spartan2785

Basically the team is very very average at best, a lot of guys who haven't improved and nobody who has come into the program who can be a difference maker. Our two best players can't play defense together on the pick and roll. Bittle isn't athletic enough to hedge out and Shelstad isn't big enough our quick enough to get around the screen. We really struggle to defend when those two are at the point of attack. Opposing guards killed us. I miss Dante.

If the team doesn't improve massively this is Altman's worst team since his first season. I don't see them as a top half team in the league. I doubt they get close to a tourney bid, they'll have no good non-conference wins as they will get blow out by Gonzaga if they play even close to what they have shown in the last two games. The thing that I'm most frustrated by is the lack of basketball IQ, they don't look like they know how to play team basketball, they don't look like they know what the scheme is offensively or defensively, that's on the coaches, both in identifying talent and in coaching the team to be ready at the start of the season.

I hate to say it, but I think he has nobody but himself to blame, he didn't recruit the right players, they just aren't very good. He's done a horrible job getting them ready. I think he struck out on a number of his targets and panicked when he got Lin, Demir, and the other player from Turkey. He must have struck out on a number of freshman since we don't have a single one that is playing.

Down by 10, 51-41. Ugly, bad defense, Shelstad has had a good shooting night but he's given it back on defense as he is not big enough to get around on screens and the Aztecs have abused him there, Auburn did the same thing last night. Not a lot of IQ on this team, they don't know have any feel on offense. They've actually had a good shooting night, but as always too many turnovers. We have very little depth as we don't have any guards that are of any worth on the bench. Stewart is alright as a backup big. This is not a great SDSU team, this isn't the type of team they've had in the past, they're 2-2, and they look vastly better than us right now. We can certainly come back, but Altman has so much to work on with this group.

Down by 10, we look putrid, no offensive flow, we don't look like we know what we're doing, been saved by Shelstad going 4-4 from 3. This team is in desperate need of a dynamic offensive wing who is between 6-5 and 6-7. Someone who can go get a bucket.

4 turnovers to start the game out of I think 6 or 7 possessions, that is unacceptable. Edit: 5 turnovers I'm ripping out my hair.

They got destroyed by a very good Michigan team, it's a team we should beat, and really need to beat, hopefully Shelstad and Bittle have better games, and we value the basketball better.

Shelstad and Bittle were not very good in this game. Shelstad especially can't go 4-17 and 1-11 from 3, that's atrocious, he got outplayed by Pettiford big time. I want to look at this half-full, but I really don't know if this team has an extra gear, I think their stars can play better, but I don't see an extra gear that this team is going to get to, they've played 5 games now and they haven't once played a game that you would say they played better than a B-, at some point that's just who they are, a sloppy team that doesn't have great shooting and doesn't move the ball on offense. I was saying the opposite last year, I thought that team could be special and I was proven wrong, so hopefully I'm wrong again!😂

We're a bubble team right now, we don't take care of the basketball, we don't hit free throws, we don't have an extra gear to really up the defensive pressure on good teams. We'll win some games, but we're going to have to improve a lot to compete and win games against good teams. Shelstad has to play better, he has to be a threat to take the ball to the rim, he got outplayed tonight by Pettiford. At times we get bogged down trying to get the ball into Bittle on the block, and it just becomes a struggle. Evans was good in the first half, then just kind of disappeared in the second half. A very frustrating game overall. Can't do anything about it now, need to bounce back and beat SDSU then get a win in the final game.

TAKE CARE OF THE BASKETBALL!!!!!!!! We make so many dumb decisions, passing to guys not open, not being decisive, dribbling too much. Shelstad looks scared to even attempt to drive the ball, he has to be a threat to go to the hole, he doesn't even make an attempt.

Turnovers are just killing us, they aren't even forced, it's just stupid decisions and not being fundamentally sound.

Yes, they closed the half well, encouraging to see. Pettiford is winning the point guard battle, need Jackson to even it out a bit.

Frustrating, so sloppy on offense, very little ball movement, no drives to the rim, Shelstad needs to go to the rim more than he does, doesn't feel like teams really respect him as a driver. Need better free throw shooting, need to box out the shooter on shots, it's just not good enough. Edit: Tie game at the half, I am pleased to see us in a game with a top 25 opponent without playing a clean game, we're switching defenses well, we rebounded better as the game continued, shooting is decent. Evans is really working hard down low, need more from Shelstad to really take the game.

Turnovers and defensive rebounding has been bad, other facets have been decent to good, but we won't win games giving up a offensive rebound on half of Auburn's shots, and turning it over every third possession.

First thing I see is a Auburn team that is much more active and much more hungry for loose balls, need to fight through screens better, need to rebound. We're going to struggle in the half court. It's way early of course, but a bunch of turnovers already.

This is almost perfect. Since we aren't getting a bye, I want the 7 or 6 seed, anything to stay away from tOSU, I would love another shot at Indiana.

Fragile is the wrong word, I get what she is trying to say, but I wouldn't call them fragile, I'm not sure what the right word would be for what she is getting at. I think Oregon should be a little concerned that they haven't shown an ability to simply slam the door shut in the 4th quarter in close games. We survived PSU and Iowa, we had opportunities in those games to stamp out any chance for the opposition, but we gave up long drives to both teams after shutting them down for the most part, have to play better in those moments. To Oregon's credit they responded to that adversity by responding and winning the games, we didn't get gifted anything in either game, we earned both wins. It's just sensationalist writing.

That is the quote that probably encapsulates the season so far, they have gotten better each game, but it's been a slow process, and I'm sure Altman isn't happy about where they are right now. Not putting away teams like they should doesn't matter now, as they didn't lose a game, and they have a great opportunity to pick up some crucial non-conference wins. After the Player's Era tourney they have the LA schools to open B1G play. Schedule is a lot harder now, and hopefully the close games they have had helps them pull through them.

Evans played well, we need that sort of effort on a more consistent basis. Shelstad is getting there, Bittle was a force as usual. Don't think we're ready for Auburn and SDSU, but we weren't very impressive last year before the Vegas Tourney, so we'll see. Free throw shooting has to get better, they do a decent job getting to the line but they leave a lot of points there.

There is no way they could get a better coach than Franklin, at least among coaches that have head coaching experience. They might have been able to snatch a really good coordinator, but Franklin is a consistent 10 win coach other than basically his first couple years and this year. Tech haven't had that since Beamer...the first Beamer I mean. This is a home run for VATech, if I was a fan there I would immediately be super excited about possibly dominating the ACC if he can recruit at a decent level. I would say the only coach in the ACC that is definitely better than Franklin right now is Key at Georgia Tech. At least until this year Franklin beat the teams he should beat on a consistent basis (I'm looking at you Cristobal and Dabo).

If the ACC truly does fold, I think the Bay Area schools would probably ask the Big-12 first if they could join, in the end I could see Stanford at least shuttering the football program and going independent in other sports, Cal I have no idea what they would do. UCLA will stay in the B1G no matter what, they've been mediocre to poor in Football for a while, but their other sports have flourished, so I would think they would just try to stay afloat in the B1G. USC will just keep throwing money at it, they'll have good years here and there, but that program is always a good coach away from being a power again. They do need to improve their training facilities though. UW will stay at it as well, it's just too much money, and they have too big a fanbase to just pack it in and accept going back to the new Pac-12. I don't blame Beaver and Coug fans trying to keep some glimmer of hope that the old Pac-12 reforms in at least a partial way, it's brutal seeing what those programs have become, not only in football but in other sports as well. While WSU would always lose good coaches to other programs now I'm sure we'll see a revolving door for any coach that is halfway decent..

I feel like Franklin might have been able to get a better job. Va Tech haven't been good in a while, and I don't think that program is going to attract talent again. I could be wrong, but I think Franklin should have either gone after another job or waited a bit more. Edit: I guess Tech is making a commitment to spend more on athletics, and I guess Franklin already has a lot of recruiting ties to Virginia and the D.C area, so I guess he feels pretty comfortable in that position. After getting his butt kicked constantly by the best teams in the B1G, he would be going against a lot of the same caliber teams that he feasted on. I guess he sees the opportunity to be the big fish in the small pond.

Been saying it since the Penn St. game, we are a smash-mouth running team that kills teams off the play-action and vertical passing game. The thing that frustrated me most during our one loss was Stein not committing to this when it was working, we started getting cute and kept putting ourselves behind the eight ball. Commit to the run and pass in order keep teams honest. We can certainly have success in the passing game, but our identity is running the ball in a multitude of ways and formations. Best thing that Stein has done this season is the multitude of looks we give the defense. We can go 5 wide, we can go 2-1, 2-2, or 1-3 personnel, and at the same time have success in different ways in these sets. The RBs give different looks, the TEs can go legit 3 deep. The O-line is the best run blocking unit we've had under Lanning. We just need to get healthy at the WR position.

I honestly wasn't, Minnesota isn't quite as good as a 6-3 team as you would expect, they aren't bad by any means, but I had faith that our offense would show up, and I felt like our defense was a good match to what the Gophers want to do. We were at home as well in good weather. Great showing by the Ducks tonight! Having Sadiq back is a major upgrade for our passing offense.

Just win baby! That is what the motto has to be, I'm not really bothered with playing the conference title game or not, our mission is simply to win as many games as possible, we have to win out just to get into the playoff from what I'm seeing. If that ends with us playing Indiana in the title game, so be it, I'm sure we'll love a chance to get some revenge. If we don't, I'm hopeful we'll end up between 7 and 5 so that we'll get a home game and not play the number one ranked team (right now I'm assuming it will be tOSU).