Quality freshman class

[LansingCat_rivals315357]

I love what I'm seeing in our freshman class this year.
Benson is hustling , blocking out , running the floor , grabbing rebounds , and showing that he can be an offensive presence .
Brown has been key with ballhandling , has a nice shot , and will I think become our floor leader.
Things to continue a trend of outstanding recruiting classes from Coach Collins .

 

[Deeringfish]

I love what I'm seeing in our freshman class this year.
Benson is hustling , blocking out , running the floor , grabbing rebounds , and showing that he can be an offensive presence .
Brown has been key with ballhandling , has a nice shot , and will I think become our floor leader.
Things to continue a trend of outstanding recruiting classes from Coach Collins .

It is a pretty good sign. It is not like they are taking over games or anything but they don't appear to be laying any big eggs either. The Benson time is unexpected due to Pardon's injury but I think will pay dividends later when Pardon comes back and next year.

 

[willycat]

I love what I'm seeing in our freshman class this year.
Benson is hustling , blocking out , running the floor , grabbing rebounds , and showing that he can be an offensive presence .
Brown has been key with ballhandling , has a nice shot , and will I think become our floor leader.
Things to continue a trend of outstanding recruiting classes from Coach Collins .

Also the #1 recruit in this class is red shirting due to injury.

 

[Medill90]

good OP

Thought Benson showed real progress yesterday and wasn't a deficit

Brown is getting better and better...without him playing the 2nd half yesterday the Cats may have lost

 

[Hungry Jack]

Is there any question among us about Collins' ability to recruit?

 

[NJCat]

Is there any question among us about Collins' ability to recruit?

Nope. Only 1 miss among the players he has signed.

 

[chicagocatfan24]

Talked to Pardon after the game. He said he'll be back after the 1st of the year. Exact quote

 

[NJCat]

Talked to Pardon after the game. He said he'll be back after the 1st of the year. Exact quote

That's great to hear!

 

[GeorgiaCat]

Talked to Pardon after the game. He said he'll be back after the 1st of the year. Exact quote

I hate to be overly pedantic, but that just means he won't be back before the 1st of the year. Worst case, he doesn't return until next season, which is "after the 1st of the year." So until we finally hear Pardon will be back by a certain date, we can't count on anything.

 

[SmellyCat]

I hate to be overly pedantic, but that just means he won't be back before the 1st of the year. Worst case, he doesn't return until next season, which is "after the 1st of the year."

I thought the same thing. Reminds me of the old movie Gremlins - "don't feed them after midnight" - isn't it ALWAYS after midnight?

 

[IdahoAlum]

I doubt anybody knows exactly when he'll be back until they remove the cast and do x-rays.

 

[chicagocatfan24]

I thought the same thing. Reminds me of the old movie Gremlins - "don't feed them after midnight" - isn't it ALWAYS after midnight?

Okay I lied. He said "right after the first of the year". He should be back in a few weeks

 

[Deeringfish]

I doubt anybody knows exactly when he'll be back until they remove the cast and do x-rays.

I tried to get a look at the cast on TV and it looked like the kind that with velcro that you can take on and off so it would be easy for them to be monitor progress with X-rays now.

When I broke my thumb at the very proximal end of the bone that you would say connects to the heal of my hand. The break was like a pencil snapped in half. The surgery was amazing in that they never opened me up. By using MRI technology, they put screws through my skin into the bone to manipulate it into place then two screws were put diagonally to draw the pieces together, much like toe nailing a stud into a floor plate. I never had a plaster cast.

We don't know the nature of Pardon's injury but if it was a hair line fracture that wasn't displaced, it would seem possible for him to be back for January 1. I would worry that his and will be stiff for a while.

 

[Catreporter]

The bad news is he won't be back in time for those first two BIG road games at Penn State and at Michigan State. Don't like our chances without him in EITHER game. PSU demolished St. Johns in the Garden on Sunday. They are very athletic and have a mobile big center.

 

[NJCat]

The bad news is he won't be back in time for those first two BIG road games at Penn State and at Michigan State. Don't like our chances without him in EITHER game. PSU demolished St. Johns in the Garden on Sunday. They are very athletic and have a mobile big center.

St. Johns is horrible. As long as NU plays the lock down defense they have been playing, I like the Cats chances in both games.

 

[Catreporter]

As long as NU plays the lock down defense they have been playing, I like the Cats chances in both games.

Hope you are right!

 

[Pete Purple]

If there's a silver lining, I like that the rest of the team is being battle tested wo him. The team is learning how to play better with various combinations of players and they'll need that when Pardon fouls out at a critical point down the stretch. Obviously I'm nervous, but the current team can win those games.

I rewatched the Dayton game and the 2nd half didn't look as bad as it did to me in real time (usually the case for me). Other than all the turnovers it looked more like Dayton earned every bit of that comeback, as opposed to us giving it to them. I think we played about 35 minutes of solid bball.

 

[backdoorpass]

I rewatched the Dayton game and the 2nd half didn't look as bad as it did to me in real time (usually the case for me). Other than all the turnovers it looked more like Dayton earned every bit of that comeback, as opposed to us giving it to them. I think we played about 35 minutes of solid bball.

For me, the 1st half of the Dayton game actually didn't look as good as I hoped watching it after the fact. I suppose a lot of that falls on my expectations of BMac. He had the first 3 turnovers of the game--and 4 total in the first half (8 in the game).

BMac was pretty great in OOC play his first 2 seasons...and then sort of petered out as the last 2 B1G conference seasons wore on. This season, BMac has played pretty poorly and shot really poorly for the past month, starting with the Notre Dame game on Nov. 22. During that stretch, with the exception of the 2nd half of the Wake Forest game, BMac is 21-74 (28%) from the floor and 5-27 (18.5%) beyond the arc. That's a bad 6.5 game stretch. Let's hope the law of averages is at play and BMac turns things around in a big way during B1G play.

Still, I am pleased with where we are as a team overall so far this season. And I am optimistic about hearing our name on Selection Sunday! Go 'Cats!

 

[hdhntr1]

I hate to be overly pedantic, but that just means he won't be back before the 1st of the year. Worst case, he doesn't return until next season, which is "after the 1st of the year." So until we finally hear Pardon will be back by a certain date, we can't count on anything.

It was a break, not tendons or ligaments. Breaks take 6 weeks, not 6 months. First of the year is about 4-5 weeks. One unfortunate thing is this year we have 2 BIG games before the end of the year.

 

[xxxbobxxx]

Also the #1 recruit in this class is red shirting due to injury.

With the last two big guys targeted for red-shirt and removing it involuntarily - I would really like to see at least one more big in the incoming class. Or a 5th year transfer big guy. Even two would be cool.

Seems like CCC would prefer to recruit bigs that can RS a year to add bulk and experience but has not been able to do so. I think it is a good idea and would like to see it work.

 

[mikewebb68]

Hope you are right!

Penn State is arguably the second worst team in the BIG. Not impossible to lose, but their home team advantage is typically next to nil (especially with the students out), and we will be substantial favorites to win, even on the road. Michigan State is another story; think they will be a slight favorite at home but we certainly have an excellent chance to go 2-0.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

Penn State is arguably the second worst team in the BIG. Not impossible to lose, but their home team advantage is typically next to nil (especially with the students out), and we will be substantial favorites to win, even on the road.

They got us at W/R last season, didn't they? I don't take a single conference game for granted...

 

[mikewebb68]

They got us at W/R last season, didn't they? I don't take a single conference game for granted...

We certainly cannot take a singe conference games for granted; all teams, even lolRutgers are amazingly inside the KenPom top 120. But that Penn State home game last year was a unicorn game where we shot something like 2-25 from 3... I don;t see that happening again with this team...

 

[DaCat]

We certainly cannot take a singe conference games for granted; all teams, even lolRutgers are amazingly inside the KenPom top 120. But that Penn State home game last year was a unicorn game where we shot something like 2-25 from 3... I don;t see that happening again with this team...

Never say never, especially with the Cats. That second half against Dayton was pretty ugly, and same for the CSU game. And Ped State always seems to play well against us. I see us winning, but the suspense remains high.