Just wrapped up watching the film of the MSU women moving to 4-0 so thought I'd fire off a few thoughts.
+3
1. Tom Izzo. From moving the substitution pieces as needed, to the Mady ball screen into a pindown for a Hauser mid-range call (he will give credit to Montgomery for that), the full-court look out of a time out to end OT, and BLOB to end regulation (that he already credited assistants for), sending some post doubles, to just having his guys ready to go and responding from what the tough loss on Friday night. This is a Tom Izzo win. This is a Tom Izzo program. This is a Tom Izzo athletic program. This is a Tom Izzo university. Tonight just served as another reminder.
2. Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. Regardless of how they played throughout the game. Tyson Walker was Superman in the overtimes. He got a steal and forced a travel in the second OT. He made the 2 of the biggest assists of the game. Knocked down jumpers and free throws. Even the shots he didn't make, he had the guts to take. Front-court starters went for 23 (Hauser), 20 (Hall) and 16 (Mady). The alley-ooop catch dunks were one thing for Mady, but the 3 plays that stood out to me were him bodying up Oscar so far that he settled for a 17 foot jumper late in regulation, the steal that he ultimately missed the layup, and the steal getting around him in the post. Those 3 defensive plays were silly good considering who he was playing against. Malik was consistent and made the great read on the slip on the BLOB to end regulation and didn't panic (like many would have) on the last play of overtime and dunked it. Joey was Joey from Davidson NCAA tournament when he basically won the game.
3. Half-Court defense. Held UK to 39% from the floor and 28% from 3. Only gave up 62 points in regulation. This team has some potential on the defensive end which we've seen the last 2 games.
-3
1. 18 turnovers and some of the careless nature. Just gives too many possessions away.
2. I know we won the rebounding battle 45-38, but this is the second game in a row where we gave up some offensive rebounds late which costs us. I know those are big-time athletes/centers we are going against, but late game rebounding is something to continue to watch moving forward.
3. Starting backcourt + Akins went 7/28 from the floor. Crazy to win despite those numbers.
MISC
* MAJOR mistake by Calipari at the end of the first overtime. I always scream this at the TV and Izzo played it perfectly at the end of regulation. Up 2 with 7 seconds left, other team has to go the length of the court. Why pick up full? Why let the other team throw it over you? Now, we drew up a darling set with the step out and Hauser screen. But play 2-3 zone. Put 4 guys at half-court in man and one guy up. But don't press and allow us to throw over 3 of your guys which results in giving up an UNCONTESTED DUNK by Hall. Cal should get more grief than he will for that call. Just pick up at half-court, don't give them a downhill advantage, and play defense.
* Loved what Kohler gave us when Mady was in foul trouble. 3 rebounds and a block in 9 minutes. Sometimes steps ahead don't look like huge ones, but are small and important. That was tonight for him, IMO.
* I'm not sure how good Gonzaga is. We will see. But I think Kentucky is VERY good and will just get better. Don't get sucked into UK not being very good because of what some saw tonight, part of that is how we made them look.
* I know the officiating wasn't great either way, but I don't think the 5th foul on Oscar was a foul.
* On the BLOB where Malik dunked it, I do think that's an option/read on the play. If you watch it over again, 2-3 guys go with Hauser, who set a screen for Walker, and then a screen from Hall. The hope is that Hauser will draw the attention, which he did, and Hall can slip to the basket. Great call, but a really good read by Malik who I would guess had the option to go screen there as well.
* 23 and 8 in 46 minutes for Hauser. Looked like he did when he carried MSU over Davidson in the NCAA tourney. Just a couple of things from my perspective. Before I had a player play at MSU, I was different as a fan. Before I had the opportunity to get to know MSU players, teenagers many of them, I was different as a fan. Once I saw these players as people, human beings, and not just athletic stars, my entire perspective changed. I think if other people had the opportunity to do so, they might not type the things they typed or say the things they did about players like Hauser after the Gonzaga game. Being behind the keyboard makes it worse, as people type things they'd never say to someone. It also doesn't help that everyone seems to have a podcast, twitter following, or voice, despite not really knowing much about coaching, teenagers, or basketball at that level. I guess that's why some people TALK about the game and other people are IN the game.
* I'm not making predictions for where this team should go, place, or contend for. I don't care where they're ranked. They've played 3 games. Sample size is too small.
* A little of my opinion on people saying, "I just wish _______ was consistent" or "would play to his potential." I guess I see that differently. I think about 15-20 guys in the college game are truly consistent. They are HIGH-LEVEL guys that are dominant college players or sure-fire NBA 1st rounders. I'm not sure we have those guys. I think many of our guys will have ups and downs, won't find that consistency (as so few do), just because it's a very/very/very elite player that does. I'm guessing this will be a minority opinion, but plenty of experience behind it. I think this team will have to win with it's defense and a "which 3 guys on offense will it be tonight" formula. And because they have a lot of very good players, that can work.
* Finished the game on a 13-1 run. Wow.
+3
1. Tom Izzo. From moving the substitution pieces as needed, to the Mady ball screen into a pindown for a Hauser mid-range call (he will give credit to Montgomery for that), the full-court look out of a time out to end OT, and BLOB to end regulation (that he already credited assistants for), sending some post doubles, to just having his guys ready to go and responding from what the tough loss on Friday night. This is a Tom Izzo win. This is a Tom Izzo program. This is a Tom Izzo athletic program. This is a Tom Izzo university. Tonight just served as another reminder.
2. Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. Regardless of how they played throughout the game. Tyson Walker was Superman in the overtimes. He got a steal and forced a travel in the second OT. He made the 2 of the biggest assists of the game. Knocked down jumpers and free throws. Even the shots he didn't make, he had the guts to take. Front-court starters went for 23 (Hauser), 20 (Hall) and 16 (Mady). The alley-ooop catch dunks were one thing for Mady, but the 3 plays that stood out to me were him bodying up Oscar so far that he settled for a 17 foot jumper late in regulation, the steal that he ultimately missed the layup, and the steal getting around him in the post. Those 3 defensive plays were silly good considering who he was playing against. Malik was consistent and made the great read on the slip on the BLOB to end regulation and didn't panic (like many would have) on the last play of overtime and dunked it. Joey was Joey from Davidson NCAA tournament when he basically won the game.
3. Half-Court defense. Held UK to 39% from the floor and 28% from 3. Only gave up 62 points in regulation. This team has some potential on the defensive end which we've seen the last 2 games.
-3
1. 18 turnovers and some of the careless nature. Just gives too many possessions away.
2. I know we won the rebounding battle 45-38, but this is the second game in a row where we gave up some offensive rebounds late which costs us. I know those are big-time athletes/centers we are going against, but late game rebounding is something to continue to watch moving forward.
3. Starting backcourt + Akins went 7/28 from the floor. Crazy to win despite those numbers.
MISC
* MAJOR mistake by Calipari at the end of the first overtime. I always scream this at the TV and Izzo played it perfectly at the end of regulation. Up 2 with 7 seconds left, other team has to go the length of the court. Why pick up full? Why let the other team throw it over you? Now, we drew up a darling set with the step out and Hauser screen. But play 2-3 zone. Put 4 guys at half-court in man and one guy up. But don't press and allow us to throw over 3 of your guys which results in giving up an UNCONTESTED DUNK by Hall. Cal should get more grief than he will for that call. Just pick up at half-court, don't give them a downhill advantage, and play defense.
* Loved what Kohler gave us when Mady was in foul trouble. 3 rebounds and a block in 9 minutes. Sometimes steps ahead don't look like huge ones, but are small and important. That was tonight for him, IMO.
* I'm not sure how good Gonzaga is. We will see. But I think Kentucky is VERY good and will just get better. Don't get sucked into UK not being very good because of what some saw tonight, part of that is how we made them look.
* I know the officiating wasn't great either way, but I don't think the 5th foul on Oscar was a foul.
* On the BLOB where Malik dunked it, I do think that's an option/read on the play. If you watch it over again, 2-3 guys go with Hauser, who set a screen for Walker, and then a screen from Hall. The hope is that Hauser will draw the attention, which he did, and Hall can slip to the basket. Great call, but a really good read by Malik who I would guess had the option to go screen there as well.
* 23 and 8 in 46 minutes for Hauser. Looked like he did when he carried MSU over Davidson in the NCAA tourney. Just a couple of things from my perspective. Before I had a player play at MSU, I was different as a fan. Before I had the opportunity to get to know MSU players, teenagers many of them, I was different as a fan. Once I saw these players as people, human beings, and not just athletic stars, my entire perspective changed. I think if other people had the opportunity to do so, they might not type the things they typed or say the things they did about players like Hauser after the Gonzaga game. Being behind the keyboard makes it worse, as people type things they'd never say to someone. It also doesn't help that everyone seems to have a podcast, twitter following, or voice, despite not really knowing much about coaching, teenagers, or basketball at that level. I guess that's why some people TALK about the game and other people are IN the game.
* I'm not making predictions for where this team should go, place, or contend for. I don't care where they're ranked. They've played 3 games. Sample size is too small.
* A little of my opinion on people saying, "I just wish _______ was consistent" or "would play to his potential." I guess I see that differently. I think about 15-20 guys in the college game are truly consistent. They are HIGH-LEVEL guys that are dominant college players or sure-fire NBA 1st rounders. I'm not sure we have those guys. I think many of our guys will have ups and downs, won't find that consistency (as so few do), just because it's a very/very/very elite player that does. I'm guessing this will be a minority opinion, but plenty of experience behind it. I think this team will have to win with it's defense and a "which 3 guys on offense will it be tonight" formula. And because they have a lot of very good players, that can work.
* Finished the game on a 13-1 run. Wow.
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