davidnark Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 In the postgame interview, Brad indicated that he is probably going to have to adjust his lineup because Hawaii starts three players 6'9" or taller. My question is why cater to your opponents style? Why not open up with the four-guard lineup and challenge Hawaii to find a way to guard quicker, more athletic players and create offense against pressure defense? If it doesn't work well, Brad can always go to Bryce, Newborn, JJ, etc.; however, I am a big proponent of playing to your strength not adjusting to your opponent's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlumniFan Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 You read my mind. As quick as our guards are and with Tommie's athleticism, why not go with 4 guards and force Hawaii's big men to try to keep up with them? Brad will know in 5 minutes if it is working; if not he can go to plan B. We definitely come in as the underdog so no reason to be conservative. IF we can play with Hawaii (assuming the MSU wasn't a fluke) then I will be impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 EIU had some athletic 6'6"-6'8' guys and I noticed DB and TL doing fine against them. I know, I know, Hawaii, etc etc are not the same as EIU, but with the quicks Danny and Tommie have they should be able to stay with guys 2-3 inches taller. I'd like to see KL and AD as the 1 & 2 and DB & TL as the 3 & 4 on defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsboys Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 The only problem with the 4 gaurd thing is that Hawaii has a 4 that is there best player and has an NBA body. He killed MSU and should be a big factor against us. As I posted a couple days ago I saw the Hawaii MSU game on my satellite and they played unreal against MSU. If they play like that against Slu than no way SLU can win. I imagine that Hawaii won't come with the same intensity though. Michigan State is a big game for them, SLU is not a game you get juiced for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 They may be a little more juiced after losing to Vegas. This is going to be a toughie. My worries are that IV has to avoid foul trouble if he is left as the lone inside defender. On the surface this appears a real matchup nightmare type of game. I think the only shot we have is to run and gun and hope we catch 'em on an off night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Some coaches impose their will on you ... other coaches plan and prepare to take things away that from you that you are comfortable with. My guess is that it comes down to whatever Brad believs will give him the best chance to win. Many onthis board have said "In Brad we trust ..." so I guess you have to go with it. I tend to agree with your take on it. Maybe 55/45. I would think that with a relatively young team that has some real experience problems, I would want to select a style and play it throughout ... a game and a season. Get them used to it. Live and die with it. Given that there is three+ days to get ready for these guys ... one of which is Thanksgiving and another of which will be consumed by travel, I'd go with my system over adjusting it to meet the opponent. Like you say, who knows, they might have to adjust to us. In any case, this will be a tough one due to the competition and the ancillary issues of travel, tourism, and jet lag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 25, 2005 Share Posted November 25, 2005 as much as i was against the 4 guards on the floor from the beginning. we have seen so little to get excited about johnson, newborne, and husak that i agree we would be better off rolling the dice with the guards and hoping we get off to a great start that forces the rainbows to matchup with us rather than us with them. that said, i just dont see who can match up with sensley period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzzah Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 This is a guess, but I think Brad will not go w/ a 4 guard line-up because Hawaii will then play zone, as they did against UNLV, to block penetration by quicker guards. In the 2nd half of the UNLV game Hawaii went to a 2-3zone to stop penetration by the quicker UNLV guards. This defense by Hawaii will force us into a perimeter game, which we have not displayed an aptitude for yet. Our lack of 3 pt shooting forces Brad to go w/ the bigger lineup. On another subject, several Michigan State players cramped up in the Hawaii game. Some blame heat and humidity, but if you look at the paper, temperatures at nite are in the low 70's, so the problem is probably dehydration incurred during the 9-10 hr plane ride. Hopefully Brad will have the team drink plenty of water on the flight. Then we only have to contend w/ jet lag and travel stress. Time difference is 4 hrs. Right or wrong, I discount the vacation distraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted November 26, 2005 Author Share Posted November 26, 2005 I can't imagine that jet lag or dehydration will be a problem because the team will have been in Hawaii for over 48 hours before tip off. You raise a good point about our outside shooting. IMO, our biggest question mark is not the lack of a power forward--some combination of Liddell and Newborne can adequately defend most power forwards we will face this season. The bigger issue will be our ability to hit outside shots. Outside of Lisch, I am not convinced that any of our guards will consistently hit open threes. If they don't, teams will be able to collapse on defense to contain Ian and guard penetration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted November 26, 2005 Author Share Posted November 26, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/9hwrg It sounds like Brad has been working to address the exact same issues we are discussing: 4 guard lineup, dehydration, and outside shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 LM, if he's really ready to go, might be the X factor here. He's got the height, the tenacity, and if the rust has worn off, is one of our better outside shooters. Also, VN's hit a couple of 3's hasn't he? Or maybe AD has an Iowa NIT type game. But for any chance to win or stay in it, we've got to have a perimiter game. % from the 3 would have to at least be 33%. Agreed, Roy, Sensely is going to be almost impossible to stop. If he starts going wild, I'd stick BH and JJ on him and keep him at the line all night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 I always found the return from Hawaii or going to Europe being the hard part of dealing with jet lag. Usually that involves a 'red eye' flight and I have difficulty sleeping in a economy seat (I am 6'2" /240). Therefore, I would be more concerned about the SIU game on Wednesday night since I suspect they will be returning Sunday night arriving Monday AM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiphan Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 I agree Sensley will be the tough match up tonight. We're going to need to get some productive minutes from our bigs tonight. Ian is going to have to work really hard at both ends, I hope that doesn't lead to early foul trouble. The other Hawaii big, Botez - i think, appears to be a space taker thus far. This is a difficult road game but if were going to expect big things out of our Bills this year than I think it's winnable. I think Dreja will be key either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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