Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, November 11
Fort Collins, CO
7:30 PM
Colorado State
2-0,0-0Mountain West
80
vs
69
Southeastern Louisiana
1-1,0-0Southland
1
2
F
Southeastern La.
40
29
69
Colorado St.
42
38
80
Rams Pull Away Late For Second Win
11/11/2022 10:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Early stressful minutes accelerating team's growth
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Just a bit of stress to start the season.
Two games into the campaign, nothing has been easy. In the second half of Friday's game at Moby Arena, there was no flow either, not with a combined 26 fouls called between Colorado State and Southeastern Louisiana. Halfway through, both teams were already in the bonus.
The start of the 2022-23 campaign has calloused the Rams a bit, and that's not completely a terrible thing.
"I think it's great. I mean it's great for a guy like Tavi Jackson to be out there in crunch time playing in these kinds of games," CSU men's head coach Niko Medved said after an 80-69 victory. "What you can see from Tavi, he's going to make some great, athletic plays and then he's going to make a couple of freshman mistakes that way, but that's part of learning for him.
"He's not afraid of the moment, wants to be coached, wants to be good. I think him getting those minutes, and some of these other guys, the Joe Palmer's, the Baylor Hebb's, those guys getting a chance to play more and being in that kind of a role is great. It's also great for a Jalen Lake and an Isaiah Rivera, who have now really bought their time and now they're getting to be in a major, major role here early for us. They're really answering the bell, but it's only going to make us a better team in the long run."
Jackson, a true freshman, is happy with the way it's played out. He understands he's getting more minutes early in his career because Isaiah Stevens is sidelined, but he's making the most of what he's getting.
He admits everything is different in the jump from prep star to collegiate newcomer, particularly the speed of the game, but these minutes – the high pressure ones – build character and a memory bank of how to approach the key stretches.
"For sure, because without this experience, I would have come in next year kind of slow," he said. "I'm glad it's right here right now, so I can get that out of the way."
There's no experience like game experience, but not all games are created equal. Take Friday. The Rams came out hot early and finished the first 20 minutes 8-of-15 from deep. But guess what? So did the Lions, resulting in a 42-40 CSU advantage at the break.
In the second half, both teams lost the range from 3, and then the physical play started to get interrupted by a series of whistles. In the final 20 minutes, there were more fouls (26) called than field goals made (23).
"It's tough. Especially for us," Patrick Cartier said. "One of our main strengths is playing fast and getting the ball out in transition. There was a lot of stoppages, which is nice for the cardio aspect of it."
For the majority of the half, with no real flow, the game was tight. The Rams did hold a nine-point edge with 10:03 remaining, but in the time remaining, much of it was spent in the situation where it was a two-possession game. The Rams never trailed, but they were tied at the 7:10 mark and constantly defending any ground gained.
A 6-0 run down the stretch helped widen the gap, with a host of Rams required to make contributions. Those minutes, Medved believes they count more.
"I think so. Anytime you're in close games where every decision matters, those are huge," Medved said. "It helps you emotionally, mentally learning how to play. It slows down for you, it builds confidence. They've played some great minutes here in the first couple of games."
Down the line, each Ram had to do their part, and for the first time since 2020, the team had six players finish in double figures. Cartier led the way with 17, with Rivera and John Tonje each adding 13. James Moors had 11 on a perfect night from the floor, including a 3, and Lake and Jackson both finished with 10.
The same balanced helped with the boards, with Lake and Cartier both with seven. Every Ram who played had at least one assist, five with multiple as Lake paved the way with six. With Medved having to protect a few players from getting into serious foul trouble, at some point, they all had a contribution to make.
"That's something we definitely pride ourselves on," Cartier said. "We're not a one-trick pony, and our offense allows us to share the ball and that type of stuff. That's why you saw that scoring distribution, I think."
This isn't the team the Rams expected to start the season with, thanks to injuries. It's a younger team, and one which still hasn't had Josiah Strong in the mix. Adversity was expected, and it's come in waves so far, which has aged them. Well, Medved would say, looking at a pair of wins.
Two games into the campaign, nothing has been easy. In the second half of Friday's game at Moby Arena, there was no flow either, not with a combined 26 fouls called between Colorado State and Southeastern Louisiana. Halfway through, both teams were already in the bonus.
The start of the 2022-23 campaign has calloused the Rams a bit, and that's not completely a terrible thing.
"I think it's great. I mean it's great for a guy like Tavi Jackson to be out there in crunch time playing in these kinds of games," CSU men's head coach Niko Medved said after an 80-69 victory. "What you can see from Tavi, he's going to make some great, athletic plays and then he's going to make a couple of freshman mistakes that way, but that's part of learning for him.
"He's not afraid of the moment, wants to be coached, wants to be good. I think him getting those minutes, and some of these other guys, the Joe Palmer's, the Baylor Hebb's, those guys getting a chance to play more and being in that kind of a role is great. It's also great for a Jalen Lake and an Isaiah Rivera, who have now really bought their time and now they're getting to be in a major, major role here early for us. They're really answering the bell, but it's only going to make us a better team in the long run."
Jackson, a true freshman, is happy with the way it's played out. He understands he's getting more minutes early in his career because Isaiah Stevens is sidelined, but he's making the most of what he's getting.
He admits everything is different in the jump from prep star to collegiate newcomer, particularly the speed of the game, but these minutes – the high pressure ones – build character and a memory bank of how to approach the key stretches.
"For sure, because without this experience, I would have come in next year kind of slow," he said. "I'm glad it's right here right now, so I can get that out of the way."
There's no experience like game experience, but not all games are created equal. Take Friday. The Rams came out hot early and finished the first 20 minutes 8-of-15 from deep. But guess what? So did the Lions, resulting in a 42-40 CSU advantage at the break.
In the second half, both teams lost the range from 3, and then the physical play started to get interrupted by a series of whistles. In the final 20 minutes, there were more fouls (26) called than field goals made (23).
"It's tough. Especially for us," Patrick Cartier said. "One of our main strengths is playing fast and getting the ball out in transition. There was a lot of stoppages, which is nice for the cardio aspect of it."
For the majority of the half, with no real flow, the game was tight. The Rams did hold a nine-point edge with 10:03 remaining, but in the time remaining, much of it was spent in the situation where it was a two-possession game. The Rams never trailed, but they were tied at the 7:10 mark and constantly defending any ground gained.
A 6-0 run down the stretch helped widen the gap, with a host of Rams required to make contributions. Those minutes, Medved believes they count more.
"I think so. Anytime you're in close games where every decision matters, those are huge," Medved said. "It helps you emotionally, mentally learning how to play. It slows down for you, it builds confidence. They've played some great minutes here in the first couple of games."
Down the line, each Ram had to do their part, and for the first time since 2020, the team had six players finish in double figures. Cartier led the way with 17, with Rivera and John Tonje each adding 13. James Moors had 11 on a perfect night from the floor, including a 3, and Lake and Jackson both finished with 10.
The same balanced helped with the boards, with Lake and Cartier both with seven. Every Ram who played had at least one assist, five with multiple as Lake paved the way with six. With Medved having to protect a few players from getting into serious foul trouble, at some point, they all had a contribution to make.
"That's something we definitely pride ourselves on," Cartier said. "We're not a one-trick pony, and our offense allows us to share the ball and that type of stuff. That's why you saw that scoring distribution, I think."
This isn't the team the Rams expected to start the season with, thanks to injuries. It's a younger team, and one which still hasn't had Josiah Strong in the mix. Adversity was expected, and it's come in waves so far, which has aged them. Well, Medved would say, looking at a pair of wins.
Team Stats
SL
CSU
FG%
.424
.531
3FG%
.444
.381
FT%
.700
.741
RB
25
38
TO
10
10
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Colorado State Basketball (M): Season 1 - Ep. 1
Sunday, August 10
Ramily - CSU Men's Basketball
Tuesday, August 05
Ram Line - Shoot Around with Josh Pascarelli & Darnez Slater (MBB)
Monday, August 04
Behind the White Board - Ken DeWeese
Monday, August 04