So How Good or Bad are we This Year?

gtapp · Post by **gtapp** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:33 pm

I saw a number of threads sounding optomistic about this years team just before the season started. Since I have seen more that suggest this team may struggle. It is early but where do we stand? Are we better, worse or about the same as last year?

MSU01 · Post by **MSU01** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:08 pm

I am sure others could have better insights than I can only having seen the team in person once so far, but it seems like the much needed inside presence is improved this year with Allou and especially Mohammed Fall. The problem is that there isn't much behind them if they get in foul trouble. As usual, they seem to rely pretty heavily on the three...although what college team doesn't these days! The results have been interesting so far - the win over Utah is looking less and less impressive although the win over SJSU is more impressive after they took Weber to double OT in Ogden a few days later. I'd predict a typical middle-of-the-pack finish in the Big Sky, but the team does look pretty explosive and could put together a run in the BSC tournament if they can get hot. The team to really pay attention to is the women, who are loaded with talent and haven't lost half the team to injuries like last year.

Gidal Kaiser · Post by **Gidal Kaiser** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 5:52 pm

gtapp wrote:I saw a number of threads sounding optomistic about this years team just before the season started. Since I have seen more that suggest this team may struggle. It is early but where do we stand? Are we better, worse or about the same as last year?

Give me some time to get my thoughts together after deadline tonight...

orsalak · Post by **orsalak** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:05 pm

I see this Bobcat team being right around .500 when this season comes to a close. No depth and little inside presence (though better then last year) will have us right around .500 again. The team as a whole is better then last year but the outcome will not be much better.

Gidal Kaiser · Post by **Gidal Kaiser** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 4:56 pm

This team, plain and simple, will be middle-of-the-road in conference play and overall unless they start playing better on D and can find some consistency in their shot-making abilities. There's tons more you can analyze from now until the end of time, but it comes down to that. Crackerjack analysis as you've come to expect.

complex321 · Post by **complex321** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 7:36 pm

hey you wanna see where they stand as a team?? Go to espn mens basketball..Big Sky Conference..Stats...TEAM Stats..click each one of the individual stats...blocks,steals etc..you might be surprised. I wasn't. I think they are going to be VERY good for a young team.

Gidal Kaiser · Post by **Gidal Kaiser** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:15 pm

Do individual or a team's statistical breakdowns tell the true story of how good a team can be?

LTown Cat · Post by **LTown Cat** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:22 pm

Gidal Kaiser wrote:Do individual or a team's statistical breakdowns tell the true story of how good a team can be?

No--especially when there are no like opponents to compare team stats yet...

Gidal Kaiser · Post by **Gidal Kaiser** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:37 pm

LTown, there are like opponents MSU has played (in relevance to other Big Sky teams), but again I concur - just statistics don't tell the tale. If they did, Sunday would've been a win.

LTown Cat · Post by **LTown Cat** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:42 pm

Gidal Kaiser wrote:LTown, there are like opponents MSU has played (in relevance to other Big Sky teams), but again I concur - just statistics don't tell the tale. If they did, Sunday would've been a win.

I know but not enough to build a database and compare stats to the entire BSC. We need to wait until late January to even begin throwing those #'s out and even then home vs. away isn't always comparable...anyway, we agree

complex321 · Post by **complex321** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:43 pm

Once again...the glass is half empty. I sure do miss Will.

ilovethecats · Post by **ilovethecats** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:38 pm

complex321 wrote:Once again...the glass is half empty. I sure do miss Will.

you're really not going to like this board if this years team under huse plays as well as all the other years under huse.

i don't know what exactly you're looking for here. i haven't heard anything overly negative....and rightly so. the season is too young yet. however, many of us are tired of seeing the same stuff over and over again from the hoops team. huse is likely on a shorter leash in the fans eyes because he hasn't done anything to improve the program since durham took over. i don't know why some people act as though criticism of the basketball team isn't allowed?

like i said....it's too early to say for sure. i have some opinions on how i think the season will go, but i'll spare you at this time. conference play is just around the corner though....

Post by **rtb** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:58 pm

ilovethecats wrote:i have some opinions on how i think the season will go, but i'll spare you at this time. conference play is just around the corner though....

I'll take a stab at what your prediction/opinion is:
-out of conference we will be middle of the road, show some promise in big games and leave everyone wondering what the year will be like
-the first half of the conference we will surprise people as they haven't seen most of our team since they aren't returners from last year
-the second half of the conference will be a slow painful collapse where we end up either just in or just out of the tournament
-if in the tournament we tease our fans with some success just to lose and miss out on the big dance.

Stop me if you've seen this somewhere else!

For those of you that aren't aware I just summed up Bobcat Basketball from 1997 to 2011. The only exception is 2002 where the third bullet point didn't hold true as we avoided the collapse....until the BSC tournament.

complex321 · Post by **complex321** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:19 pm

Seriously, some people don't think criticism is allowed ???? It's become a site for nothing but criticism. Even Mslacat refuses to come here anymore, for exactly that reason. I certainly respected his opinion more than anyone here. And this blog has become irrelevant because it has driven away any intellegent discourse. I also notice that you refer to all of Huse's history here but when did you join this blog 2010? Yeah, that was a long time ago. You guys are tiresome broken records. And...I have no respect for Gidal ......he seems very immature and unprofessional. Oh by the way, I will express my opinion and don't mind if you or anyone else don't agree with me. I only ask that you open your mind to the possibility that things might not turn out as you expect them to. I am here because I think it's time someone stuck up for the team and challenge you all to question your own stuck thinking. yeah right , that is going to happen. Ha

ilovethecats · Post by **ilovethecats** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:59 am

complex321 wrote:Seriously, some people don't think criticism is allowed ???? It's become a site for nothing but criticism. Even Mslacat refuses to come here anymore, for exactly that reason. I certainly respected his opinion more than anyone here. And this blog has become irrelevant because it has driven away any intellegent discourse. I also notice that you refer to all of Huse's history here but when did you join this blog 2010? Yeah, that was a long time ago. You guys are tiresome broken records. And...I have no respect for Gidal ......he seems very immature and unprofessional. Oh by the way, I will express my opinion and don't mind if you or anyone else don't agree with me. I only ask that you open your mind to the possibility that things might not turn out as you expect them to. I am here because I think it's time someone stuck up for the team and challenge you all to question your own stuck thinking. yeah right , that is going to happen. Ha

not sure who you are directing this too. it certainly isn't a site with nothing but criticism. i could find 50 threads right now that are all positive. certainly there was more negative stuff last week after the beatdown our football team received, so i can see why you feel that way.

as for mslacat, i respect him too. he is very in tune with both msu and um hoops programs and i enjoy his recruiting information. i could be mistaken, but i recall when he announced he was leaving the board, and criticism and negtivity surrounding the hoops program wasn't why.....

i referred to huse's history, so i'm not sure you are talking to me on this one because i'm not a part of any blog. i don't even read a blog that has anything to do with the hoops team. i just know that so far....huse hasn't done anything that should be making fans jump for joy.

as for what you think of gidal, that is your opinion and you are most certainly entitled. people hated will too. and it was only months ago people were fuming that colter was hired and he went to um and had a brother on the football team. i'd say he's done just fine. i have been following cat sports in this town for about 25 years now....specifically basketball and i LOVE the coverage and effort these guys are giving. do i always agree with them? not even close. but i'm not looking for cat fans to write about this team and only talk about how amazing they are.

the bottom line is that right now it's too early to say for sure how this year will go. but many of us are losing patience in this program. how long should we watch the same thing happen over and over? did you see rtb's post before your last one? is he being mean and overly critical too? or is he a cat fan that has watched our team do JUST WHAT HE SAID over, and over, and over again. how long do we need to keep watching um win conference championships when we barely make the playoffs and haven't even been to a championship game in years? how long do we watch other schools continue to out-recruit us? how long do we have to watch 3 and 4 guard lineups and act shocked when we we outrebounded and outscored in the post? how long do we have to watch this team be among the worst every year in free throw shooting which has cost us countless wins over the years?

again....i'm not saying this will be the case this season. maybe huse will shock us. i hope he does because i really like him, and i admit i thought he was the guy that was going to turn our program around. unfortunately, i think you could make a case that we have actually regressed since he has taken over. time will tell i guess. i would love to see another season like we had in ('05 maybe?) when we were picked dead last in the conference and had a great year. right now i'll remain on the fence. hope for the best but expect less than the best....

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:15 pm

complex321 wrote:Seriously, some people don't think criticism is allowed ???? It's become a site for nothing but criticism. Even Mslacat refuses to come here anymore, for exactly that reason. I certainly respected his opinion more than anyone here. And this blog has become irrelevant because it has driven away any intellegent discourse. I also notice that you refer to all of Huse's history here but when did you join this blog 2010? Yeah, that was a long time ago. You guys are tiresome broken records. And...I have no respect for Gidal ......he seems very immature and unprofessional. Oh by the way, I will express my opinion and don't mind if you or anyone else don't agree with me. I only ask that you open your mind to the possibility that things might not turn out as you expect them to. I am here because I think it's time someone stuck up for the team and challenge you all to question your own stuck thinking. yeah right , that is going to happen. Ha

Are you insinuating that a beat writer can only talk about things that have occurred since his arrival and when he started covering the team? I consider him lucky he hasn't had to watch the men's team as long as we have.

Just kidding.

rtb nailed it though. This isn't some very recent pattern that has only occurred the last year or two. Nearly every year I can remember since I started at MSU in '01, rtb's summation of the season has been spot on. The years where we make the tournament, we are limping in after a hot start. Sometimes, but rarely, we patch the wound for a game or maybe even two, but eventually the injury will kill us (our season).

You can't really argue with patterns. Every year I hope "this is the year". Every year we lose a large majority of our last half of games it seems, and we fizzle out and rarely make noise in the tournament.

No one is rooting against the Cats. But I think a majority of us are simply waiting for something to get excited about, because it has become completely exhausting and frustrating to get your hopes up too high for men's basketball at MSU. I feel it, and I know many others do to.

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:53 pm

Here are some stats to back up rtb's claim:

Huse's record in February and March games:
Year, (tournament record), regular season finish
06-07 4-5 (0-1) 5th
07-08 2-7 (0-1) 6th
08-09 4-8 (2-1, lost in championship as a 6 seed) 6th
09-10 4-4 (0-1) 3rd
10-11 2-8 (0-1) 5th

Combined 16-32 regular season, 2-5 tournament record, best regular season finish 3rd.

We have only gotten out of the first round of the tournament one time, in 2008-2009 when we were a 6 seed and pulled off two upsets only to lose on a last second shot against PSU in the championship.

I really want to get excited about Bobcat basketball again, but I'm afraid it'll end up as it has every year with Huse so far. Good conference start, fade badly in February and beyond, lose our first round tournament game.

I'm not asking for much, but 4 out of his 5 years we have failed to even win a conference tournament game.

They say you need 4-5 years to get your guys in and the players you want in your system.

NewEra · Post by **NewEra** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 6:52 pm

complex321 wrote:...I have no respect for Gidal ......he seems very immature and unprofessional

+1

technoCat · Post by **technoCat** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:47 am

NewEra wrote:
complex321 wrote:...I have no respect for Gidal ......he seems very immature and unprofessional
+1

Well I have no respect for two posters with a combined 14 posts coming on here and badmouthing someone who has been a very good contributor to this board. Maybe you should take a step back and listen for a while, you might learn something...

gtapp · Post by **gtapp** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:08 pm

complex321 wrote:Seriously, some people don't think criticism is allowed ???? It's become a site for nothing but criticism. Even Mslacat refuses to come here anymore, for exactly that reason. I certainly respected his opinion more than anyone here. And this blog has become irrelevant because it has driven away any intellegent discourse. I also notice that you refer to all of Huse's history here but when did you join this blog 2010? Yeah, that was a long time ago. You guys are tiresome broken records. And...I have no respect for Gidal ......he seems very immature and unprofessional. Oh by the way, I will express my opinion and don't mind if you or anyone else don't agree with me. I only ask that you open your mind to the possibility that things might not turn out as you expect them to. I am here because I think it's time someone stuck up for the team and challenge you all to question your own stuck thinking. yeah right , that is going to happen. Ha

There is a huge difference between voicing frustration and not supporting the team. A true CAT fan ALWAYS supports the team but he or she has a right and maybe even an obligation to voice concern/critisism. That is what drives the athletic administration to make changes. If we are not happy with the product we need to let the athletic dept know it so maybe something will change. I prefer passion (albeit by critisism) over apathy anythime! We voice frustration because we care. But at no time do we stop supporting or cheering for the team!