FGCU

[3ptJackrabbit]

Re: FGCU

Realize Theisen is just a freshman, but he does not look remotely comfortable out there. No Broman, Severyn or Doyle yesterday afternoon. Must be some things that are not happening in practice that are preventing playing time for some of the players. That second half was really hard to watch.

Theisen played 4 min in two shifts. Not sure there is much time to get comfortable out there with those type of stints. Broman was fine and available.

[SUPERBUNNY]

Re: FGCU

Wow, we need to get a couple wins to mellow everyone out a bit.

SUPERBUNNY

[Kemo]

Re: FGCU

IMO, there have been a lot of good players ruined at SDSU because of the head games and negativity from the coaching staff. Many others have thrived and grown in that atmosphere.

I'm going to argue a bit with you on this one. To say Coach Nagy has "ruined" players is inaccurate.

College basketball in general "ruins" players careers because it's the next level of competition, and therefore not everyone coming in will succeed. With new challenges comes adversity, some of which these young kids have never had to deal with being that they were so much better than the kids they used to play against. Some will learn to handle the adversity earlier than other, and some will never figure it out.

Just look at the college basketball transfer list at the end of the season and you'll either come to the conclusion that every coach is "ruining" kids, or that there are many other factors involved in why a kid doesn't succeed.

[jackmd]

Re: FGCU

Tough to get a read on this team. I think the talent is there, finding the right combinations will be the key. Hard to do that when your best player isn't eligible to play. Shooting was bad, really bad. Aren't going to win many games when you don't make any shots.

Moffitt likely earned himself some more minutes. Tellinghuizen is talented and is going to be a really good player. Bittle is still the wild card, has some potential but just isn't realizing it yet this year. Flatten needs to penetrate more and use his athletic ability instead of settling for jumpers. Devine is slow and lacks strength, still had some nice blocks but just can't get to the boards. Parks is a scorer, that's what he looks to do and he is good at it. Cody is a fantastic player and should help the rest come together. I don't have a lot of great things to say about Horstman, I think the chronic injuries have prevented him from becoming a good player.

Potential is there, not sure how much of it will be realized this year. I don't see Broman, Severyn or Doyle having much of a role this season. Theisen had a bad game yesterday but he has the size and talent to be really good.

Need to get better every game, every week. Finish in the top 4 in the Summit and make a run in Sioux Falls in March. That is the goal. Anxious to see Marshall on the court.

[da_coach]

Re: FGCU

I still like this team, but I worry that they are going to fall into the "wait til Marshall plays... " trap. They need to play better without him.

I'm not surprised by Moffit getting the start...I'm sure they wanted to get Parks to the 2 spot, and see what he'd do there...see if the ball moved better. I am surprised about Broman not even getting time.

I would like to see Bittle be more aggessive on offense. He's better than he thinks he is. He's got good size and athleticism... needs to look to be more of an offensive threat.

I thought Devine played well, too. Thiessen didn't play enough to get a good read. Cody was being doubled all day, but when he wasn't he needed to take advantage, and he missed some good looks down low.

The lack of shooting is a concern, for sure. I think Tellinghuisen has it in him...but he needs to grow. Parks can shoot it too.

This team is going to continue to be a work in progress. We're going to have to get used to nights when they don't play their best...and they needed to play their best to beat FGCU.

FGCU is a good team. Lots of experience, and they are the favorite in their conferece. And with all the struggles that everyone has pointed out...the Jackrabbits didn't get destroyed. They got beat.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: FGCU

I'm going to argue a bit with you on this one. To say Coach Nagy has "ruined" players is inaccurate.

College basketball in general "ruins" players careers because it's the next level of competition, and therefore not everyone coming in will succeed. With new challenges comes adversity, some of which these young kids have never had to deal with being that they were so much better than the kids they used to play against. Some will learn to handle the adversity earlier than other, and some will never figure it out.

Just look at the college basketball transfer list at the end of the season and you'll either come to the conclusion that every coach is "ruining" kids, or that there are many other factors involved in why a kid doesn't succeed.

I mentioned that many players have thrived at SDSU during Coach Nagy's tenure.

[MrAugustana]

Re: FGCU

I'm fired up this Monday after Thanksgiving, sorry for the rants. I just think it is pretty lame that we are this dependent on a transfer player (who we know very little about).

Anyone with half a brain could have seen this coming when we return about 2 guys who received consistent playing time. These guys weren't good enough to play last year, and its looking like they aren't good enough to play this year either...

The football team didn't get a pass from fans when we had to rely on a 2nd string quarterback. Do they get a pass next year after we graduate the best QB, RB, and WR in school history? Why is it ok to split the bball season into thirds and throw in the towel until our savior transfer is eligible? Complete joke.

I really hope Marshall is the second coming of Nate, or we are in big, big trouble.

As an outsider looking in, this is the point that has more or less been floating around in my mind all season for you guys. It's great that Nagy can split the season up into thirds with Marshall being the key component in the Jackrabbits' success when he is eligible, but Nagy better hope Marshall makes that much of an impact once he's suited up and playing.

Of course, to be fair to Nagy, sometimes a simple quote or explanation can get taken out of context and blown out of proportion. A few years ago, Coach Billeter was discussing our three key players (at the time, Cody Schilling, Cameron McCaffrey and D1 transfer point guard Drae Murray), and said, "We're sort of like the Miami Heat of D2." As he had explained in other interviews, he meant that the Vikes, like the Heat that year, had 3 key players and the rest of the roster would need to step up and make an impact around those three or the team wouldn't be as good as expected. Instead, people assumed he was arrogantly saying Augie was as good in D2 as the Miami Heat were in the NBA, which wasn't the case. But that's how it came out in fans' (and non-fans') minds, and it was met with a negative reaction. It's possible Nagy was just explaining how the offensive scheme would change once an impact player like Marshall was eligible. It might not have been a reference to wins or talent on the floor so much as other possible strategies/plans he will employ upon Marshall's arrival.

At the same time, as has been mentioned on here, if Marshall comes out and tears an ACL in his first or second game of the season, Jackrabbit fans will be hoping Nagy has figured out something that works without Marshall in the lineup. For his sake, I would hope Nagy just meant X's and O's would be different after Marshall's arrival rather than overall talent/ability to win.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: FGCU

If people think Devine played well yesterday it tells you how low the bar is for him. I liked his aggressiveness in blocking some shots on the defensive end and maybe that's purely his role, but on the offensive end he is no threat to score against any kind of size as he gets pushed around.

[jackdaniel]

Re: FGCU

I'm going to argue a bit with you on this one. To say Coach Nagy has "ruined" players is inaccurate.

College basketball in general "ruins" players careers because it's the next level of competition, and therefore not everyone coming in will succeed. With new challenges comes adversity, some of which these young kids have never had to deal with being that they were so much better than the kids they used to play against. Some will learn to handle the adversity earlier than other, and some will never figure it out.

Just look at the college basketball transfer list at the end of the season and you'll either come to the conclusion that every coach is "ruining" kids, or that there are many other factors involved in why a kid doesn't succeed.

I disagree with the premise that coaches can't ruin basketball players, sure they can, if they are preferential to certain players and detrimental to the development of others through their own prejudices, which they have become blind to, incompetency, lots of other negative qualities I can't think of right now. It happens.

Wether or not Nagy is guilty of ruining players, I have no opinion on that, only the premise that coaches can't ruin players. I think Samantha Ostarello was ruined, or not allowed to make mistakes and learn during her time with Purdue. Every little mistake she made, she was immediately benched. Others this coach let make blunder after blunder without benching .It affected her (Sam) for the whole 4 years. She became too timid, tentative in her play. I blame their coach for that. Wish she had chosen SDSU ,she would have developed into a much better player playing for AJ.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: FGCU

As an outsider looking in, this is the point that has more or less been floating around in my mind all season for you guys. It's great that Nagy can split the season up into thirds with Marshall being the key component in the Jackrabbits' success when he is eligible, but Nagy better hope Marshall makes that much of an impact once he's suited up and playing.

Of course, to be fair to Nagy, sometimes a simple quote or explanation can get taken out of context and blown out of proportion. A few years ago, Coach Billeter was discussing our three key players (at the time, Cody Schilling, Cameron McCaffrey and D1 transfer point guard Drae Murray), and said, "We're sort of like the Miami Heat of D2." As he had explained in other interviews, he meant that the Vikes, like the Heat that year, had 3 key players and the rest of the roster would need to step up and make an impact around those three or the team wouldn't be as good as expected. Instead, people assumed he was arrogantly saying Augie was as good in D2 as the Miami Heat were in the NBA, which wasn't the case. But that's how it came out in fans' (and non-fans') minds, and it was met with a negative reaction. It's possible Nagy was just explaining how the offensive scheme would change once an impact player like Marshall was eligible. It might not have been a reference to wins or talent on the floor so much as other possible strategies/plans he will employ upon Marshall's arrival.

At the same time, as has been mentioned on here, if Marshall comes out and tears an ACL in his first or second game of the season, Jackrabbit fans will be hoping Nagy has figured out something that works without Marshall in the lineup. For his sake, I would hope Nagy just meant X's and O's would be different after Marshall's arrival rather than overall talent/ability to win.

Bottom line is everyone can play their natural position once Marshall gets on the floor and that should help this team in terms of flow and substitutions. Horstmann seems to have no confidence in his shot. I always thought his game was one of a slasher to the bucket, but maybe the injuries have made him tentative to do so.

[Southeast]

Re: FGCU

I agree with several points made this morning.

-First, I don't think any Summit team will match the talent of FGCU. That's something worth keeping in mind when you judge what you saw from an SDSU team trying to work in a bunch of new and young players. The shots were there in the second half. That was at least somewhat encouraging.

-Second, I agree that this non-conference portion of the season is simply about preparing for the Summit schedule. This year's Summit winner is already pretty much assured of a very high NCAA seed. Look at the November games; the best win is probably Omaha over Marquette (and Omaha is not even post-season eligible). Non-conference wins would be great, but it's the process of getting better that's most important this year. The real prize is a win on a March Tuesday night in Sioux Falls, and that's a long way off. It's certainly different on the women's side, where you are building a resume for the postseason from day one.

- Third, I had the same thought about the Sioux Falls aspect helping nudge Moffitt into the starting roll. He put in more minutes than a token starter would get, however. One of these guys is going to have to step in if Marshall gets hurt or in foul trouble so the more candidates the better. Moffitt handled things against a very strong defense fairly well. It would have been shocking if he stepped in and looked sharp.

Last, I hope a Pentagon game becomes an annual deal. That was a good time and a good early-season crowd.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: FGCU

Bottom line is everyone can play their natural position once Marshall gets on the floor and that should help this team in terms of flow and substitutions. Horstmann seems to have no confidence in his shot. I always thought his game was one of a slasher to the bucket, but maybe the injuries have made him tentative to do so.

LOL, we will be back to our usual 7 man shortly after Marshall is eligible.

Marshall, Parks, and Larson are going to be on the floor 32+ minutes every night. It has pretty much been established that they are the only guys that can play their positions.

Bittle will approach 30+.

Horstman, Devine, and Tellinghuisen will get about 60 minutes a night between the 3 of them. That leaves a whopping 14 minutes to get split between whatever guys "have been having great practices."

Now that I think about it, I may have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed today...

[Kemo]

Re: FGCU

I disagree with the premise that coaches can't ruin basketball players, sure they can, if they are preferential to certain players and detrimental to the development of others through their own prejudices, which they have become blind to, incompetency, lots of other negative qualities I can't think of right now. It happens.

Wether or not Nagy is guilty of ruining players, I have no opinion on that, only the premise that coaches can't ruin players. I think Samantha Ostarello was ruined, or not allowed to make mistakes and learn during her time with Purdue. Every little mistake she made, she was immediately benched. Others this coach let make blunder after blunder without benching .It affected her (Sam) for the whole 4 years. She became too timid, tentative in her play. I blame their coach for that. Wish she had chosen SDSU ,she would have developed into a much better player playing for AJ.

My point wasn't to say that a coach can't have a negative effect on a player's career, but rather that a player being unsuccessful doesn't mean they weren't coached right. Unless one can point to a specific coaching attitude or method adversely affecting a player, I would say a young player's struggles have more to do with facing bigger, faster, stronger, and more skilled athletes than before.

Players either adjust sooner, later, or never. It can be at least partially the coach's fault, but there are so many other factors in this equation that one shouldn't just immediately point the blame at the coaches.

[jackdaniel]

Re: FGCU

My point wasn't to say that a coach can't have a negative effect on a player's career, but rather that a player being unsuccessful doesn't mean they weren't coached right. Unless one can point to a specific coaching attitude or method adversely affecting a player, I would say a young player's struggles have more to do with facing bigger, faster, stronger, and more skilled athletes than before.

Players either adjust sooner, later, or never. It can be at least partially the coach's fault, but there are so many other factors in this equation that one shouldn't just immediately point the blame at the coaches.

I forgot to mention that your points are well taken too, I agree some is on the athlete like you said. Each player is subjected to his own set of circumstance I guess.

[MrAugustana]

Re: FGCU

My point wasn't to say that a coach can't have a negative effect on a player's career, but rather that a player being unsuccessful doesn't mean they weren't coached right. Unless one can point to a specific coaching attitude or method adversely affecting a player, I would say a young player's struggles have more to do with facing bigger, faster, stronger, and more skilled athletes than before.

Players either adjust sooner, later, or never. It can be at least partially the coach's fault, but there are so many other factors in this equation that one shouldn't just immediately point the blame at the coaches.

Although that's been true for decades, the more I read and hear from coaches, the more it seems that type of stuff can be attributed to AAU ball in recent years. More and more athletes feel like they're the most important player in the world because they average 20 ppg for their AAU squad over the summer. Then they show up their freshman year of college playing behind 1-2 guys who also averaged 20 ppg throughout their AAU careers (and are now 2-3 college basketball seasons better than they were during their AAU years) and those incoming freshmen can't process why they aren't averaging 32 minutes per game as true freshmen. Then they transfer to Mankato.