Anyone else making the “trip” to Moscow on Wednesday? I went 2 years ago and was shocked with how small the crowd was. Maybe 200 ppl outside the student section (which sat most the game). Of those 200 over half were cougs. They seem to be having a decent year. I know a U of I student who said they have really been promoting this game. Would be fun to have a nice environment as the crowd vs SDSU seemed to have really helP get the best out of our guys.
Cougs @ U of I
- Thread starter walzuu
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I was going to go, but hate the venue. It is scheduled for SWX, so will watch it there. Very tough place to play. Watched Ravelings Williams-Ehlo team get beat over there. Also remember a 37-36 game that Namek described as possibly the ugiest college game he had ever seen
Odd backdrop to shoot against. This is there big game every year, they were really up for it. There was good energy in the building: one team thrived off it the other folded like a house of cards.
Not an excuse for the way they played tonight. Just an honest answer to your honest question. I am unhappy that I went to the game. Players give little effort and Kent gave up coaching after 2 min. Just sat on his stool. Pathetic.
Clearly a bad performance. If we keep playing this way then we aren't as good as I thought, and the Wooden classic was some kind of extreme aberation. If we bounce back, or at least start to improve them the Idaho game was the aberation. Not sure which way it will go.
We live and die by the 3 point shot! Teams have figured it out and if they have the athletes to defend the 3 point line our offense will stall until we get inside scoring. We have decent slashers but no inside back to the basket scorer. Looks like Kent would like to establish Pollard underneath but we usually launch a 3 early in the shot clock.
I think most teams not blessed with NBA caliber bigs have to live and die with the 3 in today's game. I saw where there are 30 teams out there shooting 40% from 3 point line. You aren't going to beat a good 3 point shooting team without some of your own. Blame the impact if Golden State on the college game if you dont like it
Very few teams have NBA caliber bigs. It is always best to establish an inside game because that is what opens up your outside game. Primarily because when you feed the post and reposition on the perimeter the three point shot taken from a kick out pass is much easier. A good three point shooting team is actually very easy to beat if that’s all they do. Most good three point shooting teams have at least a good inside game to compliment the three pointers. We didn’t get beat last night by a team that just launched threes they had a balanced attack.
Disagree. First, we had a good inside game last year, and our offense sucked. I think you are right about the 3 point game being easy to beat even a few years ago, but there are many more teams with 3 or more quality 3 point shooters than ever. Its kind if like run vs pass in football. Conventional wisdom was you had to establish the run to open up passing options. Now you do the opposite. Knock down a couple and then you can start getting to the rim. You have to be able to hit as many 3 s as are available in today's game .
Idaho came out raining 3's last night, 9-15 at one point in the first half. Only then did they start hurting us inside
Idaho came out raining 3's last night, 9-15 at one point in the first half. Only then did they start hurting us inside
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We had a good inside game last year but we lacked consistent 3 point shooters. Also as you pointed out the more you have the better. If a team can come out and light it up from 3 point land consistently granted they are hard to beat but no team that I can think of has ever relied solely on the three and had long term success. Gonzaga would be a prime example they always have good shooters but it’s only when they have inside presence that they really excell.
Franks ,Pollard and Bersteine should be able to consistently score inside.Every team needs to have some semblance of balanced scoring,inside and outside , to succeed.The consistency of the cougs defensive effort and productivity is certainly a head scratcher.
Franks and Bernstein are improvements defensively over last season. However neither is a rim protector. Too many guys getting beat off the dribble against Cal Davis. Idaho was pulling up and knocking down 3's from everywhere early against us .. I think that lead to later defensive breakdowns. Also young teams need to learn to stay energized on D when their own shots aren't falling.
We have played 2 Big Sky teams and another team whose coach was in the Big Sky last year and I’ve noticed all three seemed to have a game plan to attack Bernstein off the dribble. He plays good defense in the post but consistently gets blown by on the perimeter. Pollard has the same problem. As far as inside scoring Pollard imo is the best option, it’s really not Franks strong point and Brick gets put backs and some pick and roll points but has little in the way of a back to the basket game.
Pollard eventually is going to get that little jump hook to go. He's tried it since last season without much success but I tend to think it will come.
