It's not the loss. Like everything else MSU, it's how we looked doing it. We have too much talent to be a boring assed team that can't break 60. It is what it is.
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The bad shooting last night doesn't really bother me. I think that was probably a fluke. It was our inability to solve their defense or to compete in the paint that took the air out of my sales. That reeks of past years under Howland, and as many people have pointed out, I see no reason for that to change. He is what he is. Maybe the players will figure it out for themselves, but that's asking a lot. That's the coach's job. It just kills me to think about this team underachieving the way so many others have just because we have a coach that can't figure out how to make the most of what he's got. But that said, I really do like these players, so maybe there's still hope.
You must not have watched the whole game. There was way more going on than just bad shooting. And there was a reason for the bad shooting.
Tolu hasn't played a game in a about a year. Why start him in his first game back against a quality opponent? That's a poor coaching decision. I'm very worried about forcing Tolu and Brooks on the floor together. Those guys are 5's.
I watched the 1st half, it was a bad game period, games like this happen but you can't shoot the ball like that and win no matter who you are playing against. As I said in another post I'm not sold on Tolu and Brooks playing together yet either... I have to see more games before I make a decision on that. But they can both score and rebound and that can be a problem for other teams. Howland just has to figure a way to make it work, that's why he gets paid what he does
Dayton, who lost to umass Lowell, lipscomb, and Austin peay, just beat #4 Kansas. Perhaps judging teams by 1 game early in the season isn't an exact science
Bill Self is obviously stuck in the 80s and the game has passed him by.
State needs to hire the next young and upcoming coach that never loses a game. I am sure when we get him he will be impressed with our fan base that doesn't care about basketball yet bitch about it every time we lose and our impressive 4/5 empty arena for big home games.
The game was played in Baha Mar Convention, Arts & Entertainment Center with a low ceiling. Maybe our players, unlike Louisville, could not adjust to that venue? Howland has a lot of pieces to work with and last night none of our players actually had a good game. One early season loss to a good team, does not mean fire Cohen and Howland, but some will probably have that mentality.
It's also not just this loss. It's that we do this sh*t every year. This is a consistent pattern under Howland. This team will probably start playing up to their potential at the end of the season, but by then we'll have ruined our chances for the tournament, or at least a good enough seed to have a good run in the tournament. The early season matters in basketball too, and we're never prepared.
Howland is not getting fired anytime soon. He would need to really blow it and go like 6-12 or worse in the SEC which I don?t think will happen just based on talent alone. I think we go 10-3 in non conference and 10-8 in SEC and we get in as about a 9 or 10 seed.
Bottom line is losses like the ones to Louisville are what keep you out come selection Sunday.