Zags - Michigan State scrimmage 10/19

[DixieZag]

A Denver game against a top mid-west/south team does seem to be the perfect formula. They keep going back to it.

I would have preferred the lessons learned from getting beat as motivation, but maybe the young team just needs confidence and this feeds it.

Neat to hear we out toughed them.

[bdmiller7]

I remember Izzo last year talking about GU playing just their main guys while MSU played everyone. Sounds like the same again. Each team has different goals heading into this. Last year one team made elite 8, the other final four. I would guess a great experience for everyone and the coaching staff will be able to get a ton out of this. Everyone appeared to perform pretty well and I cant wait to see it with my own eyes.

[ZagMan in Philly]

Timme and Watson are going to shine early, that is a great sign for this team.

[ZagBlue]

I remember Izzo last year talking about GU playing just their main guys while MSU played everyone. Sounds like the same again. Each team has different goals heading into this. Last year one team made elite 8, the other final four. I would guess a great experience for everyone and the coaching staff will be able to get a ton out of this. Everyone appeared to perform pretty well and I cant wait to see it with my own eyes.

I don’t have answers yet as to our rotations and whether MSU played everyone. As mentioned above, teams have different needs and use these scrimmages accordingly. As such, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if we had a tight rotation and played our main guys for the majority of the game. Look we lost 4 starters and we just scrimmaged the top team in America. We need to get our main guys some real floor time together so no surprise to me if they dominated the minutes. They should have. Ravet, Ayayi, etc will get plenty of minutes and Brock will get ample acclimation time in our first few nonconference games.
Also keep in mind that what we need to accomplish early in the season is vastly different than MSUs goals. Our nonconference schedule is vital to our ncaa seeding etc. for MSU, Izzo has proven for years that he uses it to get his guys ready to peak at season’s end.
So, in a nutshell..... scrimmages are good because they are exactly that, and can be used as each coach sees fit. From my understanding The staff was very happy with the way Brock and Ayayi played in whatever role they were given yesterday.

[Zags1993]

Just obsessing over these few chunks of meat we’ve had around here re: details about this team and players; I understand it’s just a scrimmage and not wise to draw big picture conclusions...nonetheless, cause it’s fun to ponder :

If accurate, the earlier Athletic tidbit about Zags going w tight 7 man rotation + above details means Woolridge, Gilder and Kispert gobbled up all the perimeter player minutes....virtually all of them it seems anyway. This means the 12 points Ayayi reportedly scored must have come w very limited minutes, which means his points per minute #’s were off the charts, which means we can think of him as a Vinny the Microwave Johnson kind of scoring spark off the bench this season for our Zags.... or am I getting carried away here

Seriously though, thrilled to read Zakharov’s play was strong enough to get mentioned and Anton Watson w 15 rebounds vs notoriously tough Spartans bigs is ridiculous.

I agree w earlier posts that Few’s tight rotation is all about needing to get key new players to gel asap in prep for Zags front loaded schedule. Guys who maybe didn’t get much run in this scrimmage will have plenty of opportunities to prove themselves in real games after December 18th and throughout the WCC schedule. Priority #1 is maximizing the early season resume building opportunities Zags have to earn a top tourney seed.

Joel is in the 7 man rotation and played close to 20 minutes. Arlauskas didn't play, Ballo didn't make the trip. Pretty much all I heard.

[GoZags]

Timme and Watson are going to shine early, that is a great sign for this team.

Hope so.

I'd held off posting this snippet but one of the things I'd heard (well before any stats became public) was that Anton was probably the least effective of the starters. He still managed to grab those 15 boards though.

[jazzdelmar]

Hope so.

I'd held off posting this snippet but one of the things I'd heard (well before any stats became public) was that Anton was probably the least effective of the starters. He still managed to grab those 15 boards though.

How would you interpret that GZ? Is Giider gonna be Goss 2.0?

[NotoriousZ]

Just reading this stuff now...surprisingly great news! Yeah, it's just a scrimmage, but beating the preseason #1 team has got to be a good sign. I mean, we out toughed those guys without Ballo.

[GoZags]

How would you interpret that GZ? Is Giider gonna be Goss 2.0?

http://guboards.spokesmanreview.com/...99#post1476399

My comment from 5 weeks ago ....

I went with Admon as it's my belief he has a decent chance to be NWG-esque ....

[Ladyzag12]

He is a better athlete and defender than Goss, but not the same play maker. They aren't the same player, but Admon is easily our best perimeter player since NWG. I am glad we played well, but Langford didn't play at all, so this was not the full strength MSU team.

[GoZags]

He is a better athlete and defender than Goss, but not the same play maker. They aren't the same player, but Admin is easily our best perimeter player since NWG. I am glad we played well, but Langford didn't play at all, so this was not the full strength MSU team.

I believe the two (Gilder and Williams-Goss) are similar in their leadership qualities ...

[Larryzag]

He is a better athlete and defender than Goss, but not the same play maker. They aren't the same player, but Admon is easily our best perimeter player since NWG. I am glad we played well, but Langford didn't play at all, so this was not the full strength MSU team.

And the Zags didn't have their best player so maybe a wash?

[JPtheBeasta]

Until proven otherwise, backcourt depth seems the be a big issue which could affect a lot of games. Maybe Ravet or Ayayi prove capable down the road...

Makes the additions of Wooldridge and Gilder look more and more like a coup. I suspect I will look back after this season and reflect on them being the reason that this wasn’t a rebuilding year. I still don’t have the expectations of last year’s special team, but I still expect big things.

[JPtheBeasta]

Also from the Athletic:

"Per a witness, the Zags’ young frontcourt vastly outplayed Michigan State’s bigs to the tune of 62 points in the paint. The group was impressive. Filip Petrusev, a 6-foot-11, 235-pound Serbian, finished with 19 points. Drew Timme, a 6-foot-10, five-star freshman whom Michigan State heavily recruited, finished with 13. Anton Watson, a 6-foot-8 homegrown talent from Spokane, Wash., was a force on the boards, while 6-foot-11, 235-pound freshman Pavel Zakharov was a physical load the Spartans couldn’t quite handle."



Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

It is nice to read that about Zakharov. He looked like more of a finesse guy in his HS videos.

[LTownZag]

Hope so.

I'd held off posting this snippet but one of the things I'd heard (well before any stats became public) was that Anton was probably the least effective of the starters. He still managed to grab those 15 boards though.

Interesting to hear Anton allegedly started over Timme.

Woolridge/Gilder/Kispert/Anton/Pavel

Maybe for the 'D' as much as anything.

[JPtheBeasta]

I remember Izzo last year talking about GU playing just their main guys while MSU played everyone. Sounds like the same again. Each team has different goals heading into this. Last year one team made elite 8, the other final four. I would guess a great experience for everyone and the coaching staff will be able to get a ton out of this. Everyone appeared to perform pretty well and I cant wait to see it with my own eyes.

The tidbit about GU running harder and being in better shape gets to part of the formula that creates the success for GU early in the year, and was interesting to me.

(As has been discussed at length over the years), GU has to hit the ground running, whereas other teams have a chance to get better and prove themselves in conference if they falter in the preseason.)

[Markburn1]

I believe the two (Gilder and Williams-Goss) are similar in their leadership qualities ...

If Gilder is within spitting distance of NWG, the Zags have pulled off a coup. NWG is a special young man. Looking forward to Gilder performing

[jazzdelmar]

If Gilder is within spitting distance of NWG, the Zags have pulled off a coup. NWG is a special young man. Looking forward to Gilder performing

Truer words never posted.

[cggonzaga]

Interesting to hear Anton allegedly started over Timme.

Woolridge/Gilder/Kispert/Anton/Pavel

Maybe for the 'D' as much as anything.

Was with the starters at kraziness too. He’s smart, plays great defense and rebounds.

Couple things on “least effective” comment. Least effective offensively? Makes sense for a freshman. Also, least effective compared to the other four makes sense considering how well they all seemed to play. I think some comments should be put into context before people go reading into things.

I also find the “least effective besides the 15 rebounds” a bit comical!

[zagamatic]

Look, it's a scrimmage in which both teams have their own priorities, of which the final score isn't necessarily that valuable. For us, I suspect that it was mostly about getting the top 8 rotation players used to playing together against someone other than their teammates. For MSU, it was possibly a chance to explore some talent, plays, rotations......more of their unknowns.
Looking at this way makes me feel good about players like Ayayi who is at least familiar with the system and doesn't necessarily need the run to work out the kinks like Woolridge and Gilder probably do.
I will say that the information that has leaked out along with the raw talent and athleticism I saw at Kraziness are making me feel more optimistic than I did a month ago about the first 2 months of the season.

[amaronizag]

Above posts refer to Woolridge/Gilder/Kispert/Anton/Pavel

Shouldn't it be Petrusev instead of Pavel??

[JPtheBeasta]

Was with the starters at kraziness too. He’s smart, plays great defense and rebounds.

Couple things on “least effective” comment. Least effective offensively? Makes sense for a freshman. Also, least effective compared to the other four makes sense considering how well they all seemed to play. I think some comments should be put into context before people go reading into things.

I also find the “least effective besides the 15 rebounds” a bit comical!

Watson seems like a team-first guy who won't need plays drawn up for him to contribute in a big way. If he can contribute like Elias Harris did early on in his career I would be happy.

Timme, once he is better established, seems like the kind of guy you would run your offense through first and let him uses his feel for the game and passing.

[GoZags]

....I think some comments should be put into context before people go reading into things.

I also find the “least effective besides the 15 rebounds” a bit comical!

I am so sorry my direct, verbatim quote fell short of your “context” standards.

I actually felt that by not immediately posting the “Anton was probably the least effective of the starters” “tidbit” (again ... a direct quote)until the next day ... and AFTER the stats and more scrimmage info was out .... and also referencing the 15 rebounds as part of my post WAS giving it context. And at the same time providing the heretofore not public info that Watson DID start.

Again, sorry you’ve found this information “comical “.

As far as accuracy .... I’ll go with guy who was there

[Reborn]

Thanks for all of your thoughts, and providing us fans with meaningful references. I really appreciate it. Like you all, I'm so excited to get to see the Zags play. Kind of anxious really. Being able to scrimmage Michigan St. is really something to be grateful for. And I'm sure they feel the same way. Two elite basketball teams/programs. Playing them, and doing well, will surely give us confidence going into a tough non-conference schedule. The results of the scrimmage certainly have us Zag fans pumped up for those OOC games. I'm really glad to hear that our guards did so well because Michigan St has really good guards. Again, thanks!!!

Go Zags!!!

[willandi]

Joel is in the 7 man rotation and played close to 20 minutes. Arlauskas didn't play, Ballo didn't make the trip. Pretty much all I heard.

So Woolridge, Gilder and Ayayi at the guards.

Kispert, Petrusev, Watson, Timme and Zacharov as the wings and bigs.

I hope we're allowed to use that 7 man rotation all season long.