Let the Games Begin- Utah State
- Thread starter Gallipoli
- Start date
This isn’t true…the problem I see is we are not playing the right personnel together and lack athleticism. We might have 1 maybe 2 guys on the court that are athletic. Zay can defend, Dji can defend and Crab has been solid. Nick is a liability right now, Tyler isn’t a great defender but this is all a want to thing. You have to want to defend. If you are constantly getting beat, then you to take a seat. We go on a run then we put guys right back in that can’t, won’t or is unable to defend. There ain’t no way #15 should have beaten any of our guards off the dribble…none.
I was told "all is well". It's only the second game of the season. I been told this before over 16 years. I see the same results repeating itself. Lose at the most pivotal moments happen again.
Just waiting for Georgia St next. Who probably is going to beat us. What else is new?
Just waiting for Georgia St next. Who probably is going to beat us. What else is new?
Sad to say, but it is apparent already;
I'll fix the sentence for you: "This will not be the season so many expect the Spiders to have"
Damn, bet you hate it when I am right. LMAO
8legs1dream
Graduate Assistant
Mooney says on the radio, I don’t think we were horrendous on defense, they were just one of the best teams we have ever played. “Paraphrasing a little”
Our roster is sufficiently athletic and certainly offensively skilled enough. This is all about defense. I looked at our spacing tonight and literally couldn’t tell what kind of defense we had going. It almost looked like a 4-out 1-in “man” where the 5 was there to help but it just meant someone was always open for USU.
Why can’t we just play a simple man to man D? It worked two years ago, we were passable and the offense is solid enough to win when you play a moderately good defensive game.
So frustrating.
Why can’t we just play a simple man to man D? It worked two years ago, we were passable and the offense is solid enough to win when you play a moderately good defensive game.
So frustrating.
Great point Dad. This is a coaching issue. CM doesn't adjust. Never has and never will.
Well building a resume with OOC wins is pretty much destroyed
Agree 100% that commonly the wrong guys are on the floor at the wrong time. BUT, that is Mooney's greatest weakness. Always has been. Lucky for you, you haven't been here to witness it for 17-years in a row.
8legs1dream
Graduate Assistant
Cmon, he is on the bench. Gipe or someone, maybe the strength coach, who knows or cares at this point. But he did see Newman walk in a restaurant but forgot all Spiders history between then and now haha.
Tyler had 5 rebounds in the opening 8 minutes. Then only 2 more rebounds the rest of the game. How is that possible!
8legs1dream
Graduate Assistant
this is the twist of the knife after this loss. If this team that was picked to be middle of the pack in the MWC, loses their best player and their coach from last year, flies across the country and kicks our teeth in what is Maryland going to do to us?
You win or lose close games in the last 3-minutes. Anyone who witnessed the last 3-minutes tonight and still thinks that the Spiders are NCAA material is the ultimate optimist. The "most experienced team in the history of college basketball" was horrible (agree that it had some to do with who was playing). The decision-making, shot selection, and overall execution on both ends of the floor was flat out awful. This is a coach and player problem. Mostly coach because he decides who is on the floor, and he is responsible for preparing the team. Mooney should have been fired years ago.
Empirical data for this has been in the file for a long time, but UR Admin doesn't really care about sports as long as we have an impressive venue. Rocco had it right. NO vision.
Is wearing a bag over your head the same as wearing a mask? asking for a friend.
I’m just gonna say it. If Ryan Odom was coaching us we win that game.
8legs1dream
Graduate Assistant
Let me save you some heartache. You don't need to be worrying about at-large bids this season.
I would not have Isaiah Wilson in game at crunch time. But, I wouldn't count on Burton's late game play to win too many close games either. Andre Gustafson can't get back soon enough.
So by your logic…Zay, Connor and even Dji when he gets a chance aren’t good defenders?…got it 😂 And if you think Goose will be the cure all then I can’t talk hoops with anyone that irrational line of thought. Defense is bad that doesn’t mean we don’t have defenders.
Fair but Goose really helps this team with his overall game. I’m looking forward to him coming back.
If Ryan Odom was coaching us I'd actually start going back to games.
I don't disagree from a defensive perspective. However, to this point, he hasn't shown the offensive skill and overall poise to lead his team to close game wins.
Haven’t read any comments. Just got finished watching the game and I’m livid. Sherod needs to be on the bench. He’s contributing nothing offensively or defensively. Wilson is good defensively but nonexistent on offense. What happened to Dji? Thought he was doing good. Finally, Cayo’s free throws look like Markelle Fultz’s when he was on the Sixers. Does he have the yips? Someone needs to fix that ASAP. Bad loss. Should have been our game.
Totally agree with you Dad and this is something that never happens with a Mooney team. If you can execute the offense, then you are going to play. If you are a turnstile on defense, no problem.
All that being said, it does seem to me that Mooney is trying some new things this year and seems to be looking for the right combinations for certain situations. As others have said, he is terrible at making adjustments in game, so he is going to make all sorts of mistakes in these early games to find these lineups. One thing is certain, Nick Sherod cannot play the 2 spot. He doesn’t have his legs yet. I think Mooney knows this as well because Nick is seeing the bench early. But Mooney is loyal and trusts Nick and so he keeps putting him back in, even though it is detrimental, Hopefully Nick gets back to some version of his former self, but he isn’t remotely close at this point in the season.
I have seen promising signs from Wilson and Crabtree, so hopefully they are able to work out the kinks and contribute more. I think they have what we need on the defensive end, but need to contribute just a little more on the offensive end. Not that the team needs them to play a major role, just that that have to contribute something so that defenders can’t cheat.
Matt Grace is playing great on the Matt Grace scale, but a great defender he is not. He does seem to be playing a bit tougher though, so that’s positive,
The biggest disappointment is easily Cayo. All his improvement on the free throw line seems to have disappeared, he is not playing tough, and he is getting blown by on defense. My hope is Nick gets his legs back and he plays down low on defense and is used to spread the floor on offense. We know Mooney doesn’t coach offensive rebounding, so having Nick instead of Cayo should work. We just need to hope that Nick can make some strides physically.
True but Isaiah doesn’t need to lead us to close end of game wins, he does his thing on D. He does have to find a way to be threatening on O beyond just penetrating and then doing a desperate kickout. Got to find a way to get the angle or develop the tear drop or something.
