Basketball for Steve

"Izzo needs to modernize his offense like Beilein"

I called you out on it last year because it was a bad hot air take that was not based in reality, then or now. Not trying to say I told you so, but do you see what has transpired here, beyond the final score?

Izzo coached the pants off of Beilein in these two games. Beilein's "modernized" offense...guess what Izzo figured out? They have no post game. Teske can't even post up on Cassius. And when he does, he doesn't know whether to front the post, or call for the ball over the top. And even if he did, there is no one on that team that knows how to feed him the ball. When you switch on ball screens by design and aren't scared to have Loyer or Winston guard Teske in the post because you know their perimeter players can't get him the ball (and eventually the 4 sneaks in to switch)....that's brilliant. If that's a modernized offense - one that can't adjust to take advantage of a 7'1 guy being guarded by a 5'11 guy...

UM's efficiency last year, particularly against us, was made possible entirely because they had a "5" who was more like a stretch 4. Wagner was a terrible matchup for Ward and Ward was so poor out of the double last year that we couldn't exploit the post on the other end.

Also, MSU's offense hasn't changed. We have better pieces this year.

It was a bad take dude. We were looking like a great team in January last year and it was very obvious that our pieces did not fit together very well by the time March had rolled around. We kept hoping it would magically mesh but that was naive. It wasn't Izzo's offense or Beilein's offense.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:"Izzo needs to modernize his offense like Beilein"

I called you out on it last year because it was a bad hot air take that was not based in reality, then or now. Not trying to say I told you so, but do you see what has transpired here, beyond the final score?

Izzo coached the pants off of Beilein in these two games. Beilein's "modernized" offense...guess what Izzo figured out? They have no post game. Teske can't even post up on Cassius. And when he does, he doesn't know whether to front the post, or call for the ball over the top. And even if he did, there is no one on that team that knows how to feed him the ball. When you switch on ball screens by design and aren't scared to have Loyer or Winston guard Teske in the post because you know their perimeter players can't get him the ball (and eventually the 4 sneaks in to switch)....that's brilliant. If that's a modernized offense - one that can't adjust to take advantage of a 7'1 guy being guarded by a 5'11 guy...

UM's efficiency last year, particularly against us, was made possible entirely because they had a "5" who was more like a stretch 4. Wagner was a terrible matchup for Ward and Ward was so poor out of the double last year that we couldn't exploit the post on the other end.

Also, MSU's offense hasn't changed. We have better pieces this year.

It was a bad take dude. We were looking like a great team in January last year and it was very obvious that our pieces did not fit together very well by the time March had rolled around. We kept hoping it would magically mesh but that was naive. It wasn't Izzo's offense or Beilein's offense.

While I think Izzo is every bit as good as Beilein, lets not keep Cassius out of the equation. He's gone, this team is done. So, I'm saying if you don't have a player of the year to just carry this team in spots, it's obviously not as good. Now I do think if it was Cash that was hurt, and Ward wasn't, Izzo would think something up without him. But who knows. I think we can say those two are damn good coaches and run programs like we all like them being run.

Who says Izzo didn't adjust after last season? Not blowing JB, but this team seems a bit different. Guys like Goins being a go-to on the 3 point shot, driving to the basket and MSU's huge past disparity on the free throw line seems to indicate a change (for the better). I seem to sense some adjustment.

“Not trying to say I told you so”

but that’s just what I’m gonna do anyway steve so eat a fat one.

Rocinante wrote:“Not trying to say I told you so”

but that’s just what I’m gonna do anyway steve so eat a fat one.

Well yes. But really my motivation was to have Steve look at the true Xs and Os and see if he understands them.

And obviously Cassius is a huge part of it. And I'm sure Izz did introduce more sets this year. He does every year. I'm not saying our Offense is awesome this year and it's that way because Izzo didn't make adjustments.

Our Offense actually right now is not that much better than last year, because we aren't able to run transition and basically because we have no one who can create off the dribble outside of Cash, and he's limited in that regard against better athletes.

Problems on offense last year in Feb/March were partly on a reliance on iso with Miles, partly because we didn't have a reliable stretch 4 who could stay out of foul trouble, and partly because '18 Cassius wasn't nearly as good or decisive as '19 Cassius. In my opinion.

hahahaha, I love this. Check mate and we’ll played sir.

No checkmate. Sorry if it comes off that way. I want you to see it.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:

Rocinante wrote:“Not trying to say I told you so”

but that’s just what I’m gonna do anyway steve so eat a fat one.

Well yes. But really my motivation was to have Steve look at the true Xs and Os and see if he understands them.

And obviously Cassius is a huge part of it. And I'm sure Izz did introduce more sets this year. He does every year. I'm not saying our Offense is awesome this year and it's that way because Izzo didn't make adjustments.

Our Offense actually right now is not that much better than last year, because we aren't able to run transition and basically because we have no one who can create off the dribble outside of Cash, and he's limited in that regard against better athletes.

Problems on offense last year in Feb/March were partly on a reliance on iso with Miles, partly because we didn't have a reliable stretch 4 who could stay out of foul trouble, and partly because '18 Cassius wasn't nearly as good or decisive as '19 Cassius. In my opinion.

Really glad Coach Wooden posts here.

I'm sorry that my incredible basketball acumen offends you Turtledick. I've been coaching for a few years now (2nd and 3rd graders) so I consider myself an expert.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:I consider myself an expert.

Obviously. It’s really nice that you want to be Steve’s basketball spirit guide.

I was sitting at the game saying “what good is cash doing on the bench? What difference does it make if he’s not playing now and we’re down by 12, or not playing at the end and we’re losing by six? “. No less of an expert in basketball than Eddie Murray was sitting right next to me and agreeing with me and he’s won a Super Bowl so he’s obv an expert.

DWags wrote:I was sitting at the game saying “what good is cash doing on the bench? What difference does it make if he’s not playing now and we’re down by 12, or not playing at the end and we’re losing by six? “. No less of an expert in basketball than Eddie Murray was sitting right next to me and agreeing with me and he’s won a Super Bowl so he’s obv an expert.

I don't know man. This is a bigger conversation I think. I'm not a hoop head but I think I get a lot of what is going on. I guess you have to decide to what level you're interested.

That was a huge sequence for MSU. To get Cash that kind of rest and have the game not sink with Loyer running the show for 8 minutes or whatever. You may not realize how worn down Cash is.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:

DWags wrote:I was sitting at the game saying “what good is cash doing on the bench? What difference does it make if he’s not playing now and we’re down by 12, or not playing at the end and we’re losing by six? “. No less of an expert in basketball than Eddie Murray was sitting right next to me and agreeing with me and he’s won a Super Bowl so he’s obv an expert.

I don't know man. This is a bigger conversation I think. I'm not a hoop head but I think I get a lot of what is going on. I guess you have to decide to what level you're interested.

That was a huge sequence for MSU. To get Cash that kind of rest and have the game not sink with Loyer running the show for 8 minutes or whatever. You may not realize how worn down Cash is.

*hoops

DWags wrote:

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:"Izzo needs to modernize his offense like Beilein"

I called you out on it last year because it was a bad hot air take that was not based in reality, then or now. Not trying to say I told you so, but do you see what has transpired here, beyond the final score?

Izzo coached the pants off of Beilein in these two games. Beilein's "modernized" offense...guess what Izzo figured out? They have no post game. Teske can't even post up on Cassius. And when he does, he doesn't know whether to front the post, or call for the ball over the top. And even if he did, there is no one on that team that knows how to feed him the ball. When you switch on ball screens by design and aren't scared to have Loyer or Winston guard Teske in the post because you know their perimeter players can't get him the ball (and eventually the 4 sneaks in to switch)....that's brilliant. If that's a modernized offense - one that can't adjust to take advantage of a 7'1 guy being guarded by a 5'11 guy...

UM's efficiency last year, particularly against us, was made possible entirely because they had a "5" who was more like a stretch 4. Wagner was a terrible matchup for Ward and Ward was so poor out of the double last year that we couldn't exploit the post on the other end.

Also, MSU's offense hasn't changed. We have better pieces this year.

It was a bad take dude. We were looking like a great team in January last year and it was very obvious that our pieces did not fit together very well by the time March had rolled around. We kept hoping it would magically mesh but that was naive. It wasn't Izzo's offense or Beilein's offense.

While I think Izzo is every bit as good as Beilein, lets not keep Cassius out of the equation. He's gone, this team is done. So, I'm saying if you don't have a player of the year to just carry this team in spots, it's obviously not as good. Now I do think if it was Cash that was hurt, and Ward wasn't, Izzo would think something up without him. But who knows. I think we can say those two are damn good coaches and run programs like we all like them being run.

Take Matthews off U of M's team in December and Teske out for a month in February. Do you think Beilein has them contending for a Big Ten title in March? I don't. 12-8.

Izzo>Beilein

Alright, and now it is time for the rebuttal.

Congrats, WBH. I thought that was a solid post and I do respect your basketball acumen. In fact I will even concede you know more about hoops than I do so tip of the hat. However, I have two complaints to lodge about your post and noticed you glossed over a few of my bigger points so I'm going to post them here and I will conclude with why we should all want Izzo to modernize the O.

First off I didn't think our offense stunk last year, I thought it has stunk for a while now. https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/joe-rexrode/2015/02/22/hey-joe-msu-basketball-izzo-jud/23835813/

I post this article as a date stamp to show when a lot of msu fans were complaining about MSU's offense. I would argue that it has had major problems since the Appling/Harris era.

Is the main problem X's and O's or recruiting or both? Clearly it's both. We haven't had a good PG since Kailin Lucas and now we have Ca$h playing lights out ball. It should be a concern to every Spartan that it takes a POTY candidate to make Izzo's offense look serviceable. Yes, the O does look better this year, but we are seeing one of the best PG's in MSU's history make it happen.

I think it's premature to beat our chest after this weekend. That was the type of weekend where you get drunk and burn a couch but no it was not one where you declare our offense is just fine. Let's review the last 9 years. Our trips to the final fours are down and we've had two embarrassing flame outs in the last two years. For the program the pressure is on big time to make it out of the first weekend and based on what I saw vs Indiana I have reason for concern.

Why should we all want the offense to improve? Like it or not our March tournament production is down and we've seen our shit head neighbors down the road make it to two finals with a high octane modern offense. We narrowly lost out on Vernon Carey a big time 5 star recruit recently. He said it was super close, but it came down to Coach K telling him he'd let him play position less at Duke. Coach K has modernized yet again and that's where bball is at in the 21st century.

Go Green!

There's a lot of that that I disagree with. I don't think there is anything wrong with the Xs and Os portion, and I don't think there has been in the past. Also we were selling Carey and Stewart on positionless basketball, as well. It's just that K is a better liar than Izzo.

The recruiting point has some merit in that, it is true, our offense is usually not great unless we have a great PG. Couldn't the same be said for just about every team in America? When Beilein's offense was so great last year, he had a good/great PG in Simpson (who was better than Cassius last year). Before that he had Walton.

The year you're citing in the Hey Joe article, we went to the Final Four with a steadily improving Travis Trice. The following year our offense set records with NPOTY finalist Denzel Valentine running point. This year with a mature Winston finally coming into his own we were being compared in January to the Golden State Warriors (when it was thought that Langford was only out for a couple of weeks and Nick was healthy).

But I would also say there's nothing really 'wrong' with recruiting. We're not Duke, Kansas or Kentucky and we're not ever going to be them so reloading with a 6'3 5* is not really possible. We take 4 year players who usually turn into All Conference type of guys by the time they are upperclassmen. It works pretty well for us.

Also I'm not tooting our horn offensively. We're not that good right now on that end, because we don't have the bodies to get out in transition and we're worn down. I was more making a point about Beilein getting outcoached by Izzo and how his great offense was shut down because it has some glaring weaknesses that Izzo exploited.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:There's a lot of that that I disagree with. I don't think there is anything wrong with the Xs and Os portion, and I don't think there has been in the past. Also we were selling Carey and Stewart on positionless basketball, as well. It's just that K is a better liar than Izzo.

The recruiting point has some merit in that, it is true, our offense is usually not great unless we have a great PG. Couldn't the same be said for just about every team in America? When Beilein's offense was so great last year, he had a good/great PG in Simpson (who was better than Cassius last year). Before that he had Walton.

The year you're citing in the Hey Joe article, we went to the Final Four with a steadily improving Travis Trice. The following year our offense set records with NPOTY finalist Denzel Valentine running point. This year with a mature Winston finally coming into his own we were being compared in January to the Golden State Warriors (when it was thought that Langford was only out for a couple of weeks and Nick was healthy).

But I would also say there's nothing really 'wrong' with recruiting. We're not Duke, Kansas or Kentucky and we're not ever going to be them so reloading with a 6'3 5* is not really possible. We take 4 year players who usually turn into All Conference type of guys by the time they are upperclassmen. It works pretty well for us.

Not sure I agree we sold Carey on the position less thing. I'd have to go back and dig but I thought he said he chose Duke because they said he would play position less there. The way it was inferred was that no other school made that selling point. I could be wrong.

steveschneider wrote:

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:There's a lot of that that I disagree with. I don't think there is anything wrong with the Xs and Os portion, and I don't think there has been in the past. Also we were selling Carey and Stewart on positionless basketball, as well. It's just that K is a better liar than Izzo.

The recruiting point has some merit in that, it is true, our offense is usually not great unless we have a great PG. Couldn't the same be said for just about every team in America? When Beilein's offense was so great last year, he had a good/great PG in Simpson (who was better than Cassius last year). Before that he had Walton.

The year you're citing in the Hey Joe article, we went to the Final Four with a steadily improving Travis Trice. The following year our offense set records with NPOTY finalist Denzel Valentine running point. This year with a mature Winston finally coming into his own we were being compared in January to the Golden State Warriors (when it was thought that Langford was only out for a couple of weeks and Nick was healthy).

But I would also say there's nothing really 'wrong' with recruiting. We're not Duke, Kansas or Kentucky and we're not ever going to be them so reloading with a 6'3 5* is not really possible. We take 4 year players who usually turn into All Conference type of guys by the time they are upperclassmen. It works pretty well for us.

Not sure I agree we sold Carey on the position less thing. I'd have to go back and dig but I thought he said he chose Duke because they said he would play position less there. The way it was inferred was that no other school made that selling point. I could be wrong.

He did say it. What he didn't say was that MSU was also pitching it. They could have been lying but hoops guys with connections to the staff were saying weeks before either of them committed that Izzo was putting the hard sell on them both using that term. I probably posted it here, don't remember.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:

steveschneider wrote:

Not sure I agree we sold Carey on the position less thing. I'd have to go back and dig but I thought he said he chose Duke because they said he would play position less there. The way it was inferred was that no other school made that selling point. I could be wrong.

He did say it. What he didn't say was that MSU was also pitching it. They could have been lying but hoops guys with connections to the staff were saying weeks before either of them committed that Izzo was putting the hard sell on them both using that term. I probably posted it here, don't remember.

I'll take your word for it and that's interesting shit.

Can I pick your brain a bit...we all saw the Golden State Warriors article about how Izzo is trying to implement that offense at MSU. He said mostly on the screens that they set, I guess he's trying to implement that. Do you notice that influence at all?

I don't really see the comparisons to be honest with you. Maybe because MSU isn't playing like they were earlier in the year and the Warriors I've watched lately are not playing Warrior brand basketball. The Warriors really only have 1 great passer (maybe 2 now that Bogut is back) but they shared the ball along the perimeter mostly to find an open look for 3. Sometimes in to Draymond, and back out, but it was more side to side, and pulling up in transition from deep. We never do that. Nowadays the Warriors run a lot of iso with KD it seems like.

Re-posting this since you numbnuts didn't read it the first time. Everything you need to know about MSU's evolving offense:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/court-report-how-tom-izzo-stole-from-steve-kerr-and-helped-make-michigan-state-like-the-warriors/

The offensive transition was noticeable in the Valentine/Forbes era. Even a big dumb Nordic can see it. Offensive efficiency & Adjusted O numbers have been very good the last 5 years (except 2016-17).

https://kenpom.com/index.php?y=2017&s=RankAdjOE

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/offensive-efficiency?date=2019-03-11

That said, I think we've gotten away from the ball movement and have gone too much hero ball with Cash down the stretch. But I'll chalk that up to necessity. Need to get the ball movement going again if we are going to win a Natty.

Edit: Looks like you did read it. The O numbers the last 5 years speak for themselves.

Nordic wrote:Re-posting this since you numbnuts didn't read it the first time. Everything you need to know about MSU's evolving offense:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/court-report-how-tom-izzo-stole-from-steve-kerr-and-helped-make-michigan-state-like-the-warriors/

The offensive transition was noticeable in the Valentine/Forbes era. Even a big dumb Nordic can see it. Offensive efficiency & Adjusted O numbers have been very good the last 5 years (except 2016-17).

https://kenpom.com/index.php?y=2017&s=RankAdjOE

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/offensive-efficiency?date=2019-03-11

That said, I think we've gotten away from the ball movement and have gone too much hero ball with Cash down the stretch. But I'll chalk that up to necessity. Need to get the ball movement going again if we are going to win a Natty.

When this team/system is at its best, it is beautiful. I haven't checked the stats in a while, but I'm pretty sure we were leading the country in assist percentage as a team for a while.

Izzo is god, fuck steve forever.

Cameron wrote:

Nordic wrote:Re-posting this since you numbnuts didn't read it the first time. Everything you need to know about MSU's evolving offense:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/court-report-how-tom-izzo-stole-from-steve-kerr-and-helped-make-michigan-state-like-the-warriors/

The offensive transition was noticeable in the Valentine/Forbes era. Even a big dumb Nordic can see it. Offensive efficiency & Adjusted O numbers have been very good the last 5 years (except 2016-17).

https://kenpom.com/index.php?y=2017&s=RankAdjOE

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/offensive-efficiency?date=2019-03-11

That said, I think we've gotten away from the ball movement and have gone too much hero ball with Cash down the stretch. But I'll chalk that up to necessity. Need to get the ball movement going again if we are going to win a Natty.

When this team/system is at its best, it is beautiful. I haven't checked the stats in a while, but I'm pretty sure we were leading the country in assist percentage as a team for a while.

Izzo is god, fuck steve forever.

I was enjoying our short period of peace and getting along. I noticed you told me to F off in another thread. I chalked it up to you just waking up on the wrong side of the bed. This is the second F off you’ve sent my way and I just want it to be noted that the terms and conditions of the peace agreement have been violated. The feud is back on.

Can't we all just get along?

DWags wrote:I was sitting at the game saying “what good is cash doing on the bench? What difference does it make if he’s not playing now and we’re down by 12, or not playing at the end and we’re losing by six? “. No less of an expert in basketball than Eddie Murray was sitting right next to me and agreeing with me and he’s won a Super Bowl so he’s obv an expert.

Interesting coaching tactic of playing a guy with 4 fouls. A few of our fans sure don't like when Izzo did it last year. Beilein kept Iggy in and he fouled out on a bad one.

steveschneider wrote:

Cameron wrote:

When this team/system is at its best, it is beautiful. I haven't checked the stats in a while, but I'm pretty sure we were leading the country in assist percentage as a team for a while.

Izzo is god, fuck steve forever.

I was enjoying our short period of peace and getting along. I noticed you told me to F off in another thread. I chalked it up to you just waking up on the wrong side of the bed. This is the second F off you’ve sent my way and I just want it to be noted that the terms and conditions of the peace agreement have been violated. The feud is back on.

And the great Swill pillow fight rages on.

SawGreen wrote:Who says Izzo didn't adjust after last season? Not blowing JB, but this team seems a bit different. Guys like Goins being a go-to on the 3 point shot, driving to the basket and MSU's huge past disparity on the free throw line seems to indicate a change (for the better). I seem to sense some adjustment.

Yeah, we all saw the Warriors article and we all saw the same players from last year just look different this year. One year development and improvement? Maybe. Newer plays or helping the players develop skill sets to perform better on the offensive side? Possibly. McQaid, Ward, Cash and Goins are all doing things we didn't see last year. More dribbling, better cuts and better shooting.

DWags wrote:I was sitting at the game saying “what good is cash doing on the bench? What difference does it make if he’s not playing now and we’re down by 12, or not playing at the end and we’re losing by six? “. No less of an expert in basketball than Eddie Murray was sitting right next to me and agreeing with me and he’s won a Super Bowl so he’s obv an expert.

Just saw this and kind of what I'm thinking. For the offense to look this good it's basically coming down to one of the better point guards we've had in Spartan history and it also involves playing him almost every minute of the game. Is it x's and o's or player development? Is there new strategies being implemented or is it more of the same? We aren't in the huddles or the practices to really know what is being said or what is being changed but this team is doing a lot of different shit from last year imo. Maybe the way to improving our O was to keep the same x's and o's but add more skillsets to the role players (dribbling, pump fakes, working on the 3pt shot, etc).

Steve wrote: Is it x's and o's or player development? Is there new strategies being implemented or is it more of the same?

It's Cassius' development and the players around him, more than X's and Os. Cash has limited his turnovers and become an elite finisher at the rim. He was already an excellent passer and good 3-pt shooter. The elimination of the turnovers is key.

Ward, Tillman and Go ins have also made massive improvements. Ward and his ability to pass out of the double team and run the floor. Go ins 3-pt shot. Tillman showed he can be an all-around beast and this year he has turned into it. Those 3 are getting the minutes vacated by Bridges and JJJ....and they are flat out better.

Bridges was good, but seemed to regress a bit from his frosh year. And this won't be a popular opinion, but JJJ was a hot mess. He pouted, he took minutes off, he floated and as talented as he is, it was really tough to find the team's identity with him in the lineup. There was a reason he sat vs. Syracuse.

The lineup simply flows much better than last year. Team chemistry is better. Everyone knows/plays their role. That was not the case last year.

I'll add the off the court stuff wore on '18 team. They were winning regular season games at the end, but you could see they were mentally drained. They were not playing their best hoops come March.

TL;DR. '19 Cash >> '17-'18 Cash/Tum. Ward/Go ins/Tillman >>> Bridges/JJJ/Ward, PsychoQuad = PsyhcoQuad

Nordic wrote:

Steve wrote: Is it x's and o's or player development? Is there new strategies being implemented or is it more of the same?

It's Cassius' development and the players around him, more than X's and Os. Cash has limited his turnovers and become an elite finisher at the rim. He was already an excellent passer and good 3-pt shooter. The elimination of the turnovers is key.

Ward, Tillman and Go ins have also made massive improvements. Ward and his ability to pass out of the double team and run the floor. Go ins 3-pt shot. Tillman showed he can be an all-around beast and this year he has turned into it. Those 3 are getting the minutes vacated by Bridges and JJJ....and they are flat out better.

Bridges was good, but seemed to regress a bit from his frosh year. And this won't be a popular opinion, but JJJ was a hot mess. He pouted, he took minutes off, he floated and as talented as he is, it was really tough to find the team's identity with him in the lineup. There was a reason he sat vs. Syracuse.

The lineup simply flows much better than last year. Team chemistry is better. Everyone knows/plays their role. That was not the case last year.

I'll add the off the court stuff wore on '18 team. They were winning regular season games at the end, but you could see they were mentally drained. They were not playing their best hoops come March.

TL;DR. '19 Cash >> '17-'18 Cash/Tum. Ward/Go ins/Tillman >>> Bridges/JJJ/Ward, PsychoQuad = PsyhcoQuad

Yeah, I agree with a lot of this. When Cash is gone I have a feeling we are going to be complaining again.

Agree with a lot of what Nordy said. Don't forget Ward's effort on ball screen defense.

Also thinking about it, the turning point of last year absolutely was the OSU game on the road when someone finally started throwing DTs at Ward. Everyone did it after that, and he never quite figure it out.

Additional problems that you didn't mention, in my opinion, was Bridges playing the 3 instead of the 4. I think Izzo felt obligated to prep him for the NBA with him deciding he was coming back, but in terms of a half court player, for, us he would have been much better at the 4. As I think mentioned above, with Miles on the wing they often times would give him the ball iso and he would just launch a 3. It did not flow very well.

I was begging Cassius to take the floor general role last year. He may not have been completely ready for it but I think he also deferred to Miles on the court.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:Agree with a lot of what Nordy said. Don't forget Ward's effort on ball screen defense.

Also thinking about it, the turning point of last year absolutely was the OSU game on the road when someone finally started throwing DTs at Ward. Everyone did it after that, and he never quite figure it out.

Additional problems that you didn't mention, in my opinion, was Bridges playing the 3 instead of the 4. I think Izzo felt obligated to prep him for the NBA with him deciding he was coming back, but in terms of a half court player, for, us he would have been much better at the 4. As I think mentioned above, with Miles on the wing they often times would give him the ball iso and he would just launch a 3. It did not flow very well.

I was begging Cassius to take the floor general role last year. He may not have been completely ready for it but I think he also deferred to Miles on the court.

Going off memory Zavier Simpson owned Cassius last year? I don't think Cash had the ball handling to do the driving and finishing like he is this year. Last year there was a lot of terrible 3's jacked and often as the shot clock expired. That offense was painful to watch.

Cash was not assertive on offense last year. He certainly wasn't in that game. Either of those games. And he was more careless with the ball.

But really where Zavier owned Cash last year was on the other end. He drove past him too many times to count for layups.