Game 7, 2025-26: Oregon State (Paradise Jam 11/24)

[Floyd]

Hope he was went with did more of what he wanted.

Huh? Could you repeat that?

[Juice Stand]

I absolutely do not want to see Rollie get more minutes than K'Jei Parker. He had a terrible time in the Paradise Jam, but he was fantastic in the 4 games prior. Here is his stat line in those 4:

16.5 ppg, a perfect 13-13 free throws, 50% from 3 (11-22), and 3.5A to 1.5 TO per game.

I thought he played very well to start the season, was a steady presence, and added plenty of offensive production. His defense might be lacking, but Frank told us this team would shoot the rock, and he's not only done that at a high level, but he's taken care of the ball. I like Danny, but he's turned the ball over 13 times to K'Jei's 8, and is not nearly as good a shooter. I hope that he gets his confidence back and can either take the starting role back, or slot in behind Danny and play at the same level he did early on. He wasn't the only guy playing poorly in the Virgin Islands.

[Floyd]

I agree. Love Danny, but I dont love K'Jei getting buried on the bench either. As Juice said, he had a good start to the season. Started feeling it a little and it seemed like Frank tried to reign him in a little, and really got on him. Just hope he gets it going again

[Juice Stand]

Yup, and the bottom line is that we're going to need both guys if we're going to be any good. I want them both to excel. Danny is playing well right now and has the backing of Frank, and Parker has shown that he's capable, just needs to get his mojo back.

[Floyd]

Wouldn't mind seeing a lineup with Danny, K'Jei, Banks, DHS, & Bettiol together for a spell. Should be able to put up some points. Danny has a great 1st step and gets by his man fairly easily, and the other 4 can score from various places.
Placide looked good yesterday too. Nice shot and gets after rebounds. Jayden had some key rebounds & tip outs yesterday in big moments. Kid has a knack for coming up big when we need it

[69MG]

If we're going to be a contender in the MAC, a few things would get us there:

1. Play D like we did in the last 3 minutes
2. Can Jayden to give us 6-8 points on a consistent basis, to add on to everything else he does for us.
3. Can Parker revert back to how he looked in the first 4 games?
4. Can Clerc and Placide continue to give us close to what they gave us yesterday?
5. Can Daniel give us a consistent 14 and 8?
6. Can we get our free throw shooting up over 70%? We're at 64.7% now.
7. Get better at converting layups. Advanced stats says we missed 9 layups yesterday. If we make 4 of those (and some free throws) it's an easy win.

It's a long wish list, and there are probably more items that should be on it, but I think these are doable.

Leo and Banks will have good and not so good games, but I think we can count on them to give us good production. Danny should continue to improve as he gets more accustomed to DI ball.

[stevemaz]

Wouldn't mind seeing a lineup with Danny, K'Jei, Banks, DHS, & Bettiol together for a spell. Should be able to put up some points. Danny has a great 1st step and gets by his man fairly easily, and the other 4 can score from various places.
Placide looked good yesterday too. Nice shot and gets after rebounds. Jayden had some key rebounds & tip outs yesterday in big moments. Kid has a knack for coming up big when we need it

I think Carabuccia is cemented as starting Pt guard even though he cant shoot..

[eldonabe]

Wouldn't mind seeing a lineup with Danny, K'Jei, Banks, DHS, & Bettiol together for a spell. Should be able to put up some points. Danny has a great 1st step and gets by his man fairly easily, and the other 4 can score from various places.
Placide looked good yesterday too. Nice shot and gets after rebounds. Jayden had some key rebounds & tip outs yesterday in big moments. Kid has a knack for coming up big when we need it

I think Carabuccia is cemented as starting Pt guard even though he cant shoot..

I like the way he drives to the basket..... Just practice foul shooting every day...

[wmmmfan]

Wouldn't mind seeing a lineup with Danny, K'Jei, Banks, DHS, & Bettiol together for a spell. Should be able to put up some points. Danny has a great 1st step and gets by his man fairly easily, and the other 4 can score from various places.
Placide looked good yesterday too. Nice shot and gets after rebounds. Jayden had some key rebounds & tip outs yesterday in big moments. Kid has a knack for coming up big when we need it

I think Carabuccia is cemented as starting Pt guard even though he cant shoot..

I’m looking at Danny in comparison to DK’s career. DK didn’t shoot well his first two years but improved in years three and four. The exception being DK was a solid free throw shooter. If Danny can improve like DK I’ll take it.

[minutefanjsf]

Hope he was went with did more of what he wanted.

Huh? Could you repeat that?

Sorry no proof reader….i hope he went with who did more of what he wanted. He has been lamenting kids not doing what is being asked, yet he continues to play them.

[Juice Stand]

^ Can you expand on that? Who is he playing that's not doing what he has asked? If this is about Danny over K'Jei, I'll respectfully disagree and note that Frank told us this team would shoot, which K'Jei can do, he turns it over less than Danny, converts at the free throw line, and Frank recruited K'Jei, watched him all summer and offseason, and decided to make him the starter going into the season. Maybe that was just trying not to throw the freshman into the fire, but I've seen good things from K'Jei (and Danny, I like them both!), and think other than the Paradise Jam, he's been really good.

If it's not about those two, who are you referring to? It's been a challenge to find bench contributors aside from Danny/K'Jei.

[minutefanjsf]

^ Can you expand on that? Who is he playing that's not doing what he has asked? If this is about Danny over K'Jei, I'll respectfully disagree and note that Frank told us this team would shoot, which K'Jei can do, he turns it over less than Danny, converts at the free throw line, and Frank recruited K'Jei, watched him all summer and offseason, and decided to make him the starter going into the season. Maybe that was just trying not to throw the freshman into the fire, but I've seen good things from K'Jei (and Danny, I like them both!), and think other than the Paradise Jam, he's been really good.

If it's not about those two, who are you referring to? It's been a challenge to find bench contributors aside from Danny/K'Jei.

After the CCSU game, Frank said they were lucky to win and that the good shooting had rescued them for a few a games. The stagnate offense and lack of on ball defense were hidden by the good shooting. Basically, he predicted that when they played better teams the failure to do what is being coached/directed would result in losses. He didn’t name any player specifically. My guess is those who played fewer minutes vs Oregon are those who are not running the offense correctly (holding the ball too long, taking early shots, not moving without the ball, etc) and being matadors on defense. Good shooting from bad offense is fool’s gold when shooting dries up or defensive pressure makes those out of sync shots disappear.

[Juice Stand]

But who do you think he's talking about specifically, and do you agree?

A hill I'll die on is that making shots is good. He told us they would shoot, then bitched when they did. Mixed and ineffective messaging in my opinion.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[deke]

If we're going to be a contender in the MAC, a few things would get us there:

1. Play D like we did in the last 3 minutes
2. Can Jayden to give us 6-8 points on a consistent basis, to add on to everything else he does for us.
3. Can Parker revert back to how he looked in the first 4 games?
4. Can Clerc and Placide continue to give us close to what they gave us yesterday?
5. Can Daniel give us a consistent 14 and 8?
6. Can we get our free throw shooting up over 70%? We're at 64.7% now.
7. Get better at converting layups. Advanced stats says we missed 9 layups yesterday. If we make 4 of those (and some free throws) it's an easy win.

It's a long wish list, and there are probably more items that should be on it, but I think these are doable.

Leo and Banks will have good and not so good games, but I think we can count on them to give us good production. Danny should continue to improve as he gets more accustomed to DI ball.

I like this list a lot but I think you can simplify it to #s 6 and 7. Our defense has warts but I think it's good enough to be decent in the MAC. And I think we'll have pretty good depth. But we absolutely positively need to get better at our free throws ("free throws win ball games" and I'll always believe that). And we NEED to hit those layups and shots from 5 feet in from the hoop. You just have to do the easy things right consistently in order to be average or even above average. Start doing some of the more difficult things right and you'll be above average to very good.

[stevemaz]

No doubt in my mind that Danny C is our best point guard knowing full well is sucky free throw shooting is going to cost us a game or two