What makes this game unacceptable

[bga1]

First off the Gopher players played their tails off. Had control the nearly the entire game. Got a very nice performance from Joseph and Sampson- so that's positive. To the point, the thing that makes this one so unacceptable is that we lost to Indiana before that.

Then add the additional context:

We went into a shell the last 8 minutes -nearly every possession led to a shot in the last seconds of the clock. Good strategy if you have a superstar go to guy. We don't. Points have to come off the the break or out of some offensive structure. For periods of the game I was actually impressed for the first time this year that were playing with some structure and movement on offense. Until the late part of the game.........

Then there is the fact that we have lost to every single team that we couldn't bully with pressure defense. We have lost every close game. Our game ending play has been pitiful.

This season is getting very dark unless we get hot immediately and run off three or four straight games. We need Royce White- I'm not calling for Tubby to play him if he is not worthy, I'm just saying that we need him. And we need to stop trying to run out the clock in games we lead. We are terrible at it.

 

[GopherLady]

xt:

We went into a shell the last 8 minutes -nearly every possession led to a shot in the last seconds of the clock. Good strategy if you have a superstar go to guy. We don't. Points have to come off the the break or out of some offensive structure. For periods of the game I was actually impressed for the first time this year that were playing with some structure and movement on offense. Until the late part of the game.........

This was the most frustrating part for me. It's almost like we were in defensive, run the clock out mode for that time frame...which is way too long. You have to still play your game, the game that was working for 3/4 of the game. Even when we were given a gift - like kicking the ball, and got 15 extra seconds, we'd still be in the same predicament with 5 seconds to go...with no good shot, and just having to force one. I too - thought we ran some great plays on offense, that I hadn't seen - but those tended to just disappear in the last few minutes.

 

[Section201]

minutes

This was the most frustrating part for me. It's almost like we were in defensive, run the clock out mode for that time frame...which is way too long. You have to still play your game, the game that was working for 3/4 of the game. Even when we were given a gift - like kicking the ball, and got 15 extra seconds, we'd still be in the same predicament with 5 seconds to go...with no good shot, and just having to force one. I too - thought we ran some great plays on offense, that I hadn't seen - but those tended to just disappear in the last few minutes.

Perhaps the last 5 minutes were affected by the lads having played so many minutes.

Devoe, Blake, and Lawrence all had 36 minutes.

Box Score: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201001230363

Our offense sure did slow down at the end!

 

[Moonlight]

MSU shot for sh?t in the first half - 29%. That was never going to continue. Our 3pt shooting didn't ignite and theirs did.
I don't think Tubby suspended that which was working - like 201, I think that our players ran out of gas and couldn't execute as MSU - a great defending team - took it to the next level at the end as great teams do.
Unacceptable? I've never understood this word when it comes to a game.

 

[bga1]

Perhaps the last 5 minutes were affected by the lads having played so many minutes.

Devoe, Blake, and Lawrence all had 36 minutes.

Box Score: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201001230363

Our offense sure did slow down at the end!

Yes, no doubt they were tired, we have no gone from full line changes to now only trusting 6 guys to play.

 

[bga1]

MSU shot for sh?t in the first half - 29%. That was never going to continue. Our 3pt shooting didn't ignite and theirs did.
I don't think Tubby suspended that which was working - like 201, I think that our players ran out of gas and couldn't execute as MSU - a great defending team - took it to the next level at the end as great teams do.
Unacceptable? I've never understood this word when it comes to a game.

Pick a word then. It was not a loss that was easy to accept or one that we should have had to.
However, the magnitude of the loss was exacerbated by the Indiana loss and the rest of the season as it has developed. Taken by itself- had we been having a season anywhere near expectations- this game would be a tough loss but nothing more.

 

[Section201]

cobbs and colt

Yes, no doubt they were tired, we have no gone from full line changes to now only trusting 6 guys to play.

I was surprised at cobbs and colt not getting more minutes. cobbs had a rough run in the first half but our guards sure could have used a blow in the second half.

that being said - In Tubby I Trust.

 

[macspartan]

MSU shot for sh?t in the first half - 29%. That was never going to continue. Our 3pt shooting didn't ignite and theirs did.
I don't think Tubby suspended that which was working - like 201, I think that our players ran out of gas and couldn't execute as MSU - a great defending team - took it to the next level at the end as great teams do.
Unacceptable? I've never understood this word when it comes to a game.

This quote tells me you have played the game. I am not to eager to say Tubby went conservative either. MSU had to get hot from the 3 to loosen up the inside, that was our only chance. Fortunately, we did, that enabled us to go inside and get offensive rebounds. Minnesota played a courageous game for 56 minutes MSU escaped with a win that very few teams in the country would have.

You are Tourny worthy and I hope we never see you again, either in the BTT or the NCAA bracket.

Good Luck....Destroy the Baders!

 

[Moonlight]

I for one appreciate the posters from other teams who come here and lend their perspective. The most aggravating posters are easily the "faithful" from our own ranks who despair and rip the team and coach. The Spartans fans tend to reflect their coach: respectful and complimentary. I hate losing, but losing to Izzo and MSU is at least losing to a worthy opponent.

 

[Section201]

moonlight

I for one appreciate the posters from other teams who come here and lend their perspective. The most aggravating posters are easily the "faithful" from our own ranks who despair and rip the team and coach. The Spartans fans tend to reflect their coach: respectful and complimentary. I hate losing, but losing to Izzo and MSU is at least losing to a worthy opponent.

I agree. The Spartan fans were mostly respectful and informative.

The trolls and sockpuppets on our board are not related to MSU, IMO.

 

[Missed-layup]

I was surprised at cobbs and colt not getting more minutes. cobbs had a rough run in the first half but our guards sure could have used a blow in the second half.

that being said - In Tubby I Trust.

Iverson would have been torn to shreds in this game and Cobbs (A freshman) played like it with the nervous turnovers. Williams should have been a Red shirt as he clearly is not ready.

This is the downside with Tubbys deep bench strategy. Now we are in a situation where the best players have to play longer because our bench play is D-2 caliber, thus they don't have the legs to stick out 40 minutes. I don't blame Tubby because how do you predict that Nolen won't go to class, Iverson digressed, White steals a laptop, Mibweke beats up women, all outside Tubbys control but this weakens our bench.

 

[Missed-layup]

I for one appreciate the posters from other teams who come here and lend their perspective. The most aggravating posters are easily the "faithful" from our own ranks who despair and rip the team and coach. The Spartans fans tend to reflect their coach: respectful and complimentary. I hate losing, but losing to Izzo and MSU is at least losing to a worthy opponent.

No offense, but how can anyone disrespect Izzo. He has a final 4 team every other year. Seeing respect from a Michigan State fan tells you nothing other than they have a top 4 program in the USA, they are not even in the same class as us and have no reason to be worried about their program.

 

[underground629]

Why would Iverson have been torn to shreds in that game? Did you see how their centers played? And Iverson played fine the few minutes he was in there. On the subject of C play, why in the hell did we double in the post? That cost us the game. Sampson was fine defending in there, and the only way we were going to lose was by giving up open 3s, which we did. Some of it was just us being slow around screens, some was just nice shots with a hand in their face, but seriously, it made no sense to double in the post in that game.

Redshirting Williams would have been a terrible idea. Even though he hasn't played well since the beginning, he needs the experience playing, and with his raw athleticism, I highly doubt he would stick at the U 5 years.

Iverson would have been torn to shreds in this game and Cobbs (A freshman) played like it with the nervous turnovers. Williams should have been a Red shirt as he clearly is not ready.

This is the downside with Tubbys deep bench strategy. Now we are in a situation where the best players have to play longer because our bench play is D-2 caliber, thus they don't have the legs to stick out 40 minutes. I don't blame Tubby because how do you predict that Nolen won't go to class, Iverson digressed, White steals a laptop, Mibweke beats up women, all outside Tubbys control but this weakens our bench.

 

[Madman]

I seldom agree with MissedLayups cynical takes, but on the redshirting of Rodney Williams...I cannot totally disagree. He is a freak athletically speaking but sorely needs to put on some needed weight/muscle. What frustrates me most is that he mentally does not seem to be grasping how he could fit into this team especially on offense. There are times that I'm watching that I can't believe that he's not taking it to the bucket.... I don't know, maybe he's not that quick off the dribble, but his basketball IQ seems to be a little low right now and obviously very timid on the court. Dont' get me wrong...I am hoping that he will develop nicely, but he's far from being there. He looked good against much lesser talented teams from the preconference schedule, but Big Ten play is a much different story.

MissedLayup, Don't lose your pessimism/cynicism, this board needs both kinds. Perhaps you could sprinkle in a nugget of optimism once in a while... just a thought.