Open Thread: #19/22 Michigan State and #5 Texas from Houston
by awiggo on Dec 20, 2008 9:54 AM CST
in Texas Longhorns Basketball
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Print#19/22 Michigan State (7-2) at #5/5 Texas (9-1)
Toyota Center (18,500)
Houston, TX
Tip Time 1 pm
TV: CBS (Regional; Xavier vs. Duke is other game)
No time for a full preview as multiple BON authors are traveling and / or will miss the game entirely.
A couple of previews and articles though:
Barking Carnival has a thorough preview.
Statesman.com on Texas fixing their rebounding and transition defense issues.
Kem Pomeroy's Scouting Reports on Michigan State and Texas.
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starting out physical
james is looking to knock someone out
Nice rebound by Chapman
Notice that Barnes has Connor on the bench to start the game. I like it.
Starting lineup was
Pittman
Chapman
James
Abrams
Mason
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:18 PM CST reply actions
Connor/Dogus sub in
Dogus gets the offensive rebound and gets AJ a jumper
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:19 PM CST reply actions
Another offense rebound
And then Atchley airballs the open three. WTF
Connor gets the block on the other end though. James hits the midrange J.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:21 PM CST reply actions
James hits the three, assist to Balbay
James real active on the boards and loose balls
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:22 PM CST reply actions
Defensively you guys are sick
Wow, Texas plays unbelievable defense if you guys had DJ Augustin back or an elite point guard you could beat Carolina right now.
I can’t wait till we play you guys. First team to 40 wins.
Good God Connor is absolutely pathetic
AIRBALLED a WIDE OPEN 18 foot jumper!
At least James got the “pass” and got the bucket + foul.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:27 PM CST reply actions
Uh oh Mason bleeding
Hit in face
Sick block and dunk by Mich St. early. THAT WAS SPARTA
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:29 PM CST reply actions
Mason going to lockerroom for stitches
Hopefully that’s the worse of it. Worst case scenario is a concussion
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:30 PM CST reply actions
What in the world happened to Connor's jumpshot?
already 2 airballs
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:32 PM CST reply actions
Transition D
Has been a lot better today.
what the hell
They are hardly trying to get the ball inside. Pittman has good position each possession over a much small player.
In case anybody hasn't heard Xavier is overrated..
down 46-17 in the first half. Yup. thats right. And its on instead of Texas MSU. Lovely.
What footwork by Dexy!
Missed the layup but Johnson got the bucket.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:46 PM CST reply actions
Lucas killed us last year
Just hit a floater
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 1:51 PM CST reply actions
Pardon my ignorance, but exactly what does Balbay bring to the party?
I appreciate his transition D, but have you ever seen a player less likely to score?
I'll never forget ol' what's-his-name.
wow. dex is just determined to keep texas in the game. what an effort on both ends. (minus the turnover)
by 4th generation fan on Dec 20, 2008 2:19 PM CST reply actions
Johnson leading the game in scoring
he is money from midrange
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 2:21 PM CST reply actions
Why would you attend
a game and wear an aggie shirt when you’re not even playing??
Such an farmer thing to do.
I like our hustle today ublike the previous 2 teams
We just need to execute our O a little better against their tough D
Johnson flourishing
playing in front of his Houstonians
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 2:34 PM CST reply actions
Difference in the game, Goran Suton
has more points than Connor, Pittman, Chapman COMBINED.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 2:48 PM CST reply actions
With Sparty containing AJ
this would be an incredible win if we can pull it off. We can show that we can win with Abrams as a role player instead of our #1 option.
BLOCK BY JAMES!
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 2:49 PM CST reply actions
Barnes using a 2-3 zone now
Worked to perfection in the first attempt. Forced a Suton travel. Lets see if we continue to use it.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 2:51 PM CST reply actions
61-56 Texas, 4:33 left in game
Lucas with some free throws
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 2:52 PM CST reply actions
Turnover
we have the lead. We just have to take care of the ball.
2-3 zone didn’t work there. Gave up a three.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 2:54 PM CST reply actions
Not a good shot by Abrams
forced it with tons of time left on the shot clock.
Then it leads to an MSU basket. Now we’re losing by a point. Shit!
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 2:55 PM CST reply actions
I hate Bill Raftery
Stop with the weird emphasis of words and actually provide some professional analysis
man i just started watching
hopefully the team could pull this out.
welcome
yeah im hoping too…i think we’ll pull it out. We have the physicality to keep shooting 40% and still win somehow
Our offense has to figure out a way to score
really struggling. Just gave up another turnover courtesy of AJ.
If Abrams is struggling, does he have the ability to control himself and stop taking so many shots?
Our best offensive players today are James and Johnson. The offense SHOULD revolve around them, not a wildly inconsistent, streaky SG.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:01 PM CST reply actions
Wow, we don't have a FG in the last 4:30
Ugh… defense can only take you so far. Connor missed the three.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:02 PM CST reply actions
terrible shot selection
we didn’t need a 3 there. We need to run a freaking play and get a higher % shot
JOHNSON!!!
Thank you for getting him the damn ball!
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:04 PM CST reply actions
LOL Barnes and Izzo are calling timeouts after every damn possession
CBS taking advantage of it by giving us as many commercials as possible.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:06 PM CST reply actions
i hope you're right,
we won’t go far without connor playing much much better.
by StanTheCaddy on Dec 20, 2008 3:07 PM CST up reply actions
Poor shot selection
on that last possession. We needed something closer to the hole or at least in the paint to possibly draw a foul.
OMG they get a three
And we get a turnover. Fuck! The one time we don’t use a timeout costs us.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:12 PM CST reply actions
God our offense is so awful
I feel bad for Johnson and James. They played well on offense but we didn’t get them the ball enough. That’s on Barnes.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:13 PM CST reply actions
Another "awesome" offensive possession from us
The last 5 minutes of the game has been a TOTAL EPIC DISASTER on offense. How many FG’s do we have in the last 5 minutes? 1 FG by Johnson? Why are we even shooting threes at the end? Why Mason of all?
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:15 PM CST reply actions
Another jacked up 3
I’m tired of this shit. Even a fucking middle school team can run a play not just run down the court and jack up a 3 on two consecutive possessions. And no time out?
Rick needs to get control of his players and remember to call a fucking time out.
FUCKING PATHETIC
missed opportunity....
but its only december. this team has a lot of growing to do to make a run in march
at the end of the game...
i’d rather have abrams take a three with two people in his face then mason wide open.
Bad, BAD loss
I don’t care that MSU is a good, ranked team. This was in Houston. We should’ve won this game. We have a top 5 defense, but not even a top 50 offense. We probably shouldn’t be in top 10.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:17 PM CST reply actions
BEYOND inexcusable endgame coaching
What could possibly possess Barnes to waste two timeouts like that? What the fuck was he saving them for?
A stupid system that works exactly like it's supposed to is still a stupid system.
And how could that guy be left open for the three at the end?
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
Get off mason, why didn't anybody else step up?
The other players should grow some balls and call for the ball at the end of the game, for example AJ Abrams, Atchley, etc
Connor hasn't done it his whole career, AJ was being doubled on the perimeter
Sadly that was our best shot. If only we had a timeout.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:19 PM CST up reply actions
Was this supposed to be a "rebuilding" year
and then next year we make a serious run at the title with all the talent from recruits?
how can we not beat tom izzo?!
im angry, sad, dissappointed, and speechless.
izzo is a good coach, I'd give him that
plus they aren’t as bad as they’ve played, plus they have some players back now
Agreed, Goran Suton was huge for them
Didn’t play against UNC
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:20 PM CST up reply actions
No...
…this team has all the signs of not being able to make it out of the first weekend.
A stupid system that works exactly like it's supposed to is still a stupid system.
Our defense will keep us in games
but if we want to go far in March, we have to have a sense of a competent offense. Right now we don’t look close. We played a great defensive team and went completely stagnant.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:25 PM CST up reply actions
Timeouts
We have perhaps one of the most dynamic and brilliant young coaches in college basketball. We need two points to tie and three to win. Why in the hell wasn’t our last timeout called so Rick could draw up a play to free Abrams? He had been dogged all game and we couldn’t free him on the fly. I don’t put the game on Mason for missing the 3 but I do fault him for not having the awareness to call a timeout. Terrible mistakes just caused our third loss in a row to Michigan State
Bad performances
Abrams – 11 pts but 4-11 shooting, took some bad shots, turned the ball over, just 1 assist
Mason – Getting hit in the face by Johnson probably affected the rest of the game for him. Normally you expect a boxscore from him with a lot of stats. But in addition to his terrible 1-5 shooting, only had 2 rebounds and 3 assists.
Connor – solid defense but another no show in the 1st half, including a few airballs. Got a few buckets in the 2nd half.
Pittman – Bad shooting game 1-6.
Ward – how many minutes did he get this game?
Barnes – great defense performance, especially on transition. Terrible offense, bad timeout usage at the end
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:24 PM CST reply actions
hey, it was a good game,
mstate is a good team; we played them to a standstill , lost it in the final couple of minutes. itś not march yet. not like football….
This is a game we should've won
It was in Houston and we led most of the 2nd half I think. We let this one get away, mainly because of offense. Kinda reminds me of the Wisconsin game last year.
This really pisses me off, but I’d rather have this than being undefeated by playing a cupcake nonconference schedule. Playing tough teams early tells us what we need to improve on.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:26 PM CST up reply actions
Relax guys....
NC is gonna win the national championship this year, but our team has a lot of time to improve, we will get better and this will be a good year yet
This is definitely UNC's title to lose
But I want to have a say in it at least. Our offense is showing no signs of improvement. Today players like James and Johnson step up, but then others regress like Pittman, Mason, and Abrams.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:28 PM CST up reply actions
Mason is killing us
He is passing up open shots and getting nothing to show for it. That’s where we are missing DJ most.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
Yup
We definitely need another outside shooter to go with Abrams. Mason, Ward, and Balbay are not the answers. I hope J’Covan Brown can shoot well. Connor is airballing threes, and James can make threes but we don’t want him sitting outside. We need more shooters.
by goingforthecorner on Dec 20, 2008 3:45 PM CST up reply actions
great points
Tom Izzo is a very capable and experienced coach and Michigan State is obviously a much more balanced team with Suton in the lineup. While the Spartans are quite good, this loss still stings because we were ranked in the top 5 in America. True top 5 teams manage to somehow pull a game like this out of the fire. I am losing confidence quickly after this loss and the two previous dud victories against teams that shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as our ’Horns
agreed
they should be further along than where they are …… period.
by Mulliganville on Dec 20, 2008 3:32 PM CST up reply actions
identity
hope this team finds it before league play, otherwise we’ll have more frustrating games like this one.
by the other Andrew on Dec 20, 2008 4:52 PM CST reply actions
similar to the missed tackle that led to the crabtree touchdown in lubbock, we will now have to watch for the rest of the night and beyond the wide-open three-pointer today.
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