Just back from BB game, thoughts on performances.......

99jc · Nov 17, 2008

JV-What can you say 10 blocks in the 1st half. Was a beast in the paint especially 1st half. Needs to improve offensive game.
Bost--Will be a great PG. Looked smooth tonight. Hit some NBA 3's, does not drive to the basket enough yet. Passing very good. Better 3 shooter than Jamont was.
Ravern-Hit some nice 3's played good defense. Could be a star in the near future.
Barry- Played a quiet game scored a lot more than you thought. Defense was good. Just very steady tonight.
Kodi-Improved the most from game 1 to game 2. Showed some low post presence we will need to replace Charles Rhodes. But he ain't no Rhodes yet. Still
looked good.
Osby- Still looked lost but showed some flashes.
Bailey- Out of control but did show a couple low post moves. But should quit trying to dribble when he is down in the paint.
Benock-played decent defense but did not look good offensively.

2 areas that need to improve fast. Low post scoring and driving to the basket other than that no real complaints for the 2nd game of the season.

Croomp · Nov 17, 2008

The second team we sub in does a better job of getting the ball into the post. But our first strings perimeter game is solid. If Bost, Stewart, and Johnson can carry each other and Kodi can hit a three if he needs as he has shown.I realy like Elgin the guy is a crowd pleaser and he puts forth a lot of effort. Varnado had no offense tonight but just watching him and how the other team is so focused on him really sets us up for the 3 pt shot.

3000lbchicken · Nov 17, 2008

GoState05 · Nov 17, 2008

99jc said:

Bailey- Out of control but did show a couple low post moves. But should quit trying to dribble when he is down in the paint.

Isn't this somewhat of a common occurrence among our big guys?

drummer8806 · Nov 17, 2008

I think this team has a long way to go if they're going to beat any good teams this year. There was a nearly complete lack of half-court offense and we hardly ever fed the post both of which must improve. On a positive note, the team seems to be much deeper than in the last couple of years and we seem to be able to run the floor pretty well. We'll see how those couple of things shape up as the season progresses. I'm going to have patience with them since there are so many new starters and new roles so I'll just watch as everything progresses. With regard to the players, I think Dee is going to be a streaky shooter this year because of his lack of follow through on his release. As far as Elgin is concerned, I'm not really sure why he is such a crowd favorite as he has a horrible shooting touch and routinely tries to do more than he is capable of doing. Jarvis still won't score a whole lot, but it seems as though he'll block about as many shots as last year. Ravern could be a good one because nobody will challenge his shot on the perimeter and he has flashed the ability to score off the dribble. Barry played well overall. He didn't try to do too much, took good shots, played solid defense. I hope that's how he plays all year. Kodi played better than I expected and hopefully he will finally play as well as he looks like he should be able to play (I hope that makes sense). Romero is very talented but it's going to be a little while before he plays as well as he is capable of playing. Benock did what I hope he does for the rest of the year except that I hope he makes the shots he takes. Overall a nice effort for his first two games. Phil does not need to play point guard. Hopefully Twany comes back and fills the backup role soon. He's a pretty good defender, though.

MissStFan87 · Nov 17, 2008

drummer8806 said:
Benock did what I hope he does for the rest of the year except that I hope he makes the shots he takes.

I hope all our players make the shots they take.

vandaldawg · Nov 18, 2008

Rhodes and Gordon were routine 20 pt + per game scorers last year. I don't see a single player on the roster who will do that on a regular basis. Ravern is the only one I see on the floor who may become the type of player that can take over a game. Maybe Bost by the end of the season. Nobody else.

When the SEC schedule rolls around that spells some close losses to teams we usually beat, and some blowouts by teams we usually battle closely.

We are no doubt a "next year" team. I'd be thrilled with an NIT bid.

bizZaX · Nov 18, 2008

vandaldawg said:
Rhodes and Gordon were routine 20 pt + per game scorers last year. I don't see a single player on the roster who will do that on a regular basis. Ravern is the only one I see on the floor who may become the type of player that can take over a game. Maybe Bost by the end of the season. Nobody else.

When the SEC schedule rolls around that spells some close losses to teams we usually beat, and some blowouts by teams we usually battle closely.

We are no doubt a "next year" team. I'd be thrilled with an NIT bid.

Those type of players come once a decade. its not a every year thing that you get this talent. I say a NCAA tourney bid over Ole Miss, Plus, the SEC will get their usual 6-7 teams in. I say we will give Bama a run for the West, even though they got beat by Mercer. Auburn will be solid, but the west might go to LSU as well. I really think this team can do some good things, If you look at what we have and compare it to other teams, were not close. But Barry has proven he can score 20+, Ravern is a solid shooter, and Jarvis blocks anything close to the rim. We will no doubt be defined by defense and will live games hopefully coming up with stops and playing good D in the halfcourt. Dee bost is a solid point.

Shmuley · Nov 18, 2008

Dear BizZaX,

Please speak for yourself.

Sincerely,

John Calipari

Xenomorph · Nov 18, 2008

17, 17, 15, 11, 4, 25, 22, 16, 10, 10, 14, 26, DNP, DNP, DNP, 8, 12, 26, 11, 15, 17, 17, 24, 13, 24, 30, 15, 22, 27, 15, 22, 34, 14

Those are game-by-game total points for Rhodes last year. It shows a trend that was present his entire career. He coasted during stretches of every season. There's a reason a guy only scores 4 points against a terrible Southern Illinois team and then goes off for 30 against South Carolina later in the season. When he felt the game mattered he was a beast. When he didn't, he was average.

Every team loses players they can't imagine doing without. I like this team's demeanor on the court more than at any time during our last 3 years. But.... having said that, I see an NIT bid in our future too.

patdog · Nov 18, 2008

I'd take his 20 ppg average over the last 16 games any day, and he was only below 15 points 3 times in that stretch (one of those being 14 vs. a pretty good Memphis team).

Bulldog Backer · Nov 18, 2008

99jc said:
JV-What can you say 10 blocks in the 1st half. Was a beast in the paint especially 1st half. Needs to improve offensive game.
Bost--Will be a great PG. Looked smooth tonight. Hit some NBA 3's, does not drive to the basket enough yet. Passing very good. Better 3 shooter than Jamont was.
Ravern-Hit some nice 3's played good defense. Could be a star in the near future.
Barry- Played a quiet game scored a lot more than you thought. Defense was good. Just very steady tonight.
Kodi-Improved the most from game 1 to game 2. Showed some low post presence we will need to replace Charles Rhodes. But he ain't no Rhodes yet. Still
looked good.
Osby- Still looked lost but showed some flashes.
Bailey- Out of control but did show a couple low post moves. But should quit trying to dribble when he is down in the paint.
Benock-played decent defense but did not look good offensively.

2 areas that need to improve fast. Low post scoring and driving to the basket other than that no real complaints for the 2nd game of the season.

I agree with most of your assessments. At this point in the still young season, I have the same two concerns. In this second game, we were almost exclusively a perimeter team in the first half, Rick recognized that, and it seemed we really tried to work the ball inside the second half, but La-Monroe was playing "hack a shaq" with Jarvis and our other big guys. As soon as they got the ball inside, they were hacked. Monroe had 4 guys 6-7 or more who had either 3 or 4 fouls. Kodi Augustus did look improved. He was taking the ball to the rim more, rather than being timid like the first game. What I also noticed is that this team is really playing within their roles. We are missing both Brian Johnson and Twany Beckham. Phil is playing out of position at the PG. Twany would give us better backup there. We need Brian's muscle down low. From first blush, this is a better "team" than last year. Someone also mentioned in this thread we had no "dependable 20+ point scorers," and, frankly, I'd rather see 5 guys average double digits than 2.

captaindawg · Nov 18, 2008

Jarvis can score more than he did last night. He was getting double teamed everytime he had the ball. He even made the comment that Kodi and the perimeter players were playing well so there was no need for him to score. That said we could really use a bruising scorer down low next year. R Sidney and/or K Gallon could play a major scoring role due in their first year. Jarvis, Romero and Kodi are more face the basket type players and Elgin does not have the offense skill necessary to consistently score in the paint.

mstateglfr · Nov 18, 2008

vandaldawg said:
Rhodes and Gordon were routine 20 pt + per game scorers last year. I don't see a single player on the roster who will do that on a regular basis. Ravern is the only one I see on the floor who may become the type of player that can take over a game. Maybe Bost by the end of the season. Nobody else.

When the SEC schedule rolls around that spells some close losses to teams we usually beat, and some blowouts by teams we usually battle closely.

We are no doubt a "next year" team. I'd be thrilled with an NIT bid.

and yet, the last 3 NCAA champions have been teams with balanced scoring.
look at the ppg averages of both Florida teams. there were 5 players who averaged between 11 and 14.2ppg and the next season they had 4 players who all hovered between 12-13.3ppg. nobody dominated scoring night in and night out.
Kansas was the same way. 4 players who averaged between 11.2 and 13.3ppg last season.

now im not at all comparing the talent ro ability of this MSU team to any of those 3 championship teams. all im saying is that teams can win night in and night out even without a dominant scorer.

Stormrider81 · Nov 18, 2008

"Barry has proven he can score 20+"

Barry has proven he can't hit open shots.

"I say we will give Bama a run for the West"

I just can't see us seriously challenging for the West. We will have a rough first half of the SEC schedule. We'll get better in the second half, but we will be lucky to get a NIT bid. We lost most of our scoring from last year. The last time that happened we ended our season at the SECT. When the chips are down and we need scoring in tough spots against tough teams, we are going to have to learn how to cope without being able to depend on Jamont and C-Rhodes. I think some folks need to calm down and realize this will be a down year.

icedawg · Nov 18, 2008

whether or not a Stansbury-coached team can adjust to not having a dominant inside when-you-absolutely-have-to-have-a-basket scoring threat like Austin/Roberts/Rhodes. This is not intended as a knock on Rick but I don't see Varnardo or B. Johnson filling that role.

Coach34 · Nov 18, 2008

"We will have a rough first half of the SEC schedule"

Yep, and with a young team at that. Everybody needs to appreciate the young talent we have, watch them mature throughout the season, and hope for an NIT bid in March. Then, pray they all stay and we dont have a bunch of transfers

lawdawg02 · Nov 18, 2008

But Barry has proven he can score 20+,

the problem is, he hasn't proven that he can score with consistency. and, i would not exactly say a guy who scores 20+ a couple of times each year is a "proven 20 point scorer".

hopefully he will be this year, because we need him to be. i just don't think he's the guy with the ball at the end of games, the way jamont or timmy b were.

lawdawg02 · Nov 18, 2008

Kodi-Improved the most from game 1 to game 2. Showed some low post presence we will need to replace Charles Rhodes. But he ain't no Rhodes yet. Still
looked good.

if you're waiting for Kodi to play like rhodes, you will be waiting a long time. rhodes was unstoppable when he wanted to be in the post. kodi is learning how to play in the post. i like how kodi plays, and it'll help this team a lot if he can be an effective 4. but i doubt he will be the same type player as rhodes.

fishwater99 · Nov 18, 2008

[b said:
drummer8806[/b]]There was a nearly complete lack of half-court offense

How is this any different than any of Stans teams in the past... We run the Motion.......

This team will show some flashes of the future, but we will be hard pressed to finish .500 in the SEC and a NIT bid.
Jarvis is not an offensive player, no matter what he says.
We will live and die by the 3-pointer and that is not good.

When does baseball season start?

patdog · Nov 18, 2008

The West might be even more down than it was 2 years ago when we won it at 8-8. I could see us winning it at 8-8 again this year.

Just back from BB game, thoughts on performances.......

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