Got back from the game. There was more to like than dislike with the game in my opinion. All your points are good ones. I think my number one concern was at the 5 and I am no longer very worried there. I realize it's one game with lower competition but Mady didn't look lost  - just more cautious at times. Also, I was really impressed with our guards defensively most of the time. We are going to be on ball pests for sure.

Thank you for the posts. I was wondering what went on tonight and this was the first place I came to.

Looks like Monday's game is only on Big+, so looks like I'll have wait until the Gonzaga game to be able to watch -- that's too long! Go Green! 

@elarson284568176374567 I felt much better at the end of the game than I did at halftime. MSU cleaned up the rebounding issue in the second half. Ready for NAU!

@houseizzorockin 

I paid $9.99 for a month of Big10+ haha

@spartypants Overall it was great to be back in the Bres and start putting this football season behind us. As Magical as last year was this year has been about as much in the other direction. 

At least you get TWO games for that low, low price. Don’t forget to cancel unless you don’t want to miss all the riveting BigTen cross country meets. 😛

I too paid the $9.99!   Way too early freshman observations -  Tre Holloman can guard! (Shooting? - meh); Carson Cooper looks like he belongs.  And Nick Sanders sure looks like his dad!  

The game left me with the following impressions:

This team has a toughness and character that I didn’t see much from last year’s team, especially from our guards. With Brown and Bingham gone, Walker looks like he feels more comfortable as a leader. I believe younger or newer players tend to defer to established players, and now Walker feels freer to express himself. Holloman looked very comfortable but also intense. 

Instead of merely hopeful, I am optimistic about the 5. Sissoko’s ability to stay on the floor will help him improve. In the second half Kohler showed glimpses of being able to defend and rebound. This year’s Cooper could be an improvement over last year’s Sissoko.

I liked two things about Hoggard’s 3-point shooting: He made both of the shots he took and he was selective about taking them.  

All starters scored in double figures reinforced in me that this team might not have a superstar but they have quite a few weapons. Kohler, although he did not reach double figures, might be the team’s greatest scoring threat.

One last comment, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t see more of Hoggard making some long passes that led to easy points. I am not sure if Hoggard wasn’t looking or if the wings and bigs weren’t running or if GVSU was just very good at denying that option.

@hazelmotes That's a good point.  I also think that having Akins back will improve this and our transition game.  I think Hall is servicable at the 3, but not neccessarily "natural".

@hazelmotes was one of the disappointments in this game to be sure, that MSU had little going in transition. I do give credit to GV…they clearly were prepared and did a nice job in terms of floor balance.  However, some of it was on MSU, IMO…didn’t see the urgency to push the way they need to (and struggling to get clean defensive rebounds for large portions of the game didn’t make things any easier).

@hazelmotes agree with all these points. I think the 5 is still a wait and see (Timme and Oscar coming up soon). I think Hoggard and Walker are the keys to this team, and other than a few forced turnovers, thought they played very well together. Hoggard is such a unique compliment to Walker. Teams gonna have their hands full dealing with both of them.

I'm very curious about what the starting lineup will be once Akins is healthy. It's clear (I think) that Hoggard will start at the 1, Joey at the 4 and Mady at the 5; then you have Hall/Akins/Walker for the other two spots. They'll all play a lot so it probably doesn't matter much, but it's hard to have Akins on the bench because he's expected to take a huge leap, hard to have Walker on the bench because he's so productive, and hard to have Hall on the bench because the offense flows through him and he's an upperclassman. I think my preference would be to sit Hall as he's not a very natural wing.

Posted by: @derthunder

I'm very curious about what the starting lineup will be once Akins is healthy. It's clear (I think) that Hoggard will start at the 1, Joey at the 4 and Mady at the 5; then you have Hall/Akins/Walker for the other two spots. They'll all play a lot so it probably doesn't matter much, but it's hard to have Akins on the bench because he's expected to take a huge leap, hard to have Walker on the bench because he's so productive, and hard to have Hall on the bench because the offense flows through him and he's an upperclassman. I think my preference would be to sit Hall as he's not a very natural wing.

After tom's post game presser, if Akins was 100% I think Joey is coming off the bench lol

@derthunder It's a question we asked ourselves in the post game podcast.  I agree with the idea that Akins is going to start...the question is, which two among Walker, Hauser and Hall join him?  Tough call, and I think the answer is at least as much determined by who is more comfortable and OK psychologically with coming off the bench than "talent."  You can make a case for all three guys, but there isn't room for all of them in the starting five.