MSU shooting 39% on twos and allowing 59% on twos in Big Ten games. Ugly.
For comparison: Michigan shooting 57% on twos and allowing 34% on twos.
10 Likes
Hoggard really doesnât do it for me. Langford playing over Henry doesnât really do it for me (Iâd even like to see more Gabe Brown). I think Hall has to start at the four if you are going to go with Hauser at the five as well.
4 Likes
Sorry I missed out on all the excitement last night, guys.
I never bought Rocket as a viable PG. He was like Franz last year, but shot well for an even shorter amount of time and didnât have a wrist injury as an excuse for the other part. People can come up with all the issues and fixes, but the issue is 100% awful play by Watts and Henry and the only way out is for them to play better. Thatâs their top 2 usage guys and theyâre putting up 96.6 and a 91.5 ORTG. They arenât scoring at the rim and they arenât hitting 3s. Hauser is their best player but heâs Isaiah Livers on offense (check their shot profiles, theyâre identical with very similar AST%). And so he needs facilitators. They can try Foster Loyer at PG all they want but heâs no better than Eli Brooks as a facilitator, and heâs dreadful on defense.
Although even if Rocket and Henry play much better they are still stuck with Thomas Kithier as their starting C. I was fairly certain Bingham would be a guy by now.
2 Likes
MSUâs problems can be explained in one wordâŚguard play (ok thats 2 words 
)
Interior play is a huge issue as well â on both ends of the court.
2 Likes
Are you of the opinion that home court advantage is still a notable thing for Big Ten teams this year? I have no idea. I know Kenpom still has them to an extent, but a itâs also tough to figure out with some conferences (ACC, Big 12) having thousands of people still there to watch.
Hard to say. Right now home teams are winning 68% of games⌠almost identical to last year. Itâs early though.
Comfort with your home rims, floor, and site lines isnât completely insignificant, but the lack of fans at a place like Mackey, Cameron, Breslin, and Assembly Hall is an equalizer for sure. I know Duke wasnât playing scrubs, but have they ever lost 2 non conference games at Cameron?
2 Likes
MSU looks really bad and seems to have systemic issues at the 1 and 5. At the same time, I am hesitating to pile on too much because I think a lot of good B10 teams are going to have three game losing streaks this season. Do I think MSU is a good B10 team? NoâŚbut I think they are better than they looked last night. Nebraska is a huge game for them.
I think you roll with Henry, Hall, and Hauser for the front court as much as you can. Then you just try to live with Watts, Loyer, and Hoggard in the backcourt I guess. Can Akins enroll early since he got shoved out of the Bates hype factory?
5 Likes
Iâve never understood why Gabe Brown isnât a 25-30 mpg player. His defensive issues are highly exaggerated imo.
1 Like
Heâs better than Langford right now
I think he definitely has noticable issues on defense. I just donât think theyâre any worse than a guy like Langford, and just with his length/lack of injury history alone he should have a little higher upside there as well
Seems like the moving screenâs pumps should be pretty primed right about now. Youâve got Michigan in first place while MSU sits in the caboose. Is MSUâs season on the brink? Will this be Izzoâs finest hour?
1 Like
I didnât see the game - this was obviously a near historically bad shooting nightâŚwere their looks bad, or could they just not shoot? At these numbers Iâd imagine the answer is a bit of both, but just curious.
Hauser in particular had some real good looks that just didnât go. Bad night for him but he clearly is the one you want putting up those shots. Hall did make some shots too. Everybody else just makes things harder than they need to. A ton of contested mid-range shots, turnovers, no presence around the basketâŚits not a good situation.
This âWatts not wanting to play PGâ talk is surprising as they really have no other options. I mean its great if he is more comfortable off ball but 1) its selfish and 2) it doesnât make the team better when you have no other options.
Loyer is a backup PG at best. They are completely overextending him. I did like what Hoggard brought last night but he also isnât a natural PG. I think you gotta try him there though and see what happens. I just donât think the âJosh Langford Comeback Tourâ is happening, but could they transition him to a PG role? I think I even saw late in garbage time that Aaron Henry was bringing the ball up court. Do they make him a sort of PG/facilitator? Clearly the role he has now isnât working for him either. Problem is even if they get the PG situation figured out, there are still a ton of issues elsewhere.
I think Rocket might be the first player in the history of basketball to ask to be moved DOWN a position instead of up. Very bad sign
2 Likes
We will see how the rest of this season goes, but Jaden Akins might be able to step into the starting lineup day 1 next year.
Theyâve been trying to use Henry as a facilitator all year, itâs simply not part of his skillsets. Henry is a good role player, heâs not capable of more than that. The problem is they have nobody that can run the offense and make things easier for other players.
âSelfishâ and âdoesnât make the team betterâ are two great ways to describe Rocket Watts