NIT Tip Off Third Place Game vs. OKSTATE 2:30 ESPN

[Ragingcroc]

We get to play OKSTATE twice. Once in this tournament and once in December. I think we win this game in a somewhat close one. Thoughts?

 

[ckhokie]

If we can cone out as motivated as we did against Cuse and put together a similar first 15 minutes, I think we got it. OSU doesn't have the skill on the court or the coaching to bounce back the way Syracuse did

 

[Lumbee09]

I think we win this game. I'm not convinced that OK St will bounce back from their loss the way we will. The players seem motivated to leave NYC with a win.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

Is it on TV in Northern Virginia???

 

[hokiecheme11]

Is it on TV in Northern Virginia???

should be on ESPN

 

[Hokie Swagger]

awful start. 8-0 ok state. hudson just got a layup now. 8-2

 

[Hokie Swagger]

we came back very well, now up 32-23 at half time.

 

[wildturkey]

Well we're up at the half but I'm not sure how. It's been a poor effort imo on both sides of the ball.

The defense is having some breakdowns, specifically on screens. I've noticed Davila and Raines are playing waaaay too far out on their screen defense. They're up past the 3 point line, leaving the lane wide open. They're too late getting back, leading to easy shots.

Offense is looking like a chore. I don't like the set they're using. Green is coming down and passing the ball to the center at the top of the FT circle, then they take turns passing it to players around the 3 point line, getting no penetration or good looks. When the center or PF does post up, its at the top elbow next to the FT line. That's way too high to be effective. Luckily, Brown has come in and hit some tough shots but our set offense needs to get better.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

I do not follow college basketball that well. Is Ok State supposed to be good this year? Is this going to be a quality OOC game?

 

[Hokie Swagger]

I do not follow college basketball that well. Is Ok State supposed to be good this year? Is this going to be a quality OOC game?

i dont believe so.

 

[hunzworth]

Lucky to get the win. We came out pretty flat early and never seemed "crisp" today at all. I guess that could be a product of putting so much in the syracuse game, IDK. I'll take the W, but i'd call this an ugly win. As a team you got to put this one behind you and get ready for sunday. We have seen them play a lot better than this so 1 game doesnt really change my outlook from here on out.

 

[Ragingcroc]

Both teams looked pretty cold beyond the arc. We've really got to work on getting back on transition (hint: jogging down the court is NOT acceptable.) Our rotations need work as well. We also need to limit our turnovers. I am really excited though because we can improve a lot.

 

[Lumbee09]

Tough win, but glad they came away from MSG 1-1. 4-1 is where everyone was expecting/hoping this team would be at this point of the season. Quick turnaround now. St. Bonnies on Sunday. Should be able to come away with a win in this one, but you can never be too sure with these A-10 teams that have mostly juniors and seniors in their line-up.

 

[Ragingcroc]

Tough win, but glad they came away from MSG 1-1. 4-1 is where everyone was expecting/hoping this team would be at this point of the season. Quick turnaround now. St. Bonnies on Sunday. Should be able to come away with a win in this one, but you can never be too sure with these A-10 teams that have mostly juniors and seniors in their line-up.

I think we win but it will be a pretty close one. Andrew Nicholson is a beast. He gave us fits last year.

 

[wildturkey]

Fatigue will be a factor on Sunday but all things equal, we should win.


As everyone seemed to point out, we were fortunate to come away with the win. The problems I listed in my earlier post on the first half of the game continued throughout. Actually, the defense got worse because OK St adjusted to our lazy rotations and started pounding it inside with backdoor cuts. A couple of other things I feel like bitching about:

-How I loath that offensive set we run that I mentioned earlier. We've run it before and I hate it. It accomplishes nothing. You're passing the ball around the perimeter and before you know it, there's 6 seconds left in the shot clock and you've got force up a contested, low percentage jump shot. Ugh. Also, the bigs started catch the ball up past the 3 point line to initiate the set. WTF. They aren't setting a screen and they sure as hell aren't shooting a 3, so why have your PF or C catch the ball that high? Ok St just kept their defenders parked in the paint, playing 5 on 4.

-Here's how low our offensive awareness is as a team. There was a good 3 to 4 minute stretch in the 2nd half in which 6 foot 7 Jarell Eddie was guarded by 5 FOOT 9 Keiton Page. This is a ridiculously OBVIOUS mismatch. Any functional offense would recognize this, get Eddie the ball, and have him post Page's little ass up. Well we didn't. I believe I saw Eddie get the ball one time and he proceeded to jack up a 3. I really hope Greenberg points this out in film study.

Overall, we came out with what we needed but we still have plenty to work on. Time will tell if the Ok St game will be a good win, but we know for a fact we avoided a bad loss. Those are the kind of games that have kept us out of the Big Dance. Losing to Ok St @ Ok St, wouldn't be as bad as losing to them at a neutral site.

 

[Ragingcroc]

I do not follow college basketball that well. Is Ok State supposed to be good this year? Is this going to be a quality OOC game?

OKSTATE is top 100 RPI if not better material.