[January 25, 2022] Indiana State (8-10) vs Missouri State (15-6)

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I suppose its for competitive reasons, but HCJS did not speak to Coop's availability tomorrow. But he did kind of dance around it saying his absence was a chance for other guys to step up. Did he mean in the last game, for the next game....who knows. I sure hope he is healthy and good to go. Its frustrating for the guys i am sure to be working so hard and keep coming up just a little short, while playing shorthanded.
 
I give us no chance of winning this game...which means we win by 8. I think the crowd is going to be small and politely silent.
 
The only thing that is giving me hope is that MSU is guaranteed to have a couple of let downs per season. I'm hoping this is one of those let downs.
 

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"The Sycamores have used 14 different starting lineups in 18 games this season. No starting lineup combination has been used more than three times." Geez.
 
SycamoreStateofMind said:
This is just not correct and very contradictory...

If you're playing in a system where point guard is not important or whatever you're suggesting - then fine for conversation sake I will just entertain this interpretation of the JS System... It doesn't make it just okay for him to be a one dimensional defensive threat and yet he can still be a "great player for us". That is ridiculous and I don't know why you are trying to suggest that. People on here read this stuff you know??

I would argue the exact opposite if he's playing a system where he doesn't define a position - meaning he likes his bigs to be able to handle the ball, step out and shoot etc. - then he should damn well want his PG/NonPG whatever to be able to get to the rim and finish and have some semblance of a dribble drive game where he can either drive, kick or finish. He's a decent passer, he's not a threat to finish at the rim and he can't shoot. Examples? Sure... Go watch the tape - early last game (first 10 minutes or so) he made a cut and got a beautiful pass from Blendson I think - Larry elected not to finish at the rim (because he's limited) and he ended up dribbling or passing out and I think we turned it over or had a missed 3 on that pos. Look later in the game - he saves our ass with a wonderful steal and rather than gather himself and finish for an and 1 - he throws some junk up at the rim and luckily gets fouled.

If you are going to cherry pick his defensive efforts against UNI and Domask - then I am going to cherry pick offensive stats and situations where you can't be limited on that side of the floor and still be a "great player for us". This is D1 college basketball - only 5 people play on the floor at one time. You have to have some offensive skill set - I am not asking him to score every time down the floor. You at least need to be able to distribute the basketball - create opportunities. This team needs all the defensive help it can get - I wish every player on our team would play with his effort on defense. But perspective is still important - he's not an All Conference level defender and perhaps part of the reason he looks good on D is that he's the only player on this roster that wants to play D - that only makes you good at D compared to everyone else.
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Duly noted. Your point is well taken. Larry is still for what it's worth a point guard, and he needs to distribute the ball well when he has it and be able to drive to the basket when necessary. I guess I am elated at seeing one of our players IMPROVE dramatically from one year to the next year...something that was lacking in the past. He still has another three years to wear the uniform for us and if he can continue to improve at the rate he is going, then good things are ahead for the program.
 
pbutler218 said:
Can we at least have a full compliment of players and NOT get into foul trouble for once. We need all hands on deck to compete with this Missouri State squad.
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Those are two independent things. At full strength, the Trees are a tough out. Not having Cooper these last couple games have shifted the stress of shot making to others.
 

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Would love to be wrong..but I don't see a way we win without coop. With him it wasn't favorable odds.. we just don't have enough guys who can put the ball in the basket to keep up with msu.
 
Jason Svoboda said:
The other issue is Primm usually busts our ass so if we over compensate on Mosely, I'm not sure we have anyone that can body him in the post without collecting fouls. This is a game where we really needed a player like Tucker to be serviceable.
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Agreed. We have shown an inability to double the post and close out on shooters at the three line. If we double down on Primm, MSU will kill us from the outside. I’d rather let Primm get his, and focus our efforts in contesting the three.

MSU is 11th in the nation in 3PT% at 38.7%. We’re 308th in defending the three, allowing our opponents to shoot 36.5%. If we don’t scheme our defense against running MSU off the three line, we’re going to get crushed.
 
PD INDY ALUM said:
Duly noted. Your point is well taken. Larry is still for what it's worth a point guard, and he needs to distribute the ball well when he has it and be able to drive to the basket when necessary. I guess I am elated at seeing one of our players IMPROVE dramatically from one year to the next year...something that was lacking in the past. He still has another three years to wear the uniform for us and if he can continue to improve at the rate he is going, then good things are ahead for the program.
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Fair enough. Until we get other options he's going to continue to play a large role... I always credit him for playing hard - he keeps decent care of the basketball and those 2 free throws (his first points of the game) vs. Valpo were huge for a guy who hasn't been a great free throw shooter in his career.
 
Larry is doing an excellent job defending this year. He’s taking on our opponent’s best perimeter player each night, and he’s doing it while not fouling. I think that’s important because he’s staying with his man and not just hacking/reaching on defense. He’s one of the better players in the conference at a FC/40 (fouls committed per 40 minutes) of 2.3. He’s also top 10 in the MVC in steal %. He’s also actually improved in many defensive metrics since MVC play started, so he’s improving from being an already strong defender to nearly elite for the league.

With that being said, it’s not just Larry is limited offensively. We know he can’t score the basketball; that’s not new. Unfortunately, he’s also a turnover MACHINE, and especially in conference play. In our 6 MVC games, he has a turnover rate of 26.5%. He was better in the non-con (not great by any means, but better) so hopefully he can get back to closer to his norm for the season, but holy shit it’s been bad.

How much can we sacrifice the issues on the offensive end for the defensive end? He’s legitimately been great on one end and legitimately terrible on the other end. I can’t frankly remember a player who’s been quite this polarizing.
 
It's the morning before tip-off and I have to wonder...

Can we defeat the team that defeated Loyola?
Can we defend against the team that couldn't be defended by Loyola?
How many Sycamores will foul out?
Can Larry hold Mosely to fewer than 40 points? Fewer than 30? Fewer than...ahem, 20?
If Mosely doesn't go off on us, will Prim go off on us?
If Mosely and Prim don't go off on us, will Ja'Monta Black go off on us?
Will Jaylen Minnett's homecoming be the catalyst for him going off on us?
Without Neese, do we have enough weapons to keep up with MSU's scoring?
How many points can we score vs MSU?
Is Dana Ford an overrated coach? Underrated?
Remember when Missouri State was Southwest Missouri State? Ah, the good ol' days.
 

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I think for better or worse Tucker is going to have to get some burn in this one to help cover Prim. Hopefully they can keep Prim away from the basket. My fear in this game (being already short handed without Cooper) is foul trouble.
 
Looking at MSU's recent box scores, they're really only eight deep. Getting them into foul trouble could potentially be an equalizer.
 
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