@Missouri State - 1/30/18

[Phantom]

Definitely a nice step forward the past two games. Last night in particular was an excellent road W. Not surprisingly, the key in both games has been defense. Offensive flow is nice but when you can force turnovers and grab boards, it can spark a number of things for you, and we've now seen that twice in a row.

Now...

Don't take a step backward. Get another one on Saturday.

 

[SgtHulka]

Is it me, or does it seem like the Birds have amped up the energy level the last two games? The defense has also picked up. If they can maintain this into St. Louis...

Yes. Try, was the missing link with most of this team. Hopefully they don't lose it again.

 

[MadBird]

Nice game, for the most part they played "as a team", at both ends. Worked together on D and passed the ball around on O - for the most part. We had 14 assists on 26 made baskets, I would think that's a pretty good %, altho I can't say I'm on top of that stat.

Clarance didn't play - did I miss an injury or was it coach's decision? Just curious that he was out of the rotation last night. Obviously didn't seem to hurt.

I take nothing away from the win last night, but they were missing Scurry which may have had some impact. He's not averaging that much in either pts. or rebs., but may have had an impact.

This team has been the Goodbirds and the Badbirds. What's so frustrating is that you can see what the Goodbirds can do - MSU, South Carolina, Tulsa twice, etc. But then the Badbirds show up like vs. Boise St. and InSU and Drake. Consistency, boys, consistency. If they could just turn the corner and get a grip on it, they could have a nice run down the stretch.

Oh, and let me single out Bruninga (or Brew-NEE-gah as the announcer seemed to be calling him), who really looked comfortable last night and showed flashes of what he can do in the next few years.

 

[Adunk33]

Taylor obviously took not being in the rotation against Valpo to heart. He had a special game, and not just shooting. He had a few offensive boards as well as poking away that ball and getting a quick layup. I'm happy to see him back in the lineup.

I am a little disappointed EC didn't get any playing time. So basically our rotation is:
1- Key, 2- Milik, 3- Phil, 4- Madison, 5- David, 6- Boogie, 7- Hein, 8- ???, 9- Gassman. Our 8th man has been Eljiah and Taylor. I'm not hating on Hein, but I just see more upside from having EC and Taylor in the top 8. Elijah looked pretty pissed on the bench. That kid just wants to compete. Hopefully he brings that same mentality to practice and cracks the lineup eventually. After a 16 point road win, I can't complain though. If it ain't broke...

Something else I noticed was a lot more attacking the basket. We still shot over 30 threes but we were getting the ball to the paint and post a lot more, which opened up the 3 ball. If we can keep doing that, teams will collapse the post and we can kick out for a good look three. Phil needs to improve his kick out passing, because when he is double teamed, some one is open. Then again, against Valpo he was double teamed and shot 11-12.

Now, it is all about how we respond. Our team has shown a great deal of immaturity this year. Are we going to get back to the mentality that "we just dominated so now we don't have to work hard," or are we going to go with, "hey, this winning thing is fun?" Who knows?

I think it is VERY possible to finish the season 6-1 (12-6). But finishing 11-7 is probably more likely. Either way, that kind of finish keeps us off Thursday. If we finish the season as strong as we should, fans should point to Madison's dunk against Valpo as the literal turning point.

 

[Adunk33]

.Oh, and let me single out Bruninga (or Brew-NEE-gah as the announcer seemed to be calling him)

When Muller was interviewed after Talyor committed, he pronounced the name "BREW-NEEN-GAH." I figure the coach knows how to pronounce his player's names. So, despite the media typically calling him "BRUNIN-GA" I call call him the first option. Goredbirds has the phonetic spelling as BRUN-ee-guh .

It'll be up to Taylor or the communication staff to correct the broadcasters. Might be tough though. We have one member of the media call David "David Ninja."

 

[ricohill]

Taylor obviously took not being in the rotation against Valpo to heart. He had a special game, and not just shooting. He had a few offensive boards as well as poking away that ball and getting a quick layup. I'm happy to see him back in the lineup.

I am a little disappointed EC didn't get any playing time. So basically our rotation is:
1- Key, 2- Milik, 3- Phil, 4- Madison, 5- David, 6- Boogie, 7- Hein, 8- ???, 9- Gassman. Our 8th man has been Eljiah and Taylor. I'm not hating on Hein, but I just see more upside from having EC and Taylor in the top 8. Elijah looked pretty pissed on the bench. That kid just wants to compete. Hopefully he brings that same mentality to practice and cracks the lineup eventually. After a 16 point road win, I can't complain though. If it ain't broke...

Something else I noticed was a lot more attacking the basket. We still shot over 30 threes but we were getting the ball to the paint and post a lot more, which opened up the 3 ball. If we can keep doing that, teams will collapse the post and we can kick out for a good look three. Phil needs to improve his kick out passing, because when he is double teamed, some one is open. Then again, against Valpo he was double teamed and shot 11-12.

Now, it is all about how we respond. Our team has shown a great deal of immaturity this year. Are we going to get back to the mentality that "we just dominated so now we don't have to work hard," or are we going to go with, "hey, this winning thing is fun?" Who knows?

I think it is VERY possible to finish the season 6-1 (12-6). But finishing 11-7 is probably more likely. Either way, that kind of finish keeps us off Thursday. If we finish the season as strong as we should, fans should point to Madison's dunk against Valpo as the literal turning point.

1. I wonder if it's going to be an 8 man rotation and the 8/9th man is going to vary each game depending on matchups, previous performance, and practice. I think 1-7 is pretty much locked in at this point. Those guys (1-7) all did their job last night so I'm not going to complain. Even Hein played his role better last night (less shots, take care of the ball, and play defense). I agree for future growth of the program, I'd like to see Clarence over Hein, but it is not going to happen this year.

2. I know some on here hate projections, but 10-8 according to RPI gets us in a 2nd place tie at the end of the year. I think that is pretty realistic with this team. If they get 11 wins I think we are alone in 2nd place when the season ends. As Dan said on the radio after, this team struggles more with success than failure. I hope they are figuring it out that they are good enough to beat anyone in this league and not let down after a couple wins.

Last night was fun. I've watched MVC basketball for a long time and very few races have been this unpredictable. Keep winning and anything is possible.

 

[Hamdonger]

When Muller was interviewed after Talyor committed, he pronounced the name "BREW-NEEN-GAH."

Played against his relatives in high school and that's how the name was pronounced then.

Would be nice for media relations or Benson or someone to get Taylor on video letting everyone know how to pronounce it.

 

[RedBirdBallisLife]

The state of Redbird basketball is STRONG!

Who are you and what have you done with ISUFan1???

I was just going to say that

 

[Hamdonger]

Gosh. It's all sunshine and rainbows again. Skipping through fields of tulips and daisies, while the unicorns graze in wheat fields of gold. There's Bob Ross (don't get me wrong, that guy was a stud) in the corner, painting a Zen Reggie Redbird surrounded by his Redbirdfan.net wannabes.

Ahhhh. Life is good.

 

[ricohill]

Gosh. It's all sunshine and rainbows again. Skipping through fields of tulips and daisies, while the unicorns graze in wheat fields of gold. There's Bob Ross (don't get me wrong, that guy was a stud) in the corner, painting a Zen Reggie Redbird surrounded by his Redbirdfan.net wannabes.

Ahhhh. Life is good.

If you need a does of negativity Mo State fans can help you out...they are not taking the loss/last few losses well.

https://twitter.com/BlakeLarsen1/status/958712879095713793

 

[JHBird]

Taylor obviously took not being in the rotation against Valpo to heart. He had a special game, and not just shooting. He had a few offensive boards as well as poking away that ball and getting a quick layup. I'm happy to see him back in the lineup.

I am a little disappointed EC didn't get any playing time. So basically our rotation is:
1- Key, 2- Milik, 3- Phil, 4- Madison, 5- David, 6- Boogie, 7- Hein, 8- ???, 9- Gassman. Our 8th man has been Eljiah and Taylor. I'm not hating on Hein, but I just see more upside from having EC and Taylor in the top 8. Elijah looked pretty pissed on the bench. That kid just wants to compete. Hopefully he brings that same mentality to practice and cracks the lineup eventually. After a 16 point road win, I can't complain though. If it ain't broke...

Something else I noticed was a lot more attacking the basket. We still shot over 30 threes but we were getting the ball to the paint and post a lot more, which opened up the 3 ball. If we can keep doing that, teams will collapse the post and we can kick out for a good look three. Phil needs to improve his kick out passing, because when he is double teamed, some one is open. Then again, against Valpo he was double teamed and shot 11-12.

Now, it is all about how we respond. Our team has shown a great deal of immaturity this year. Are we going to get back to the mentality that "we just dominated so now we don't have to work hard," or are we going to go with, "hey, this winning thing is fun?" Who knows?

I think it is VERY possible to finish the season 6-1 (12-6). But finishing 11-7 is probably more likely. Either way, that kind of finish keeps us off Thursday. If we finish the season as strong as we should, fans should point to Madison's dunk against Valpo as the literal turning point.

I was wondering about EC too. After the Valpo game the coach said Elijah played great, even though he only scored 2 points. So I figured he wouldn't sit on the bench. I'm worried we might lose him for next year if he sits too much.

In one interview DM revealed a stat that says when the ball gets into the paint at some point that their shooting percent on 3's is way better. So they've been trying to get more 'paint touches', even if it's just a kick in, kick out type of play. Seems to be a good idea. In some of those paint passes I wish Malik would just turn and fire a few 8 footers. Seems like he only wants 3's or layups.

 

[Adunk33]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLcE6agWjTQ&feature=youtu.be&a=

Talk about a deflated coach.

 

[Tpguy]

We got this one.

They really need a bigger bear on their court.

One time we took a road trip to Springfield to see the Birds and Bears.

I took off streaking across the floor and heard The Sugar Bears shriek, “Look at that Big Bare!!”

Shortly thereafter, I joined the cast of The Big Bare Theory.

Tired of it!

Spread it!

We’ll get back to you on your audition to replace TPguy when he retires.

The last time I streaked the crowd screamed “ look at the 300 lb bomb with a two inch fuse”

 

[Adunk33]

Just listened to the postgame interview. Dick and Matty asked Madison about jumping over Obi Church. Anyone know when that happened?

 

[Redbirds4Life]

Really nice win last night. Looked like a team that was ready to play and took it to the Bears. I am not "Sunshine and Rainbows" yet, cus a week ago they were destroyed at UNI, but if we can get by Evansville and Southern Illinois at home, things will really be looking good then. I think that we have a real shot at the #2 seed, because when competing with Bradley/Drake/SIU. In that respect, I like our chances. I think Drake is trending towards the back end of the Valley and after seeing Bradley in person, I wasn't too impressed. Southern Illinois is intriguing, but with Barry Hinson at the helm, meh. Barry hasn't proven he can ever get a team over the hump, but he sure has proven that he can't. Things look optimistic for Dirty Dan and the boys.

 

[Redbirdwarrior]

I'm not going to lie: I have no idea what we are watching anymore.

I love to be able to understand trends and statistics when it comes to the birds and this team has me just, well, confused. There are some days when ISU looks like it could compete straight up with last year's team and some days where it does not look like we could compete with the 03 team. Phil Fayne and MY must be in the top 3 for Valley POY right now. Nobody is beating MY for NOY.

I noticed Clarence didn't play a minute last night and Hein was out there a bunch. The rotation was completely different than our game against Valpo.

I... I have no idea. I love the win and love the "Give the ball to the big guys in the paint and let them win" mentality. I also love hitting this stride now. Keep it up and everyone stay healthy.

 

[ricohill]

Benson wrote a good blog after last night about the team starting to figure it out.

http://www.pantagraph.com/blogs/redbirds/redbirds-might-be-finally-finding-their-stride-thanks-to-strong/article_bce68da6-0642-11e8-8f52-9fc9a6a50e96.html

I've felt all year this team had the talent to win, but couldn't put it together. Better late than never. Sometimes teams that figure it out late are better off. I'd rather be hitting our stride now, than in the non-conference or first couple weeks of MVC play (i.e. Drake). This team feels like a wild-card team in baseball. Struggle early, but get hot late. Time will tell if we can keep playing well.

 

[isuquinndog]

It's like we have a lot of young guys who have never played D1 basketball before or played together much. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[JHBird]

Just listened to the postgame interview. Dick and Matty asked Madison about jumping over Obi Church. Anyone know when that happened?

Madison said he stuck the landing..... I would love to see a clip of it.

 

[DWRedbird]

Just listened to the postgame interview. Dick and Matty asked Madison about jumping over Obi Church. Anyone know when that happened?

I believe it was in the second half, Church shot faked and Madison jumped up to block it and managed to jump over Church without fouling him, and then someone came in right behind him and fouled him. The announcers remarked on it as well.