Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

[filbert]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

I'm just waiting for the loss turds to show up. I don't care what they say, this team was a lot better than last year and the year before that. The bench will be deeper next year. We lose two seniors who didn't play a ton of minutes this year. We have the right kids coming in to fit the play scheme. NDSU will have a hard time against Oakland on Tuesday.

I think we can do without the name-calling.

[filbert]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

The discussion from the room in the Sheraton in Sioux Falls:

If you don't bring it, you'll get your butt kicked.

Either you're attacking (on offense and on defense) or you're losing.

The guys will all be back next year. They'll be better.

Attitude is really important, especially when you're undersized like the Jacks are.

We need better defensive intensity.

That's a sample . . .

[rcjacks]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

AC is a stud. The guy is way undersized for the center position, but gets it done. He definitely plays taller than he is. As filbert says ... we are so undersized it isn't even funny.

Tough game. Oakland is a good Summit league team and, quite frankly, just a better team than us right now.

We improved this year, and just need to keep working.

[Hammersmith]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

The post-game interview with OU's coach was interesting.

Something to the effect of he went in planning for Cordova having a big night. He said, "If Cordova has 40, we'll win because SDSU will only have 50." The key was to take away the three and force the ball to AC. Cordova isn't quick with the ball and that slows down the game to where OU wanted it. They also put a lot of pressure inside, so that even the point-blank shots would be contested. He said his plan worked exactly as he hoped.

[Cadsev]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

Should be a great final game tomorrow night. Again what a weekend of hoops and if anything gave all SD fans a taste of what could be for SDSU hoops.

Something loss on the threads....six big time officials working the games tonight....Final Four and National Championship level officials from the Big 12 and Big 10 to name a few major conferences......quality of officiating much improved over Saturday night.

[1stRowFANatic]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

Just got home and here is my take on this game - exactly like the women's loss to Oakland at their place. Nothing worked from the get go and against a talented team that means disaster. They outplayed us in almost every aspect of the game. Our trainers get the nod though, Palarca got a couple stitches after an elbow to the cheek bone and was ready to go in no time.

[zooropa]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

The post-game interview with OU's coach was interesting.

Something to the effect of he went in planning for Cordova having a big night. He said, "If Cordova has 40, we'll win because SDSU will only have 50." The key was to take away the three and force the ball to AC. Cordova isn't quick with the ball and that slows down the game to where OU wanted it. They also put a lot of pressure inside, so that even the point-blank shots would be contested. He said his plan worked exactly as he hoped.

Well, AC did have a big night......

And, if AC makes a few of those in and outs, early on......

The Jacks run on emotion. When they get down their head gets out of games, and when they get hot nobody in the Summit can stop them.

-

Also, I would argue that Oakland didn't so much take the three away from SDSU as SDSU took it away from themselves.

-----

What SDSU really needs is someone, on the court, who can provide a sort of counter weight.... When Jones nailed those two threes in a row and SDSU responded with some decent sets where the ball just went in and out.... Yeah, you're suddenly down six, but is it because you're playing poorly on offense? No. You're just not finishing your shots--you're not following through. Stop. Take a deep breath. Regroup. Most importantly, keep your head screwed on straight.

The Jacks might not be able to beat everyone by playing smarter, but they sure as heck are not going to beat anyone by playing dumb.

But I think those two threes by Jones just took the wind out of the Jacks' sails. They stopped thinking that they could play well and, as a result, stopped playing well. And that's going to kill you in the playoffs.

[jackrabit1]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

As my old football coach used to say, "We got took to the woodshed tonight."

The second half was much better, but Oakland had too much of a cushion in that first half to worry too much. I wonder how much the team was drained emotionally after Saturday's game and if it affected them tonight.

But with that in mind, I'm very optimistic about next season. This team took some very important steps this season and with an experienced squad coming back next season, they'll be very, very dangerous.

All in all, I immensely enjoyed my first-ever Division-I conference tournament. I'm looking forward to next year, already!

[Nidaros]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

Two upsets or three would have been a tall order. I think our guys were tired maybe a lot came out of them in the ORU game. Oakland seems to be as tough as anyone in the conference. They seem to have the players who can make plays. I think when a freshman center from Serbia starts dropping threes, we are in trouble. We needed some super fresh legs to stop this team last night. We will have to wait until next season to beat these guys. Even with their ace Nelson who sat out the bulk of the season, we can beat them.

[jack power]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

The post-game interview with OU's coach was interesting.

Something to the effect of he went in planning for Cordova having a big night. He said, "If Cordova has 40, we'll win because SDSU will only have 50." The key was to take away the three and force the ball to AC. Cordova isn't quick with the ball and that slows down the game to where OU wanted it. They also put a lot of pressure inside, so that even the point-blank shots would be contested. He said his plan worked exactly as he hoped.

That is interesting and i agree it worked VERY well. The Jacks had the perfect storm going on: Our defense couldn't get any stops, A.C. was our only option, and that success was too slow, and we were trying to play catch up.

[jackmd]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

2nd game of the tourney is the toughest one and we aren't nearly as tough a team as Oakland right now. They took us to the woodshed as was stated earlier. We got outplayed in every aspect of the game except AC inside on offense. They dominated on the boards, scored at will inside and outside and shut us down. We had no chance last night, none.

[jackmd]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

The post-game interview with OU's coach was interesting.

Something to the effect of he went in planning for Cordova having a big night. He said, "If Cordova has 40, we'll win because SDSU will only have 50." The key was to take away the three and force the ball to AC. Cordova isn't quick with the ball and that slows down the game to where OU wanted it. They also put a lot of pressure inside, so that even the point-blank shots would be contested. He said his plan worked exactly as he hoped.

I'd say that is a very accurate assessment. They did not double AC, we had no offensive flow outside of AC because the denied the wing so aggressively. We might have tried a few more back door cuts but Benson's arms are long and he can jump. Kampe had a great game plan and the Oakland players executed it to nearly perfection on the defensive end.

[jack power]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

2nd game of the tourney is the toughest one and we aren't nearly as tough a team as Oakland right now. They took us to the woodshed as was stated earlier. We got outplayed in every aspect of the game except AC inside on offense. They dominated on the boards, scored at will inside and outside and shut us down. We had no chance last night, none.

One stat that i found surprising was that the rebounding was even. It sure didn't look that way. Another was we "only" had 10 turnovers. Again, it's seemed worse. Maybe because the ones we had were so self inflicted....

[JackJD]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

Oakland deserves the #2 seed in the Summit League.

We're just not quite there yet but the constant improvements -- sure, sometimes in small increments -- that I've witnessed throughout the season make me optimistic for next year and the years after that. Saturday's win over Oral Roberts was a thrill and something we could not have accomplished until this year.

[jackmd]

Re: Semi-Final Game Thread: Jacks vs. Oakland

One stat that i found surprising was that the rebounding was even. It sure didn't look that way. Another was we "only" had 10 turnovers. Again, it's seemed worse. Maybe because the ones we had were so self inflicted....

Check the halftime rebounding stats, at one time they were outrebounding us 17-7. We were getting one look and then out in the first half. In the second half, while leading by 20, they did not rebound as well and we made up the deficit. So, the stats sometimes do lie.

The turnover number is also deceptive, although we didn't "throw" the ball away much we took some contested shots that had very little chance of going in, almost the same as a turnover.