ISU vs Evansville, 1/5/19

[WoodlandWarrior]

Purely speculation, but I think we can win at Mo State, at Drake, at Bradley, and maybe at Evansville and at Northern Iowa if our guys continue to play good defense.

 

[bombay]

Xx

 

[Brick]

Milk had a poor shooting night but he played hard and it didn’t affect his game otherwise. He played D Hard on his man and real worked hard on helping out. 13
Points on a subpar night but 13 boards and 7 assists. Copeland did a really nice job at the point PLUS when the aces cut the lead to one he made two huge shots in a row. Key looked better when he took the time to square up. Chastain was the “X” factor for his tough boards, shut down D and taking those charges. Fayne was Fayne. Get him the ball and good things happen. But ultimately on a night where for 3/4s of the game we couldn’t throw it in the ocean our defense was superb. Prior to tonight that kind of offensive performance would have guaranteed a loss. Just nice to get a win!

 

[kw34]

Great, great effort. This is the first game all year they have been locked in the entire game. I feel like this team bought into the pre-season hype (albeit self-inflicted by Muller) and thought they could out-athlete opponents (narrator: they can't). If they continue to play defense like tonight this could be a very dangerous team.

Huge shout out to Chastain - this kid is a player. Copeland showing excellent signs as well. Cautiously optimistic right now...not just for this season but for the future.

 

[stats]

Yes the offense was ugly, but shots sometimes fall and sometimes they don't. Hard nosed defense is what this teams needs to turn this season around. I'm encouraged to see if they can keep building on this one.

As crazy as it might sound, I l really liked our offense, but our shooting was awful. Sometimes when a team plays harder defense, their shots don't fall as usual. Once they get used to playing hard defense, the shots will fall. I liked that Copeland handled the ball more outside the arc and that Milik got many of his touches inside the arc.
I noticed at a second half time-out, Tinsley was the first guy off the bench slapping 5's with the players that were in the game. Let's not count him out yet. He has the ability to jump out of gym and can be a factor on the boards. I would also like to see him playing inside the arc as a good role player.

 

[ISU FAN 1]

Nice win today, but until we start winning road games, I can’t take this team seriously. Best part of my day was still the post game Tobin’s.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

Purely speculation, but I think we can win at Mo State, at Drake, at Bradley, and maybe at Evansville and at Northern Iowa if our guys continue to play good defense.

:think: :shock:

 

[Baltimore Bird]

I loved the effort on both ends of the floor. As stated above, we will make more shots in the future and if the effort can stay constant we will win a lot of MVC games. I really wondered why EU did not pressure us in the last few minutes. After our collapse at Valpo, I sure would have done so.

WOW Chastain does play hard. There will be a highlight reel rebound dunk one of these games. I am hoping he gets more aggressive on offense as the season progresses.

 

[Redbird222]

Effort has been there for two games.

Chastain was impressive even when guarding in the post.
Rey held his own when against their man beast. He did not get pushed around at all.
MY passing was sweet
Best team defense so far coupled with limited fouling. 12 total and i think at least 4 were on offense.
Sweet alley oop to Phil from Copeland and tremendous finish. I am going to look for that replay.
7 turnovers and 3 or 4 were offensive fouls

UNI is next .... winnable game if we defend the three and block out on long rebounds

 

[Bird Friend]

https://twitter.com/Redbird_MBB/status/1081726440138256385

 

[DWRedbird]

As crazy as it might sound, I l really liked our offense, but our shooting was awful. Sometimes when a team plays harder defense, their shots don't fall as usual. Once they get used to playing hard defense, the shots will fall. I liked that Copeland handled the ball more outside the arc and that Milik got many of his touches inside the arc.
I noticed at a second half time-out, Tinsley was the first guy off the bench slapping 5's with the players that were in the game. Let's not count him out yet. He has the ability to jump out of gym and can be a factor on the boards. I would also like to see him playing inside the arc as a good role player.

I said as much about the bolded part to my grandfather as we were leaving the game. I thought this was one of our most efficient offensive games. Our shots weren't falling, but we didn't just shoot jumpers, especially down the stretch when holding the lead. We mostly worked the ball towards the basket and got it inside, and only when it was blocked off or we were wide open from the top of the key were we stopping and popping.

Could of other thoughts:

--Yarbs and Fayne working a pick and roll is amazing. We need to work more of that into the playbook. It's going to be hard for a lot of teams to stop.

--I felt like this was the first game where Copeland looked calm, cool, and in control from tip to final buzzer. He brought his A game, and I liked it.

--I thought this was our best defensive performance of the year. We forced a lot of tough shots, guards weren't getting free passes to the basket, and we never relented.

--Chas might be the different maker. He is at 100% all the time, and I think the rest of the team might be keying off his energy. My only note with him is I wish he would be a little more aggressive offensively, take a shot, or drive the ball, just to keep the defense honest.

--We still need to work on FTs, and getting more consistent with them. It is killing us lately.

 

[Bird Friend]

Four things I took away from today's game and Dan's postgame with WJBC.

1) We played much smarter on offense in the 2nd half. We attacked the paint more, and we didn't force up many bad shots.
2) The team "seems" to have bought in to playing D, which means they stuck with their assignments and helped when appropriate. As Dan said in the postgame, you can afford poor offensive nights sometimes when you're always playing good D.
3) The formula for getting taken out is pretty simple . . . play hard and smart on D, you get more leeway on offense. Play poor D, take a bad shot or make a bad play on offense, you get an invite to the bench.
4) It seems to me that MY is just as 'happy' with dishing out dimes as he is scoring . . . when his teammates make their shots. I also think his 'play smart' meter goes up when this happens. If his teammates are not making their shots, MY will decide he needs to do it alone. Then he plays reckless. IMO, that's what happened with the charging call in the 1st half. The offense was stagnant, so MY decided he needed to make something happen.

Final thought that the charging call triggered . . . I hate the Euro-step.

 

[Bird Friend]

Sorry, one more thing I heard today . . . Seems Muller instituted a new offense over break. If that means more MY and Phil in the paint, then I'm all for it.

 

[Redbird222]

https://twitter.com/Redbird_MBB/status/1081726440138256385

:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[Chi-bird]

Agree about the offense. This was the best offense I've seen us run all season.

 

[stats]

https://twitter.com/Redbird_MBB/status/1081726440138256385

I love this clip. Notice we began with 3 guys inside the arc and 2 outside the arc as opposed to 4 and 1.

 

[ISU86]

Nice bounce-back effort after the Valparaiso fade. Rotation was down to eight, no Gassman or Tinsley. Intensity was consistent, defense was solid, and offensive lulls were minimal (I still have worries when both Chastain and Hein are on the court, at least until Chastain feels comfortable enough to put up a few shots to keep the defense honest).

5,643 is impressive with the students still out.

One concern is Evansville made absolutely zero effort for second chance points. It will be interesting if/when an opponent puts a priority on offensive rebounds, will we be exposed?

 

[redbirdron1]

Question for anyone - we've played better D against Valpo and Evansville. I'm sure everyone would agree these
2 schools are NOT of the caliber of 3-4 non conference teams who slapped us around pretty good. R we really
better or is it simply the Valley competition.

Yes, clearly we R keeping our man in front of us and seem to be stopping the penetration with help defense much better but
I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is legit improvement. I do see where Chastain clogs the lane with help D which we were Not getting
before the past couple of games.

Muller says on the radio that Key is our best perimeter D guy and I still struggle with that thinking but maybe I'm being stubborn about
actual improvement. Nevertheless - they're trying hard and it's a better watch.

Thoughts?

 

[Adunk33]

I think there is a direct correlation between the health of Matt Chastain and our defensive effort. Chas plays really hard every single play and was a lock down defender. It seemed like when he was out there, the whole team stepped up their game defensively. I mean there were even hustle plays that had Milik diving for loose balls. Something similar could be said about Hein. Some people will be upset that Chas doesn't shoot the ball often. He is a smart kid and doesn't shoot unless it's a good shot. It's tough to get a good shot when the offense doesn't run for him to get a shot. I love what he brings to the team.

Regarding the defense overall, yes we have not been playing the cream of the crop of the conference but if you look for optimism; Valpo is tied for first place. Neither Evansville or Valpo were good offensive teams. However, I do think the defense is 100% better than the noncon.

Build off of this. The offense will come, but if they play defense like they have the last two, it may not need to. I'm okay with ugly games like yesterday as long as it ends with a W. Any gamblers out there... take the under on Tuesday with UNI vs the Birds.

CONGRATS TO PHIL ON 1K!

 

[SgtHulka]

Question for anyone - we've played better D against Valpo and Evansville. I'm sure everyone would agree these
2 schools are NOT of the caliber of 3-4 non conference teams who slapped us around pretty good. R we really
better or is it simply the Valley competition.

Yes, clearly we R keeping our man in front of us and seem to be stopping the penetration with help defense much better but
I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is legit improvement. I do see where Chastain clogs the lane with help D which we were Not getting
before the past couple of games.

Muller says on the radio that Key is our best perimeter D guy and I still struggle with that thinking but maybe I'm being stubborn about
actual improvement. Nevertheless - they're trying hard and it's a better watch.

Thoughts?

Chastain and Hein BRING IT! Having 2 players all in on defense on the floor ups the whole teams effort.