1. Let's get it out of the way--I didn't like benching Iggy Brazdeikis for the last 10 minutes of the first half, especially with Isaiah Livers off the floor. Doing that robbed us of some valuable offensive momentum. Given the way the refs called the game, it might have protected him for awhile--he did foul out in less than 25 minutes on the floor, but we needed to strike at the time, and we didn't.
2. That said, anyone we played Brazdeikis until he fouled out with a minute worth of sitting, played Teske for the whole second half with a minute exception (these until the game was over), and we got our asses kicked. In other words, for all that anyone wants to scream about the lineups, and I did above, the "right" lineup got destroyed when it mattered. Absolutely destroyed. Yeah, momentum, but when you're up 6 at the half, and score on the first possession of the second half, there should be no momentum issue.
3. Other than Iggy, our top of the line players sucked. Zavier Simpson was 3-13 from the floor, and let himself get screened way too often, forcing Teske to guard Winston on the drive and getting him off the Schneider. Jordan Poole hit some 3s, but reverted to lapses defensively and standing around on offense. Jon Teske never got started on either end of the floor. Isaiah Livers was non-existent. When your second best player in the game is Eli Brooks, that's not going to be good.
4. I was really disappointed in our rebounding tonight, as well as our getting to 50/50 balls. They got to all of the ones that mattered in the second half, as they did in the first game. Last year, we seemed to get those balls. This year, they got to everything.
5. For all of those who thought we were better without Charles Matthews, think again. Charles' ability to guard any perimeter player, including Winston, would have been nice, as would have his ability to, when he's on, hit mid-range jumpers we were getting and missing.
6. Xavier Tillman buried us tonight. Absolutely buried us. Jon Teske has been great all year, but he can't guard a guy with Tillman's quickness. And we couldn't exploit the mismatch on the other end. If you're looking for the problem match-up for us in the NCAA tournament, it's not the team with the post-up guy, it's the team with the shorter, more mobile center. PSU, in the second game, did what MSU did tonight--go small, get Big Jon in space, and play off of that. Maybe with a healthy Matthews, we can match them going small with Livers out there, but Livers has to be more engaged than he was tonight, and Charles has to be available.
7. Cassius Winston is spectacular. Simpson is an all-world defensive player, and has shut down guys like UNC's White, Carsen Edwards, Anthony Cowan, etc., but Winston did what he needed to do in the second half. In other games, X has scored on Winston. Tonight, he didn't. Last year, Simpson won the match-up twice. All year long, the mantra has been that whomever won the PG match-up won the game. This year, Winston won it twice.
8. David DeJulius has a long way to go. I know he hasn't played much this year, but in 80+ minutes, he has 2 assists. 2. That's from a guy playing PG. He's got some real upside, but he's got to get rid of the tunnel vision.
9. MSU's defense is designed to let certain guys shoot the ball from the perimeter, as they did with Teske and Simpson, and give mid-range shots to the other guys. Neither is a very good perimeter shooter, but tonight, on 5 wide open attempts, they had 3 airballs and 2 others which weren't close. You've got to at least make 1 or 2 of those, and if they happen early, the game changes dramatically.
10. With a few exceptions, I didn't think the reffing was the issue tonight. We got more fouls, but we deserved a lot of them. For some reason, MSU did to us what no other team has done all season--punch us in the mouth and watch us wilt. If we play them again, and that's a real possibility in the BTT, we have to find a way to reverse that. Again, a healthy Matthews would help.
11. I'm very disappointed--that game was there for the taking. However, this season is going to be judged by whether we're still playing during the second week of the NCAA tournament, and that was going to be the case whether we won or lost tonight. Give MSU credit--they played great against us twice this year, just as we did against them twice last year. The key is not to let this change our focus. There's still a lot to play for, and if we play well and advance, that's going to be the legacy of the season.
2. That said, anyone we played Brazdeikis until he fouled out with a minute worth of sitting, played Teske for the whole second half with a minute exception (these until the game was over), and we got our asses kicked. In other words, for all that anyone wants to scream about the lineups, and I did above, the "right" lineup got destroyed when it mattered. Absolutely destroyed. Yeah, momentum, but when you're up 6 at the half, and score on the first possession of the second half, there should be no momentum issue.
3. Other than Iggy, our top of the line players sucked. Zavier Simpson was 3-13 from the floor, and let himself get screened way too often, forcing Teske to guard Winston on the drive and getting him off the Schneider. Jordan Poole hit some 3s, but reverted to lapses defensively and standing around on offense. Jon Teske never got started on either end of the floor. Isaiah Livers was non-existent. When your second best player in the game is Eli Brooks, that's not going to be good.
4. I was really disappointed in our rebounding tonight, as well as our getting to 50/50 balls. They got to all of the ones that mattered in the second half, as they did in the first game. Last year, we seemed to get those balls. This year, they got to everything.
5. For all of those who thought we were better without Charles Matthews, think again. Charles' ability to guard any perimeter player, including Winston, would have been nice, as would have his ability to, when he's on, hit mid-range jumpers we were getting and missing.
6. Xavier Tillman buried us tonight. Absolutely buried us. Jon Teske has been great all year, but he can't guard a guy with Tillman's quickness. And we couldn't exploit the mismatch on the other end. If you're looking for the problem match-up for us in the NCAA tournament, it's not the team with the post-up guy, it's the team with the shorter, more mobile center. PSU, in the second game, did what MSU did tonight--go small, get Big Jon in space, and play off of that. Maybe with a healthy Matthews, we can match them going small with Livers out there, but Livers has to be more engaged than he was tonight, and Charles has to be available.
7. Cassius Winston is spectacular. Simpson is an all-world defensive player, and has shut down guys like UNC's White, Carsen Edwards, Anthony Cowan, etc., but Winston did what he needed to do in the second half. In other games, X has scored on Winston. Tonight, he didn't. Last year, Simpson won the match-up twice. All year long, the mantra has been that whomever won the PG match-up won the game. This year, Winston won it twice.
8. David DeJulius has a long way to go. I know he hasn't played much this year, but in 80+ minutes, he has 2 assists. 2. That's from a guy playing PG. He's got some real upside, but he's got to get rid of the tunnel vision.
9. MSU's defense is designed to let certain guys shoot the ball from the perimeter, as they did with Teske and Simpson, and give mid-range shots to the other guys. Neither is a very good perimeter shooter, but tonight, on 5 wide open attempts, they had 3 airballs and 2 others which weren't close. You've got to at least make 1 or 2 of those, and if they happen early, the game changes dramatically.
10. With a few exceptions, I didn't think the reffing was the issue tonight. We got more fouls, but we deserved a lot of them. For some reason, MSU did to us what no other team has done all season--punch us in the mouth and watch us wilt. If we play them again, and that's a real possibility in the BTT, we have to find a way to reverse that. Again, a healthy Matthews would help.
11. I'm very disappointed--that game was there for the taking. However, this season is going to be judged by whether we're still playing during the second week of the NCAA tournament, and that was going to be the case whether we won or lost tonight. Give MSU credit--they played great against us twice this year, just as we did against them twice last year. The key is not to let this change our focus. There's still a lot to play for, and if we play well and advance, that's going to be the legacy of the season.
