UNI at CU

[TravelingPanther]

Re: UNI at CU

...and the University of Wisconsin is right across the river. I really wish he would have went to a big ten school so he could have matched up against other bigs his size, instead of matching up against valley "centers" six inches shorter than him pushing him in the lower back the entire game.

With that said, I still believe Jordan has what it takes to be an all-conference player in the valley, I just believe the style of play in this league is not very well-suited for him. Put him on a team in the big ten and this "sluggishness" you talk of would not be obvious next to other centers his size and weight.

Above all of this, Jordan is about the nicest kid you would ever find on or off the basketball court, and while I understand message board is for fans to talk about the game of basketball, I think it's time some of you should get off his back!

Jordan is a very nice kid. It does suck when he is always up against shorter posts.

BUT, it also sucks when he misses gimme shots against these shorter posts. There's no reason for that. He doesn't look much better matched up against 7 fters, minus the Wyoming game.

[jman2004]

Re: UNI at CU

First being a senior only means he should be playing smarter and that hasn't seemed to be the case all the time this year. He's had good games and bad, but his bad games aren't just because he has an "off" shooting, but because his effort and focus aren't there. That might be acceptable for a Fr or So, but shouldn't be the case with a senior.

I just think that as a senior, he should be given a longer leash. Not a shorter one because of higher expectations.

I agree with ya, he's had "bad" games and "bad" moments this season, but so has every other player on the team. And I'm not just talking about coming in off the bench. You're right, that's where he's effective and that's what he's used to. But it's hard to be focused when you're playing to "not be benched" and only getting 16 minutes a game, split in two halves of game time.

I would love to see Travis on the court, a solid 20+ minutes per game from here on out. Not only would do I think it would be good for us, I think he deserves it.

[Panther-Sheik]

Re: UNI at CU

First being a senior only means he should be playing smarter and that hasn't seemed to be the case all the time this year. He's had good games and bad, but his bad games aren't just because he has an "off" shooting, but because his effort and focus aren't there. That might be acceptable for a Fr or So, but shouldn't be the case with a senior.

Geez...sounds like the Coleman bashing of a year ago all over again. EVERY kid has a bad game...and it has nothing to do with age. Cripes, every pro has a bad game. Sometimes you shoot poorly and sometimes the mind says do something and the body simply won't...From your posts, I'm starting to question if you ever suited up (football or basketball for that matter) or have just been a lifelong observer and armchair QB. Either way, if you have unrealistic expectations, you WILL be let down no matter what.

[Da Hog]

Re: UNI at CU

I like our chances after a great win and a quality game played down at SIU. We should be able to walk into any gym in conference and have an above average chance at gettign a "W". Even if there are 3x the fans.

[Khan4Cats]

Re: UNI at CU

Geez...sounds like the Coleman bashing of a year ago all over again. EVERY kid has a bad game...and it has nothing to do with age. Cripes, every pro has a bad game. Sometimes you shoot poorly and sometimes the mind says do something and the body simply won't...From your posts, I'm starting to question if you ever suited up (football or basketball for that matter) or have just been a lifelong observer and armchair QB. Either way, if you have unrealistic expectations, you WILL be let down no matter what.

This is laughable. I have unrealistic expectations?!? Too funny. I expect that a senior would at least know how to move his feet on defense and not constantly get called for silly reaching fouls. I expect a senior to not just come up court and chuck up a three without even passing it to a teammate.

Again, note what I said about bad games. Having an "off" shooting night is one thing. It happens to everyone. Having an "off" mental night should not happen, especially with a senior. You can always control how much effort you are putting in on defense, how you approach the game on offense-looking to pass if your shot is off, trying to get inside for easier shots, etc. It seems to me, as I said, that Travis' bad games are more on the effort side, and that is where a senior should be a leader.

Yes, it does sound a lot like Coleman last year. Same kind of deal. When Coleman was mentally into the game he was a near unstoppable force and he lifted the entire team with him. Unfortunately, when he wasn't into the game (which was about as often as he was into it), he could bring the whole team down just as quick.

Josten WAS a leader. He played with the same energy whether or not his shot was falling. Viet was another leader. He didn't have all of the athletic tools (quickness, jumping ability) but he made up for it with smart positioning and busting his tail when he was on the floor.

And as for whether or not I played, sounds to me more like you might be the bitter arm-chair only-type. I did play. I was never the most talented out there but I worked my tail off. Was never a regular starter in high school sports (was a back-up and second leading rebounder despite giving up 6 inches to most of the posts I played against, used as a reserve/utility/pinch-hitter in baseball, gave up football after a neck injury) but I did manage to work myself into two years of college baseball, starting about half the time my second year.

Effort (or lack there-of) ALWAYS earns what is put in to it.

I hope to see Travis out there giving the team that. We will need him against the flurry of guards Creighton will throw at us.

[Jet]

Re: UNI at CU

What a stupid post by Rob Weiss.Why wouldn't we want our best rebounder,shot-blocker,2nd on team in scoring and by far our most effecient shooter to play.hopefully if anything you don't post any more garbage on here.

[TravelingPanther]

Re: UNI at CU

What a stupid post by Rob Weiss.Why wouldn't we want our best rebounder,shot-blocker,2nd on team in scoring and by far our most effecient shooter to play.hopefully if anything you don't post any more garbage on here.

How many points does he give up to shorter, faster big men? How many easy lay ups does he miss? This game just might not be a good match-up for him. Ever think about that?

[06panther10]

Re: UNI at CU

Any time we face a team with ANY athleticism in the post, Jordan does not play much. And for good reason, because he gets owned every time.

[UNIFanSince1983]

Re: UNI at CU

How many times does he get blocked by these shorter post players? Obviously so much that he resorts to fade aways. I would like to see him go up strong and try to dunk on people. I've seen him dunk before so it shouldn't be unrealistic.

I don't want to say he shouldn't play. Infact against shorter players we need him in there banging on them with his size so they get worn out. There is just a point where he is a slight liability on defense due to not having the speed to match up with the type of post player you see in this league.

Now that is it for me talking bad about our players as I like them all and think we need them all to get us to where we ALL want to be.

I am very concerned about this Creighton game. For some reason we cannot win in Omaha and no matter whether it was Mac or Jake, Altman seems to have our number. They may have been playing a lot more man to man this year I just can't see them doing it this game. We have the size advantage so they will junk zone us to take this away. I know for the first 3 conference games we have been shooting lights out from 3 point range, but I am wondering how much longer it can happen. I think the key will be our defensive intensity and our shooting. If we have the same defensive intensity we had against Wichita and can shoot around 45% from 3 land I think we have a good chance to sneak out with a win. Will it happen we can only find out tomorrow...

[TravelingPanther]

Re: UNI at CU

I would like to see him go up strong and try to dunk on people.

I think he maybe has 5 dunks in his years here. Not sure why he always lays it in. It's an easy 2 points and would get the crowd pumped.

I'm not trying to bash Jordan, I just think he's been struggling this year, especially in this kind of game.

[SMK4UNI]

Re: UNI at CU

Is this game going to be televised?

[Panther-Sheik]

Re: UNI at CU

This is laughable. I have unrealistic expectations?!? Too funny. I expect that a senior would at least know how to move his feet on defense and not constantly get called for silly reaching fouls. I expect a senior to not just come up court and chuck up a three without even passing it to a teammate.

Again, note what I said about bad games. Having an "off" shooting night is one thing. It happens to everyone. Having an "off" mental night should not happen, especially with a senior. You can always control how much effort you are putting in on defense, how you approach the game on offense-looking to pass if your shot is off, trying to get inside for easier shots, etc. It seems to me, as I said, that Travis' bad games are more on the effort side, and that is where a senior should be a leader.

Yes, it does sound a lot like Coleman last year. Same kind of deal. When Coleman was mentally into the game he was a near unstoppable force and he lifted the entire team with him. Unfortunately, when he wasn't into the game (which was about as often as he was into it), he could bring the whole team down just as quick.

Josten WAS a leader. He played with the same energy whether or not his shot was falling. Viet was another leader. He didn't have all of the athletic tools (quickness, jumping ability) but he made up for it with smart positioning and busting his tail when he was on the floor.

And as for whether or not I played, sounds to me more like you might be the bitter arm-chair only-type. I did play. I was never the most talented out there but I worked my tail off. Was never a regular starter in high school sports (was a back-up and second leading rebounder despite giving up 6 inches to most of the posts I played against, used as a reserve/utility/pinch-hitter in baseball, gave up football after a neck injury) but I did manage to work myself into two years of college baseball, starting about half the time my second year.

Effort (or lack there-of) ALWAYS earns what is put in to it.

I hope to see Travis out there giving the team that. We will need him against the flurry of guards Creighton will throw at us.

What's garbage to me is that you, "Mr. Positive", seem to find a way to call into question a player's heart and mental toughness when they have a down game. That is much worse than the questioning of Jordan's athletic abilities, IMO. And, just for the record, in the 2 minutes that TB played (until the end) the other night, how did you exactly determine that his heart or head wasn't in it? Or better yet, you say it doesn't come down to missing shots, but if TB had hit 4 three's in the first half the other night, would you or anyone really question his heart and defensive effort? I say no...because I saw Ali get used early and often at the beginning of the game when Harrah scored 11 straight for WSU. Thankfully, he was allowed to stay in and hit some big shots later in the game and little to nothing has been said of his defensive deficiencies. But I never questioned his desire to play or his mental abilities as an upper classman during the game regardless of the fouls or the mistakes he made. The good thing is that it sounds like you had the game of your life everytime out, with intensity and smarts unmatched by anyone....MR. PERFECT!!

[Khan4Cats]

Re: UNI at CU

What's garbage to me is that you, "Mr. Positive", seem to find a way to call into question a player's heart and mental toughness when they have a down game. That is much worse than the questioning of Jordan's athletic abilities, IMO. And, just for the record, in the 2 minutes that TB played (until the end) the other night, how did you exactly determine that his heart or head wasn't in it? Or better yet, you say it doesn't come down to missing shots, but if TB had hit 4 three's in the first half the other night, would you or anyone really question his heart and defensive effort? I say no...because I saw Ali get used early and often at the beginning of the game when Harrah scored 11 straight for WSU. Thankfully, he was allowed to stay in and hit some big shots later in the game and little to nothing has been said of his defensive deficiencies. But I never questioned his desire to play or his mental abilities as an upper classman during the game regardless of the fouls or the mistakes he made. The good thing is that it sounds like you had the game of your life everytime out, with intensity and smarts unmatched by anyone....MR. PERFECT!!

Okay Sheik, guess I must be your little Jihad here, I never said I was perfect. I said that players have exactly one thing that they can always control and that is the intensity of the effort they put in. Sometimes the shots don't fall, sometimes the other team just has a better game, any number of things. But effort will give you a least a chance every time, the first half the other day was a perfect example.

What did I see in two minutes from Travis? I saw a player taking shots outside of the system. Were there a couple others that did as well? Yes. But if this is truly your senior leader, then he should know better than anyone what the system is and how to stay in it. His defensive effort, mainly on boxing out a couple of times was bad as well. Yes, the ball was being volleyed, but part of that was because Travis' man was able to get to it because no body was put on him. What would you do as a coach if your senior leader were doing those things? Just let him stay in because he's a senior? Great way to get the TEAM all on the same page. For what it's worth, Kwadzo also started slow (speaking of the guy actually guarding Hannah early) and was benched for about a six minute stretch in the first. Do I know why he was put in and not Brown? No, I don't. But he went in and executed the system from that point on.

Like I said, Travis is an important part of this team, and when he is putting forth the effort, he brings a lot to the team. He was part of the effort that got us back in the game against Indiana State, he put up 8 big points and had a solid all-around first-half at Carbondale. We will need him against Creighton because he has the size and quickness to play with their wings. I am hoping he contributes.

Someone commented that he can't contribute when he only plays 15 minutes or so and I made a comment/observation about how his "off" games seem to differ from others, in that he doesn't seem to have the focus always. A lot of that may simply be that he carries bad offense over to his defense more than others, I don't know. What I do know is that he seemed really flat and was apparently, based on Jake's reaction, not doing what he should have been.

If you read the rest of the post that you started this tantrum over, you would note that I was positive about what Travis brings to the team off the bench and what we need from him for this game.

I was also the first to mention Jordan maybe not being a big factor in this game. Again, this was not a knock on Jordan but more an observation of the type of game I expect. Would I love to see us establish an inside game early and force Creighton to match us? Sure. The point is, they just don't have the bodies in the paint to do that so I don't really expect them to try. If we insist on sticking with a straight man-to-man defense, then there will be a bad match-up for Jordan on that end.

[PantherRex]

Re: UNI at CU

Okay Sheik, guess I must be your little Jihad here, I never said I was perfect. I said that players have exactly one thing that they can always control and that is the intensity of the effort they put in. Sometimes the shots don't fall, sometimes the other team just has a better game, any number of things. But effort will give you a least a chance every time, the first half the other day was a perfect example.

What did I see in two minutes from Travis? I saw a player taking shots outside of the system. Were there a couple others that did as well? Yes. But if this is truly your senior leader, then he should know better than anyone what the system is and how to stay in it. His defensive effort, mainly on boxing out a couple of times was bad as well. Yes, the ball was being volleyed, but part of that was because Travis' man was able to get to it because no body was put on him. What would you do as a coach if your senior leader were doing those things? Just let him stay in because he's a senior? Great way to get the TEAM all on the same page. For what it's worth, Kwadzo also started slow (speaking of the guy actually guarding Hannah early) and was benched for about a six minute stretch in the first. Do I know why he was put in and not Brown? No, I don't. But he went in and executed the system from that point on.

Like I said, Travis is an important part of this team, and when he is putting forth the effort, he brings a lot to the team. He was part of the effort that got us back in the game against Indiana State, he put up 8 big points and had a solid all-around first-half at Carbondale. We will need him against Creighton because he has the size and quickness to play with their wings. I am hoping he contributes.

Someone commented that he can't contribute when he only plays 15 minutes or so and I made a comment/observation about how his "off" games seem to differ from others, in that he doesn't seem to have the focus always. A lot of that may simply be that he carries bad offense over to his defense more than others, I don't know. What I do know is that he seemed really flat and was apparently, based on Jake's reaction, not doing what he should have been.

If you read the rest of the post that you started this tantrum over, you would note that I was positive about what Travis brings to the team off the bench and what we need from him for this game.

I was also the first to mention Jordan maybe not being a big factor in this game. Again, this was not a knock on Jordan but more an observation of the type of game I expect. Would I love to see us establish an inside game early and force Creighton to match us? Sure. The point is, they just don't have the bodies in the paint to do that so I don't really expect them to try. If we insist on sticking with a straight man-to-man defense, then there will be a bad match-up for Jordan on that end.

Good Grief Man. This is a game thread, less than a page long, and you already have 4 posts of at least 250 words.

[Khan4Cats]

Re: UNI at CU

Good Grief Man. This is a game thread, less than a page long, and you already have 4 posts of at least 250 words.

Sorry, I don't speak in sound bytes.

GO Panthers.

Is that better?