*** Official VCU vs IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***

[ZRF]

Wasn’t able to watch. Did VCU pull a Pitt and pack the paint/dare is to beat them as a jump shooting team or did we just miss everything but play our game aside from that?

Not really.

VCU was pretty long and athletic and that combination posed issues, especially for Milan (worst player on the floor for either team tonight). They extended their defense, communication well on rotations, and did a great job of collapsing. This, in combination with us doing very little to get open, led to some offensive issues. If it wasn't for Lipsey, really the only guy that had his **** completely together in the first half, this game would have been beyond recovery.

Milan had a REALLY hard time getting open, getting shots off, and not forcing the action. Defensively he was really bad; slow on rotations, slow with footwork, and was beaten often. I don't have the advanced stats for the game but I wouldn't be surprised if we were -15 or so when he was on the floor. It was perplexing to see Milan get these kind of minutes, while struggling, and seeing Watson get all of one minute, when he would have given us a better defender and a better athlete to help run in transition. I think this was a very poor coaching decision.

Gilbert was very timid and seemed more concerned with drawing contact in the first half. In the 2nd he was more assertive, being more focused in attacking the basket while upping his defensive intensity. As a team we were the most effective when we had the unit of C Jones, BRE, King, Lipsey, and Gilbert on the floor. BRE had a really nice offensive and defensive game but ALL of our bigs/taller players were ineffective at rebounding and blocking out. BREs hands failed him on Rebounds and loose balls during a 7 or 8 minutes stretch, while King and Biliew also buffed block outs, loose balls, and rebound corrals. Our guards, particularly Lipsey and Gilbert, really saved us on the glass.

It was a tough game, one which we sorely needed and were obviously not prepared for. In the first half the offense was stagnant, slow, and outworked while our defense and rebounding were sloppy. We came out if the half with a lot more energy and assertion, particularly on the offensive end. We won the game with Lipsey and Gilbert driving the lane, BRE playing within himself offensively (clean ups and typically well timed moves).

I can't stress how bad Milan was and how perplexing it was, given his struggles on both ends, how little Watson played. It was also weird that Jackson was put in before Watson (and played more minutes). I don't understand what Otz was thinking.

 

[twincyties]

First half was SUPER physical on our end of the floor. We were forcing contact and not getting many calls

 

[CycloneVet]

Ah didnt know the missed practice part. Like I said hope he improves as the season goes on

But yet you run your mouth thinking you know what you are talking about

 

[CycloneVet]

Not really.

VCU was pretty long and athletic and that combination posed issues, especially for Milan (worst player on the floor for either team tonight). They extended their defense, communication well on rotations, and did a great job of collapsing. This, in combination with us doing very little to get open, led to some offensive issues. If it wasn't for Lipsey, really the only guy that had his **** completely together in the first half, this game would have been beyond recovery.

Milan had a REALLY hard time getting open, getting shots off, and not forcing the action. Defensively he was really bad; slow on rotations, slow with footwork, and was beaten often. I don't have the advanced stats for the game but I wouldn't be surprised if we were -15 or so when he was on the floor. It was perplexing to see Milan get these kind of minutes, while struggling, and seeing Watson get all of one minute, when he would have given us a better defender and a better athlete to help run in transition. I think this was a very poor coaching decision.

Gilbert was very timid and seemed more concerned with drawing contact in the first half. In the 2nd he was more assertive, being more focused in attacking the basket while upping his defensive intensity. As a team we were the most effective when we had the unit of C Jones, BRE, King, Lipsey, and Gilbert on the floor. BRE had a really nice offensive and defensive game but ALL of our bigs/taller players were ineffective at rebounding and blocking out. BREs hands failed him on Rebounds and loose balls during a 7 or 8 minutes stretch, while King and Biliew also buffed block outs, loose balls, and rebound corrals. Our guards, particularly Lipsey and Gilbert, really saved us on the glass.

It was a tough game, one which we sorely needed and were obviously not prepared for. In the first half the offense was stagnant, slow, and outworked while our defense and rebounding were sloppy. We came out if the half with a lot more energy and assertion, particularly on the offensive end. We won the game with Lipsey and Gilbert driving the lane, BRE playing within himself offensively (clean ups and typically well timed moves).

I can't stress how bad Milan was and how perplexing it was, given his struggles on both ends, how little Watson played. It was also weird that Jackson was put in before Watson (and played more minutes). I don't understand what Otz was thinking.

Dude give it a rest bashing on Milan

 

[ZRF]

My TLDR ramblings…

- Not surprised the first game away from Hilton and first game against a decent team was pretty rough. Any W is probably a good W given that.

- While perhaps not as skilled, VCU had incredible length and athletic ability. I’m not saying they’d do great in the big 12, but we’ll play big 12 teams who are not that long and don’t play as above the rim as they do blocking shots and finishing. It was good for the team to see that this early after such generally small teams in the tune up games.

- I think Shulga for them is a very solid offensive player but in first half also had some lucky bounces, played ok second half but kind of returned to the mean in terms of lucky bounces. Belle for them was making ugly lucky shots and fts the entire first 30 minutes, he may have been playing harder than our guys at the time but some luck there with a really bad shooter making ugly shots. Our coaches would‘ve been doing the right thing encouraging him to take long jumpers. He was 0-8 from 3 coming into the game and 4 of 20 on the season fgs.

- I was shocked when Lipsey wasn’t on the all Big 12 preseason teams and continue to think it’s hilarious people thought he wouldn’t be a top 20 value player in the conference. He’s already way closer to 1st team than he is not being on any Big 12 team. The kid is incredible. I’d say this even if his jumper hadn’t improved…but it really has. He willed the team to win.

- People overreacting to Milan having his first non-perfect game should really stfu. He’ll get used to it but VCU had incredibly long and athletic players that was probably new to him, also the word is out that he can shoot and teams aren’t going to leave him open. His shot didn’t look bad but every shot was just a little too strong, he just needs to settle into playing on the road and playing at this level. The shot will be there, the fadeaway will be there. I wish some of you could go see how unpolished and awkward freshman Fizer was.

- He was a little out of control at times but Gilbert also refused to lose and helped save us from our horrible first half with his second half. 10 rebounds and game high scoring. The kid plays hard and has some real natural ability to go with it.

- Other than Tamin, Rob may have been the guy who played hardest for the entire game. Seems it’s not a fluke that his finishing at the rim has improved and these guys could match his size and length somewhat.

- C Jones didn’t shoot well but he had a lot of hustle plays.

- The middle 20 minutes of game time were atrociously officiated and not in the “evens out” sort of way. Very gritty for the guys to play through and overcome it. I still am baffled at how MM could get hit that hard on a made basket with no whistle, how can you call a foul the entire rest of the game if that’s not a foul? Bizarre.

This isn't true at all. If anything the easily offended brigade is overreacting to the reaction of Milan's play.

He was the worst and most ineffective player on the floor tonight, for either team, and by leaps and bounds. He did little on the offensive end to get open, was utterly pathetic at blocking out or getting rebounds (not his primary role but he had 0 rebounds and repeatedly let his man go through him), and was getting abused defensively.

On one hand it was quite concerning how easy it appeared for him to be neutralized but it is one game. He's young, will learn from it, and it's possible he was sick. I think most people don't understand, given the struggles and particular matchup in THIS particular game, why Milan got the minutes of an effective player while Watson, someone who is almost always a good to great defender, got ONE minute. In that one minute Watson looked fine, not seemingly hampered by illness or injury.

I'd like to think this will be Milans worst game of the season. With that said I don't get Otz's thought process for leaving Milan out there and compromising our ability to win an important game. We were very fortunate to overcome this gaffe.

 

[Cardinal2001]

Dude give it a rest bashing on Milan

they obviously keyed on taking away his shooting.

 

[ZRF]

Dude give it a rest bashing on Milan

I'm not bashing Milan, I'm simply commenting on his performance. You can bring the faux rage and cry all you want but it wasn't good. At all.

Again if you'd actually read I'm much more critical of Otz's allocation of minutes. He was ineffective offensively, wasn't good defensively, and didn't rebound. Why in the world was he played 27 minutes, Jackson (poor matchup athletically) 5, and Watson 1?

 

[jmb]

Not really.

VCU was pretty long and athletic and that combination posed issues, especially for Milan (worst player on the floor for either team tonight). They extended their defense, communication well on rotations, and did a great job of collapsing. This, in combination with us doing very little to get open, led to some offensive issues. If it wasn't for Lipsey, really the only guy that had his **** completely together in the first half, this game would have been beyond recovery.

Milan had a REALLY hard time getting open, getting shots off, and not forcing the action. Defensively he was really bad; slow on rotations, slow with footwork, and was beaten often. I don't have the advanced stats for the game but I wouldn't be surprised if we were -15 or so when he was on the floor. It was perplexing to see Milan get these kind of minutes, while struggling, and seeing Watson get all of one minute, when he would have given us a better defender and a better athlete to help run in transition. I think this was a very poor coaching decision.

Gilbert was very timid and seemed more concerned with drawing contact in the first half. In the 2nd he was more assertive, being more focused in attacking the basket while upping his defensive intensity. As a team we were the most effective when we had the unit of C Jones, BRE, King, Lipsey, and Gilbert on the floor. BRE had a really nice offensive and defensive game but ALL of our bigs/taller players were ineffective at rebounding and blocking out. BREs hands failed him on Rebounds and loose balls during a 7 or 8 minutes stretch, while King and Biliew also buffed block outs, loose balls, and rebound corrals. Our guards, particularly Lipsey and Gilbert, really saved us on the glass.

It was a tough game, one which we sorely needed and were obviously not prepared for. In the first half the offense was stagnant, slow, and outworked while our defense and rebounding were sloppy. We came out if the half with a lot more energy and assertion, particularly on the offensive end. We won the game with Lipsey and Gilbert driving the lane, BRE playing within himself offensively (clean ups and typically well timed moves).

I can't stress how bad Milan was and how perplexing it was, given his struggles on both ends, how little Watson played. It was also weird that Jackson was put in before Watson (and played more minutes). I don't understand what Otz was thinking.

TLDR

 

[fcclone]

This isn't true at all. If anything the easily offended brigade is overreacting to the reaction of Milan's play.

He was the worst and most ineffective player on the floor tonight, for either team, and by leaps and bounds. He did little on the offensive end to get open, was utterly pathetic at blocking out or getting rebounds (not his primary role but he had 0 rebounds and repeatedly let his man go through him), and was getting abused defensively.

On one hand it was quite concerning how easy it appeared for him to be neutralized but it is one game. He's young, will learn from it, and it's possible he was sick. I think most people don't understand, given the struggles and particular matchup in THIS particular game, why Milan got the minutes of an effective player while Watson, someone who is almost always a good to great defender, got ONE minute. In that one minute Watson looked fine, not seemingly hampered by illness or injury.

I'd like to think this will be Milans worst game of the season. With that said I don't get Otz's thought process for leaving Milan out there and compromising our ability to win an important game. We were very fortunate to overcome this gaffe.

I think most people do understand fine. You on the other hand, I have my doubts.

 

[isucyfan]

I had to time-shift the game and haven't been able to catch up on the game thread. Can someone summarize for me what the Coach ZRF team assessment is and what he recommends TJ do to clean things up?

 

[Dale]

Milan had a REALLY hard time getting open, getting shots off, and not forcing the action. Defensively he was really bad; slow on rotations, slow with footwork, and was beaten often. I don't have the advanced stats for the game but I wouldn't be surprised if we were -15 or so when he was on the floor.

+3.

 

[fcclone]

I had to time-shift the game and haven't been able to catch up on the game thread. Can someone summarize for me what the Coach ZRF team assessment is and what he recommends TJ do to clean things up?

Milan sucked, defense sucked, TJ allocation of minutes sucked.

oh, and I guess ISU won.

 

[cyclonestunners]

This isn't true at all. If anything the easily offended brigade is overreacting to the reaction of Milan's play.

He was the worst and most ineffective player on the floor tonight, for either team, and by leaps and bounds. He did little on the offensive end to get open, was utterly pathetic at blocking out or getting rebounds (not his primary role but he had 0 rebounds and repeatedly let his man go through him), and was getting abused defensively.

On one hand it was quite concerning how easy it appeared for him to be neutralized but it is one game. He's young, will learn from it, and it's possible he was sick. I think most people don't understand, given the struggles and particular matchup in THIS particular game, why Milan got the minutes of an effective player while Watson, someone who is almost always a good to great defender, got ONE minute. In that one minute Watson looked fine, not seemingly hampered by illness or injury.

I'd like to think this will be Milans worst game of the season. With that said I don't get Otz's thought process for leaving Milan out there and compromising our ability to win an important game. We were very fortunate to overcome this gaffe.

There you go again spending paragraphs singling out isu players. Get a life. I bet you still throw bre shade after this great game tonight..I bet you're a joy at parties...

 

[trevn]

I think most people do understand fine. You on the other hand, I have my doubts.

I’ve come to the conclusion he’s a Steve Prohm burner account.

 

[NENick]

I had to time-shift the game and haven't been able to catch up on the game thread. Can someone summarize for me what the Coach ZRF team assessment is and what he recommends TJ do to clean things up?

In a nutshell:
Somebody sucks. Somebody else should've played. TJ doesn't know what he's doing.

ZRF would use multiple pages.

 

[cyclonestunners]

Not really.

VCU was pretty long and athletic and that combination posed issues, especially for Milan (worst player on the floor for either team tonight). They extended their defense, communication well on rotations, and did a great job of collapsing. This, in combination with us doing very little to get open, led to some offensive issues. If it wasn't for Lipsey, really the only guy that had his **** completely together in the first half, this game would have been beyond recovery.

Milan had a REALLY hard time getting open, getting shots off, and not forcing the action. Defensively he was really bad; slow on rotations, slow with footwork, and was beaten often. I don't have the advanced stats for the game but I wouldn't be surprised if we were -15 or so when he was on the floor. It was perplexing to see Milan get these kind of minutes, while struggling, and seeing Watson get all of one minute, when he would have given us a better defender and a better athlete to help run in transition. I think this was a very poor coaching decision.

Gilbert was very timid and seemed more concerned with drawing contact in the first half. In the 2nd he was more assertive, being more focused in attacking the basket while upping his defensive intensity. As a team we were the most effective when we had the unit of C Jones, BRE, King, Lipsey, and Gilbert on the floor. BRE had a really nice offensive and defensive game but ALL of our bigs/taller players were ineffective at rebounding and blocking out. BREs hands failed him on Rebounds and loose balls during a 7 or 8 minutes stretch, while King and Biliew also buffed block outs, loose balls, and rebound corrals. Our guards, particularly Lipsey and Gilbert, really saved us on the glass.

It was a tough game, one which we sorely needed and were obviously not prepared for. In the first half the offense was stagnant, slow, and outworked while our defense and rebounding were sloppy. We came out if the half with a lot more energy and assertion, particularly on the offensive end. We won the game with Lipsey and Gilbert driving the lane, BRE playing within himself offensively (clean ups and typically well timed moves).

I can't stress how bad Milan was and how perplexing it was, given his struggles on both ends, how little Watson played. It was also weird that Jackson was put in before Watson (and played more minutes). I don't understand what Otz was thinking.

Go ahead and notice Milans plus minus to show how bad you are at your take. It's hilarious. You also don't realize the fact that they chased mm down the whole time meant it opened up other spots on the floor. Your lack of basketball literacy is more obvious than usual.

He was tied for the third best +/-, and the other guy you CONTINUOUSLY crapped on this game, Curtis Jones, led the team in +/-.

Maybe learn how to watch a basketball game before continuously singling out players.

Your lack of understanding about how an individual works within a team makes your analysis inane and baseless in facts.

 

[cyclonestunners]

He actually looks creative and graceful finishing…and with the ft% it’s great for him to actually finish.

His baby hook was one of my favorite moments of the game!

 

[fsanford]

This isn't true at all. If anything the easily offended brigade is overreacting to the reaction of Milan's play.

He was the worst and most ineffective player on the floor tonight, for either team, and by leaps and bounds. He did little on the offensive end to get open, was utterly pathetic at blocking out or getting rebounds (not his primary role but he had 0 rebounds and repeatedly let his man go through him), and was getting abused defensively.

On one hand it was quite concerning how easy it appeared for him to be neutralized but it is one game. He's young, will learn from it, and it's possible he was sick. I think most people don't understand, given the struggles and particular matchup in THIS particular game, why Milan got the minutes of an effective player while Watson, someone who is almost always a good to great defender, got ONE minute. In that one minute Watson looked fine, not seemingly hampered by illness or injury.

I'd like to think this will be Milans worst game of the season. With that said I don't get Otz's thought process for leaving Milan out there and compromising our ability to win an important game. We were very fortunate to overcome this gaffe.

Milan is going to be much more important to this team than Watson. Better to try and have him on the court to try and figure it out than sit him on the bench where no experience is gained

Big 12 is loaded with VCU types some of which are better versions than what we saw today.

I might have cut his minutes by a few, but glad TJ left him out there for the experience

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

First game away from Hilton, we struggled but won and people are ******** about it. Guys this is a very good but not great team. If you think we are going to win the conference, it just is not happening this year, but they will make the tournament, and win a game or two. That is about all you can ask from this team, now next year, if we keep everyone and add the players that are red shirting and the recruits, can be a special year.

It's like the football team, lets enjoy what we have, because it's only going to get better.

 

[RoseClone]

I think VCU will end up being a pretty good win by year’s end.

I think people need to realize there’s a difference between “playing well” and “shooting well”.

People are too quick to see a few missed shots and totally ignore what that player is doing on the defensive end

Take Curtis Jones. He had 4 assists and another zero TOs tonight. He’s only got 2 turnovers on the entire season also gets a lot of steals and rebounds well.

Shoutout to Rob Jones tonight. Absolutely don’t win that game without him.

I don’t think there’s anything going on with Watson, this was just a matchup where he couldn’t use his athleticism to his advantage.

Unfortunately, that will never happen.