*** MBB South Carolina (17-12, 9-7) vs. Mississippi State (19-10, 10-6) Game Thread ***

[Gary]

We played really well in the second half.    Didn't foul a lot.   Our offense was very good, imo.   Kotsar was outstanding.  Couisnard had ten assists and no turnovers?  Wow!     I'm really proud that they were able to win such an important game!   If they could play like they did in that second half, they would be hard for anyone to beat!   Very proud of everyone.   

Bryant is getting much better at the little 8-12 ft jumper.   And he's shooting FT pretty well now too.   Really pleased with his play.    Lawson was pretty good tonight also.   Actually, everyone was good, except Moss.   Moss is struggling right now.   If he stays with the team, maybe he can improve.

 

[Longhaul]

Good win.  I am hoping we can get a little momentum heading into the tournament.  

 

[Spur's Addiction]

That was a good win. It was nice to see the team finish the game strong. 

 

[TKE226]

Beat Vandy and then sorta a toss up game probably against UGA, Missou or Arky. If I did my calculation correct for the SEC tourney...

 

[kingofnerf]

I went to the game.  It was raining buckets, but I wanted to cheer the home team and watch Kotsar play one last time in person.

The crowd was a little smaller than usual and I think the rain had a lot to do with it.  There was a wreck somewhere and traffic was backed up on I-20 for miles.

His family was there to cheer him on and I think it helped.  Frank and the players seemed deflated in the pressers this week, but my gut told me the crowd would help them out of it once the game started.

Maik got some attention from the media after the game and a lot of the fans, myself included, stuck around to cheer him during the post-game walk-around the team always does.

There was a strong response from the crowd as Maik walked around.

Hopefully the other guys will take this to heart, play well, and stick around long enough to get a similar response from the home crowd in a few years.

Go Cocks!!

 

[crowcutta]

maik in sec play leads us in field goals made, ft%, total rebounds, steals, blocks, and assist/turnover ratio.  even with our defense showing cracks lately, it will be a crock if he doesnt win sec dpoy.   i just saw a tweet from a guy from sds on feb 26th where he listed his top 5 for dpoy with kotsar only getting an honorable mention.  kotsar is the only guy in sec play who is averaging at least 1.5 steals and 1 blocks per game or vice versa.  leads in defensive rating in sec play, leads in defensive win shares in sec play.   the only debate should be who finishes 2nd.  

 

[markymark550]

maik in sec play leads us in field goals made, ft%, total rebounds, steals, blocks, and assist/turnover ratio.  even with our defense showing cracks lately, it will be a crock if he doesnt win sec dpoy.   i just saw a tweet from a guy from sds on feb 26th where he listed his top 5 for dpoy with kotsar only getting an honorable mention.  kotsar is the only guy in sec play who is averaging at least 1.5 steals and 1 blocks per game or vice versa.  leads in defensive rating in sec play, leads in defensive win shares in sec play.   the only debate should be who finishes 2nd.  

Let me guess, that guy probably had 2 from Kentucky and 2 from Auburn. Probably has Hagans as DPOY.

I agree with you that Maik should win that award. The stats you provided more than support that. I just think there might be some bias against the name on the front of the jersey.

 

[kingofnerf]

Vandy will be tough - they are a much better team than a month ago and just beat Bama in Tuscaloosa. 

The question is....are we in if we beat Vandy and then get one win in the SEC tournament? If we beat Vandy, we should be at least in the First Four Out, then an SEC tournament win would get us in the dance - until we lose the next game, which might knock us back out. The variable is what other teams do - we need for a few teams to stumble down the stretch.

The best thing is to beat Vandy and win two games in the tournament, which takes the guesswork out.  

I saw this link about the "team sheets" that are used.

The committee often refers to "team sheets" when comparing team performance. The team sheets contain in-depth team information about strength of schedule, performance against teams sorted by quadrants and results.

Starting with the 2017-18 season, the team sheets took on a new look. They now not only include each team’s NET, but also include a team’s ranking in five other metrics: the ESPN strength of record and BPI rankings, as well as the KPI, KenPom and Sagarin rankings. In addition, a team’s schedule and results are now broken down in four quadrants that place greater emphasis on games played on neutral courts and in true road environments.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/mens-basketball-selections-101-selections

I would think NET is just used during the regular season and playing Vandy, win or lose, may elevate our NET score more than we would like just because Vandy's score is in the triple digits.

Other than the W-L record, I don't know where the cut-off is past the regular season with the other factors mentioned above.

We have never made it past two wins in the SECT in the years when that was our post-season because we were so bad during the regular season.

I almost think 3 wins in the SECT could happen given that our bench talent is a little bit better than that of previous teams.

 

[doublea1971]

Vandy will be tough - they are a much better team than a month ago and just beat Bama in Tuscaloosa. 

The question is....are we in if we beat Vandy and then get one win in the SEC tournament? If we beat Vandy, we should be at least in the First Four Out, then an SEC tournament win would get us in the dance - until we lose the next game, which might knock us back out. The variable is what other teams do - we need for a few teams to stumble down the stretch.

The best thing is to beat Vandy and win two games in the tournament, which takes the guesswork out.  

Ace... my guess?  Beat Vandy and get as far as we can beyond the first win in the SEC tourney.  That puts us close, and seriously considered.  But we’re not IN without winning out the tourney.

unfortunately, not winning either the away Miss. St. or the LSU contest put us behind the 8 ball.  Our records vs. Fla. and Ms. St., and even Auburn, if they lose their last two, still puts us behind them.

We’ve got the away wins that the NCAA committee wants, and our record in that regard stands above everyone except KY in the SEC.  BUT... we didn’t get enough of the Q1s to make us a given.

As Frank has said... we’ve still got work to do... One game at a time.  
 

But we’re close.  REALLY close.

 

[kingofnerf]

Moss plays like someone who never watches or pays attention to film, so the game moves a little too fast for him.

He also got injured well before we got to conference play last year, so from that standpoint he is playing like a true FR.

Has anybody heard any further updates on when Justin will be back in the line-up?

 

[FurmanCock]

Has anybody heard any further updates on when Justin will be back in the line-up?

I haven't heard any update, but I thought he was being evaluated yesterday as to whether he was good to go.

 

[GMB2USC23]

I saw this link about the "team sheets" that are used.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/mens-basketball-selections-101-selections

I would think NET is just used during the regular season and playing Vandy, win or lose, may elevate our NET score more than we would like just because Vandy's score is in the triple digits.

Other than the W-L record, I don't know where the cut-off is past the regular season with the other factors mentioned above.

We have never made it past two wins in the SECT in the years when that was our post-season because we were so bad during the regular season.

I almost think 3 wins in the SECT could happen given that our bench talent is a little bit better than that of previous teams.

3 SECTourney wins puts us in the title game, I like it! We will have a first RD bye regardless as a 6th seed or 5th seed but if we have a 3, 4 or 5 way tie after Kentucky I'm not sure how it works out as it will be the records against each other and then against Kentucky the team ahead of us as the 2nd tiebreaker... I don't think it is possible but I'm not doing the research or the math to figure out if it is, just crossing my fingers we beat Vandy! 

Would love to see Kotsar have the tourney of his life and Bolden catch fire with Lawson, Couisnard and Bryant playing above the rim and Justin Minaya come back healthy to play stop defense and hit a few clutch baskets but I would take a win no matter how we get it and think it is our time to win this tourney! 

 

[kingofnerf]

3 SECTourney wins puts us in the title game, I like it! We will have a first RD bye regardless as a 6th seed or 5th seed but if we have a 3, 4 or 5 way tie after Kentucky I'm not sure how it works out as it will be the records against each other and then against Kentucky the team ahead of us as the 2nd tiebreaker... I don't think it is possible but I'm not doing the research or the math to figure out if it is, just crossing my fingers we beat Vandy! 

Would love to see Kotsar have the tourney of his life and Bolden catch fire with Lawson, Couisnard and Bryant playing above the rim and Justin Minaya come back healthy to play stop defense and hit a few clutch baskets but I would take a win no matter how we get it and think it is our time to win this tourney! 

Have some rep.

 

[crowcutta]

Here’s my assessment... we don’t need to have Moss or Leveque playing tonight.  Ride Bolden ALL THE WAY to the end of the game.  Frink needs to play more, rotating with McCreary.  Best lineup tonight is Kotsar, Frink, Bryant, Bolden and Cousinard.  Rotate Bolden and Lawson for offense and rest.  Rotate Bryant and Frink for defensive rebounding and rest.

obviously you play it by ear game to game but i think this is formula going forward especially without minaya.  generally we're not going to play stifling enough defense against good offensive teams to trot out non shooting non offensive lineups for long stretches.  you play moss or leveque for 5 minute stretches and youre asking for the other team to make a big run.  leveque did do some good things early on then i felt he started to blow some opportunities for plays to be made on either end.

ill even criticize my guy kotsar, i feel like he isnt being credited with some steals/blocks that hes gotten, that said he only has been credited with 5 rebounds the past 2 games.  it doesnt fall solely on him, going forward we need to do a better job as a team on the glass.  its a given we're going to have a negative foul disparity every game, and lately our defense has been inconsistent to say the least, you cant compound that by giving up offensive boards.  i think thats what been killing us the last 3 or 4 games. 

 

[kingofnerf]

Frank said on Carolina Calls tonight that Minaya got the cast off and is cleared to play, although he's not sure about the Vandy game.

He will be wearing a different thing when he plays, but he can play.