I liked quite a bit from this game. Hoggard and Walker validated that they can make up one of the best backcourts in the conference if not the country. Sissoko showed he can be more than just a defensive presence. This team also looks like it could be a strong defensive team. 

I wish Brooks would grab a few rebounds. 

 

I just can’t beat this team up for losing tonight. There were too many positives and for every negative MSU play we can nitpick as being the reason we lost by 1, there was a play where we got bad break due to officiating, court conditions, etc. 

We came to play. We look great with our starters on the floor. I’m very excited for Tuesday’s game. 

That walker tripping call was absolutely insanity, I love they had to watch the replay of it.

Mady's 5th foul was also pretty egregious with timme hanging all over him

Not having Hoggard drive on the last play was bad..

After the refs had to see the Walker "tripping foul" replay, I thought for sure we'd quickly see a makeup call on the other end. But, nope. Walker should've got two free throws. Instead, Gonzaga got a bucket. That was a big turn of events.

I kept thinking/hoping we'd see the Walker vs Purdue player during the Gonzaga run. Once he did the jab step pull up and sank it, but that was it before the play call at the end went to him and, no fault to him, he slipped.

I liked that when Gonzaga was making its run that Hoggard did take it upon himself to get in the lane and be the one to stop the run. Though he got some free throws out of it (and looked liked a competent free throw shooter), none of the drives turned into hoops or kick outs. Still, I like the aggressiveness. Those other things will come. 

When's the last time we saw a freshman draw double teams underneath in his second game? Gonzaga didn't let Kohler do anything. It seemed like he knew what to do with the ball in those circumstances, but they swarmed him so much that it was like he wasn't yet capable. That'll come.

Hall looked good down better down the stretch but not much offensively before then. Hauser certainly had a rough game. For both guys though, I didn't see the guards get them many good looks in the half court game. 

A lot of positives out of the game with the exception of defensive rebounding. Gonzaga manhandled us there and second chance points were the difference. 

@houseizzorockin Agreed with your points. I felt that part of the reason Walker slipped is he was going too fast - you never saw Hoggard slip because he was always moving in control.

Kohler has been doubled immediately by every team this season which is interesting as he hasn't done anything yet. Clearly that is the scouting report and until he can either split the double or pass out quickly before it gets there it will be a challenge for him.

Overall, hauser wasn't able to do as much because shooting was a problem. It certainly hurt the Zags too but without an outside shot Hauser is easier to defend.

One thing that struck me about the commentary yesterday was at least twice I heard someone say, “Sissoko is arguably having his best game as a Spartan.” Really? Where is the argument? Sissoko played his best game as a Spartan, no argument.

Posted by: @hazelmotes

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One thing that struck me about the commentary yesterday was at least twice I heard someone say, “Sissoko is arguably having his best game as a Spartan.” Really? Where is the argument? Sissoko played his best game as a Spartan, no argument.

no kidding. Had career highs in points and rebounds at halftime versus the #2 team (for now, at least) in the nation 

 

I usually way over-analyze things, but I think this game is really easy to understand.  On a night where they were shooting outside, on a ship, into the sun, with a 10 MPH wind, the team with the best post scorer in the country had a large advantage over our Spartans who play 3 very inexperienced post players (even with Mady's amazing performance).  That wasn't really modern basketball due to the elements as the teams shot a combined 20% (7 for 34) from 3. Unfortunately if you take away the option for consistent 3-point looks from Hauser and Walker it really limits what they do, and that really showed on this night.  It made 2 of our starters and most important players way less effective than they usually are.  And even with that we only lost by 1 to the #2 team in the country.  I think that is very promising.  Due to the unique game experience, I tend to focus on the positives of this game even more than normal and don't really dwell on the fact that it was an L.  I'd also like to thank everyone on this forum for not completing ripping on Timme.  It's a little hard for me to read some of the crap about him on other boards and Twitter.  I'm obviously biased, but Drew is a good kid, who every Spartan would absolutely love if we had got his commitment.  I was hoping for a huge game from him, but a close win for us - I almost got those results!