"What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

[panther-state]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

I did ask them about him. They said he might end up being the best of the three and the tallest. They said that he plays basketball 24/7. I wouldn't expect family to say anything negative though.

I'm trying to remember clearly of when we last talked about this but didn't Jake or Adam mention that Bennett beat them 1-on-1? I know that shouldn't be a measuring stick for this kids talent really, but it kinda backs up what the relatives were saying.

[Blue42]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

According to them, McD did encourage KA, AK and JE to follow him to IA St. According to AK and JK's Aunt and Uncle, they collectively decided to honor their commitment to UNI. From what I have seen from Mc$, I believe their Aunt and Uncle.

The only reason I had for not disliking McD more was that he left UNI with the shelf stocked. But I see now this may have been despite him, not because of him.

Some will discredit the source, but I have a hard time believing an aunt/uncle would conjure that little piece of info.

No one should be surprised. McD's never done anything other than take of #1.

[UNI83]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

The only reason I had for not disliking McD more was that he left UNI with the shelf stocked. But I see now this may have been despite him, not because of him.

Some will discredit the source, but I have a hard time believing an aunt/uncle would conjure that little piece of info.

No one should be surprised. McD's never done anything other than take of #1.

I've heard a very similar, re: identical, story from multiple sources that were "closer" to the situation than pretty much anyone on here and in the UNI "family".

[ProwlingPanther]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

They also mentioned that there wasn't always great chemistry between KA and some of the others. That was the first I had heard of that and found it a bit surprising.

[panther-state]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

They also mentioned that there wasn't always great chemistry between KA and some of the others. That was the first I had heard of that and found it a bit surprising.

I could see him rubbing some of those guys the wrong way. I think he and Koch were two completely different guys, although both were leaders, I think we all saw times were Kwadzo was abrasive and vocal about when guys weren't in the right spot, missed assignments, etc...as an older member of the team I wouldn't want someone getting in my face or pointing out flaws like that.

[Mudrafan]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

As much as he was a tremendous player for UNI & a major reason we had great teams...there were a number of occasions I thought he was a major ball hog & made very poor decisions in terms of shot selection. He was not near the perimeter shooter as he thought he was.

[Trapped in California]

Give me 2 or 3 more Kwadzos on this team anytime in the future. Lead the team in very successful period in our history. Kept his name out of the paper for any negative issues. Graduated. What more could you ask for?

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

[jnutt]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

leaders aren't supposed to be liked all the time, you can't be a great leader without pissing off a few people or stepping on toes.

[ProwlingPanther]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

leaders aren't supposed to be liked all the time, you can't be a great leader without pissing off a few people or stepping on toes.

For the record.. I am a huge KA fan. The Aunt and Uncle I spoke with never said anything negative about KA. All they said is that their wasnt always good chemistry on the team. Most teams don't get along 100% off the time. They won together and I would bet if you asked any of them, there wouldnt be a player on the team during the Sweet 16 season that they would trade for someone else.

[UNI83]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

as an older member of the team I wouldn't want someone getting in my face or pointing out flaws like that.

You must not want to grow as a team and an individual player then, huh?

Flaws are flaws, no matter who points them out on the team. I'd rather have my starting PG (be it as a freshman or a senior) point out my flaws to me, even during a game, than him let me get exploited all game by the other team.

[CatsRule04]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

[QUOTE=Trapped in California;276514]Give me 2 or 3 more Kwadzos on this team anytime in the future. Lead the team in very successful period in our history. Kept his name out of the paper for any negative issues. Graduated. What more could you ask for?QUOTE]

Although not always crazy about KA's propensity to try to do "too much," I agree that he was a quality representative of the U of NI and seemed to be a quality young man and to genuinely give his all whenever on the court. Although I agree with anyone's right to express their opinion, no matter what it might be on this site, I must admit I find it somewhat distasteful to speak/write negatively about someone who totally "bought in" to the UNI program and dedicated themselves to us for 5 years.

[panther-state]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

As much as he was a tremendous player for UNI & a major reason we had great teams...there were a number of occasions I thought he was a major ball hog & made very poor decisions in terms of shot selection. He was not near the perimeter shooter as he thought he was.

Hey, would you rather he have been P'Allen?

Kwadzo made some poor decisions on the court, in terms of shot selection, but thats about as negative as things got with him. He was a great team leader, had tremendous talent and work ethic that allowed him to pull us through some thick situations and I think if not always having "great team chemistry" is one of the worst things you can say about him then I think that speaks lengths about what kind of player he was. He was a super nice guy to talk to as well, always willing to talk basketball with me in the admissions office and say "Hi" to prospective students on visits. O'Rear was the same way.

[pantherfan4ever]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

So, on my way home from work tonight I turned on OPR in time to hear the "What's bugging you" segment, or whatever it's called. There was a caller on, Joe from Dike, that got me going with his rant.

He went on about how these freshman aren't going to help the team, and Panther fans seem to have too many expectations for them. This part of his rant gave me a good chuckle - but I let it slide and thought he was more of a fan of some other state school (ISU, DU, or ISU) as well as UNI, but UNI was clearly second. Again, I was "okay" with that.

However, his next comment (which played off of the first one) really bugged me for some reason. He basically said that Jacobson hasn't done anything as UNI's coach and has yet to prove him self as a recruiter because last season wasn't as good as the S16 season. He said the only time Jacobson has had success is with, and this is what really got me, McDermott's players. Are you freaking kidding me Joe in Dike? I believe Jake and Coach Green were the recruiters on that class (Kwadzo, JE, Kerwin, Adam). Jacobson was the only head coach they ever played for. They were never on campus, other than a recruiting visit, when Mc$ was here. They are be no means Mc$'s players. How, if you post here (even if you do I doubt you will man up to this) can you justify them being Mc$'s players? What part of their success was due to Mc$? You probably think that Ali was recruited under Mc$ as well, don't you? Mc$ was 2 years gone by the time Ali signed.


Do you really believe Jake hasn't recruited players that are going to be big time players at UNI?

I know that stupid little segment shouldn't bother me, but damn.

Only thing I haven't really seen mentioned, in response to his crazy comments.... He says Jake hasn't proved anything because we didn't do well this past season. It's college basketball. Almost every team has rebuilding periods after they lose their best 3 players.. Even North Carolina had a rebuilding year. And even with that, Jake had our guys on a great run this season which would have likely ended with us winning the conference and making another NCAA appearance if O'Rear wouldn't have gotten injured. Not bad for a team that had a 6'6" post player as our only option. He showed his coaching ability over and over during the course of last season. Was really sad to see O'Rear go down with our guys coming together so well!

[panther-state]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

Only thing I haven't really seen mentioned, in response to his crazy comments.... He says Jake hasn't proved anything because we didn't do well this past season. It's college basketball. Almost every team has rebuilding periods after they lose their best 3 players.. Even North Carolina had a rebuilding year. And even with that, Jake had our guys on a great run this season which would have likely ended with us winning the conference and making another NCAA appearance if O'Rear wouldn't have gotten injured. Not bad for a team that had a 6'6" post player as our only option. He showed his coaching ability over and over during the course of last season. Was really sad to see O'Rear go down with our guys coming together so well!

And had things gone as planned in the offseason, we would've had a freshman all-american ready to step in for O'Rear and who knows what happens then.

[achrist70]

Re: "What's bugging you" - OPR segment rant

Doug wouldn't have replaced Lucas he isn't a true post he would have helped though.