Half Way Mark

[JagsNCats]

What are your thoughts regarding the difference between this year's team and the 2008-9 UNI Men's Basketball team? Here we are at 14-1 overall, 5-0 in the MVC while last year we were 9-6, 3-1 in the Valley.

Some points to consider:

Last year we had three guards that had not played any games together and took awhile to gel. The same group has started 27 consecutive games now.

Jordan was injured early in last year's preseason and it took time before his strength and conditioning were was back. This year Jordan has been healthy and confident.

Lucas was suspended the first three games of last season.

Last year's team struggled to find it's defensive consistency. This year we've held 6 teams to 50 points or less and according to USA Today are 7th in the nation in team defense giving up only 57.1 ppg before yesterday's game.

We have a deep bench this year that keeps the starters well rested and in many games has actually given us the lead or extended the lead when they're in the game.

I'm sure that there are many reasons but I thought I'd mention a few and toss it out there for others to comment.

[achrist70]

Re: Half Way Mark

What are your thoughts regarding the difference between this year's team and the 2008-9 UNI Men's Basketball team? Here we are at 14-1 overall, 5-0 in the MVC while last year we were 9-6, 3-1 in the Valley.

Some points to consider:

Last year we had three guards that had not played any games together and took awhile to gel. The same group has started 27 consecutive games now.

Jordan was injured early in last year's preseason and it took time before his strength and conditioning were was back. This year Jordan has been healthy and confident.

Lucas was suspended the first three games of last season.

Last year's team struggled to find it's defensive consistency. This year we've held 6 teams to 50 points or less and according to USA Today are 7th in the nation in team defense giving up only 57.1 ppg before yesterday's game.

We have a deep bench this year that keeps the starters well rested and in many games has actually given us the lead or extended the lead when they're in the game.

I'm sure that there are many reasons but I thought I'd mention a few and toss it out there for others to comment.

This, but isn't more games in a row than 27.

Also we have confidence, from last year, being able to win in hostile environments.

[Purrrrrfect]

Re: Half Way Mark

Not to get to far ahead of myself/ourselves...The way we are playing, the only really toiugh tough game i see remaining on the road is WSU. We finished the hardest part of the schedule by far...a three game stretch on the road against the 3 top 5 teams (i still think CU is a good team) with a 3-0 record. a win at WSU puts a checkmark on a superior road season for one and a regular season in general.

Magic number is already 10 for not playing on Thursday

[Blue42]

Re: Half Way Mark

30-6 since January 1, 2008.

.833 winning percentage.

Enjoy the ride folks.

[Panthers to the Bone]

Re: Half Way Mark

There is no doubt that consistency is a key component to the success. The fact that the starting five really don't care who carries them each night, they just want to win. You see Jordan exploding some nights and playing upwards of 30 minutes, and then the next game, he plays only 15 or 16 depending on how good he or others are playing on that night. Ali didn't score much last week, and Johnny has been hit and miss with his offensive production, but the bottom line is that these guys have brought it defensively every night. In conference play, they are hitting ther FT's. The bench is playing unselfishly, with a mix of experience and youth. Anytime you can develop depth and experience by allowing the younger guys to come off the bench, think it's a positive. Less pressure=more comfort.

[9YRPLAN]

Re: Half Way Mark

i think its 47 games in a row.

depth is part of it. i love how the youngsters are getting meaningful minutes together in the first half with little dropoff. the depth also allows jake to go with the hot hand at times.

our defense is simply suffocating. i dont think that we are necessarily a lockdown man-to-man team but our help, recovery, and rotation is nothing short of spectacular. although, several of our guys can play great MTM defense. it is so disheartening to the opponent to make 5-6 crisp passes and still have no one open. great defense is what gets you through the poor shooting nights.

the pace of play is just incredibly improved from Jake's early years. we push the ball when its there, and when we take early threes, the other guys on the floor are ready for them and able to get offensive rebounds. we constantly have guys cutting through to the hoop...very little standing around the perimeter.

adam koch must have really put some time in on his outside shooting. his improvement is nothing short of miraculous. wasnt he like 1-24 as a frosh? i can see him making an NBA roster.

[06panther10]

Re: Half Way Mark

30-6 since January 1, 2008.

.833 winning percentage.

Enjoy the ride folks.

that HAS to be a school record for a 12 mo. period.

[06panther10]

Re: Half Way Mark

i think its 47 games in a row.

depth is part of it. i love how the youngsters are getting meaningful minutes together in the first half with little dropoff. the depth also allows jake to go with the hot hand at times.

our defense is simply suffocating. i dont think that we are necessarily a lockdown man-to-man team but our help, recovery, and rotation is nothing short of spectacular. although, several of our guys can play great MTM defense. it is so disheartening to the opponent to make 5-6 crisp passes and still have no one open. great defense is what gets you through the poor shooting nights.

the pace of play is just incredibly improved from Jake's early years. we push the ball when its there, and when we take early threes, the other guys on the floor are ready for them and able to get offensive rebounds. we constantly have guys cutting through to the hoop...very little standing around the perimeter.

adam koch must have really put some time in on his outside shooting. his improvement is nothing short of miraculous. wasnt he like 1-24 as a frosh? i can see him making an NBA roster.

That is what is key IMO. We don't play awesome lock down man to man D, kind of like SIU did in recent years, but we play just fantastic team defense. We rarely give up easy baskets. I mean seriously, pay attention to it next time. Teams just flat out stuggle to get good shots, and they are totally demoralized by the seceond half.

[CyCarp]

Re: Half Way Mark

This may be the first team that I can honestly say I love watching them play D. It amazes me how they rarely give up good looks.

[Big Cats]

Re: Half Way Mark

I agree with everything that's been mentioned along with this: This team is versatile. By that I mean, they can play a slow-down half court grind it out style of basketball like the SIU and ISU games or they can push the ball up the court and light up the scoreboard like in the B.C., Siena, and Missouri State games when they scored over 80 all three times. AND we have a smart coach who knows what style of play to use based on the opponent.

[UNIPNTHR]

Re: Half Way Mark

We finished the hardest part of the schedule by far...a three game stretch on the road against the 3 top 5 teams (i still think CU is a good team) with a 3-0 record. a win at WSU puts a checkmark on a superior road season for one and a regular season in general.

It's huge for us that we've started off so well while playing on the road. Which got me thinking... it seems like we've had trouble utilizing or developing a homecourt advantage in the last couple years. So I decided to tabulate caoch Jake's home/road records to see if anything stuck out:

        Home    Road   Total
2010     2-0     3-0     5-0
2009     6-3     8-1    14-4
2008     6-3     3-6     9-9
2007     5-4     4-5     9-9

Maybe it will just take the team a few years in the McLeod to feel at home. I would assume this will improve as we now have recruiting classes that will spend their entire UNI career playing/practicing in our arena.

[UNI Prof]

Re: Half Way Mark

i think its 47 games in a row.

depth is part of it. i love how the youngsters are getting meaningful minutes together in the first half with little dropoff. the depth also allows jake to go with the hot hand at times.

our defense is simply suffocating. i dont think that we are necessarily a lockdown man-to-man team but our help, recovery, and rotation is nothing short of spectacular. although, several of our guys can play great MTM defense. it is so disheartening to the opponent to make 5-6 crisp passes and still have no one open. great defense is what gets you through the poor shooting nights.

the pace of play is just incredibly improved from Jake's early years. we push the ball when its there, and when we take early threes, the other guys on the floor are ready for them and able to get offensive rebounds. we constantly have guys cutting through to the hoop...very little standing around the perimeter.

adam koch must have really put some time in on his outside shooting. his improvement is nothing short of miraculous. wasnt he like 1-24 as a frosh? i can see him making an NBA roster.

Koch was a good shooter when he arrived at UNI. If you ever watched warmups or a practice, he was deadly from 3-point range. For whatever reason, it never translated to games until this year (or last year a bit).

[DrewDog]

Re: Half Way Mark

I think Adam has been helped not having to play as many minutes as last year and able to work the perimeter with JE playing more minutes and being a force inside. Jake and Kerwin's play have also helped. The Panthers have 9 players playing 10 minutes or more and in many cases they are interchangeable parts, which is something we have not had in the past.

['70 Grad]

Re: Half Way Mark

Two points:

1. We are doing it this year when we are not sneaking up on anyone. Last year (even though we won at SIU & CU) the rest of the league saw our first semester record and thought we would finish as predicted preseason - until our long road streak showed something was going on. This year, we are getting every one's best game (like the football team usually has to contend with).

2. We are not relying on outside shots. Yes, we have people - several - who can put daggers in the other team from outside. But it sure is nice that we don't have to rely on hot outside shooting to have a chance to win, as some past teams did a little bit. 7 foot stays the same from game to game. The moves that JE showed Sat. were (for him) amazing, and hard to stop from that big a man. Steady Adam had a "quiet" 15 points - unmatched by the other team.

Perhaps opponents will be doubling down more again, but they know we have weapons outside. They have picked their poison, and we are 5-0.

Versatility. Confidence. Hard work/attitude/chemistry. Coaching. This is the Golden Age of Panther BB.

[Griffitz]

Re: Half Way Mark

This year, we are getting every one's best game (like the football team usually has to contend with).

While I definitely agree that we have played stellar defense the last two games, for whatever reason I don't think either team (SIU or ISU) gave us their best shot. Especially for being at home, I expected a lot more of their shots to go in rather than clank out, and we got a lot more hustle plays in both (as expected, but still). But maybe that's just a testament to the will of this Panther team.