MONDAY MUSINGS: What we learned in Orlando

[Gunnerclone]

I was at the Indy St and Miami games and watched the Gonzaga game. We certainly have moments of better defense in the past - we managed to create some turnovers - but we still got beat on the dribble a lot. That guy from Indiana St Page that torched ISU for 20 points got around Naz, Monte and Matt a lot and it breaks down your whole defense. There were some encouraging signs of people rotating to help but ISU's not quite there yet. This is going to be a fun team to watch.

With the new freedom of movement rules being emphasized in the OOC everyone is getting dribbled past, it's a huge advantage to the player with the ball. That will tighten back up once conference season starts and the hand check and shirt grabs will be back and it won't be so easy to dribble around your defender.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

That guy from Indiana St Page that torched ISU for 20 points got around Naz, Monte and Matt a lot and it breaks down your whole defense.

I saw this as well. A guy like Mason from KU gives us fits for this reason. Once he gets a step, he's going to the basket to draw contact and a foul (usually). Mason can get sped up and make mistakes, however. That's where active hands on defense are really going to be a necessity. Babb and Burton have done well disrupting passing lanes thus far.

 

[CloniesForLife]

With the new freedom of movement rules being emphasized in the OOC everyone is getting dribbled past, it's a huge advantage to the player with the ball. That will tighten back up once conference season starts and the hand check and shirt grabs will be back and it won't be so easy to dribble around your defender.

Yup, happens every year it seems like.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Most of the blue bloods don't even have this. It's just not basketball anymore.

Oh I know the talking points. But then you see that big bastard at Gonzaga eat us up and it makes you think.

Though, the second half was far better and we barely lost the game, so you're probably right in the end.

 

[bosco]

Oh I know the talking points. But then you see that big bastard at Gonzaga eat us up and it makes you think.

Though, the second half was far better and we barely lost the game, so you're probably right in the end.

The big guy had his moments offensively but in the second half once we played ball denial he was less of a factor. defensively he was a liability once we started to go at him in the post. He couldn't move his feet will enough to defend against our agile bigs.

 

[randomfan44]

Not that anyone here cares but I was pretty impressed with what I saw from ISU over the last week. You guys look better than I had expected and will be a definite contender in the Big 12. I thought ISU's offense looked really good against Gonzaga until those last 4 possessions of really bad shot selections but a close November loss to Gonzaga will carry more weight both for the team and the Selection Committee than a 30 point drubbing of a cream puff. Looks like it will be another fun year in the Big 12. KU, Baylor and ISU seem to have separated themselves a bit from the rest of the league. Still early so we'll see if the rest of the pack can close the gap on us.