Colorado State Basketball: Thoughts From The Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic
The Rams finished fourth in the Shriners Classic
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Where do the Rams go from here?
The Colorado State Rams faced some good competition in the Charleston Classic and came home with some things to work on. They beat South Carolina convincingly 85-53 before falling to Charleston and Penn State, 74-64 and 68-56 respectively. What takeaways are there for the Rams from these games?
When the Rams are on, they’re on
Against South Carolina, the Rams showed a different style of basketball then they usually play. They played down low and did so effectively. As a team, CSU shot 58.3% from the floor. They went to the block, they were cutting effectively, and the Rams were making their jump shots.
Colorado State forced the Gamecocks to play to them. GG Jackson got his haul with 20 point and seven rebounds, but only two others scored more than five points and none more than 10. Meanwhile the Rams had four players in double figures.
Great performance from @CSUMBasketball today! Everyone stepped up and contributed! On to the semis! #TeamTogether https://t.co/UCy4nRtecc
— Niko Medved (@coachNikoMedved) November 18, 2022
When they’re off, they’re off
It all came to a head against Charleston and Penn State. The Rams couldn’t buy a bucket even when they were getting good looks. Nothing was going in and it seemed to effect the morale of the players. One could tell CSU was getting frustrated and they were letting it affect their play.
Over all three games, the Rams shot 24% from behind the arc. They also had trouble getting to the line averaging just over 11 attempts from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, their opponents averaged 17 attempts from the line. If a team can catch the Rams on an off day, it won’t be a pretty affair.
Someone needs to step up with Stevens out
When the news that Isaiah Stevens went out with a foot injury hit, the thought went to who steps up in his place. The immediate thought was John Tonje, especially after his opening night performance against Oral Roberts last season. Through six games of this season, however, no one has really stood out as a leader.
The Rams are playing too much team ball and it gets frustrating at times. Some of the players need to be more selfish. Head coach Niko Medved wants ball movement, but at times on the court the team passes too much. One guy needs to step up and be that selfish guy and take the shot.
Did you know @johntonje1 recorded his first career double-double last night? The senior had 1⃣4⃣ points and 1⃣3⃣ rebounds!#Stalwart x #TeamTogether pic.twitter.com/TZ2bgPnKLk
— Colorado State Men’s Basketball (@CSUMBasketball) November 21, 2022
Forget and Move on
Now that these games have happened. The Rams need to learn from them, but they also need to put them in the back of their minds and move on. There are lessons you can take from a loss, but you cannot dwell on one or it will dog you for the rest of the season.
There are seven more games left in the non-conference portion of the CSU schedule. They need to use those games to see who really wants it. Someone needs to step up and be the man. You can experiment in these next seven games, but come conference time this team needs to be on.
