South Dakota State

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Catlady
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South Dakota State

Post by Catlady » Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:01 pm

You don’t play defense you won’t win games against good teams! This team doesn’t have an identity. Our guards play defense like the Washington Generals. We turn the ball over way too much and we don’t focus on defense. Nonconference season is over with and this team is underperforming. The talent is there, but the results aren’t. I think we’re missing Coach Harris.



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Helcat72
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by Helcat72 » Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:21 pm

...and Hanna Caudill!
This Bobcat team doesn't have the quickness or ball handling ability that they had the last 4 years. SDSU had the quickness and moved the ball like the Cats used to.


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aucat
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by aucat » Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:51 am

I was terribly disappointed tonight by the play of the Lady Cats and the men's team as well. Really, I thought the Lady Cats played a worse game for the first
three quarters against Omaha on Sunday, before the team managed to pull it out in the fourth quarter.

Going into this season I was very optimistic that the ladies would be in the upper tier of the Big Sky this season.

Claire Lundberg is the real deal, no question. At least on offense. However, tonight what amazed me was the fact that
when SDSU walked on the court, they appeared to be identical to MSU regarding size, quickness, speed, etc. But the ladies
on SDSU played MUCH HARDER on defense; they moved much better on offense, made fewer turnovers, and boy could
they flat out shoot the ball. Of course, when our ladies consistently give them five foot cushions, it is a bit easier to make
buckets. I believe they ended up shooting 64% from the field.

Defense requires effort, tenacity, motivation and concentration. Our ladies did not have it at all tonight.

When we had the ball, the yellow-clad SDSU ladies were stuck to our players like a second skin. When SDSU had the ball,
they moved effortlessly, creating lots of space between our ladies and their shooters. Lots of layups to boot.

It is no wonder MSU came out with the new "flex package" for both the men and women where you can get 10 tickets for only $5 each. I foresee both
the men's and women's teams finishing in the bottom tier of the Big Sky. And what makes it so sad is the fact that
the men have one of our greatest players ever in Tyler Hall, and the women have a really great player in Clare Lundberg.

Hard to have much optimism right now. I will say this: I don't think the men have the talent overall to have a decent season in the Big Sky.
On the other hand, I really think the talent is there for the women, but unless something changes regarding their defense and the way
they run their offense, that talent will not be realized. The ladies in particular need a point guard who can really penetrate in the lane
then kick it out for open shots, the way SDSU did over and over tonight.



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Bobcat4Ever
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by Bobcat4Ever » Wed Dec 19, 2018 1:01 am

Catlady wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:01 pm
I think we’re missing Coach Harris.
Yes!



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Bobcat4Ever
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by Bobcat4Ever » Wed Dec 19, 2018 1:06 am

Helcat72 wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:21 pm
...and Hanna Caudill!
This Bobcat team doesn't have the quickness or ball handling ability that they had the last 4 years. SDSU had the quickness and moved the ball like the Cats used to.
No doubt. Hannah was the only guard in the league that was highly ranked in both assists and 3-point accuracy and scoring. Under-appreciated for Big Sky awards. Now it's easy to see what she brought. Difficult to replace her, but necessary to compete at the top.



aucat
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by aucat » Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:22 am

I agree that Hannah was under appreciated.

I really thought that Squires would fill the role of point guard with her ability to penetrate, kick the ball out,
and shoot threes. She certainly shows the potential for doing that, as she did in the 4th quarter against
Omaha, but what really surprises me is our dropoff in making threes.

Against Omaha we were 2-18 at one point. Also, what happened to Ashley Van Sickle? I thought she was a very
good shooter, but she has seen almost no playing time. She came in with the scrubs at the last minute last night.



BobcatDel
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by BobcatDel » Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:28 am

aucat wrote:
Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:22 am
I agree that Hannah was under appreciated.

I really thought that Squires would fill the role of point guard with her ability to penetrate, kick the ball out,
and shoot threes. She certainly shows the potential for doing that, as she did in the 4th quarter against
Omaha, but what really surprises me is our dropoff in making threes.

Against Omaha we were 2-18 at one point. Also, what happened to Ashley Van Sickle? I thought she was a very
good shooter, but she has seen almost no playing time. She came in with the scrubs at the last minute last night.
As mentioned earlier, Van Sickle has been injured since the start of the season. She has only had limited minutes and saw a few minutes last night. Coach is starting to work her in but a long way to come back in conditioning and getting into the flow with the team.



BobcatDel
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by BobcatDel » Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:47 am

Well based on the postings about the women's game last night, who is going to make the call of when we should shred our tickets, burn the jerseys, and donate our popcorn bucket to the homeless shelter? Just post it as soon as you can make the call.... then I guess I can quit going to the games.

But before I do, can anyone here tell me what they really thought we would be coming out of pre-season. I mean some are saying "the talent is there but the performance isn't".... anyone here think we would be 10-0 going into conference? So stand up now if you really thought that and tell me why. I thought 5-5 and maybe 6-4 at best. I thought one sure win with Carroll and three "no way in hell" losses to TCU, Marquette, and SDSU. The others I didn't know enough about so figured 50-50. So we are pretty well where I expected at this point.

Going forward, do I think they will win the conference? Nope. Will they be in the bottom tier as several are predicting? Nope. My forecast is kinda a middle of the pack performance like last year. Team hasn't had a losing record since 2006 and won't have one this year either. They will surprise a few folks and will get kicked by a team or two that they shouldn't.

The question in my mind is when will the team start to gel? Catlady calls it "identity"... I call it team chemistry. This team has potential but it still is lacking the leadership of a Peyton Ferris, Riley Nordgard and the floor general Hannah Caudill. Someone needs to step it up and I haven't seen that yet. I remain hopeful.



BobcatDel
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by BobcatDel » Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:55 am

Seems like there must have been no positives from last night but I saw a few....

- Whole team effort was heads and shoulders above Sunday game. The "try" was there all the way to the finish.
- It was nice to see Claire get her shot back.
- Tori hit a couple threes so maybe she can get back on track.... she shot 40% from 3 point range last year but is only shooting just over 20% from that range so far this year... it will be nice if she can start upping that percentage as we get into conference.
- Loved Blair's fight under the boards again. Really appreciated her efforts on that spectrum.
- Oli hustle was evident again.
- Nice to see Delaney Junkermier at the game and visiting the team.



BobcatDel
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by BobcatDel » Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:49 pm

Epistle according to BobcatDel:

I may be reading it wrong and I don’t know if the comments about the game last night were medicinal, alcohol or just anger fueled about the apparent incompetence and lack of skill of our players and coaches. Well I want to ask, who were we playing last night? Did you really think we were going to win against SDSU?

Now I am just a dumb old redneck farm boy so pardon my ignorance about basketball…. But I want to give you my perspective on who we played last night and why I said there was “no way in hell” we were going to win that game.

I first became aware of SDSU when they brought the women’s basketball team out on the football field at the MSU vs. SDSU game in Brookings and recognized them for winning their 8th conference title last year. It caused me to read about them a little bit… finished 12-2 in league play, won the conference tournament, lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Villanova in OVERTIME, AND returned two of the greatest all time players in team and league history as starters in 2018 as well as two other key contributors to that team. That made me stand up and notice. So I have kinda watched them a bit this year.

At 7-4 before last night, you would think nothing special except that 3 of those losses were against “big girl” teams at Marquette, Baylor and Oregon. With 20 seconds left in the game, Baylor led SDSU by only TWO points. Baylor sunk 4 free throws in the last few seconds to win by six. Against Oregon just last week, they were tied with four minutes to go and Oregon pulled out to a two point lead with a minute to go… Oregon closed out to win by eight. SDSU shot only 19% in Q3 which was their downfall as they shot over 50% in every other quarter. Did I mention that Baylor and Oregon are currently ranked #6 and #7 in the “big girl” rankings. And it made me stand-up and notice when SDSU is drawing votes for the Top 25 in the “big girl” rankings.

Now about those returning players. Miller, #12 has scored over 1900 points, is the all time scoring leader in history for SDSU, shoots the 3 ball right at 50%, will surpass 2000 points in the next few weeks and would need to get to 2300 points to be the league all time leading scorer (no Bobcat lady has scored over 1800 points). She was the league MVP twice and is on the league all decade team. We held her under her season average last night and held her to a lower total than either Baylor or Oregon albeit by only a point, but then those are inept defenses at Baylor and Oregon. Guebert, #11, has about 300 treys in her career and will surpass the league all time total for treys in the next few games (highest Bobcat total is 254). She only made 6 of 9 against both Baylor and Oregon (67%) from 3 point range but we know those are teams that give shooters a lot of “cushion” and are inept at defense based on their current rankings. She is on the league all decade team with Miller and two time first team league performer. Pair those with Selland, #44, who put down 12 points against Baylor, 21 against Oregon and shoots close to 40% from 3 ball range as a big girl you can have a bit of a problem defending…. But then all defenses must be inept to allow that. Irwin, #21, certainly isn’t a ball player is she… either hand, basketball smarts, knows where to be on the court, good quickness to the basket and leaping ability, would start for any Big Sky team. Starting five all shoot over 40% from the field and probably average 50% based on eyeball look, but then I am sure all they play against is inept defenses. Can’t recall their steals/blocks to turnover ration but it is in positive territory… they caused Baylor to turnover the ball 17 times!!

Enough… I better go get back to my plow and mule as I don’t know what the hell I am talking about. But me thinks you saw one of the better teams in the country at the mid-major level last night and you should have admired the team and the way they played. And I will cut the Bobcat girls a little slack… it was a test and it showed how much they need to do to get in the top tier.

Sorry…..



kwcat
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by kwcat » Wed Dec 19, 2018 1:25 pm

Helcat72 wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:21 pm
...and Hanna Caudill!
This Bobcat team doesn't have the quickness or ball handling ability that they had the last 4 years. SDSU had the quickness and moved the ball like the Cats used to.
I haven't attended a game yet this year so I haven't been able to see the new guard recruits.
Is the Shaide girl from Missoula playing? Her defense looked good in limited time last year.
She also could shoot the three, led AA in scoring, and seemed to see the floor well.



BobcatDel
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by BobcatDel » Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:48 pm

kwcat wrote:
Wed Dec 19, 2018 1:25 pm
Helcat72 wrote:
Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:21 pm
...and Hanna Caudill!
This Bobcat team doesn't have the quickness or ball handling ability that they had the last 4 years. SDSU had the quickness and moved the ball like the Cats used to.
I haven't attended a game yet this year so I haven't been able to see the new guard recruits.
Is the Shaide girl from Missoula playing? Her defense looked good in limited time last year.
She also could shoot the three, led AA in scoring, and seemed to see the floor well.
Madison has only seen 21 minutes on the court in 5 games. So really not enough time to get in the flow. As a junior I thought she might get a bit more time this year. Hard to say for sure why she isn't seeing the court more but she does look maybe a half step slower than some. So far she is only 2 for 9 from the field with 2 for 5 from 3 point range....but with limited minutes it is hard to get into a good shooting rhythm. And I guess I do see more in the Hilborn lady in terms of speed, ball handling, defense and future when on the court...not that she is a major scoring threat yet.

I might ask coach some time how she sees Madisyn's role playing out this year.



aucat
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Re: South Dakota State

Post by aucat » Thu Dec 20, 2018 10:16 am

I certainly agree with the comments about SDSU. Their women's team did not appear at all to be physically imposing like most teams that are ranked in the top 25. However, those young ladies flat out play basketball on both ends of the court. And they are obviously extremely well coached. Their relentless defense was superb, and their offense was flawless. I loved the way the players moved without the ball.

But back to SDSU. Yes, look at their entire athletic presence: Men's and women's hoops are consistently outstanding and we already know about the success of their football program. So what I'm thinking is, if SDSU can achieve this kind of success, why can't MSU?

That's why I was very happy when MSU hired Leon Costello away from SDSU to be our AD. They guy comes from a culture of absolute excellence in athletics. He knows what it looks like and what it takes. So I am optimistic for the future.



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