MBB: Onto Confrence play!

[Desert_Bobcat]

I posted a thread similar one month into Coach Logie's 1st season last year and thought I'd do something similar this year. We can talk more about the team and things to come going forward. But one thing has really stood out to me so far this year that needs to be addressed before this team finds consistent success.

This team needs to find an identity in the worst way. And they don’t have a leader like they had in Robert Ford, Darius Brown, or Xavier Bishop who can "right the ship" and provide that identity and leadership on the court. Someone who’s been a part of this team for more than 2 years needs to step up and be that leader. It’s more than likely not going to be Walker, Max, or Jabe. They don't seem to have any idea of what it takes to be ‘Bobcat Tough’ and I'm starting to think this coaching staff doesn't know/care about playing a hard-nosed brand of basketball that the previous coaching staff worked so hard to establish. Regardless of who it is, someone needs to step up in that locker room and become the verbal leader.

When this team is playing to its potential, it can be one of the country's best low/mid-major teams that can compete with NCAA tournament teams like Wisconsin and have the ability to knock off a team like Northwestern or USC. When it's not clicking, they lose to a very, very bad Denver team and choke away a 12-point lead against an inferior team like UC Riverside. They need to be able to find a way to score points and play tough defense when it's not going perfectly. Coincidently, finding that on-court leader would help a ton here.

Now to the non-conference schedule. I said this earlier in the year and 100% stand by it; given the talent and experience at every roster spot, this non-con has been a mild disappointment. Winning in the non-con matters. Yes, it's about finding out what your team is made of and preparing yourself for conference play (which I think this schedule has done very well). However, given the talent on this team, we should be talking about a team that dominates the BigSky and has 30+ wins at the end of the year, not limping into the conference tournament and catching magic in a bottle like they did last year. This team is trying to be the first team from the BigSky to go to 4 straight NCAA tournaments. It's time to grade on a different scale, and "just getting to the tourney" isn't enough. It's time to start competing in and winning NCAA tournament games. I 100% believe this.

[Desert_Bobcat]

Statistically speaking, this year's team and last year's team are almost identical. The main difference is that MSU is averaging 3 more rebounds a game which was a complete shocker. They still have a -2.7 rebounding margin which isn’t great but an improvement from last year. MSU’s defense has also been better. Teams are shooting 3% worse (43.1% vs 46.7%) from the field and 5% less (27.9% vs 33.5%) from 3. Both things can probably be attributed to the added length at all positions. The one thing that has really killed MSU this year has been opponent FT%. Cats are sending teams to the line about 20x/game in both seasons but teams are shooting 78.9% from the stripe this year compared to 71.4% last year.
Chalk that up to luck or playing more talented teams, that has shown to be a game-changer so far this year. Cats are also getting to the line about the same as last year (15.8 x/game), but considering they’re allowing more attempts and teams are converting at a higher clip, you can figure the Cats are spotting teams about 5 points per game strictly based on FT’s alone. Now factor in that 4 of their losses were by 3 points or less; by that math, we could be looking at a team that’s 9-3 and not 5-7. Obviously, It's not that simple, but in close games, free throws will always matter.

[Desert_Bobcat]

Now finally some random thoughts that I’ve had throughout the year, positive and negative:

- Love the effort from the JuCo guys and hope they play a big role down the stretch and in the coming years
- Bryce could be the thing that unlocks this offense
- Love the effort and offensive ability Jed brings to the table
- Really like Patrick’s game. Has the ability to drive effectively and needs to use it more and not just be a shooter
- Max has all the talent in the world. The last 6 minutes of the 1st half of the Riverside game was a thing of beauty. That is how you maximize his talent (pun unintended)
- Tyler, Brian, Sam, Brandon, averaging 40+% from 3. Brandon doesn’t need to shoot any more 3’s but team needs to find a way to get the other guys open shots
- Kolly could play the “Big John” role from last year
- Callum? (what's his deal) would love to have another effective big body
- Offense needs more structure to prevent scoring lulls?
- Lots of scoring in the paint but not shooting lots of foul shots?
- Need to get to the line more and capitalize on those FT attempts
- Defense has been awful for stretches in most games
- Defense breaks down when players over-rotate to help lesser defenders and the helps help doesn’t rotate. Need to talk and be more organized at times
- Need to limit 2nd chance points
- When this team is firing on all cylinders they look like a team that can win an NCAA tournament game or two
- When its bad its bad (E. Wash losing to Sac St. last year bad)
- Schedule has provided a great challenge. Hopefully this team can capitalize on the non-con experience
- Logie is a wizard and draws up excellent set plays coming out of timeouts
- Wish we would take more timeouts to regain momentum and/or help the offense and defense regroup
- Subbing and minutes for players has seemed very scripted and doesn’t deviate from that script. Will that continue or will they look to ride the hot hand more?
- Have been consistently playing 10-12. Who are going to be the ones who see a drop off in minutes?
- Who is going to be on the floor in crunchtime / which lineup is the most productive for the Cats?

Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed the read (or didn't)! I’ve been locked into Cats basketball this year and given the nature of the team as it relates to roster turnover, transfers and otherwise, as well as being in year 2 of the Logie era, I think it provides a lot of interesting talking points. After the TCU game Sunday they’ll be lots of off-time until the Cats open up conference play @ Idaho on Jan 2nd so hopefully this’ll give other Bobcat degenerates something to talk about.

Merry Christmas!

[BelgradeBobcat]

The free throw discrepancy is telling. We got homered pretty good at Riverside, only shooting 5 when they shot about 20. That happens on the road in non-conference. Hopefully that will even out, but we also need guys to take it to the opponent instead of just settling for jumpers-other than Walker, who can be wearing an opponent like a backpack and not get a call-but he'd miss the free throw anyway.

Mullins is not a point guard. I know he wants to be, but he's just not. Zephir isn't seeing things yet. He missed Walker on a roll to the basket late in the game last night. Jed Miller might be our best point guard but has his limitations. I wish he was more deadly from out when left open. Anyway, it's really hard to be good without a good point guard. We had X, then Darius, the Robert Ford III and we got spoiled.

This team will cause a lot of problems in the Big Sky where teams just don't have the length we have. I have a feeling this team might be another that kinda comes out of nowhere in the tournament as they figure things out later in the season. I just hope we don't choke against the SWAC champ this time.

[Desert_Bobcat]

Mullins is not a point guard. I know he wants to be, but he's just not. Zephir isn't seeing things yet. He missed Walker on a roll to the basket late in the game last night. Jed Miller might be our best point guard but has his limitations. I wish he was more deadly from out when left open. Anyway, it's really hard to be good without a good point guard.

Agree with all of this. I’m thinking the coaches were hoping Zephir was going to develop a bit faster than he has. I like the way the offense runs more with Jed than with Mullins. The ball movement and flow is just better. But like you say, he’s got his own limitations as well.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

A good rule of thumb is that if a guy is both 6'4" and interested in playing in the Big Sky conference, he ain't a point guard. I said this in the offseason and nobody believed me.

[wapiti]

The free throw discrepancy is telling. We got homered pretty good at Riverside, only shooting 5 when they shot about 20. That happens on the road in non-conference. Hopefully that will even out, but we also need guys to take it to the opponent instead of just settling for jumpers-other than Walker, who can be wearing an opponent like a backpack and not get a call-but he'd miss the free throw anyway.

Mullins is not a point guard. I know he wants to be, but he's just not. Zephir isn't seeing things yet. He missed Walker on a roll to the basket late in the game last night. Jed Miller might be our best point guard but has his limitations. I wish he was more deadly from out when left open. Anyway, it's really hard to be good without a good point guard. We had X, then Darius, the Robert Ford III and we got spoiled.

This team will cause a lot of problems in the Big Sky where teams just don't have the length we have. I have a feeling this team might be another that kinda comes out of nowhere in the tournament as they figure things out later in the season. I just hope we don't choke against the SWAC champ this time.

Sounds like we need to work on that Free Throw defense!!!

[duelalumnicat]

If Logie needs team leaders, he should start seniors Sam Lecholat and Brian Goracke. They both proved themselves last year.

[saintcat40]

If Logie needs team leaders, he should start seniors Sam Lecholat and Brian Goracke. They both proved themselves last year.

I wholeheartedly agree!

[HelenaCat]

If Logie needs team leaders, he should start seniors Sam Lecholat and Brian Goracke. They both proved themselves last year.

I wholeheartedly agree!

Me too...or at least give them both many more minutes.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

If Logie needs team leaders, he should start seniors Sam Lecholat and Brian Goracke. They both proved themselves last year.

I wholeheartedly agree!

Me too...or at least give them both many more minutes.

Coach knows exactly what he's getting from Goracke and Lecholat. It seems like he was using the nonconference games as a tryout for the guys who are new or younger, to see what they can do.

[Helcat72]

If Logie needs team leaders, he should start seniors Sam Lecholat and Brian Goracke. They both proved themselves last year.

I wholeheartedly agree!

Me too...or at least give them both many more minutes.

Coach knows exactly what he's getting from Goracke and Lecholat. It seems like he was using the nonconference games as a tryout for the guys who are new or younger, to see what they can do.

I hope that is what he was doing!

[MSU01]

If Logie needs team leaders, he should start seniors Sam Lecholat and Brian Goracke. They both proved themselves last year.

I wholeheartedly agree!

Me too...or at least give them both many more minutes.

Coach knows exactly what he's getting from Goracke and Lecholat. It seems like he was using the nonconference games as a tryout for the guys who are new or younger, to see what they can do.

He also has a healthy Patrick McMahon this year which takes away some of the minutes that can go to other guys. That said I do expect a somewhat less balanced distribution of minutes once conference play starts and Logie decides who his main guys will be. Not sure if Goracke will start but I fully expect him to get significantly more minutes during conference play.

[aucat]

I KNEW that we were really going to miss Robert Ford. The thing about last year's team is that they caught fire late in the season. At this point last year it didn't look too good either.

Looking at our roster I think we have a good chance to have a really good year in the Big Sky if the guys get it rolling.
Maybe getting into conference play is the ticket. The close loss to Wisconsin early on was an indicator as to our potential.

But we really have to pick it up from the last few showings which have been dismal.

[Bobcat4Ever]

The expected base level of athleticism seems to be missing. Yes, we are long (tall and thin) which is not a skill, but it looked like every TCU player was quicker / faster, stronger, better jumper, better shooter, etc. I never hoped to see a Bobcat team humiliated like that again. And compared to the last few years, including last year’s Logie year, almost no one is playing with a high energy level. I thought Coach looked as discouraged as I’ve seen him, like he was reading some crayon scribbling on the end-of-season wall. Defense is spotty as can be, some players looking like defense isn’t really their thing. Even Goracke and McMahon (to some extent) seem to have caught the malaise. Lecholat is playing as hard as ever, but he needs to be surrounded by energy to make his game work. Who forgot to plug the team charger in this year?

I certainly hope something kicks in, or a point guard parachutes in over the break, or something happens — I’m Blue and Gold all the way through. Go, ‘Cats!

[duelalumnicat]

[wapiti]

Is tonight's game going to be on local tv?

[Cats15]

Is tonight's game going to be on local tv?

Just ESPN+