We did a lot right in that game that you have to do to beat State. Don't give up transition baskets; hustle back on defense. We did that. Don't give Goins open looks at the three point line. We shut him down. Make life as tough as possible for Winston. We did; he worked very hard for his 14 points. Recall him being blanketed by Livers on a drive and somehow reached around and banked it in; On that deciding basket late, Teske got a hand on the shot but Winston somehow forced it in. X did a great job staying in front of Winston.
Watching that game, I was thinking that we were playing well and the better team. Somehow it slipped away. MSU had 64 possessions; we had 57. We scored slightly better than 1 point per possession. MSU scored slightly LESS than 1 ppp. As noted above, our defense was very good. I don't think that MSU played many games at less than 1 ppp. We shot 41%; MSU shot 40%. Even three point shooting was not that different - 9-23 for them, 8-25 for us. It's the extra possessions that were key. They had 7 more possessions, based on the fact that they had 8 more offensive rebounds. The 50/50 balls we didn't get, not keeping a body on Tillman.
The game was about as even as it could be. A few plays were the difference, whether it's Winston making an impossible shot, McQuaid hitting a couple more threes than his average, an offensive rebound after a good defensive stop, shot selection by us. Beilein won't call out a player, but Poole was 2-9 on threes, and that was a function of shot selection.
No game could be a better example of how a few plays not made, a few bad shots missed, can cost you a win against a quality opponent. Football coaches will often say that the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win. They're not just talking about fumbles or interceptions or missed tackles. All of the mental errors and failures to execute that fans don't even notice add up. It's the same with basketball.
We have come an awful long way this season from the games in Spain through pre-season and 34 games, including 24 B1G games. Teske has exceeded all reasonable expectations. X has become a consummate floor general. Iggy has exploded on the scene. Livers is coming into his own as a special player. Poole had a bad game reverting to some bad habits vs.MSU, but he had two really efficient games against Iowa and Minny. This is a very fine top 10 team that has not reached it's ceiling. That's the takeaway for me from the BTT.
Watching that game, I was thinking that we were playing well and the better team. Somehow it slipped away. MSU had 64 possessions; we had 57. We scored slightly better than 1 point per possession. MSU scored slightly LESS than 1 ppp. As noted above, our defense was very good. I don't think that MSU played many games at less than 1 ppp. We shot 41%; MSU shot 40%. Even three point shooting was not that different - 9-23 for them, 8-25 for us. It's the extra possessions that were key. They had 7 more possessions, based on the fact that they had 8 more offensive rebounds. The 50/50 balls we didn't get, not keeping a body on Tillman.
The game was about as even as it could be. A few plays were the difference, whether it's Winston making an impossible shot, McQuaid hitting a couple more threes than his average, an offensive rebound after a good defensive stop, shot selection by us. Beilein won't call out a player, but Poole was 2-9 on threes, and that was a function of shot selection.
No game could be a better example of how a few plays not made, a few bad shots missed, can cost you a win against a quality opponent. Football coaches will often say that the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win. They're not just talking about fumbles or interceptions or missed tackles. All of the mental errors and failures to execute that fans don't even notice add up. It's the same with basketball.
We have come an awful long way this season from the games in Spain through pre-season and 34 games, including 24 B1G games. Teske has exceeded all reasonable expectations. X has become a consummate floor general. Iggy has exploded on the scene. Livers is coming into his own as a special player. Poole had a bad game reverting to some bad habits vs.MSU, but he had two really efficient games against Iowa and Minny. This is a very fine top 10 team that has not reached it's ceiling. That's the takeaway for me from the BTT.
