[November 15, 2016] Indiana State (0-1) at Ball State (1-0)

[BankShot]

You need to lump Kessinger in there because he was the 5 for a 4 minute stretch as well but I agree but your point is 100% valid.

During that 5 min stretch, Kessinger had a couple blocked shots which sent an obvious signal to the Cards that NOTHING was coming easy inside. He also had 3 reb during his 14 min of playing action. For someone that's only played 6min v. RH and 2 min v. NIU, he looked pretty damn good!

Missing 5 or 6 "crib shots" early in the game was troubling, to say the least. There's no margin of error on these shots from POINT BLANK range...most could've easily been POWER STUFFED. Come on BIG GUYS, where's the swagger?

Clemons had one of the best quotes I've heard lately in today's paper, which symbolizes HIS approach to the game and which reflects the sacrificial nature of his team role :

"The point guard eats last"

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

During that 5 min stretch, Kessinger had a couple blocked shots which sent an obvious signal to the Cards that NOTHING was coming easy inside. He also had 3 reb during his 14 min of playing action. For someone that's only played 6min v. RH and 2 min v. NIU, he looked pretty damn good!

He's going to be alright - it might take awhile for Lansing to develop trust in him but once he does I think he will let him go a little bit. I thought that he and Rickman both altered a few shots inside and did a good job in relief. I was actually more happy with the sparing minutes they got than I was with the combined contributions of Niels, Murphy and Bell. Niels did hit a few big shots for us late in the second half but all and all he has struggled these first two games.

 

[Stickboy46]

Great win for Trees.!!......It almost appears Clemmons has picked up on some of Devonte Brown's driving to the basket moves....but Clemmons might have better vision of finding open guys to dish too than Devonte........plus it looks like the game has slowed down for him a bit this year.....seems to be more assure of himself..........

I just caught the end of the game, but the Assist that Clemmons had where he drove the lane then did a backwards over the shoulder pass to (not sure who) for an assist was a thing of beauty.

Great win for you guys, glad to see you pull it out.

 

[sycamorebacker]

Bigs are not what I expected. Getting good bigs is REALLY hard for us. I just want to put a little love on them. They did provide some interior defense with some blocks and prevented some of the offensive rebounds from being 2nd chance points.
I think Rickman and Murphy will get better this year. Not sure about TJ.
I think sometimes they are just blocking out so EC can get the rebound. They need to go after the ball HARD.
I wouldn't be too hard on them missing contested "bunnies." I've watched Michigan State, UK, Arizona, Duke, PU, Villanova, IU, etc and I've seen a lot of shots like that missed.

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

I think Rickman and Murphy will get better this year. Not sure about TJ.

Because Murphy hasn't had ample playing time in his career to get better and TJ has...

 

[sycamorebacker]

He's going to be alright - it might take awhile for Lansing to develop trust in him but once he does I think he will let him go a little bit. I thought that he and Rickman both altered a few shots inside and did a good job in relief. I was actually more happy with the sparing minutes they got than I was with the combined contributions of Niels, Murphy and Bell. Niels did hit a few big shots for us late in the second half but all and all he has struggled these first two games.

Agree. BK is going to work into the games more and take minutes away from NB and TJ. I think Franklin is going to help us too.

 

[sycamorebacker]

Because Murphy hasn't had ample playing time in his career to get better and TJ has...

Yes. Murphy and Rickman both have an upside. They could look a lot different by the end of this year.

 

[jturner38]

Bigs are not what I expected. Getting good bigs is REALLY hard for us. I just want to put a little love on them. They did provide some interior defense with some blocks and prevented some of the offensive rebounds from being 2nd chance points.
I think Rickman and Murphy will get better this year. Not sure about TJ.
I think sometimes they are just blocking out so EC can get the rebound. They need to go after the ball HARD.
I wouldn't be too hard on them missing contested "bunnies." I've watched Michigan State, UK, Arizona, Duke, PU, Villanova, IU, etc and I've seen a lot of shots like that missed.

Yea I notice that the bigs will box out and NOT go get the ball. Which allows Clemons to chase down the those balls.

 

[BankShot]

He's going to be alright - it might take awhile for Lansing to develop trust in him but once he does I think he will let him go a little bit. I thought that he and Rickman both altered a few shots inside and did a good job in relief. I was actually more happy with the sparing minutes they got than I was with the combined contributions of Niels, Murphy and Bell. Niels did hit a few big shots for us late in the second half but all and all he has struggled these first two games.

The Dutchman has the ability to attack the basket inside w/ reasonable court vision/short dish skills. I think he's more effective in this role than simply breathing "thin air" in 3pt land where his 6'9" is virtually useless.

 

[claimsman]

Great game for the Trees! I would like to see Scott dish it more often when he drives. Deepest team we have had in years. Lends itself to more pressure defense.

 

[Sycamore Proud]

I think the telling stat we should be alarmed of is the 5 points and 5 rebounds we got combined out of our three bigs . We missed alot of easy shots from that position and have to get better Our point guard was more productive in the paint than these three and to think some thought we were going to be tough at the 5 . I haven't seen it in two games I do not believe we have improved at all .

I think you are right on that. It seems that with 3 different guys with 3 different skill sets and 12 fouls to give and still be in the game, it is reasonable to expect one of them to be fresh and going hard at all times. A double double from the 3 combined seems reasonable too. We should be able to get at least 3 points and 3 boards from each don't you think?

 

[sycamorebacker]

I think they should get 15 and 10. With the players we have, I don't expect this to be a good rebounding team. And it's interesting that we only play a few players that can score from over 2 feet.