

Totally disagree. The "big miss" is Holman being out right now with an injury- he is the other big body we need.

We're definitely gonna miss Holman, but Aric is listed at 6'10" 212 lbs. Kasongo is 6'8" 245. I really think we could use another big guy now. Holman will be a good player, but I'm not sure he'll be ready to bang down low at that size.

[shannondawg]

First rule in answering questions about a basketball game. Always point out the things we did wrong, and never ever mention the good things, or they won't think you are a knowlegable hoops person. Little things like who scored the most points,rebounds and things like that are a no no.

[msstate7]

First rule in answering questions about a basketball game. Always point out the things we did wrong, and never ever mention the good things, or they won't think you are a knowlegable hoops person. Little things like who scored the most points,rebounds and things like that are a no no.

Haha...

I do think when we play a very bad opponent that the what we did poorly is more relevant than what we did well. I'm certainly not trying to rip our team bc I like this team. I'm just looking at them and thinking what are some of the things that could keep us from getting in the tourney. BTW, I love our backcourt

[starkvegasdawg]

We're definitely gonna miss Holman, but Aric is listed at 6'10" 212 lbs. Kasongo is 6'8" 245. I really think we could use another big guy now. Holman will be a good player, but I'm not sure he'll be ready to bang down low at that size.

I saw Aric last week in Oby's. If he's just listed at 215lbs they need another scale. That man is huge. He looked like a Dampier clone to me.

[msstate7]

I saw Aric last week in Oby's. If he's just listed at 215lbs they need another scale. That man is huge. He looked like a Dampier clone to me.

Good to hear

[thedawg]

I've heard it both ways is Holman for sure out the whole season or is there a chance we could see him back for SEC play?

[messageboardsuperhero]

I've heard it both ways is Holman for sure out the whole season or is there a chance we could see him back for SEC play?

Howland said they hope to have Holman back by January in about a month or so, but it is far from settled.

[BeardoMSU]

Howland said they hope to have Holman back by January in about a month or so, but it is far from settled.

And at that point, it'd probably be too much to ask of him to step in and be a huge contributor. However, him just giving us some minutes and fouls off the bench would be enough while he got in the swing of things.

[msstate7]

And at that point, it'd probably be too much to ask of him to step in and be a huge contributor. However, him just giving us some minutes and fouls off the bench would be enough while he got in the swing of things.

We're gonna need strugg or Holman for sec play. Ware and ndoye both have foul issues... Particularly ndoye

[Dawg61]

We're gonna need strugg or Holman for sec play. Ware and ndoye both have foul issues... Particularly ndoye

Houston and Zuppardo played some 4 last night too. We'll be fine mostly because our backcourt is very deep and very good. Newman and Spoon have done wonders for Sword and Ready.

[ScottH]

As of last, night the assistant I spoke to expects we will have Aric this year but he has to progress at the same pace in the next 8 weeks that he has been progressing.

[tcdog70]

Houston and Zuppardo played some 4 last night too. We'll be fine mostly because our backcourt is very deep and very good. Newman and Spoon have done wonders for Sword and Ready.

I agree, Fallou is better than we think. He is being coached up- big time. And Johnny Z can give us some minutes. The best thing I saw was the "Q" he will be awesome.also Houston is a sleeper.

[msstate7]

I agree, Fallou is better than we think. He is being coached up- big time. And Johnny Z can give us some minutes. The best thing I saw was the "Q" he will be awesome.also Houston is a sleeper.

Q was freaking awesome. If Newman is head-and-shoulders better than Q, wow...

[tcdog70]

Another thing. Last Year IJ was great when he spotted up and was square when he shot. Howland has really worked on getting us quality shots wit better mechanics. Ready will be great teamed with Chicken and MN.

[mstatefan91]

It was just a breath of fresh air to see the coach engaged in every play and checking on his players after big collisions.

I'm not saying that RR didn't care, but his body language last season was turrible.

[whosyourdawgy]

What I liked was 26 assists on 37 baskets. Last season we would be lucky to have 10 assists as a team. The offense is light years better than anything I saw from
Us in the last 3 years Oh and Q is a player.

[mstatefan91]

Q just has that look about him. He is going to be very very productive in the long-term. He will catch some teams off guard living in Newman's shadow.

[Dawg61]

Q just has that look about him. He is going to be very very productive in the long-term. He will catch some teams off guard living in Newman's shadow.

He won't be in his shadow long. Q had about 5 layups last night roll off the rim instead of going in. His shiftiness and length will get him lots and lots of layups and foul shots. Good luck stopping our guards when Newman and his speed are inserted into the lineup. We have a four headed monster with our four guards. This year is going to be fun.