Picked to finish 7th...

[BCPanther]

Re: Picked to finish 7th...

Inexperienced Players + Inexperienced Coach + No True PG= Some Head Scratching Results...

Considering everything that happened this year, I will take 6th. I fully agree that with some different decisions and some different plays made by the team at different times that we could have finished 3rd or 4th. The two conference games that stick out to me that we should have gotten and been 11-7 are the home game against BU and the road game at Mizzou St where we didn't show up...

I think we will take a huge step forward next year with some experience on the wings and three guys that can legitimately play the point...

But we still have a weekend in StL, lets go get the Salukis and see what havoc we can cause down there...

[UnderParPanther]

Re: Picked to finish 7th...

coulda won at drake too

[Matt Trump]

Re: Picked to finish 7th...

Preseason coaches/media predictions aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

True, but they are discussed. Look at Drake, they came "out of nowhere" and their season is more "magical" because they were picked to finish 9th. SIU and Mo State are "disappointments" this year and Barry Hinson might lose his job due to expectations.

[DrewDog]

Re: Picked to finish 7th...

I posted at the start of the year that if the Panthers went 9-9 in the Valley, it would be a good year. With that said, they left two more conference wins on the table and 2-3 non-conference wins on the table. It has been a puzzling year, at times I have coached our coaching and also the team's overall desire. Call it a hunch but watch this team continue to baffle me and make a run deep into Archmadness!

[TravelingPanther]

Re: Picked to finish 7th...

@ Drake...Bradley at home...

[unigriff]

Re: Picked to finish 7th...

Games to look back on:

1. Iowa...win that game, the fan support would have been a fair share better than a loss. And who knows what woulda happened with a better home court advantage.

2. @ Drake. Gotta finish!!!

3. Creighton Creighton Creighton

[KansasCityPanther]

Re: Picked to finish 7th...

Most teams have games they should have won. holy cow how does Iowa beat Mich St. That right there made a loss to to the Hawks a little eaiser to swallow.

Considering the adversity this team faced throughout the year, they have shown alot of toughness. Gary said last night there was 17 games this year that we either had somone hurt or not able to play. We lost to guards before the season even started, one was a sure starter.

5 winning seasons in a row, tied for 5th and very close to 3rd place (if we could only beat Creighton, now that would make for a great season).

Could we have done better sure, but I like our chances in St Louis!!!!

For anyone that wasn't sure about going to St. Louis, its a blast! I really like being the last game on Friday, more time to party! This year the wife and kids are staying home, so it's just a guys weekend. Can't wait! GO PANTHERS MAKE SOME MAGIC HAPPEN!

[UNI Prof]

Re: Picked to finish 7th...

Preseason coaches/media predictions aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

Over the course of the year, you see who you are and where you should be, and while a T-5th finish is nice, we had plenty of opportunity to be better this year. To reject cries of "under performing" now something far short of objective.

Would you care to explain how anyone can be "objective" in this sense?

[UNI Prof]

Re: Picked to finish 7th...

Quoted for truth! This is what many of us have been trying to say all along. This team coulda/shoulda/woulda been better, if a few things had fallen into place. Some curious coaching decisions certainly factored into that.

Well I'd better go hide before the angry mob shows up to berate me. I'm sure somewhere in that post someone will find where I just called for Jake to be fired right now, even before the Valley tourney game.

Couldn't one argue that this team "could/shoulda/woulda" be worse if a few other things would have gone wrong? Jake coached a team without a PG to a .500 Valley record.