Sunday Morning Point Guard- Time to Worry Edition

[Coach34]

I attended our game with Auburn yesterday and while I'm not a basketball savant as I am in football- a few things I see:

1. We are coached very well defensively. We may get lazy at times or commit a dumb foul- but we are coached very well at half-court M2M D. I wish we would trap more or throw a 1-3-1 at teams to force them to deal with a little something different from time to time- but with straight in your ass halfcourt man- Howland and staff does a good job.

2. That being said- I think it's a mistake in today's game that we dont change things a little with some traps or surprise full-court pressure. Maybe we will as we move thru the SEC schedule now that Spoon is back.

3. As well as we are coached defensively- we are Croom level of offense. Pearl and his group did a good job running some flex and variations off of it to get some open paint and easier buckets. We dont do that in any way, form, or fashion. It's weave or ball screen. Ball screen or weave. We limit our ceiling because of this. Too much hoping an athlete makes a play

4. Molinar should be playing more than Stewart- not the other way around. Molinar is going to be really good

5. Tyson Carter being in a shooting slump is killing us. Woodard being our best 3-point shooter right now is troublesome

6. We dont value the ball enough- and thus the turnovers. Some extremely senseless turnovers. We are way too nonchalant with the ball and in making passes.

7. Our in-bounds plays are awful and a sign of lazy coaching. What we are doing isnt working- fix it. Not only do we have little chance of scoring on an inbound play- we turn the ball over on them. It shouldnt be such a struggle to get the ball inbound.

8. Ado plays hard and is solid- but we arent going to throw it into him in the post. We skip that chance time after time. And I understand he is by no means an animal on the offensive end. So if we arent going to dump it down into him- we have to post up Reggie and Woodard more inside to get some advantages. When Reggie posts up he is hard to handle- but we dont do it near enough. Woodard tried a couple of times but Auburn matches up with him pretty well and made it tough on him. Dont give up on that- not every team matches up like Auburn does. So bottom line- either dump it in to Ado a little more- or get Reggie's ass down there more and let him. He is supposed to be an NBA talent- get it to him in the damn paint and let's see it

9. It's not time to panic. Nick is just getting his legs and Tyson is in a slump. We will be better. But we have other things to fix that would help offset the guard play.

10. #HailState

[dawgday166]

Good write up ... especially #3 & #8. Nick's gotta quit being a hot dog out there. Play hard nosed D and let game come to him offensively.

[chef dixon]

Not sure if it matters if we panic or not, we are squarely behind the eight ball when it comes to getting in the dance. Not even on the radar and missed probably our best opportunity for a signature win yesterday.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Agree on all counts. Offense devolves to hero ball for long stretches of time and like you say, we never create a gameplan customized to our advantages. We dont feed Perry nearly enough and Woodard has a huge advantage over most 3s if we could isolate them in the paint. But we never try. When we do make an adjustment on either end its reactionary, never because we see an advantage to take ourselves.

I'm so sick of seeing great D and zero points given up just to watch us run down the court and have 3-4 players standing still as the guy with the ball stares at the D. If the D just changed things up sure I understand having a bad set but I'm talking several minutes at a time, even after timeouts

[Maroonthirteen]

Meh. Auburn is very good. We are just Ok without a 3pt shooter. Especially when we play teams with athletic guards.

We are a Bubble team that will probably land in the NIT.

[Turfdawg67]

So it's time to worry, but not panic? Got it.

[timotheus]

Good take there, Coach34.

[Hambone]

Thought this was about our Head Coach search when I saw the title. Whew

[Ari Gold]

Auburn wanted to win more than we did Saturday .. loose balls, made the big plays , and we were careless with the ball... We always go thru that drought on offense or defense in a game. It happens this game on offense if the first half with a 18-11 lead went seemed like an eternity without scoring

Tyson being a SR has to man up and play harder and better at other phases of the game when his shot isnt going down. He didn’t do that Sat
Ado plays hard all the time . He will make All SEC defense
People see what a difference Nick makes , best on and off ball defender we have and makes plays on offense , gets to the foul line and will only get better the more games into the season. Has to protect the ball better .. We have missed him this year and for sure last year ( thanks again Bracky you sack of shit )
I agree we need to get ball into Reggie more in the blocks , but Aub defense makes it really hard to feed the post and most of the time Reggie doesn’t work for better position inside To make the enter pass into there
The young guys are going to have to play like sophomores and take their freshman diapers off sooner than later . We need some production from them and minutes. They are going to be very good tho

Auburn is a elite 8 team. They are a veteran team lots of seniors. That’s a huge deal in college hoops. They get to the foul line. They are super athletic and deep and play hard.. they have been to free throw line and made more free throws than everyone they have faced this year. We did a really good job at attacking the basket just didn’t make enough shots.



That was a chance for a huge resume win. It’s by no means a bad loss. But we don’t play LSU , Kentucky or Fla at home this year . So the margin for error is getting smaller and smaller.
Huge game in Tuscaloosa , we are going to have to win 3-4 roads games at least and this is one we need.

[MaroonFlounder]

This team will end up having to get 2 Ws in the SEC tournament to make the NCAA's.

It's depressing because Reggie is gone next year.

It's hard to build a competitive team if you're not on the UK model.

[Fred Garvin]

Auburn is a very good, experienced team full of Seniors. They didn’t make mistakes, whereas we made several especially on inbounds. We had no answer for McCormick. We’re a good team, but not as good as Auburn. Pearl gets so much out of his players.

[PGHBulldogBG]

I predicted 9-4 in non conference and 10-8 in SEC. I am going to hold that prediction since surprisingly I’ve picked every game right except I thought we would beat La Tech and lose to K State. Nothing has changed my opinion either way, but if we lose at Bama I am thinking we end up with a losing conference record and if that’s the case Howland needs to Stansbury retire

[parabrave]

Well this is old news but there seems to be no Rhyme or reason to our offense. We never work the ball or set up any "drive" plays to the basket. Its just seems that when Tyson gets the ball it's chunk it up and hope for the best So far Nick is playing like a 5 year old playing BB by himself in the backyard. Like Coach W said on the radio yesterday, Perry and Woodard are this teams playmakers and Ty and Nick need to feed them the ball. Plus we need to get Ado involved in the off more.

[missouridawg]

I still think our roster is 1-2 quality bench players away. Feazell and Oduro just aren?t ready for this. And Carter slumping is a problem.

I still think moving on from Howland would be a big mistake.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

I see people saying Auburn is a good team. That's 100% true but the fact is what me and 34 and others are pointing out has to do with us- not our competition. Lazy passes, poor coaching adjustments are independent of who we play.

Also yes Auburn is experienced, but so are we. Yet we make tons of stupid sloppy mistakes

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

I still think our roster is 1-2 quality bench players away. Feazell and Oduro just aren?t ready for this. And Carter slumping is a problem.

I still think moving on from Howland would be a big mistake.

But the problem isnt the bench guys: starters have no rhythm or chemistry or plan on O. Staters are making lazy passes. Poor in game coaching adjustments has nothing to with starters vs bench. I agree we have a hole when we take Perry out but my gosh man- we have 2 5*, 3 4*, and Molinar is a really good backup PG for a Fr. How much better of a roster do we need to make the tournament? We already have far more than most teams who make it

[basedog]

Carter is a big disappoint, hasn't been consistent and actually not a lot of improvement over 4 years. He should be a role player and play the 2 freshmen guys. Not blaming him, he is what he is.

We seem to shoot with a panic look, not much confidence more like I hope it goes in. I've coached folks that had that deer in head light look. We gotta play more offense in the paint.

Auburn player played with more confidence but they are a more experience team that knows they can and will win.

[tcdog70]

Dammit--we won't beat any Mfer when Tyson is 1 for 12. Spoon is fine. He played his ass off. he doesn't loaf. He takes it to the hole. We shot 33% and were just down 2 points with 6 minutes to go. We will be fine.

[R2Dawg]

I attended our game with Auburn yesterday and while I'm not a basketball savant as I am in football- a few things I see:

1. We are coached very well defensively. We may get lazy at times or commit a dumb foul- but we are coached very well at half-court M2M D. I wish we would trap more or throw a 1-3-1 at teams to force them to deal with a little something different from time to time- but with straight in your ass halfcourt man- Howland and staff does a good job.

2. That being said- I think it's a mistake in today's game that we dont change things a little with some traps or surprise full-court pressure. Maybe we will as we move thru the SEC schedule now that Spoon is back.

3. As well as we are coached defensively- we are Croom level of offense. Pearl and his group did a good job running some flex and variations off of it to get some open paint and easier buckets. We dont do that in any way, form, or fashion. It's weave or ball screen. Ball screen or weave. We limit our ceiling because of this. Too much hoping an athlete makes a play

4. Molinar should be playing more than Stewart- not the other way around. Molinar is going to be really good

5. Tyson Carter being in a shooting slump is killing us. Woodard being our best 3-point shooter right now is troublesome

6. We dont value the ball enough- and thus the turnovers. Some extremely senseless turnovers. We are way too nonchalant with the ball and in making passes.

7. Our in-bounds plays are awful and a sign of lazy coaching. What we are doing isnt working- fix it. Not only do we have little chance of scoring on an inbound play- we turn the ball over on them. It shouldnt be such a struggle to get the ball inbound.

8. Ado plays hard and is solid- but we arent going to throw it into him in the post. We skip that chance time after time. And I understand he is by no means an animal on the offensive end. So if we arent going to dump it down into him- we have to post up Reggie and Woodard more inside to get some advantages. When Reggie posts up he is hard to handle- but we dont do it near enough. Woodard tried a couple of times but Auburn matches up with him pretty well and made it tough on him. Dont give up on that- not every team matches up like Auburn does. So bottom line- either dump it in to Ado a little more- or get Reggie's ass down there more and let him. He is supposed to be an NBA talent- get it to him in the damn paint and let's see it

9. It's not time to panic. Nick is just getting his legs and Tyson is in a slump. We will be better. But we have other things to fix that would help offset the guard play.

10. #HailState

Good thoughts. I was at game as well. A few of mine.

We are very good on D. I too agree we need to mix up some press especially when bench comes in. They are fresh and they need some easy fast breaks to get in flow of game and give us some O. Spoon is just nasty on D end. If there is a better ball defender, I ain't seen him nowhere. He really shook AU up in the first half.

Our bench didn't bring much yesterday. AU guarded the ball on perimeter better. Every team we have struggled with this year has got in passing lanes and guarded perimeter very good. That is how AU won. That and we had some shooting woes.

I like Molinar but he had deer in the headlights yesterday as did DJ. First real big game for them against quicker guards. They will be OK. DJ is more a small forward than guard. Tough against smaller quicker guards. Tyson has similar problem in that he is to long going against those type guards. Nick about only one that can handle it. Molinar will in time.

Woodard has been our best 3 pt shooter for about 3 weeks. He is tearing it up. He is our best jump shooter period. Woodard is just a great, great player. At 6,7 not going to handle the ball against quick guards but he can do everything else you want a player to do.

Lazy dumb TO cost us. Spotted them 4 points as a gift right under basket. Very bad bball IQ. Must fix this or the season will be a major disappointment.

Perry has got to live in the paint. Him and Ado are a force. Ado brings the toughness we have been missing for a long time. Perry brings it when he wants to. Perry still trying to be the stretch 4 for the NBA. I'd limit Perry to just a few trips outside the lane per game.

I think Tysons slump is partly due to the 10 game burden of running point and now trying to settle in across from Spoon. He will get it back.

This team is very talented and can still make a serious run but must have an urgency like we saw the first 12-14 min of game. Man it was intense in the Hump.

Hail State

[R2Dawg]

Oh, one more note from game. Lots of AU people at game, sat by too many. AU now thinks they invented basketball. They did get the UK treatment in 2nd half. They had 10 fouls with about 13 or 14 min in game. I told my daughter watch they will not get one more foul called on them (I was serious but I thought being a little sarcastic). Wow I was correct, not one more foul. It was UK bad.

Refs are not why we lost the game but the officiating at times was out of control. One minute a mugging occurs and no foul the next, a player looked at him wrong and a foul? That is very hard on players to adjust to. AU had some as well but they generally benefited as they pressured the ball more but we did benefit some with inside play.
Controlling the game is the toughest part for officials (I have played and officiated basketball) so I speak from personal experience. Spells of yesterdays game frustrated me in that respect.

[OLJWales]

19 replies in 4 hours means time to not give a 17 edition. The coach and players don't give a 17 so surprisingly, the fans don't either. How shocking.

[Percho]

I attended our game with Auburn yesterday and while I'm not a basketball savant as I am in football- a few things I see:

1. We are coached very well defensively. We may get lazy at times or commit a dumb foul- but we are coached very well at half-court M2M D. I wish we would trap more or throw a 1-3-1 at teams to force them to deal with a little something different from time to time- but with straight in your ass halfcourt man- Howland and staff does a good job.

2. That being said- I think it's a mistake in today's game that we dont change things a little with some traps or surprise full-court pressure. Maybe we will as we move thru the SEC schedule now that Spoon is back.

3. As well as we are coached defensively- we are Croom level of offense. Pearl and his group did a good job running some flex and variations off of it to get some open paint and easier buckets. We dont do that in any way, form, or fashion. It's weave or ball screen. Ball screen or weave. We limit our ceiling because of this. Too much hoping an athlete makes a play

4. Molinar should be playing more than Stewart- not the other way around. Molinar is going to be really good

5. Tyson Carter being in a shooting slump is killing us. Woodard being our best 3-point shooter right now is troublesome

6. We dont value the ball enough- and thus the turnovers. Some extremely senseless turnovers. We are way too nonchalant with the ball and in making passes.

7. Our in-bounds plays are awful and a sign of lazy coaching. What we are doing isnt working- fix it. Not only do we have little chance of scoring on an inbound play- we turn the ball over on them. It shouldnt be such a struggle to get the ball inbound.

8. Ado plays hard and is solid- but we arent going to throw it into him in the post. We skip that chance time after time. And I understand he is by no means an animal on the offensive end. So if we arent going to dump it down into him- we have to post up Reggie and Woodard more inside to get some advantages. When Reggie posts up he is hard to handle- but we dont do it near enough. Woodard tried a couple of times but Auburn matches up with him pretty well and made it tough on him. Dont give up on that- not every team matches up like Auburn does. So bottom line- either dump it in to Ado a little more- or get Reggie's ass down there more and let him. He is supposed to be an NBA talent- get it to him in the damn paint and let's see it

9. It's not time to panic. Nick is just getting his legs and Tyson is in a slump. We will be better. But we have other things to fix that would help offset the guard play.

10. #HailState

We have 0 inbound plays.

[maroonmania]

I try to watch our team play whenever I can but unlike football and baseball I guess I am just no longer emotionally invested in basketball like I used to be. I expected to lose yesterday and it didn't really bother me when we did. We have the talent to be a much better team than we are but we do not look well coached on offense and we are a one trick pony on defense with the man to man. We never give anybody a different look to mess up their rhythm. Right now I would say its very much 50/50 on whether we sneak into the NCAA tournament after dropping game to La Tech and NMSU. We probably need to win 10 conference games at this point and maybe even the one non-conference game we have left.

[Irondawg]

The problem we have is that Carter isn’t good enough to create his own shot against good teams and Nick is not good at setting up other and had probably the ugliest jump shot of any guard in D1. We don’t have guards that run the show and Howland isn’t bothering to recruit any of those types either.

As mentioned before he had to find a talented offensive assistant and hand the reigns over there

[TALL DAWG]

Dammit--we won't beat any Mfer when Tyson is 1 for 12. Spoon is fine. He played his ass off. he doesn't loaf. He takes it to the hole. We shot 33% and were just down 2 points with 6 minutes to go. We will be fine.

IF we don?t shoot the damn ball much better (a lot of our shoots were open looks) and STOP with the awful turnovers on inbound plays (looks like something from Jr high) we are NOT going to be fine! If we had made 5 more shots in first half we?d had a 10-12 point lead at the half. We had a stretch in first half when we went something like 1 for 17 but still lead by 1 or 2 pts.

[TALL DAWG]

IF we don?t shoot the damn ball much better (a lot of our shoots were open looks) and STOP with the awful turnovers on inbound plays (looks like something from Jr high) we are NOT going to be fine! If we had made 5 more shots in first half we?d had a 10-12 point lead at the half. We had a stretch in first half when we went something like 1 for 17 but still lead by 1 or 2 pts.

And, had our best crowd of the year yesterday so we can’t blame it on that.

[tcdog70]

IF we don?t shoot the damn ball much better (a lot of our shoots were open looks) and STOP with the awful turnovers on inbound plays (looks like something from Jr high) we are NOT going to be fine! If we had made 5 more shots in first half we?d had a 10-12 point lead at the half. We had a stretch in first half when we went something like 1 for 17 but still lead by 1 or 2 pts.

Did you read what I said. Carter can't shoot like shit and we win. You said we had wide open looks-so I guess our offense wasn't to bad. Richard Williams once said you look a lot better I'd you make shots? 33% won't beat a top ten team.

[Ari Gold]

We are averaging 73 points a game
You can not shoot as poorly as we did sat and beat really good teams.

It is time to get concerned because we don’t have any wins that are big time resume wins..
A good start is a road win in T town... all and any road wins in the sec will be quality wins ..