Michigan State Game Thread

[TrueblueCATfan]

Well he better try to fix things we have a brutal stretch of games next month

GO CATS

[Jload]

I actually liked the Pope hire . Listening to him WHINE "These guys don't listen to me" for the last 2 weeks has made me like it alot less. Come on coach you got a " communication " problem FIX IT, quit whining to the fans about it.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Ehhh, all schools are dealing with it. I don't like the landscape either but Duke, Alabama, Purdue, St. John's aren't struggling to field good teams. UK paid $22MM for this roster? They've played 4 good teams if you count the exhibition games and 3 of those teams have essentially run them off the court.

Facts.

It's not that we lost to Louisville MSU or even Georgetown that bothers me, it's how we lost.

[Pete Hogwallop]

Facts.

It's not that we lost to Louisville MSU or even Georgetown that bothers me, it's how we lost.

Same. I can handle losses.

I can't handle a team where the players appear to have no clue what they or their teammates are supposed to be doing. That's what I've seen in the Georgetown, UL and MSU games. Across three games, that's a trend. And not a good one.

[TrueblueCATfan]

Let's see how they respond Friday night playing a cupcake

[WeWant9]

Watching other teams has given me legit concern with this group. They seem miles behind some of the other ranked teams.

Watched Houston/Auburn over the weekend, and both those teams played with a high level of intensity and effort. Our group looks like they’re playing pick up. It’s baffling.

[Trueblujr]

This looks like a team who hardly practices together. There is something going on. Pope is going to have to make some hard decisions.

They spent a lot of time having spirited and competitive scrimmages against each other. They seemed to be getting along and being OK when the Blue or White lineup they were assigned to wasn't being constantly tinkered with. Those scrimmages also probably created some rivalries and animosities between some players as well, so now when they are all mixed together and lineups being tinkered with right and left, there's no continuity, no fluidity, communication is poor, and guys are out there competing with the guys they were fighting against for months in practice. It wasn't a typical situation. There was no clear starting five and a lesser set of bench players making up the Blue and White teams where everybody more or less knew their role. The Blue team was every bit as good and competitive as the white this year and all of those guys feel like they should be thee guy on this team.

Almost wonder if we wouldn't be better off with a platoon situation where you essentially have a blue and white lineup and they play much of the game together as a unit. obviously injuries and in-game situations may dictate crossover, but for the most part, keep the units together for chemistry purposes.