# [December 1, 2015] Indiana State (3-2) at Eastern Illinois (0-3)



## Jason Svoboda

*vs.*




*Indiana State Sycamores (3-2) vs. Eastern Illinois Panthers (0-3)
**Lantz Arena, Charleston, Illinois*
*Tuesday, December 1, 2015*
*Tipoff: 8:00pm EST*​


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## niklz62

Is anyone coming over for this?  Im taking my daughters in full Sycamore garb.  That should go over good with their classmates.


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## SycamoreStateofMind

niklz62 said:


> Is anyone coming over for this?  Im taking my daughters in full Sycamore garb.  That should go over good with their classmates.



Yes, most likely will be over for this game. Too easy of a drive not to make it over for this game.


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## BrokerZ

Are our non-conference road games also being aired on ESPN3?


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## TreeTop

BrokerZ said:


> Are our non-conference road games also being aired on ESPN3?



Depends on the game.  This one is being aired on OVC Digital Network .


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## ISUCC

Please let's not repeat the disaster of losing to EIU that we endured last season. Even though they did have a good team we shouldn't have lost to them in Terre Haute


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## Jason Svoboda

ISUCC said:


> Please let's not repeat the disaster of losing to EIU that we endured last season. Even though they did have a good team we shouldn't have lost to them in Terre Haute



Taking a look at their box scores, it looks like they're not quite the same team as last year for whatever reason. I won't pretend to know anything about their roster, but they've been getting run off the floor by some mediocre clubs. I hope we come out and just push the hell out of the pace like we did in the first half last night. It's another game where we should be up 15 at the break IMO.


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## Sycamore Proud

ISUCC said:


> Please let's not repeat the disaster of losing to EIU that we endured last season. Even though they did have a good team we shouldn't have lost to them in Terre Haute



Yes, totally agree with you on last year's game.  I'm not sure why I feel this wiay, but EIU is the one game that I feel we should NEVER lose.  I mean a WIN each and every time we play.


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## Bluethunder

Jason Svoboda said:


> Taking a look at their box scores, it looks like they're not quite the same team as last year for whatever reason. I won't pretend to know anything about their roster, but they've been getting run off the floor by some mediocre clubs. I hope we come out and just push the hell out of the pace like we did in the first half last night. It's another game where we should be up 15 at the break IMO.



Lost a couple of players to graduation and at least two others transfered.  I believe they brought in something like seven new players and five of them are freshman.  They are very young, but do still have a few players who could challenge for all-OVC honors.

Are we the better, more talented team?  Yes.  Will we be able to just go through the motins and leave with a win?  No.

If we play like we did in St. Thomas we win.  If we play like we did against IUPUI we lose.  

Time for the Seniors to step up with some leadership and keep everyone locked in.


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## Elder Tracy D. Smith

This is what is commonly known as a potential trap-game. But I'm believing that our Sycamores are going to escape the trap and win by 15 points going away.[emoji92]

Brown, Smith, and Scott should thrive in the open court. MVS should a great spot up game and Murphy should dominant the post.


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## meistro

Going with my wife. Pretty easy drive from th.


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## Bluethunder

Am I the only one who feels like it has been a month since we played a game?

Tuesday needs to hurry the heck up!


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## Elder Tracy D. Smith

Bluethunder said:


> Am I the only one who feels like it has been a month since we played a game?
> 
> Tuesday needs to hurry the heck up!


No sir.. I'm so ready for Tuesday to get here.[emoji1]


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## Jason Svoboda

Bluethunder said:


> Lost a couple of players to graduation and at least two others transfered.  I believe they brought in something like seven new players and five of them are freshman.  They are very young, but do still have a few players who could challenge for all-OVC honors.
> 
> Are we the better, more talented team?  Yes.  Will we be able to just go through the motins and leave with a win?  No.
> 
> If we play like we did in St. Thomas we win.  If we play like we did against IUPUI we lose.
> 
> Time for the Seniors to step up with some leadership and keep everyone locked in.



Watched one of their games on replay. They're not good at all -- feel like I'm saying that a lot but maybe the quality of college hoops is just down this year. If we don't come out and just run, run, run, we'll probably grind all game long. If we can set tempo, I think we could win by 20 or more.


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## Jason Svoboda

*Basketball Gameday Central: Sycamores Travel To Eastern Illinois Tuesday Night*






The Indiana State Sycamores continue the 2015-16 campaign on Tuesday, December 1 in their first true road game of the season when they travel to long-time rival Eastern Illinois. The game is set for an 8:00 p.m. (ET) tip-off and can be heard locally on 95.9 FM The Duke as well as online via a link on GoSycamores.com. This game will be broadcast online on the OVC Digital Network. The Sycamores are 3-2 on the season, after taking third place in the Paradise Jam one week ago with a 67-66 victory over Hofstra. Khristian Smith led the way with 22 points and nine rebounds while Devonte Brown converted a conventional 3-point play with eight seconds remaining for the win. Eastern Illinois is 0-4 on the young season and are playing their third consecutive home game.

Read more at GoSycamores...


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## sycamorebacker

Jason Svoboda said:


> feel like I'm saying that a lot but maybe the quality of college hoops is just down this year.



I feel like the Big 10 is down, maybe considerably.  Besides Mich St. (Valentine to be national POY?),  IU and PU should do well in the conference this year.  
Even though we keep thinking our conference is below expectations, Sagarin still has us about 11th.  I think that's about average but i know some people thought we would move up.  Should be another dogfight.  Any wins over the top 2 teams will be important for 3-6 teams.


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## ISUCC

Jason Svoboda said:


> Watched one of their games on replay. They're not good at all -- feel like I'm saying that a lot but maybe the quality of college hoops is just down this year. If we don't come out and just run, run, run, we'll probably grind all game long. If we can set tempo, I think we could win by 20 or more.



I just hope this isn't our usual game of us playing to their level, then either losing a close game or winning a close game at the end, so tired of those type games.


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## Elder Tracy D. Smith

ISUCC said:


> I just hope this isn't our usual game of us playing to their level, then either losing a close game or winning a close game at the end, so tired of those type games.


Signs of an inexperienced team, young team, or a team trying to find it's identity, usually plays like that. However, I believe we grew up in the Islands and won't play down to our competition. [emoji1] [emoji1] [emoji56]


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## TreeTop

For us out-of-towners...

http://ovcdigitalnetwork.com/watch/?Live=2997


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## treeman

Quabachi said:


> For us out-of-towners...
> 
> http://ovcdigitalnetwork.com/watch/?Live=2997



I remember watching our Belmont game a few seasons ago on the OVC network. I remember it was a really  nice production and was jealous ISU or the MVC didn't have something similar at the time.


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## SycamoreStateofMind

Playing ball myself and then heading to the game. Will try to drive the speed limit...


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## Jason Svoboda

SycamoreStateofMind said:


> Playing ball myself and then heading to the game. Will try to drive the speed limit...


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## SycamoreStateofMind

Jason Svoboda said:


>



I know right... I was pulled over 2 times in the month of November (once going to the deer stand and once coming home from the deer stand). Today starts a new month, trying to do better!


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## ISUCC

anyone watching Ball State-IUPUI on espn3 while waiting for our game?? Sure wish IUPUI would win some games, their only D-I win was vs. us, ugh!


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## BallyPie

Well....so far so good......


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## treeman

is anyone else having trouble with the audio part of the feed?


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## BallyPie

Audio is fine for me.....


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## BallyPie

Rickman solid again with some early minutes.....


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## BallyPie

We're long on every outside shot.......


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## treeman

16-10 sycs with about 7:00 left in the first


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## Jason Svoboda

21-12 with 4:29 left to play.

Brenton just hit a nice pullup J along the baseline.


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## rapala

Have not been able to get the OVC feed.  Any suggestions.


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## Jason Svoboda

Go small and can't rebound. Can't go with Burnett at the 5.

21-16 ISU at the under 4 media timeout.


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## Jason Svoboda

rapala said:


> Have not been able to get the OVC feed.  Any suggestions.



Do you have any sort of firewall on your home PC?


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## Jason Svoboda

Jason Svoboda said:


> Go small and can't rebound. Can't go with Burnett at the 5.
> 
> 21-16 ISU at the under 4 media timeout.



On queue, Rickman comes out from the timeout.


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## treeman

Put Rickman in, I'm liking the kid more and more


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## BallyPie

it is me or do good things seem to happen when Rickman is in the game...??......he went out and we've went flat....


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## rapala

Working with my I Pad.


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## ISUCC

well, it took us a while, but we finally got to the point where we're playing to their level, EIU leads by 4


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## Bluethunder

Never underestimate our ability to make a shitty team look good.


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## Jason Svoboda

Weeelllllll...

27-23 EIU at the half.


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## skdent1414

Do we know how to set a LEGAL screen?


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## ISUCC

I've got some land to sell anyone who actually thought we'd pull out to a big lead and beat this really BAD team soundly.


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## Chief_Quabachi

Just BAD, BAD, BAD. Hard to watch this bunch!!


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## BlueSycamore

That is the weakest EIU team I have seen in years and they are beating our ass.


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## treeman

We seriously are down by 4 at half? Are kidding me? Eastern is terrible, they can hardly control the basketball on offense and yet we find a way to let them have a lead in this game. Please put in Rickman, the kid changes the complexion of the game.


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## BallyPie

Once again....when we're struggling for offense, our best shooters are on the bench.................oh where art thou Prusator??


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## Bluethunder

Im not one for hyperbole and/or exaggeration, but if we lose this game there is a strong likelihood of being a Thursday night team.  Eastern Illinois would be better than Missouri State and Bradley in the MVC and that would be about it.  If we can't beat them, we could be in for a very long season.


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## ISUCC

Bluethunder said:


> Im not one for hyperbole and/or exaggeration, but if we lose this game there is a strong likelihood of being a Thursday night team.  Eastern Illinois would be better than Missouri State and Bradley in the MVC and that would be about it.  If we can't beat them, we could be in for a very long season.



I'm not sure they'd be better than MSU and Bradley from what I've seen, it'd be close for the 3 of them though. 

That being said, I agree, if we lose this game we're playing on Thursday for sure.


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## BallyPie

I think our multiple substitutions isn't helping......when we have it rolling.....keep the hot guys in there..........it's like our coaches have never played craps.....you don't pass the dice when you have a hot shooter.....


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## ISUCC

this is seriously unbelievable, we should be winning this game by 30 points, this is like the Illinois State vs. Quincy game the other day where ILS had to come back to defeat Quincy, but I seriously think we are gonna lose this game.


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## ISUCC

down 7, now this is really getting funny.


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## Jason Svoboda

The ref wants to call every fucking screen, hook and charge but is letting that Riley kid walk all over the fucking place. He has traveled to no call four times around the rim tonight, three times in the second half and twice on that last shot attempt.


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## Jason Svoboda

ISUCC said:


> down 7, now this is really getting funny.



They're employing the Drake offense against us -- launch 3 after 3 and they're hitting. It is what it is.


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## BallyPie

Yep..........says Sgt O'Neil from Plutoon....."I've gotta bad feeling about this pne"


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## SycamoreinTexas

Hope a Big 10 or Big 12 team doesn't scoop Lansing away from us. How would we ever recover from that?


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## treeman

all of the sudden my feed isn't working. by the way that we were playing, i'm not that upset about it


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## BallyPie

We've cut into the lead each time Rickman's entered the game.....just sayin....


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## Mitchell

SycamoreinTexas said:


> Hope a Big 10 or Big 12 team doesn't scoop Lansing away from us. How would we ever recover from that?



Indeed...


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## BallyPie

Mitchell said:


> Indeed...



could be worse....could have Lusk from MS....


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## BrokerZ

Good Lord...does Van Sycoc ever take a shot that's NOT a three? And seriously?!?!?...how badly is he shooting from range this year?  He has to be like 15%. It's getting old.


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## BallyPie

getting killed by the 3 ball......


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## ISUCC

I really thought this would wind up being an easy win for us given how putrid EIU has been this year, I guess I learned my lesson.


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## Jason Svoboda

BrokerZ said:


> Good Lord...does Van Sycoc ever take a shot that's NOT a three? And seriously?!?!?...how badly is he shooting from range this year?  He has to be like 15%. It's getting old.



I had much higher expectations for him. He's really under delivered considering how good he played at the Citadel. Guess the competition in that league must be much lower.


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## ISUCC

this has got to be one of the worst losses in the Lansing era, I can't recall a game we should be winning by 30 points that we're gonna wind up losing.


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## BlueSycamore

And our mighty Sycamores lose to a YMCA team from Charleston, IL.  Pathetic, absolutely pathetic.  Looks to be a looooooooooooooooooong season for ISU no bones about it!


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## ISUCC

#BeyondPathetic, we are seriously a joke now.


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## BrokerZ

This one definitely ranks up there with all time bad Lansing-era losses. Up there with Wyoming. 

EIU is a bad basketball team. They didn't even look like they were in shape based on how they filled out their uniforms. Like, we just lost to the local men's church league team. I guess that says enough about us then...

The offense right now is everyone stands around and watches Brown dribble around. That's not a knock on Brown; that's a knock on everyone else not moving and looking to create offense. Also, Rickman needs to start and play MANY more minutes. Seriously, it's time.


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## Pacercolt99

What is worse than getting beat by a bad IUPUI team?  Losing to a horrible Eastern Illinois team. I am tired of watching Smith disappear at the end of games.


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## niklz62

I joked with an ISU alum co-worker that ive never seen an EIU bball player around campus but it turns out i probably did because they don't look like basketball players

And we lost to them.


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## eagletree

Embarrassing loss- Butler game will be ugly and Valpo- what were we thinking? Is there a possible win in sight before conference play begins?


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## BallyPie

what did they shoot........nearly 50% from behind the arc???....where in the hell did that come from??.....I doubt they shot like that in their previous games.......but against us, they somehow went down......

As disappointed as I am, what can you do if a team gets hot on you???.......Teson pulled a "Tunell-like" game against us.....he couldn't miss a 3 in the 2nd half.....


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## ISUCC

Pacercolt99 said:


> What is worse than getting beat by a bad IUPUI team?  Losing to a horrible Eastern Illinois team. I am tired of watching Smith disappear at the end of games.



EIU and IUPUI each have ONE D-I win this season, over Indiana State #Sad


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## The Chop

What an absolute piss poor performance. We sure didn't defend the 3 pt line at all in the 2nnd half.Where has our rebounding disappeared to?If rebounding is all heart, we are in trouble.Way too many turnovers.The ones that really bother me are the ones they must commit in practice too... traveling.The old adage,What you do in practice you do in a game.


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## Mitchell

ISUCC said:


> this has got to be one of the worst losses in the Lansing era, I can't recall a game we should be winning by 30 points that we're gonna wind up losing.



I don't post here very often, and the only thing keeping me from going on a rant this time is a fear of exposing my lack of in-depth basketball knowledge.  So I'll leave the analysis to the experts on this board and simply provide a layman's opinion: This team stinks, with all due credit going to the players *and *the coaching.


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## jturner38

Lansing's approaching the hot seat to me if we have another avg. season. This is pathetic. It's not that we lost it's how we lost and who we lost to.


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## Southgrad07

BallyPie said:


> what did they shoot........nearly 50% from behind the arc???....where in the hell did that come from??.....I doubt they shot like that in their previous games.......but against us, they somehow went down......
> 
> As disappointed as I am, what can you do if a team gets hot on you???.......Teson pulled a "Tunell-like" game against us.....he couldn't miss a 3 in the 2nd half.....



He hadn't made a 2 pt shot all year and we defended him like he was Everett Clemons...I know exactly why they got hot, our perimeter defense went to hell after the first ten minutes.


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## ISUCC

jturner38 said:


> Lansing's approaching the hot seat to me if we have another avg. season. This is pathetic. It's not that we lost it's how we lost and who we lost to.



I'm starting to think the same thing, sure the last couple years we've finished high in MVC play, but our end of season collapses continue, although now we're collapsing at the start of the season too, so it's been turning slowly into a full season collapse. We should not be losing games like these, like others said, that was like losing to a YMCA team, EIU was absolutely pathetic to start the game, we were up double digits and, like we always do, we let them hang around, come back, and ultimately win that game. It's just unfathomable what we lose games like this. 

I am getting to the point of thinking we need a new coach too, and a new style of play, I am just getting tired of watching this same type of basketball over and over again.


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## Mitchell

Pacercolt99 said:


> What is worse than getting beat by a bad IUPUI team?  Losing to a horrible Eastern Illinois team. I am tired of watching Smith disappear at the end of games.



Only at the end?


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## BallyPie

the disappointment is we had a chance to put them away in the 1st half and we just didn't do it.......we let them back into the game......and gave them some confidence and they got hot........

Well....we've had this issue of losing leads this year............and the problem continues.


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## ISUCC

BallyPie said:


> the disappointment is we had a chance to put them away in the 1st half and we just didn't do it.......we let them back into the game......and gave them some confidence and they got hot........
> 
> Well....we've had this issue of losing leads this year, *and last year, and the year before that, and the year before that*............and the problem continues.



FIFY


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## Bluethunder

Make any excuse you want, but the reality is WE F***ING SUCK.  There is no other way to describe it.  I actually can't stop laughing about it the more I think about it.  We are absolutely horrible.  We have lost to two teams that can't beat anyone else in Division I.  Lansing is going to have about twenty missed calls when he gets into his office tomorrow from teams BEGGING to play us.

As usual all of us suckers sit and anxiously wait for the season to start and we soak up all the quotes from Lansing about how much he likes his team and from the players about how everyone is working so hard and remembers the shitty taste from the Loyola game last year and then we get to experience another train wreck of a season that is Indiana State basketball.  That is our reward.  Lucky us.

Not even going to bother watching on Saturday.  There are about twenty things that I should do with my time rather than watch this, whatever this is.  I really don't even care at this point.  Huge loss coming up to Butler, and we can follow that up by getting hammered by Valpo and Ball State.  Don't care.  Tired.  Just too damn tired of getting emotionally invested to keep watching what I saw tonight and then letting it put me in a bad mood the rest of the day/night.  Win Saturday, or lose Saturday, i won't be around to see it.

We flat out suck.  The MVC now gets the pleasure of playing us and our sub 250 RPI and we get the joy of being the anchor that helps drag the whole conference's respectability down.  At least Bradley has an excuse, they are playing a bunch of youngsters.


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## skdent1414

^ that's right on the money


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## Sycamore Proud

ISUCC said:


> I really thought this would wind up being an *easy win *for us given how putrid EIU has been this year, I guess I learned my lesson.



For this team easy wins will never occur.


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## SycamoreinTexas

Bluethunder said:


> Make any excuse you want, but the reality is WE F***ING SUCK.  There is no other way to describe it.  I actually can't stop laughing about it the more I think about it.  We are absolutely horrible.  We have lost to two teams that can't beat anyone else in Division I.  Lansing is going to have about twenty missed calls when he gets into his office tomorrow from teams BEGGING to play us.
> 
> As usual all of us suckers sit and anxiously wait for the season to start and we soak up all the quotes from Lansing about how much he likes his team and from the players about how everyone is working so hard and remembers the shitty taste from the Loyola game last year and then we get to experience another train wreck of a season that is Indiana State basketball.  That is our reward.  Lucky us.
> 
> Not even going to bother watching on Saturday.  There are about twenty things that I should do with my time rather than watch this, whatever this is.  I really don't even care at this point.  Huge loss coming up to Butler, and we can follow that up by getting hammered by Valpo and Ball State.  Don't care.  Tired.  Just too damn tired of getting emotionally invested to keep watching what I saw tonight and then letting it put me in a bad mood the rest of the day/night.  Win Saturday, or lose Saturday, i won't be around to see it.
> 
> We flat out suck.  The MVC now gets the pleasure of playing us and our sub 250 RPI and we get the joy of being the anchor that helps drag the whole conference's respectability down.  At least Bradley has an excuse, they are playing a bunch of youngsters.



I want to buy you a beer after this post


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## ISUCC

Bluethunder said:


> Make any excuse you want, but the reality is WE F***ING SUCK.  There is no other way to describe it.  I actually can't stop laughing about it the more I think about it.  We are absolutely horrible.  We have lost to two teams that can't beat anyone else in Division I.  Lansing is going to have about twenty missed calls when he gets into his office tomorrow from teams BEGGING to play us.
> 
> As usual all of us suckers sit and anxiously wait for the season to start and we soak up all the quotes from Lansing about how much he likes his team and from the players about how everyone is working so hard and remembers the shitty taste from the Loyola game last year and then we get to experience another train wreck of a season that is Indiana State basketball.  That is our reward.  Lucky us.
> 
> Not even going to bother watching on Saturday.  There are about twenty things that I should do with my time rather than watch this, whatever this is.  I really don't even care at this point.  Huge loss coming up to Butler, and we can follow that up by getting hammered by Valpo and Ball State.  Don't care.  Tired.  Just too damn tired of getting emotionally invested to keep watching what I saw tonight and then letting it put me in a bad mood the rest of the day/night.  Win Saturday, or lose Saturday, i won't be around to see it.
> 
> We flat out suck.  The MVC now gets the pleasure of playing us and our sub 250 RPI and we get the joy of being the anchor that helps drag the whole conference's respectability down.  At least Bradley has an excuse, they are playing a bunch of youngsters.



Spot on Blue, I told Mitchell I am not even going to pay attention Saturday, I've got to wash the remaining hair I have left.


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## Sycamore Proud

BallyPie said:


> the disappointment is we had a *chance to put them away in the 1st half and we just didn't do it*.......we let them back into the game......and gave them some confidence and they got hot........
> 
> Well....we've had this issue of losing leads this year............and the problem continues.



I may have CRS (can't remember stats) but I offhand can't remember the last time we put someone away in the first half--not even a D2 or D3 program.


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## ISUCC

I really can't wait to read how Golden spins this loss in his article.


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## Mitchell

ISUCC said:


> ...we need a new coach too, and a new style of play...



...and someone to firmly establish a sustainable culture of winning.  Yeah, it's a buzz phrase, but it could not be more true.


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## Bluethunder

ISUCC said:


> I really can't wait to read how Golden spins this loss in his article.



I would just like to see him ask two questions, in any form he chooses....

1. You have now lost two games against winless teams, what changes need to take place from a coaching perspective ( i.e. Strategy)?

2. Why do your teams have a pattern of playing down to their competition and not being able to win games by large margins against inferior opponents throughout your tenure at Indiana State? 

Anyone else have any questions Todd can ask?  Maybe we will get lucky and he will read some of these and actually raise them in a press conference.


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## SycamoreStateofMind

Home!! First?!??


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## BallyPie

Sycamore Proud said:


> I may have CRS (can't remember stats) but I offhand can't remember the last time we put someone away in the first half--not even a D2 or D3 program.



Well....I can't remember either......my guess is because of the way we substitute.    Which never allows 5 guys who are playing well stay on the court for an extended period of time.......


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## Jason Svoboda

*Sycamores Fall On The Road To Eastern Illinois*






Indiana State senior guard Devonte Brown scored 22 points, but the Eastern Illinois Panthers used hot 3-point shooting to secure a 68-62 victory over the visiting Sycamores in front of 1,183 fans inside Lantz Arena.

Read more at GoSycamores...


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## Gotta Hav

The gosycamoes story line... Sycamores fall on the road to Eastern Illinois should really read.......Sycamores fall on their Dicks to Eastern Illinois.

Like I said after the IUPUI loss, we're going to get killed by Butler and Valpo.....are we now looking at a 9 win season?


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## bigsportsfan

Didn't get to see or listen to game. Glad I didn't.

Here is the box.

http://www.gosycamores.com/pdf9/420...SID=65149&SPID=7259&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=15200

Two questions:

1. How was KSmith only get 6 shots?
2. How does Rickman go 10/8 and only play 14 minutes?

And for those people who don't think IUPUI doesn't absolutely own us now, they killed our women tonight. That means we have lost to them this year in soccer, volleyball, and both basketball genders. Probably a good thing they don't have football.


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## The Chop

Sycamore Proud said:


> I may have CRS (can't remember stats) but I offhand can't remember the last time we put someone away in the first half--not even a D2 or D3 program.


And they aren't going to put people away until they can shoot the ball better.You're not going to win a lot of games shooting sub 40%.


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## meistro

SycamoreStateofMind said:


> Home!! First?!??


You must have flew. I just walked in the door 10 minutes ago and thought I was doing good.


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## bigsportsfan

BrokerZ said:


> Good Lord...does Van Sycoc ever take a shot that's NOT a three? And seriously?!?!?...how badly is he shooting from range this year?  He has to be like 15%. It's getting old.



Here are the numbers for the season:

Tonight: 2-6 from field (all 3s)
Season from 2: 4-8
Season from 3: 8-26 (30.7%)
Total for season: 12-34
Percentage of shots that are 3s: 76.4


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## SycamoreStateofMind

meistro said:


> You must have flew. I just walked in the door 10 minutes ago and thought I was doing good.



Police escort through Westfield, IL.


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## SycamoreStateofMind

I place blame solely at the feet of Gant and Kitch. They haven't done anything to help this team. They have both checked out and neither has gotten any better from day 1.


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## bigsportsfan

ISUCC said:


> I really can't wait to read how Golden spins this loss in his article.



Here ya go.

http://www.tribstar.com/sports/isu-...870-98aa-11e5-b36e-3f0a6766722d.html?mode=jqm


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## cubbypike13

Is it bad that I watch this clip from Tommy Boy and I can see a direct correlation to ISU Basketball?






This game was brutal to even keep up with on Twitter. My brother (ISU grad) goes to EIU for his graduate work and said it was uglier than I even made it sound. 

I was going to buy tickets to the Butler game but I'm glad that I waited until after this game to make my decision because you couldn't pay me to drive to Hinkle and watch us get ass-blasted all over Indianapolis.


----------



## skdent1414

Here's a stat for you all. Talk about Van Sycoc being a waste of space out there........the Burnett, Murphy, Prusator trio logged a grand total of ZERO rebounds, assists, steals or blocks in 31 minutes of action. Only 1 point from them to boot. We need to shorten our bench. No sense and having players take up space out there if they can't contribute something.


----------



## meistro

We played in a high school gym with high school officials and ended up looking like a high school team. We have a tendency of making bad teams look really good.


----------



## SycamoreStateofMind

bigsportsfan said:


> Here ya go. More lame-ass Lansing quotes. He never has any explanation for whatever happens.
> 
> http://www.tribstar.com/sports/isu-...870-98aa-11e5-b36e-3f0a6766722d.html?mode=jqm



Joey! Can you read?? Wait, rehtorical question I know you can. 

Direct quote from the article: "I'd like to show you the scouting report. The whole thing tonight was, 'help is coming, take one less dribble and make a play for a teammate.' We didn't do a very good job of that. If I'm a guard, and I see a Khristian Smith out there, I'm going to get him some shots," Lansing said.

Surely you a lifelong basketball fan and coach don't need me to translate right? He is talking to his guards dribble drive and kick. Move the rock. Find the hot hand. Get guys involved in the game. Be creative. On and on. 

He gave us more in that quote alone than he has given us in 4 games worth of quotes and you say "lame-ass" quotes, call a spade a spade but I'm not convinced you even read the article. By the way, you asked a question in a previous post about Smith getting more shots - he also basically answered that question for you in this post. What do you want him to do go out and hand the ball to Smith and say shoot it? He played 33 minutes (most on the team), Brown played a bunch but was also in foul trouble leaving Scott and Smith as the main scorers on the floor. He is saying, be a D1 point and create opportunities for Smith to score like we talked about. Spelled out for you enough. Good.


----------



## meistro

What I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around is the fact that Lansing said this team is the most talented team he's had since he's been here. They may be athletic but I'm not seeing a lot of talent right now. Van Soyc sure isn't very productive considering the amount of minutes he gets. Clemons takes care of the ball and plays defense but teams are never going to guard him if he doesn't even look to shoot once in a while. I guess my biggest complaint with Lansing at this point is that he's not nearly as good of a recruiter as some of us thought he was. We don't put people away because we aren't good enough to put them away. We have some players that look good from time to time but can't consistently make plays. Another thing that frustrates the hell out of me is that we have 5th year players still making the same stupid decisions and mistakes they made when they got here.


----------



## meistro

Rickman needs to be on the floor until he asks to come out or fouls out. Sure he's gonna make mistakes but he has more potential and a better chance to make an impact on the game than Murphy or Bunschoten


----------



## Chief_Quabachi

Same old, same old............BULLSHIT. Prettyman needs to do what Coach King did when he was only the A.D. and that is to walk Lansing to center court and point to all the seats and tell him he wants those seats filled and that can't be done with the players you're bringing in here. Something has got to change. ISU is going to end up the worse Division 1 team in the state and that's not acceptable.


----------



## SycamoreStateofMind

13 people on here at midnight. The kitchen gets hot when the trees smolder.


----------



## bigsportsfan

If we "took EIU lightly," "played down to their level," and it was a "trap game," wouldn't it seem that Butler should have the same feelings toward us? Anybody think they're not going to show up against us? Me neither.


----------



## SycamoreStateofMind

bigsportsfan said:


> If we "took EIU lightly," "played down to their level," and it was a "trap game," wouldn't it seem that Butler should have the same feelings toward us? Anybody think they're not going to show up against us? Me neither.



Butler is ranked in the top 25 for good reason... We were not ranked in the top 25. That is not realitive at all. Our resume includes wins vs. Wyoming, Norfolk State and Hofstra not quite comparing apples to apples.


----------



## Jason Svoboda

I've already bought my tickets for the Butler game this Saturday. I'm afraid it isn't going to be pretty because we're so inconsistent and they seem to really be playing well right now. Kelan Martin could end up scoring 30 on us.


----------



## BallyPie

What stood out to me in the article.....EIU went zone and we went cold in the first half.    It's interesting....and perplexing at the same time...that a coach who doesn't like to play zone, sure struggles to find ways to play against it.     Other teams have played zone a lot against us in the Lansing era and we always have a hard time with it.     

Coach Lansing....please consider having our offense practice against a zone....while having our defense practice playing it as well.    Considering what happened tonight, we'll see plenty of zone looks in the future this year.    Hofstra's zone almost cost us that game......I thought we would have learned our lesson....apparently not.


----------



## ISU_TREE_FAN

I have no constructive criticism to offer.  A warning though, it will be a few games before the Sycamores taste the thrill of victory again. Just hope they don't get totally demoralized in the next three?


----------



## Elder Tracy D. Smith

I'm predicting an upset @ Butler. ISU by 6 going away.


----------



## bent20

SIUE kept it close against Butler for a half. Hope we can at least be competitive.


----------



## Elder Tracy D. Smith

bent20 said:


> SIUE kept it close against Butler for a half. Hope we can at least be competitive.


We will be very competitive. We're going to win


----------



## SycamoreStateofMind

Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> We will be very competitive. We're going to win



I mean even if you turned out to be right you'd be batting what .100 on the season? I mean you've had us winning every game I do believe and had us winning by 15 last night. You were right about one thing, it was a trap game - we got trapped alright. Trapped into believing we were better than EIU and IUPUI. 

A few things need to happen differently moving forward. 

1. Smith has to get more shots. I don't care how it happens but the kid needs to get more shots. I would prefer them be of the in the paint variety, but just more shots would be good. This is on Lansing and the guards - get him involved and tell him to be more agressive. 

2. Brown has to move the ball. What he is doing - trying to take over games is NOT working! I understand that guys are not hitting shots and it appears that he is the only one that can get anything going for us. If you can drive to score as well as he can then you can drive to get other guys open as well - it is just common sense. I get why Lansing doesn't want to keep talking about Brown. I find it hard to keep bringing him up myself. The kid takes ownership over things and the kid doesn't quit - I love that about him! But he is not always making the smart play. 6 turnovers against EIU is flat out not okay (I think it was an outlier though). He has turned the free throw shooting around (11-12 over the last 2 games). 

3. Rickman needs to play and I think Lansing is starting to see that. But I'm not going to turn my head to 2-8 from the line last night and 2-10 on the season. That is 20% folks and that will not cut it at this level. True freshman or not. 

4. Shorten the bench. Burnett was brutal again last night. I am not sure what that guy has given us and to those of you who thought he was going to be a factor into some grand turnaround... I have nothing for you. 

5. Let Scott play basketball. Lansing rides him harder than he has ridden any other player I can recall. Not only should Scott be starting ahead of Clemons he should be given the green light to let it rip. Clemons plays hard and all but he refuses to look at the basket. At least Scott takes decent care of the ball. Clemons and Brown combined for 8 turnovers and 5 assists last night. That isn't good guard play at any D1 school in the country - it's not good guard play, quit trying to convince yourself it is.


----------



## Elder Tracy D. Smith

SycamoreStateofMind said:


> I mean even if you turned out to be right you'd be batting what .100 on the season? I mean you've had us winning every game I do believe and had us winning by 15 last night. You were right about one thing, it was a trap game - we got trapped alright. Trapped into believing we were better than EIU and IUPUI.
> 
> A few things need to happen differently moving forward.
> 
> 1. Smith has to get more shots. I don't care how it happens but the kid needs to get more shots. I would prefer them be of the in the paint variety, but just more shots would be good. This is on Lansing and the guards - get him involved and tell him to be more agressive.
> 
> 2. Brown has to move the ball. What he is doing - trying to take over games is NOT working! I understand that guys are not hitting shots and it appears that he is the only one that can get anything going for us. If you can drive to score as well as he can then you can drive to get other guys open as well - it is just common sense. I get why Lansing doesn't want to keep talking about Brown. I find it hard to keep bringing him up myself. The kid takes ownership over things and the kid doesn't quit - I love that about him! But he is not always making the smart play. 6 turnovers against EIU is flat out not okay (I think it was an outlier though). He has turned the free throw shooting around (11-12 over the last 2 games).
> 
> 3. Rickman needs to play and I think Lansing is starting to see that. But I'm not going to turn my head to 2-8 from the line last night and 2-10 on the season. That is 20% folks and that will not cut it at this level. True freshman or not.
> 
> 4. Shorten the bench. Burnett was brutal again last night. I am not sure what that guy has given us and to those of you who thought he was going to be a factor into some grand turnaround... I have nothing for you.
> 
> 5. Let Scott play basketball. Lansing rides him harder than he has ridden any other player I can recall. Not only should Scott be starting ahead of Clemons he should be given the green light to let it rip. Clemons plays hard and all but he refuses to look at the basket. At least Scott takes decent care of the ball. Clemons and Brown combined for 8 turnovers and 5 assists last night. That isn't good guard play at any D1 school in the country - it's not good guard play, quit trying to convince yourself it is.


Granted, I'm a totally optimistic, and believe that our Sycamores are a good team. Are they playing good right now? Of course not !
Will they play better ?? Of course they will !!

Here's my issue with your observation:
1) How does a guy play 33 minutes and you say he needs to get more shots ?? If it was anybody else, you'd be saying he's not producing and he needs to be benched. 

2) If a player stands in 1 spot open away from the play, screaming I'm open, it's for a reason.  Either he's not a threat or he's less of a threat than the person that has the ball. 
3) With all that being said, if you don't play defense, rebound, and win the battle for 50/50 balls, it's hard to win any game, against any opponent.  IMO[emoji3] [emoji3]


----------



## SycamoreStateofMind

Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> Granted, I'm a totally optimistic, and believe that our Sycamores are a good team. Are they playing good right now? Of course not !
> Will they play better ?? Of course they will !!
> 
> Here's my issue with your observation:
> 1) How does a guy play 33 minutes and you say he needs to get more shots ?? If it was anybody else, you'd be saying he's not producing and he needs to be benched.
> 
> 2) If a player stands in 1 spot open away from the play, screaming I'm open, it's for a reason.  Either he's not a threat or he's less of a threat than the person that has the ball.
> 3) With all that being said, if you don't play defense, rebound, and win the battle for 50/50 balls, it's hard to win any game, against any opponent.  IMO[emoji3] [emoji3]




1. Look at the shooting percentages, don't ask me. He has shot the ball pretty well this year. Your guess is as good as mine as to why he only shot the ball 6 times. I was at the game and I don't have the answer. 

I don't think #2 and #3 were questions rather just statements so I will stay away from those.


----------



## jturner38

SycamoreStateofMind said:


> I mean even if you turned out to be right you'd be batting what .100 on the season? I mean you've had us winning every game I do believe and had us winning by 15 last night. You were right about one thing, it was a trap game - we got trapped alright. Trapped into believing we were better than EIU and IUPUI.
> 
> A few things need to happen differently moving forward.
> 
> 1. Smith has to get more shots. I don't care how it happens but the kid needs to get more shots. I would prefer them be of the in the paint variety, but just more shots would be good. This is on Lansing and the guards - get him involved and tell him to be more agressive.
> 
> 2. Brown has to move the ball. What he is doing - trying to take over games is NOT working! I understand that guys are not hitting shots and it appears that he is the only one that can get anything going for us. If you can drive to score as well as he can then you can drive to get other guys open as well - it is just common sense. I get why Lansing doesn't want to keep talking about Brown. I find it hard to keep bringing him up myself. The kid takes ownership over things and the kid doesn't quit - I love that about him! But he is not always making the smart play. 6 turnovers against EIU is flat out not okay (I think it was an outlier though). He has turned the free throw shooting around (11-12 over the last 2 games).
> 
> 3. Rickman needs to play and I think Lansing is starting to see that. But I'm not going to turn my head to 2-8 from the line last night and 2-10 on the season. That is 20% folks and that will not cut it at this level. True freshman or not.
> 
> 4. Shorten the bench. Burnett was brutal again last night. I am not sure what that guy has given us and to those of you who thought he was going to be a factor into some grand turnaround... I have nothing for you.
> 
> 5. Let Scott play basketball. Lansing rides him harder than he has ridden any other player I can recall. Not only should Scott be starting ahead of Clemons he should be given the green light to let it rip. Clemons plays hard and all but he refuses to look at the basket. At least Scott takes decent care of the ball. Clemons and Brown combined for 8 turnovers and 5 assists last night. That isn't good guard play at any D1 school in the country - it's not good guard play, quit trying to convince yourself it is.



Well I wouldnt really say give Scott the green light. More like the yellow light. Last time he had the green light he went 4/18.


----------



## blueblazer

SycamoreStateofMind said:


> I mean even if you turned out to be right you'd be batting what .100 on the season? I mean you've had us winning every game I do believe and had us winning by 15 last night. You were right about one thing, it was a trap game - we got trapped alright. Trapped into believing we were better than EIU and IUPUI.
> 
> A few things need to happen differently moving forward.
> 
> 1. Smith has to get more shots. I don't care how it happens but the kid needs to get more shots. I would prefer them be of the in the paint variety, but just more shots would be good. This is on Lansing and the guards - get him involved and tell him to be more agressive.
> 
> 2. Brown has to move the ball. What he is doing - trying to take over games is NOT working! I understand that guys are not hitting shots and it appears that he is the only one that can get anything going for us. If you can drive to score as well as he can then you can drive to get other guys open as well - it is just common sense. I get why Lansing doesn't want to keep talking about Brown. I find it hard to keep bringing him up myself. The kid takes ownership over things and the kid doesn't quit - I love that about him! But he is not always making the smart play. 6 turnovers against EIU is flat out not okay (I think it was an outlier though). He has turned the free throw shooting around (11-12 over the last 2 games).
> 
> 3. Rickman needs to play and I think Lansing is starting to see that. But I'm not going to turn my head to 2-8 from the line last night and 2-10 on the season. That is 20% folks and that will not cut it at this level. True freshman or not.
> 
> 4. Shorten the bench. Burnett was brutal again last night. I am not sure what that guy has given us and to those of you who thought he was going to be a factor into some grand turnaround... I have nothing for you.
> 
> 5. Let Scott play basketball. Lansing rides him harder than he has ridden any other player I can recall. Not only should Scott be starting ahead of Clemons he should be given the green light to let it rip. Clemons plays hard and all but he refuses to look at the basket. At least Scott takes decent care of the ball. Clemons and Brown combined for 8 turnovers and 5 assists last night. That isn't good guard play at any D1 school in the country - it's not good guard play, quit trying to convince yourself it is.




I wouldn't be surprised to see Scott move on, he does ride him hard, he makes mistakes but who doesn't ..... Right SOS, let him play


----------



## TreeTop

blueblazer said:


> I wouldn't be surprised to see Scott move on, he does ride him hard, he makes mistakes but who doesn't ..... Right SOS, let him play



Being the semi-eternal optimist, I doubt Scott moves on.  But if he does, it'd be due to deeper issue than just coach riding him hard.


----------



## Southgrad07

SycamoreStateofMind said:


> I mean even if you turned out to be right you'd be batting what .100 on the season? I mean you've had us winning every game I do believe and had us winning by 15 last night. You were right about one thing, it was a trap game - we got trapped alright. Trapped into believing we were better than EIU and IUPUI.
> 
> A few things need to happen differently moving forward.
> 
> 1. Smith has to get more shots. I don't care how it happens but the kid needs to get more shots. I would prefer them be of the in the paint variety, but just more shots would be good. This is on Lansing and the guards - get him involved and tell him to be more agressive.
> 
> 2. Brown has to move the ball. What he is doing - trying to take over games is NOT working! I understand that guys are not hitting shots and it appears that he is the only one that can get anything going for us. If you can drive to score as well as he can then you can drive to get other guys open as well - it is just common sense. I get why Lansing doesn't want to keep talking about Brown. I find it hard to keep bringing him up myself. The kid takes ownership over things and the kid doesn't quit - I love that about him! But he is not always making the smart play. 6 turnovers against EIU is flat out not okay (I think it was an outlier though). He has turned the free throw shooting around (11-12 over the last 2 games).
> 
> 3. Rickman needs to play and I think Lansing is starting to see that. But I'm not going to turn my head to 2-8 from the line last night and 2-10 on the season. That is 20% folks and that will not cut it at this level. True freshman or not.
> 
> 4. Shorten the bench. Burnett was brutal again last night. I am not sure what that guy has given us and to those of you who thought he was going to be a factor into some grand turnaround... I have nothing for you.
> 
> 5. Let Scott play basketball. Lansing rides him harder than he has ridden any other player I can recall. Not only should Scott be starting ahead of Clemons he should be given the green light to let it rip. Clemons plays hard and all but he refuses to look at the basket. At least Scott takes decent care of the ball. Clemons and Brown combined for 8 turnovers and 5 assists last night. That isn't good guard play at any D1 school in the country - it's not good guard play, quit trying to convince yourself it is.




Can't say I disagree with too much there. Rickman has to be better from the line, but I am very encouraged with his play of late. Another thing I notice is he gets gassed fairly quickly, but much of it probably has to do with the fact he is going full tilt all the time out there. Dude sprints the floor every time and is not afraid to throw his body around. He just needs to be in a college conditioning program for another year to build up some stamina. Makes plenty of Freshman mistakes, but for this year and beyond we will be better off with him getting more PT. 

Thought Brown did what Brown does when the offense is stalling and tried to go it alone. Had a much better effort shooting wise, but as a SR leader you've got to do a nice job of getting others going, and he failed in that aspect. Front court outside of Rickman was embarrassing. EIU was as weak as any team we will play up front and our "bigs" got nothing accomplished. Niels and Van Sycoc have been the biggest disappointments for me thus far (didn't expect much more than some backup minutes from Burnett going into it). They both had Lansing raving in the off season and both look like shorter and less productive versions of Kitch and Gant. Those guys have to turn it around for us to be successful. 

At the end of the day to come out and handle them for the first 6-8 minutes and then look abysmal after that is unacceptable. Its on the players for mentality losing their edge so quickly after minor success and on the staff for not being able to rein them in and get them back on track. There that's my rant, moving on... lol


----------



## TreeTop

One play I especially liked involving Rickman, Scott passed a dime to him (with some heat) under the basket and he handled it and converted the lay up.  So many players would not have handled the pass, let alone converted the basket.  It was just one play, but one I took notice.


----------



## niklz62

I spent my whole game wrangling 2 kids. I didnt see much except their 8-14 3pt in the 2nd half felt like 20-20. 

There was about a 3 minute span where they were good lol...attached


----------



## SycamoreStateofMind

Quabachi said:


> One play I especially liked involving Rickman, Scott passed a dime to him (with some heat) under the basket and he handled it and converted the lay up.  So many players would not have handled the pass, let alone converted the basket.  It was just one play, but one I took notice.



It's D1 basketball, you should be able to catch that pass and finish the play. I'm not going to put a player on a pedestal for making a play they should have made. It was a big bucket with 1 second left on the shot clock - good pass by Scott and good catch finish by Rickman. That is all.


----------



## TreeTop

SycamoreStateofMind said:


> It was a big bucket with 1 second left on the shot clock - good pass by Scott and good catch finish by Rickman.



Thank you for reminding me about the shot clock.  Even better.

http://www.inglesonline.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ingles-pedestal.png


----------



## SycamoreStateofMind

Quabachi said:


> Thank you for reminding me about the shot clock.  Even better.
> 
> http://www.inglesonline.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ingles-pedestal.png



You are most certainly welcome good sir!


----------



## Elder Tracy D. Smith

I'm wondering if anyone in the forum has ever played on a team with the general makeup of this year's team. [emoji56] 

(Inquiring Minds want to know)


----------



## cubbypike13

cubbypike13 said:


> Is it bad that I watch this clip from Tommy Boy and I can see a direct correlation to ISU Basketball?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This game was brutal to even keep up with on Twitter. My brother (ISU grad) goes to EIU for his graduate work and said it was uglier than I even made it sound.
> 
> I was going to buy tickets to the Butler game but I'm glad that I waited until after this game to make my decision because you couldn't pay me to drive to Hinkle and watch us get ass-blasted all over Indianapolis.



Partially retracting my statement.

I will be in attendance at Hinkle. For two reasons:
1) I want to support the Sycamores through thick and thin. If I am passionate enough to lose sleep, I am passionate enough to be there on Saturday.
2) Just got free tickets...


----------



## Jason Svoboda

Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> I'm wondering if anyone in the forum has ever played on a team with the general makeup of this year's team. [emoji56]
> 
> (Inquiring Minds want to know)



They old TJ Houshmandzadeh routine, eh?


----------



## SycamoreStateofMind

Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> I'm wondering if anyone in the forum has ever played on a team with the general makeup of this year's team. [emoji56]
> 
> (Inquiring Minds want to know)



Naaa I ran track. I don't know jack shit about basketball, just born and raised in Indiana only watched it on TV growing up.


----------



## Westbadenboy

*Niels*

One comment about Niels -- watched him in the Homecoming "open" practice he was deadly from outside -- he is not an inside player.  No use trying to play him down low.  Get him some shots outside and see if he can contribute.


----------



## bluebill

SycamoreStateofMind said:


> Naaa I ran track. I don't know jack shit about basketball, just born and raised in Indiana only watched it on TV growing up.


----------



## Elder Tracy D. Smith

bluebill said:


>


[emoji41]  No harm intended. 
Trying to ascertain background qualifications on our esteemed forum members. [emoji56]


----------



## Jason Svoboda

Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> [emoji41]  No harm intended.
> Trying to ascertain background qualifications on our esteemed forum members. [emoji56]



Ascertain background qualifications? Laughable. 

A lot of the best basketball minds never played organized basketball beyond high school and some never at all. To think someone would have had to play college basketball to understand basketball is absolutely moronic in every sense of the word.


----------



## Elder Tracy D. Smith

bluebill said:


>


That's awesome that you were raised in Indiana and that you watched basketball growing up. I didn't have that luxury. I had to actually go out and play the game, experiencing the highs and lows of the game first-hand. So, excuse me if I seem to be uplifting especially when dealing with young people.

My dad taught me, that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. IJS [emoji56]


----------



## Elder Tracy D. Smith

Jason Svoboda said:


> Ascertain background qualifications? Laughable.
> 
> A lot of the best basketball minds never played organized basketball beyond high school and some never at all. To think someone would have had to play college basketball to understand basketball is absolutely moronic in every sense of the word.


No need to be rude. If my post offended anyone, that was not my intention Mr. Svobada. [emoji56] 


Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> That's awesome that you were raised in Indiana and that you watched basketball growing up. I didn't have that luxury. I had to actually go out and play the game, experiencing the highs and lows of the game first-hand. So, excuse me if I seem to be uplifting especially when dealing with young people.
> 
> My dad taught me, that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. IJS [emoji56]


----------



## BallyPie

Westbadenboy said:


> One comment about Niels -- watched him in the Homecoming "open" practice he was deadly from outside -- he is not an inside player.  No use trying to play him down low.  Get him some shots outside and see if he can contribute.



I agree......I think he's an RJ Mahurin wannabe...........I don't think RJ really liked playing down low.....


----------



## Jason Svoboda

Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> No need to be rude. If my post offended anyone, that was not my intention Mr. Svobada. [emoji56]



Wasn't being rude, I was being honest. It's funny that we've had that comment used probably 3-4 times on this forum and it has always been by someone close to a player, be it former coach or family. 

You don't need to have played a lick of basketball in order to be an expert at it. There is something called the 10,000 hour rule which is quite fascinating. It states that if you do something for 10,000 hours, you can become an expert in the subject. I can bet that most diehards on this forum have watched that plus some in hoops in addition to what they've played or coached.


----------



## Elder Tracy D. Smith

Jason Svoboda said:


> Wasn't being rude, I was being honest. It's funny that we've had that comment used probably 3-4 times on this forum and it has always been by someone close to a player, be it former coach or family.
> 
> You don't need to have played a lick of basketball in order to be an expert at it. There is something called the 10,000 hour rule which is quite fascinating. It states that if you do something for 10,000 hours, you can become an expert in the subject. I can bet that most diehards on this forum have watched that plus some in hoops in addition to what they've played or coached.


Being close to a player has nothing to do with my comments. I live by the rule of encouragement 101, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.[emoji56] 

Truth be told, I'm constantly encouraging ALL the players and Coaches every time I get a chance to speak with them.  [emoji3] [emoji3] 

That's simply how I'm built.


----------



## Jason Svoboda

Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> Being close to a player has nothing to do with my comments. I live by the rule of encouragement 101, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.[emoji56]
> 
> Truth be told, I'm constantly encouraging ALL the players and Coaches every time I get a chance to speak with them.  [emoji3] [emoji3]
> 
> That's simply how I'm built.



Do you. I'm not mad.

I just get frustrated with people that believe you can't be critical if it is based on accurate findings. This squad should not be 3-3 right now, no way, no how. Fans, both bandwagon, diehard and every level in between have the right to be frustrated and voice their concerns just as you have the right to shoot sunshine, rainbows and puppy dogs out of every orifice.


----------



## blueblazer

Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> Being close to a player has nothing to do with my comments. I live by the rule of encouragement 101, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.[emoji56]
> 
> Truth be told, I'm constantly encouraging ALL the players and Coaches every time I get a chance to speak with them.  [emoji3] [emoji3]
> 
> That's simply how I'm built.




Don't ever lose the sunshine! Love your work on here


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## Elder Tracy D. Smith

blueblazer said:


> Don't ever lose the sunshine! Love your work on here


Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. That's what it's all about. 
 God bless you.[emoji56]


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## Elder Tracy D. Smith

Jason Svoboda said:


> Do you. I'm not mad.
> 
> I just get frustrated with people that believe you can't be critical if it is based on accurate findings. This squad should not be 3-3 right now, no way, no how. Fans, both bandwagon, diehard and every level in between have the right to be frustrated and voice their concerns just as you have the right to shoot sunshine, rainbows and puppy dogs out of every orifice.


LOL, that's what I love about this forum. The honest, and open minded people that visit here.[emoji3] 
Having said that, it is my honest opinion that these early season growing pains will make us better in the long run. #ConferenceChamps


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## BallyPie

Elder Tracy D. Smith said:


> LOL, that's what I love about this forum. The honest, and open minded people that visit here.[emoji3]
> Having said that, it is my honest opinion that these early season growing pains will make us better in the long run. #ConferenceChamps



Well......I'd say your crazy on the conference champs part if it not for the fact of how weak the conference is.........there isn't anybody in this league that we can't beat on a given night if we're clicking.........


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## sycamorebacker

Jason Svoboda said:


> Do you. I'm not mad.
> 
> I just get frustrated with people that believe you can't be critical if it is based on accurate findings. This squad should not be 3-3 right now, no way, no how. Fans, both bandwagon, diehard and every level in between have the right to be frustrated and voice their concerns just as you have the right to shoot sunshine, rainbows and puppy dogs out of every orifice.



There's nothing wrong with being critical -- as long as it is a factual description of effort, performance or ability.  People like me, though, do not care for posts that go overboard.  
I am extremely disappointed that our defense can't smother someone like EIU.  I talked to someone that played at Marshall HS in Indy and he said there were some games he dreaded going out of the locker room to play the 2nd half.  Why can't we play D like that?

I still remember the game that Syracuse could not get a shot off against Butler.  That's the defense I want my team to play.


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## Elder Tracy D. Smith

sycamorebacker said:


> There's nothing wrong with being critical -- as long as it is a factual description of effort, performance or ability.  People like me, though, do not care for posts that go overboard.
> I am extremely disappointed that our defense can't smother someone like EIU.  I talked to someone that played at Marshall HS in Indy and he said there were some games he dreaded going out of the locker room to play the 2nd half.  Why can't we play D like that?
> 
> I still remember the game that Syracuse could not get a shot off against Butler.  That's the defense I want my team to play.


I do understand the disappointment and frustration in us not being able to sustain a lead and defensive intensity for a full 40 minutes. It's a bit nerve-racking to me as well. It's a sign of a immature and undisciplined team. I get that!

I understand the frustration, believe me, I get that. However, there is a thing called constructive criticism, which offers solutions to the problem in a positive and uplifting manner. That's what I subscribe to and promote. 

After upwards of some 30 ought years of counseling people and 25 years of actively participating in playing the sport, I've come to this conclusion. People and players tend to respond to positivity better than they do to negativity.  IMO [emoji56]


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## Elder Tracy D. Smith

BallyPie said:


> Well......I'd say your crazy on the conference champs part if it not for the fact of how weak the conference is.........there isn't anybody in this league that we can't beat on a given night if we're clicking.........


I totally agree with your observation of the conference strength. There isn't any team that we can not beat. But like you said," we have to be hitting on all cylinders".


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## niklz62

I no little about basketball play/coaching strategy but we seem to be playing like a few football games I've played in and a bunch I've seen.  We would take the ball and shove it right down their throat on the first drive, then play the rest of the game like we were going to do the same thing without actually doing what worked like effort, execution, adjustments....


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