Illinois State

[CelticCat]

http://channelsurfing.net/watch-illinoi ... tball.html

Cats are up 32-29 at half. I'm still super depressed from the football game but I'm hoping the basketball team can at least give me a little bit of joy today.

[BelgradeBobcat]

http://channelsurfing.net/watch-illinoi ... tball.html

Cats are up 32-29 at half. I'm still super depressed from the football game but I'm hoping the basketball team can at least give me a little bit of joy today.

If we're looking for a source of joy-this basketball team might not be the best place to look. I'm afraid they have the same problem as the football team-lack of size. We're a team of small forwards. If we can stay hot for an entire game we'll probably win-but when we're not...we'll I've never seen a team lose leads as fast as these Bobcats (see the last 5 minutes of the Seattle game).

That being said...GO CATS. I probably shouldn't post until I cheer up a bit.

[CelticCat]

Correct. Cats stall out badly again late in the game, ISU pulling away. MSU is just chucking up 3s late in the game yet again, and committing tons of "fouls". Very strangely reffed game. Doesn't matter, we have no offense at all, just a bunch of guys who can shoot threes when they are wide open. Haven't scored a bucket in several minutes again. Seattle game all over again, and I think this is going to be the Cats MO all season. Gonna be a long one folks.

[BelgradeBobcat]

http://channelsurfing.net/watch-illinoi ... tball.html

Cats are up 32-29 at half. I'm still super depressed from the football game but I'm hoping the basketball team can at least give me a little bit of joy today.

If we're looking for a source of joy-this basketball team might not be the best place to look. I'm afraid they have the same problem as the football team-lack of size. We're a team of small forwards. If we can stay hot for an entire game we'll probably win-but when we're not...we'll I've never seen a team lose leads as fast as these Bobcats (see the last 5 minutes of the Seattle game).

That being said...GO CATS. I probably shouldn't post until I cheer up a bit.

And just like that-another second half collapse. Probably be another sub .500 season.

Why are we flying all the way out the Illinois State for one game? Seems kind of inefficient.

[cats22]

How you guys gonna say that? We killed two solid teams at home... Seattle U almost pulled out a win at weber. This team has two of the best players in the conference and because the football team let us down were writing them off? They won five straight you know. How dare you! And what is Howard and Rush? Just three pt specialists? Wow you're a joke and a front runner

[bpcats]

I think this applies to the women's team as well. There has simply been a lot of turnover on both teams. More so on the men's team.

Huse's team have never been very good offensively unless they stick to running offensive plays with precision. Right now they are going through their annual early season chuck and duck offense. The main thing thing they have to do is concentrate on defense and rebounding for now.

On the women's team losing Ashley Albert really hurt. Losing dynamic point guard hurts also until the new kids can develop. The offense will run a little differently until then.

[BelgradeBobcat]

How you guys gonna say that? We killed two solid teams at home... Seattle U almost pulled out a win at weber. This team has two of the best players in the conference and because the football team let us down were writing them off? They won five straight you know. How dare you! And what is Howard and Rush? Just three pt specialists? Wow you're a joke and a front runner

Significant second half collapses at Iowa State, Seattle, and Illinois State should be a cause for concern. Howard and Rush are great, but when they're not hitting we're in big trouble. I'm not a front runner-I've followed Bobcat basketball avidly for almost 40 years. The crowds have gotten steadily smaller in recent years-but I'm still amongst them.

[CelticCat]

Just calling it like I see it cats22. I'm a huge Bobcat bball fan, and have caught online almost every game this year so far.

This team still has a lot of time to gel; there are a lot of new faces. But so far teams have figured us out in the second half, and have been able to almost completely shut down our offense.

If we learn how to finish games, this is the makings of a very good squad. But lack of size and ability to score late is really hurting this team right now.

[BelgradeBobcat]

A huge second half collapse at Hawaii as well. We've played well at home and in the neutral court games but have been terrible in 2nd halves of road games-not just bad...terrible. I suppose the silver lining is there's lots of season to get this fixed and Huse will work harder than anybody to get it done. But being a small forward oriented team-I see lots of ups and downs and our mid-pack predicted Big Sky finish is probably about right.

[alasax]

Just sayin'.

We have some very athletic freshmen.
They are freshmen. When they improve within the system we should see marked improvements in the second half of the season.

[cats22]

Callin it like you see it? Well you're aeeing very well... They blew out a top wcc team and are about two plays from being 7-2 with NINE new players. The two seniors have been everything we ask for. And to call this team a bunch of small forwards... We have the ONLY returning all conference post player. Just calling it like I see it. Smh

[BelgradeBobcat]

Callin it like you see it? Well you're aeeing very well... They blew out a top wcc team and are about two plays from being 7-2 with NINE new players. The two seniors have been everything we ask for. And to call this team a bunch of small forwards... We have the ONLY returning all conference post player. Just calling it like I see it. Smh

And Bobby Howard would be a small forward almost anywhere else. We are a perimeter oriented, undersized D-1 college basektball team. We rely heavily on outside shooting. When the shots stop falling we lose ground quickly because we can't go inside to stop the bleeding. That's just the way it is. Fortunately, the Big Sky is more of a guard oriented league-so we'll do okay there-though to have any chance against the bigger teams like Montana and Weber we'll have to be really hot from out all game long.

[GrizinWashington]

Callin it like you see it? Well you're aeeing very well... They blew out a top wcc team and are about two plays from being 7-2 with NINE new players. The two seniors have been everything we ask for. And to call this team a bunch of small forwards... We have the ONLY returning all conference post player. Just calling it like I see it. Smh

It might be a bit of a stretch to call the Dons a top WCC team. They were picked 5th in the conference, and have only 3 wins, including a 3 pointer against Holy Names. They do also have solid wins against Seattle and Colorado. But USF is a middle of the road WCC team. In the WCC, it's Gonzaga, Portland and then and ocean to everyone else.

[ilovethecats]

Callin it like you see it? Well you're aeeing very well... They blew out a top wcc team and are about two plays from being 7-2 with NINE new players. The two seniors have been everything we ask for. And to call this team a bunch of small forwards... We have the ONLY returning all conference post player. Just calling it like I see it. Smh

dude, why are you gettig all defensive? no one was bashing this team. many of us are seeing the same things that we have seen for several years now. we rely on the three so much because we are way undersized. bobby isn't a post player. but he IS one of the best players in the conference and because we have to play him at the 4-5 that honor makes sense. just out of curiousity because you seem very convinced that we are such a good team...where do you see this team finishing in the big sky? you can call me whatever you want or say i'm a bad fan but i'll be shocked if this team finishes in the top 3 of the conference. doesn't mean i'm a hater or a bad fan...i just call it like i see it. you obviously don't like that which is fine. but this team simply is too young and doesn't have the talent to make up for their lack of size. it's not like this is new. most of us who have followed this team have known since last year this would be an issue....

[Bobcat4Life]

I was at the Seattle U game and it sounds like what happened tonight is exactly what happened in the Seattle U game. In the first half and about the first 10 minutes of the second half of the Seattle U game we were shooting lights out. Didn't matter who was shooting the three it was going in from all spots on the floor. We were cutting to the basket and getting open layups and easy shots.

We aren't going to be able to bang in the paint with most D-1 teams that have thick tall post players. What we have to do is play tenacious D, cause turnovers, and run the floor. Play to our strengths which is speed and quickness. When they were doing that during the Seattle U game they were unstoppable. Then all of a sudden Seattle U starts trapping off the high post or wing. We just went completely cold from the floor. We weren't getting open looks and the ten point lead just disappeared.

Also, I'd be interested to hear what others that have watched more games think, but when Singleton was playing point we seemed to lose our offensive edge in the Seattle U game. He seemed to hold on to the ball to long. When Trujeque came off the bench his quick movements and passes opened up other players. When we pass quick, move, and cut the bigger post players from Seattle U were caught out of position or we had a wide open shot. We took advantage of the open looks and lanes to the hoop.