Bears Twilight Tipoff

by **BEARZ77** » October 19th, 2013, 8:38 am

Since WUFAN asked, here is my take on the Bear's evening.

Team looked light years ahead offensively from where they've been under Lusk his 1st two years. Ball and player movement was excellent, and there are a lot of weapons to chose from. Team will look to push the ball, not necessarily to break, but to definitely play faster. Players who stood out the most to me were Gulley, Addo, Mvouika. Kirk was solid and McCullough surprised many with his agility getting up and down the court, catching the ball and finishing on the break. Ruder and Simpson shot the ball well from the trey line and Ruder also showed his strength for a frosh guard finishing with contact going to the hole. Pickens looks healthier than he's been in 2 years. Depth, depth, depth; will have guys with over 100 D-1 starts among them coming off the bench and frosh who started some and played a lot last year fighting just to be in the top 10.

Gulley : Used injury redshirt year to work on his shot and it shows. Hit everything he shot including pull-up treys; elevated and released at top of his jump. Best player on the court tonite; can do everything Weems could.

Addo: Tough matchup for a 4 or 5. Very skilled offensively. At 6'8,230 can step out and hit treys on the pick and pop[ hit 4 tonight I think], or take you off the dribble if guarded by a big. Put someone smaller on him and he is very good around the rim and can put the ball on the floor in the lane to get the shot he wants.

Mvouika: As with most jucos, reportedly needs work defensively, although did not look lost tonite. Very skilled offensively , a 6'6 2 guard who can handle and pass well enough to rotate to the point some in the half court. Made some big time looks in traffic to his teammates, can take you off the dribble and finish above the rim and shoots the trey just fine thank you.

5'10 [ though listed generously at 6'0] Devon Thomas won the dunk contest. A jet on springs athlete.

Possible lineup:

PG 6'3 Marshall
SG 6'6 Mvouika
SF 6'5 Gulley
F 6'8 Kirk
F 6'8 Addo

Will play a lot: 6'4 sr Pickens, 6'5 sr Scheer, 6'10 fr McCullough,
Fighting for time: At pg: fr Thomas vs 6'2 so Williams, at f: so 6'7 Thurman, at sg: fr 6'3 Ruder vs so 6'6 Simpson
Safety Net in Post: so 6'10 Marshall

**Sponsor**

by **shockalot** » October 19th, 2013, 7:19 pm

I think MSU will be vastly improved from last year. It is good to hear that Gulley is fully healed and geared to go. You've got some good talent and depth, so I hope you will be back to being competitive and are able to maintain a strong basketball team every year. With CU gone, I feel like MSU is WSU's best option for a main rival in the Valley, but only if you are really good. So here's to hoping Lusk has your team ripe and ready. Of course, we'll still be giving you nothing but whoopin's this year.

by **Wufan** » October 19th, 2013, 7:34 pm

Good read. If Addo and McCullough can anchor the post, MSU will do quite well this year. Gulley and Marshall will make a good tandem and there are several talented role players to fill in elsewhere.

Ri'an Holland at WSU sounds very similar to Thomas. At 5-10 to 6-0 and 150 lbs he did was able to catch it off the bounce do a 180 bring it down and back up with authority. I'm excited to see him and Thomas go at it!

by **glm38** » October 19th, 2013, 8:05 pm

I agree with most everything bears77 said. It's very obvious we have a lot of talent at every position compared to last year.

Gulley was definitely the standout. It was just a scrimmage but he looked unstoppable. It did surprise me that Marcus didn't stand out more. He didn't play poorly at all but deferred a lot. Maybe that was by design though to give the new guys a chance.

Our post play should be much better but it's still somewhat of a concern IMO. Addo looks good but I don't think he's a true post. He's more of a 4. We really need Tyler to step up. And I thought he looked really good. He's got a better all around game than I would have expected.

I really can't wait for this season to start.

by **Kip Dynamite** » October 21st, 2013, 7:22 am

I went to the Tipoff curious to see what, if any, improvements were in store for this year, and left the building absolutely drooling. I don't think in my 25 years of following Bears basketball, that I have ever seen such drastic improvements made in the talent level in one single year. They looked bigger and stronger than last years squad and just looked like a "complete" team.

I have no idea where they'll finish, but my expectations just went up about 100% and really excited for the season to begin.

Go Bears and Go Valley!

by **glm38** » October 21st, 2013, 11:47 am

Lusk was on the local radio over the weekend. He was really throwing praise at Austin Ruder our freshman guard. Saying what a great shooter he is. I kind of thought he might RS this year but maybe not.

I watched him at the tournanent of champions last year and was impressed. He could definitely get his own shot and could get it off even against bigger (and D1 caliber) players.

He reminds me somewhat of WSU's Ron Baker. Love watching Baker play (except against us) . Both good shooters, similar size, deceiving athleticism, etc. I could see Ruder being a real spark off the bench this year.

by **BEARZ77** » October 21st, 2013, 4:23 pm

It's amazing early in the year how things change so quickly. It wasn't so much that Ruder struggled, but the 2/3 positions include Mvouika/Gulley/Scheer/Pickens/ Simpson, and even possibly Marshall[ though he looks the likely starter at pg] and given they are all vets Ruder seemed a likely rs. Then he had a great week in practice and followed it up with a solid nite Friday and who knows, maybe the kid even starts. Whatever happens, he's gonna be a very good MVC shooting guard when it's all said and done.

by **Wufan** » October 21st, 2013, 5:50 pm

It's interesting that you bring up the Ron Baker comparison. They are similar size and if Austin can shoot, then they are probably similarly skilled. Ron's dad is a weight lifting coach, and at 6-3, 218 he was quite strong when he stepped on the court for the first time. It should be noted that Ron took a red-shirt year and had a VERY good understanding of the offensive and defensive schemes before ever stepping foot on the court. Also, last year we had one and a half returning starters. Demetric Williams and Carl Hall, both seniors. Ron Baker beat out Williams for the starting role. The other player that was beaten was Nick Wiggins, JUCO AA. While the reports coming out of practice were glowing about Ron, I was hesitant to get on the bandwagon…until I saw him play. I imagine that if your JUCO can't play D…and Austin can…that Ruder will get the nod to start.

I'll be watching Austin with anticipation.