Frank Martin on Mississippi State loss - "our defense let us down"
- Thread starter Chris Clark
- Start date
Does anyone else feel it has been poor shooting that hurt us more than poor defense the past two games? I realize we won vs UT but I was at that game and it felt like we were missing EVERYTHING until right at the end when Kotsar nailed 4 FTs in a row to clinch it...
Watching the game last night, I saw a lot of good shots fall for us. Floaters and Mid-range shots by Kotsar and Couisnard and Free throws were pretty good. However, the 3 ball was not falling, and AJ had a rough game shooting the ball. We had few ill-advised shots, but probably less than 5. It was the unforced turnovers that were frustrating, although some of that can be chalked up to the MSU defense and our players being aggressive.
79 points given up is too many to please Coach Martin. There were a bunch of easy close range buckets and the turnovers led to some easy transition baskets as well. Their dribble penetration killed us all night long.
It feels like every time Lawson has a good game and appears to be heading back on track he has a game like this one. He has been inconsistent and seems to struggle against physical teams. I had a really good look on a 3 ball last night that I think would have tied the game. We'd all be singing his praises today if it had gone down.
He took all the right shots, just didn't fall for him. He's a good player. I'd like to see him get a bit stronger as a driver.. He had a couple open floor chances at the rim, and got stuffed. And even in the half court, he's not really putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim. He's become reliant on that curl 3. Not knock on him, just some observations.
Didn't play particularly well on defensive transition. But, we showed a lot of mental toughness at the end.
Turnovers killed us...they got us behind early.
Kotsar was playing like a man possessed early in the game, and no one else was stepping up to help him out. For some unknown reason we got away from him until late in the second half. He is the key to our team being successful, and our offense runs much smoother when we get him the ball. The team shot poorly from 3, and had way too many turnovers. The offense wasn't perfect, but it was absolutely our defense that let us down. How many dunks did we give up at the rim, how many and 1s, wide open MSU shots, lobs over the top for easy baskets, etc... We were a step slow all night. When we would make a run to get the game close, once again we would have defensive lapses etc....allowing MSU to widen the gap. Very frustrating game to watch, but credit to MSU. Their guys played desperate just like we were, and they were very active defensively. Our team has played well down the stretch, let's hope we finish strong. Both defense, offense, and free throw shooting need to get better for us to make the tourney.
Giving up 79 isn’t going to help you win much, especially on the road
Turnovers were bad. I thought Couisinard in foul trouble hurt us for a while in the first half too.
Turnovers were bad. I thought Couisinard in foul trouble hurt us for a while in the first half too.
Yes, the turnovers really hurt us. But, they had WAY too many looks/shots inside 6 ft. Told my teenage son early- eventually the math would catch up to us, if we couldn’t stop the dribble penetrations. We didn’t, and that was the difference. As far as three ball goes, I’ve felt all season Bolden could help us there, if we could get him going. Need another perimeter threat.
I wish the Refs would let them play. They seemed like they were calling any slight brush up. At least they seemed to be consistent on both sides. Still frustrating to watch.
In high school we had a conditioning drill where you ran from baseline to first foul line, back to baseline to half court, back to baseline to opposite foul line back to baseline to the opposite baseline...... and then in reverse.....and that was 1. IF you had a bad pass during practice, you had to run one of these. 2-bad passes during practice and you ran two of these and so on. Our bad passes disappeared by the 3rd/4th preseason practice. Frank needs to have these guys concentrate on good passes. Last night I saw 8-9 offensive opportunities that got away because we threw the ball to MSU or out of bounds. Our guys are tuneover machines.
Aren’t those called suicides? I think that’s what we called them.
Exactly. I didn’t watch but listened to on the Gameday App. The turnovers just seemed to be ridiculous.
This is not a devastating loss. But with 5 games left we gotta win them all and one in the SECT to clinch an invite. The really tough games left are LSU Saturday and Alabama on the road. We can take UGA and MSSU at home and Vandy in Nashville. (I hope)
If we can go 5-2 to close out, I'd be proud of them. I dont know if that earns the bid, but that would be a good record and a good season.
Is GD necessary? I don’t think so
This is my opinion, but I don't think it is a good season if we don't make the NCAA tournament. It would be okay, but it would extend Martin to 1-8 as far as qualifying for the NCAA. We would be left with the NIT and waiting for next year. Again.
This team needs to win the rest of the games - especially LSU at home tonight. They are good, but they ain't that good. Our defense needs to be stifling. Don't give them any good looks at the basket. Hit our FTs.
We may have different definitions of success, that’s ok. I see many good things that happened this year. The NCAA tournament is not the litmus for a good season in my eyes.
That's fair. To me its the lack of NCAA post-season appearances which makes an 18 or 19 win season and the NIT instead of the NCAA an okay season instead of a good season.
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