Game time

[BelgradeBobcat]

Part of Binford's genius with this team is letting them play free. She won't change anything with Darian's game. Her tough shooting night at SUU wasn't the reason we lost-it was because we gave up a ton of offensive rebounds to a desperate opponent-even at that we were one missed layup away from getting the win. The NAU game should have been double digits, but we had some silly errors in that last minute and an ill advised three attempt by Limardo early in the shot clock. I think we'll be okay.

[rivercat]

Part of Binford's genius with this team is letting them play free. She won't change anything with Darian's game. Her tough shooting night at SUU wasn't the reason we lost-it was because we gave up a ton of offensive rebounds to a desperate opponent-even at that we were one missed layup away from getting the win. The NAU game should have been double digits, but we had some silly errors in that last minute and an ill advised three attempt by Limardo early in the shot clock. I think we'll be okay.

As for 1 of 13 shooting, it's just as easy to say that a dish to a team mate rather than one of those misses would have avoided OT. I'm a Darian fan from day 1 but I'm also objective.

Im afraid you're probably right with the play free method. I say that because there seems to be a huge learning curve doing it that way. The result is every preseason they play tough competition and usually get beat soundly. This has an impact on seeding in the NCAA tournament. Those OOC games play a huge part in the computer rankings. Until the Cats beat a really good OOC opponent, probably looking at a 14th seed at best.

I had high hopes this year would start well. Tori was the only loss from last year and these ladies played well together last year. Reason stands they would pick up where they left off. That wasn't the case.

.

[BelgradeBobcat]

Part of Binford's genius with this team is letting them play free. She won't change anything with Darian's game. Her tough shooting night at SUU wasn't the reason we lost-it was because we gave up a ton of offensive rebounds to a desperate opponent-even at that we were one missed layup away from getting the win. The NAU game should have been double digits, but we had some silly errors in that last minute and an ill advised three attempt by Limardo early in the shot clock. I think we'll be okay.

As for 1 of 13 shooting, it's just as easy to say that a dish to a team mate rather than one of those misses would have avoided OT. I'm a Darian fan from day 1 but I'm also objective.

Im afraid you're probably right with the play free method. I say that because there seems to be a huge learning curve doing it that way. The result is every preseason they play tough competition and usually get beat soundly. This has an impact on seeding in the NCAA tournament. Those OOC games play a huge part in the computer rankings. Until the Cats beat a really good OOC opponent, probably looking at a 14th seed at best.

I had high hopes this year would start well. Tori was the only loss from last year and these ladies played well together last year. Reason stands they would pick up where they left off. That wasn't the case.

.

We're half a game out of first place with a team full of sophomores and juniors.

[rivercat]

Part of Binford's genius with this team is letting them play free. She won't change anything with Darian's game. Her tough shooting night at SUU wasn't the reason we lost-it was because we gave up a ton of offensive rebounds to a desperate opponent-even at that we were one missed layup away from getting the win. The NAU game should have been double digits, but we had some silly errors in that last minute and an ill advised three attempt by Limardo early in the shot clock. I think we'll be okay.

As for 1 of 13 shooting, it's just as easy to say that a dish to a team mate rather than one of those misses would have avoided OT. I'm a Darian fan from day 1 but I'm also objective.

Im afraid you're probably right with the play free method. I say that because there seems to be a huge learning curve doing it that way. The result is every preseason they play tough competition and usually get beat soundly. This has an impact on seeding in the NCAA tournament. Those OOC games play a huge part in the computer rankings. Until the Cats beat a really good OOC opponent, probably looking at a 14th seed at best.

I had high hopes this year would start well. Tori was the only loss from last year and these ladies played well together last year. Reason stands they would pick up where they left off. That wasn't the case.

.

We're half a game out of first place with a team full of sophomores and juniors.

Yep.

[Ilikecats]

Rivercat hit it on the nose. White is a tremendous player, but the good teams figured out last year, that you’re not able to stop her. All you need to do is contain her. Until she becomes a proficient 3pt shooter, teams are sagging back, building a wall to control her drives. They couldn’t do that as much last season because Tori made them pay.

[Catlady]

Does the academic year of our players really matter? I think as a team, we have the talent to be 2 games up in conference play with some OOC wins. The issue is other teams have scouted Darian’s tendencies and until she becomes proficient with her three pt shot, they’re going to sag and build the iron curtain. Tori Martell save our butts last year. We need to convince Darian that she’ll have more opportunities if she utilized her teammates.
It’s a fallacy to say she had a bad day and was 1-13. Remember the 13 does not include the shots where she drew a foul. It’s not unusual for her to take 25% of our shots in a game. The winning streak was due to the fact other players were contributing, if you go to the lost to SUU, it seemed that
Darian felt a need to win the game single-handedly versus leading her team to victory. As for tired legs, there’s no rest during tournament time. That’s why it needs to be a team effort!

[MSU01]

We're half a game out of first place with a team full of sophomores and juniors.

This thread is insane. I guess when MSU basketball is 20-1 in its last 21 games and is in 1st place on the men's side and 1/2 game out of 1st on the women's, people really need to dig deep to find something to complain about. The team will go as far as Darian White takes them, and changing your play style to move away from her strengths is, as I stated above, insane. Thank goodness Coach Binford is in charge and not Bobcat Nation.

[rivercat]

We're half a game out of first place with a team full of sophomores and juniors.

This thread is insane. I guess when MSU basketball is 20-1 in its last 21 games and is in 1st place on the men's side and 1/2 game out of 1st on the women's, people really need to dig deep to find something to complain about. The team will go as far as Darian White takes them, and changing your play style to move away from her strengths is, as I stated above, insane. Thank goodness Coach Binford is in charge and not Bobcat Nation.

What's insane is getting upset about pointing out flaws or areas to improve. This team is more than Darian. It was more than Payton, it was more than Jasmine, etc. It's a TEAM.

[DMMDCats]

Back to the men’s game.

I sat in the west end zone near the MSU bench. It was interesting to hear, and see, the coaches.

I enjoyed Coach Sprinkle constantly encouraging the refs to help each other out. He thought one of the refs wasn’t seeing the entire game, or something like that.

Also appreciated Coach addressing the crowd at the end. He always seems annoyed when dealing with fans. But I suspect it is because he is working on the next 10 moves(chess) and doesn’t have time to twatter.

In the past, we would have found a way to lose that game.

Now to finish this out and go dancing.

One game at a time.

[GoldstoneCat]

We're half a game out of first place with a team full of sophomores and juniors.

This thread is insane. I guess when MSU basketball is 20-1 in its last 21 games and is in 1st place on the men's side and 1/2 game out of 1st on the women's, people really need to dig deep to find something to complain about. The team will go as far as Darian White takes them, and changing your play style to move away from her strengths is, as I stated above, insane. Thank goodness Coach Binford is in charge and not Bobcat Nation.

Amen. Quite a season. Not a lot that needs fixing right now. It's reminiscent of people complaining about the offensive coordinator in the lead-up to our national championship game appearance . Oh well, it's all part of the fun of being fans, i reckon. Pretty excited for this stretch run!

[tetoncat]

Always strange to me when posters get upset that others might have something negative to say. Pointing out areas we see as weaknesses of a team or improvements needed by a player is part of posting on a forum such as this. Getting personal about either a player or coach is different, but questioning performance is part of this board. We could win the regular season with both teams. That doesn't mean everything is roses and we have nothing to improve on to win the tournament

[MSU01]

We're half a game out of first place with a team full of sophomores and juniors.

This thread is insane. I guess when MSU basketball is 20-1 in its last 21 games and is in 1st place on the men's side and 1/2 game out of 1st on the women's, people really need to dig deep to find something to complain about. The team will go as far as Darian White takes them, and changing your play style to move away from her strengths is, as I stated above, insane. Thank goodness Coach Binford is in charge and not Bobcat Nation.

What's insane is getting upset about pointing out flaws or areas to improve. This team is more than Darian. It was more than Payton, it was more than Jasmine, etc. It's a TEAM.

I'm not upset at all - just think that the "flaws" you're pointing out are not flaws at all, and that Darian is having a great year and Binford is doing a damn good job of coaching the team to legit championship contender status after they looked like an average team at best over the first month of the season. It is in fact a TEAM and Darian is its best player, so naturally she's going to be a focal point of pretty much everything the TEAM does and yes, like any other player she'll have some up games and some down games. But make no mistake, involving her LESS as you suggested will not lead to success in the long run. Think Darian shoots too much? Then why is she fourth in the Big Sky in assists and how in the world does MSU lead the conference in made 3-pointers when that's Darian's one weakness? I just don't understand the criticism of MSU's all-time winningest head coach who's headed straight to the Hall of Fame when she leaves MSU or retires, and one of the best players the team has ever had when they're 11-3 in conference play and have lost once in their last ten games. Maybe Bobcat Nation's basketball forum as a coaching staff would have a record at 14-0 instead of 11-3.

[rivercat]

We're half a game out of first place with a team full of sophomores and juniors.

This thread is insane. I guess when MSU basketball is 20-1 in its last 21 games and is in 1st place on the men's side and 1/2 game out of 1st on the women's, people really need to dig deep to find something to complain about. The team will go as far as Darian White takes them, and changing your play style to move away from her strengths is, as I stated above, insane. Thank goodness Coach Binford is in charge and not Bobcat Nation.

What's insane is getting upset about pointing out flaws or areas to improve. This team is more than Darian. It was more than Payton, it was more than Jasmine, etc. It's a TEAM.

I'm not upset at all - just think that the "flaws" you're pointing out are not flaws at all, and that Darian is having a great year and Binford is doing a damn good job of coaching the team to legit championship contender status after they looked like an average team at best over the first month of the season. It is in fact a TEAM and Darian is its best player, so naturally she's going to be a focal point of pretty much everything the TEAM does and yes, like any other player she'll have some up games and some down games. But make no mistake, involving her LESS as you suggested will not lead to success in the long run. Think Darian shoots too much? Then why is she fourth in the Big Sky in assists and how in the world does MSU lead the conference in made 3-pointers when that's Darian's one weakness? I just don't understand the criticism of MSU's all-time winningest head coach who's headed straight to the Hall of Fame when she leaves MSU or retires, and one of the best players the team has ever had when they're 11-3 in conference play and have lost once in their last ten games. Maybe Bobcat Nation's basketball forum as a coaching staff would have a record at 14-0 instead of 11-3.

Don't know what to tell you. Forums are to discuss observations. I discussed what I observed. I wasn't alone in my opinions on here. Because I pointed to areas that could be improved doesn't mean I'm going to send back my season tickets or stop donating.

[MSU01]

We're half a game out of first place with a team full of sophomores and juniors.

This thread is insane. I guess when MSU basketball is 20-1 in its last 21 games and is in 1st place on the men's side and 1/2 game out of 1st on the women's, people really need to dig deep to find something to complain about. The team will go as far as Darian White takes them, and changing your play style to move away from her strengths is, as I stated above, insane. Thank goodness Coach Binford is in charge and not Bobcat Nation.

What's insane is getting upset about pointing out flaws or areas to improve. This team is more than Darian. It was more than Payton, it was more than Jasmine, etc. It's a TEAM.

I'm not upset at all - just think that the "flaws" you're pointing out are not flaws at all, and that Darian is having a great year and Binford is doing a damn good job of coaching the team to legit championship contender status after they looked like an average team at best over the first month of the season. It is in fact a TEAM and Darian is its best player, so naturally she's going to be a focal point of pretty much everything the TEAM does and yes, like any other player she'll have some up games and some down games. But make no mistake, involving her LESS as you suggested will not lead to success in the long run. Think Darian shoots too much? Then why is she fourth in the Big Sky in assists and how in the world does MSU lead the conference in made 3-pointers when that's Darian's one weakness? I just don't understand the criticism of MSU's all-time winningest head coach who's headed straight to the Hall of Fame when she leaves MSU or retires, and one of the best players the team has ever had when they're 11-3 in conference play and have lost once in their last ten games. Maybe Bobcat Nation's basketball forum as a coaching staff would have a record at 14-0 instead of 11-3.

Don't know what to tell you. Forums are to discuss observations. I discussed what I observed. I wasn't alone in my opinions on here. Because I pointed to areas that could be improved doesn't mean I'm going to send back my season tickets or stop donating.

Sure, and I'm just discussing what I think are inaccurate about your observations and suggestions for changes. We all want the team to succeed.

[tetoncat]

You say you aren't upset but are the one calling the thread insane. Just point out why you disagree without criticizing others for having a different opinion. Darian had two poor games this week after having a career high in points. She is a great player, but not a great shooter. Her best games are when she is getting to the basket and layups and floaters are where she scores. And she's is great at getting to free throw line. Last two games she didn't get there as . Posters are pointing out when that happens sometimes you have to modify what you are looking for offensively. If you are not upset, why did you end that post saying you are not with a slam about Bobcat Nation coaches.

[BobcatDel]

Does the academic year of our players really matter? I think as a team, we have the talent to be 2 games up in conference play with some OOC wins. The issue is other teams have scouted Darian’s tendencies and until she becomes proficient with her three pt shot, they’re going to sag and build the iron curtain. Tori Martell save our butts last year. We need to convince Darian that she’ll have more opportunities if she utilized her teammates.
It’s a fallacy to say she had a bad day and was 1-13. Remember the 13 does not include the shots where she drew a foul. It’s not unusual for her to take 25% of our shots in a game. The winning streak was due to the fact other players were contributing, if you go to the lost to SUU, it seemed that
Darian felt a need to win the game single-handedly versus leading her team to victory. As for tired legs, there’s no rest during tournament time. That’s why it needs to be a team effort!

Dangerous to weigh in on this thread at this late stage!

Just curious on the “Team” aspect and comments that apparently Darian is ignoring….or perhaps carrying the load too much. I would have liked to see 3 wins but coming back from a road trip 2-1 with a great comeback against Idaho, a tough loss at SUU and after a tough OT game and travel, surviving a tough game against NAU…well I don’t think we are terribly broke.

We lost at SUU because the Team collectively shot 30% from the field, and the Team collectively shot 26% from 3 range. Others such as KJ and Kola were 1fers also. The only two shooting halfway decent were Jansen and Mocchi and they carried the scoring. And the Team was OUTREBOUNDED by 23 REBOUNDS…go ahead and repeat that…23 REBOUNDS….I sure the heck wished SOMEONE had decided they were going to carry the Team on their backs under the board and that was someone other than a 5’8” guard. That was flat out a TEAM loss…not just Darians 1-13.

Both the NAU and SUU games, in the 2nd half, the Team got sloppy with passing, started losing the hustle plays and couldn’t stop a drive on the inside if their fate depended on it…defense was kinda “stinky” on the inside but they did enough to win against NAU. The other point I would make is the offense works best when the people off ball are moving and hustling…watch the late stages against NAU again and there was a lot of standing around…a couple times down the court it looked like I could have taken magic marker on the court and they wouldn’t have moved out of it…..a couple times we did not have the hustle factor on rebounds or lost balls.

It’s late in season, people are getting weary, the mental and physical toughness starts to show on your more experienced teams.

Love the Lady Cats, Coach Bin knows what she’s doing, the Lady Cats know where they need to work. Welcome them back home this week. Give Ashley snd Gabbi great senior night send offs on Saturday! Get some friends to the games…they deserve it. Get a revenge win against SUU. Prepare for a very very very tough 4 game road trip before the Big Sky tourney.

[MSU01]

You say you aren't upset but are the one calling the thread insane. Just point out why you disagree without criticizing others for having a different opinion. Darian had two poor games this week after having a career high in points. She is a great player, but not a great shooter. Her best games are when she is getting to the basket and layups and floaters are where she scores. And she's is great at getting to free throw line. Last two games she didn't get there as . Posters are pointing out when that happens sometimes you have to modify what you are looking for offensively. If you are not upset, why did you end that post saying you are not with a slam about Bobcat Nation coaches.

I thought I was quite clear about why I disagree. If you (a) think Darian White isn't a team player, or that (b) you know better than Coach Binford about how best to utilize her skills in the team's offense, then that is an insane opinion. Since we're all MSU grads, I assume we all know the word is used figuratively and not literally.

[Ilikecats]

Didn’t see any post that Darian is not a team player. What I saw is that she needs to demand more from her teammates. Make them step up and contribute more on the court! I think her best season was her Freshman season, but there were a ton is Seniors on that team held each other accountable. Maybe my issue is after only losing one player last year, I expected this team to be dominant. Maybe that’s why I feel that we’re just getting by teams that don’t have our level of talent. We’re just not the same team away from the Brick! My opinion is that if we don’t win the tourney, it’s a disappointing season. That’s how good I think we can be.