We could win that game.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Ramblermania at its finest right there! HAHA

I will continue to stand by my earlier posts that this team will really struggle without its best player - and that is Custer. We do not have another point guard and that was the difference last night. It is not a knock on Townes - he is a very explosive 2 guard - not a PG.

This team is a major work in progress -- the coaching staff is trying to plug its single largest hole. The only true player we could not afford to lose this year is in street clothes -- there is no doubt in my mind that we win at Mo.State and last night with Custer in the lineup. I actually am pretty encouraged by the performance. Sticking with MoSt on the road and a growing pains loss last night will only help this team.

As for the scoring -- everything and I mean everything runs through Custer. We are not crisp and the simple fact is that without him there is no answer. The longer he stays out, the more we will dip under .500 in conf. play.

On the positive side -- if we can get him back by end of the month, I believe we will have an explosive run in February and be peaking at the right time for Arch Madness.

Let's quit trashing the effort of this team and the staff. The season is a grind and we are missing the team leader.

I am impressed that we made it all the way to January with nobody even bringing up the "Thursday night game!"

Just like everyone, I'm disappointed in last night too... I've said it all year though... ultimately, if we want this season to be a success, we have to win out in Saint Louis, and that's still the case. Hopefully by the time we get there, we are watching the Thursday night games and preparing to make our run.

Some positives from last night:

I think Cam Satterwhite overall looked really good when he was on the floor, along with Donte and Townes (outside of some questionable turnovers)

I am confused why Bruno didn't get some more time? I thought this season he has played really well, and especially with Lucas turning over the ball a lot, Porter stuck with Williamson and Bruno didn't play too much. I hope that changes.

Obviously Avery is in the doghouse, not sure he'll react well to that. Reminds me a lot so far of guys in the past (Knuth, Cody Johnson, Julius, Vlatko)

Got curious but to follow up on that, he has been averaging 15.8 minutes a game on the season, and since Clay went down that has jumped up to almost 21 minutes a game. And last night he gets 10 minutes, no turnovers, and still gets pulled? Maybe coach thinks Lucas is a better defender, but Lucas struggled last night. Wish Bruno had seen the court more, he actually averages the least turnovers per game of guys in our rotation as well.

According to the plus/minus from yesterday's game, here are the "plus" players:

Townes +5
Williamson +3
Jackson +2
Satterwhite 0

Here are the minus players:

Richardson -15
Krutwig -10
Skokna -4
Ingram -1

I know there's a lot of potential for false info in the plus minus, especially when dealing with small sample sizes like Skokna's 10 minutes or Satterwhite's 16 minutes. Richardson was a +6 against Evansville, but Krutwig was a -4.

As far as Custer goes, this team should be good enough and deep enough to get a win at home over a probable Thursday night team without Custer.... even without Custer, Avery and Negron. Getting behind by 15 points in the first half is a coaching issue, IMO-- we were down by 8 at halftime vs. Evansville, down by 7 against Missouri State, and down by 17 vs. Milwaukee. We've trailed by an average of 10 points at halftime in the past four games, and not surprisingly we're 1-3 against those teams.

I believe that last night was our worst assist to turnover ratio. It seems like we are still looking for the correct combination and strategy and identity. I think that PM always wants to be a defensive team but that may not have the players to do that. We struggled with ISUb quick guards last night we also seemed to be some what confused on offense. We also have a lot of new guys still learning this year especially when Custer and Richardson were out. Gotta hope we continue to improve and figure it out. Think the possibility still exists but we cannot afford any more poor performances like last night

Good stats, I agree with Dansen that no Bruno is confusing. I thought he offered a shot in the arm against Evansville and loved his effort under the glass on his lone bucket last night. Richardsons offense will bounce back at some point but man, MINUS 15?!

How is it a coaching issue getting down early in those games? Last time I checked Porter and Mullins and the boys weren't lacing up the shoes and playing. At some point you have to hold the players accountable. Was Valentine dropping those passes yesterday or was it Andre?

And I cannot disagree with you more -- this team, without Custer all season, would be lucky to win 5-6 games in the Valley. He is the complete glue for everything the team does - many of which do not show up in the stat sheet. And let's not forget that this ISU team blew out Indiana on the road this year. They are not terrible.

For the life of me - I don't get the dislike for Porter. I'm not saying he is Coach K - but I will tell you what -- if you wanna see this program fall down to the bottom of the valley, go ahead and fire him.