LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

[Born-a-Panther]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

Eternity? nah. We're not even a week out, thus it is still fresh in everyone's minds. But I'm guessing it will fade from peoples memories fairly quickly.

UNI will still be remembered as the team that beat Kansas. Ali's shot will still be remembered. Jesperson's shot will still make highlight reels/montages. Yes, the TAMU loss will still be referenced occasionally for the next year or two, but it won't be the defining characteristic of UNI basketball.

It was a 3-seed beating an 11-seed (who was missing one of their key players during that segment due to injury). Big whoop.

What happened Sunday night will fade. Even just this morning I was on the phone with someone from Oklahoma whose first comment to me was, "I'm so glad you guys BEAT TEXAS!!!!" --- never even mentioned the second game. All she cared about was that Texas was defeated and that the shot went in the way it did.

Also - the national media is also picking up on how amazing our culture is. So... the fact that we blew that game isn't the only thing being focused on.

[Panther100]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

Lebron, go get a job!...

[Username]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

I'm not a Lebron defender, and it does come off quite douchey, but what I think he meant is that had happened to me, it would be so emotionally draining I'd quit basketball.

Different news sources have reported it, and put different headlines, and it's impacted the way people react to it.

[GonzoCat]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

I don't know why anyone would ask LJ about a college basketball game, he doesn't know anything about college bb. He's been a professional bb player since high school and never played a game in college, didn't even have to pretend to go to college for a year like they do now. So once they asked him someone was laughing at his response, he wasn't laughing or smiling or giving any indication he wasn't serious. I don't know him at all, that may be his style of joking, completely deadpan, I just don't know so I can't say.

As for the video that was at the link, not really related to LJ's comment, it was nice that the guy didn't want to call UNI chokers, it was a sign of the respect he has for the program. We love the team, we love the coach, those guys are not chokers in life, they are not chokers in basketball, but there is no real getting around the fact they choked away that last half minute of that game. They had statistically a 0% chance of losing because it had never been done before like that. In the future any team in the same situation will have a .01% chance of losing because it has happened once.

If you want to say they did not choke then you better not ever use that word to described any team or player again in the future. I think if we had a 3 point lead with 30 seconds left we win the game, because we would have played to win the game. What happened was they were so certain the game was won they made no attempt to make any kind of basketball play. They just wanted to hold the ball, get fouled, run out the clock, and celebrate making the sweet 16. And it was a snowball rolling downhill from there. A snowball in, or from, hell.

[UNI MadCat]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

Eternity? nah. We're not even a week out, thus it is still fresh in everyone's minds. But I'm guessing it will fade from peoples memories fairly quickly.

Couldn't disagree more. Mention the Cubs and people talk about Bartman and goats (and Merkles Boner, for you older fans that want a positive memory). Talk about Greg Norman and choking at the Masters inevitably comes up. Yankees/Red Sox conjures up "3-0" for one side and "Who's your daddy" for the other. Or worse yet for Boston...Bill Buckner. I could go on, but you get the point.

Like in the movie KingPin, nobody wants to get "Munsoned"...aka, they turn your name into a verb to explain something that everyone can instantly identify as negative. Anyone who thinks it's hyperbole to assume that "UNI'ing that game" isn't going to be verb used from now until eternity hasn't truly grasped the remarkable nature of what happened on Sunday...on CBB's grandest stage.

Does it really matter? Of course not. We all know this season doesn't need to be defined by 35 seconds.

All I'm saying is, compared to some idiotic joke session LBJ had with some reporters, to me that is of bigger significance.

[CyCarp]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

I'm not surprised. Our coach has shown more class in the past 72 hours that he's shown his entire career.

[unipanther2154]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

Couldn't disagree more. Mention the Cubs and people talk about Bartman and goats (and Merkles Boner, for you older fans that want a positive memory). Talk about Greg Norman and choking at the Masters inevitably comes up. Yankees/Red Sox conjures up "3-0" for one side and "Who's your daddy" for the other. Or worse yet for Boston...Bill Buckner. I could go on, but you get the point.

Like in the movie KingPin, nobody wants to get "Munsoned"...aka, they turn your name into a verb to explain something that everyone can instantly identify as negative. Anyone who thinks it's hyperbole to assume that "UNI'ing that game" isn't going to be verb used from now until eternity hasn't truly grasped the remarkable nature of what happened on Sunday...on CBB's grandest stage.

Does it really matter? Of course not. We all know this season doesn't need to be defined by 35 seconds.

All I'm saying is, compared to some idiotic joke session LBJ had with some reporters, to me that is of bigger significance.

We lost in the round of 32.....not the sweet 16, not the final 4. It will never be on the scale of those other things you mentioned. Ppl need to seriously move on and get over it. We were prob a sweet 16 team at best and Wernt going to go much further. I don't say that because lack of talent but I say it because we played 7 freaking players. Eventually that is going to catch up to you (like Robby actually playing in that game). It is what it is...those guys played hard and lost. Move on and stop pretending like ppl outside of us really care. It's something to talk about during the down time between games and will die out pretty quick, especially if they lose next week. Only way it doesn't is if they win it all. So please, everyone just chill out and enjoy what we saw this year. We will be back and we will be better in the near future.

[SteinPizza]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

We lost in the round of 32.....not the sweet 16, not the final 4. It will never be on the scale of those other things you mentioned. Ppl need to seriously move on and get over it. We were prob a sweet 16 team at best and Wernt going to go much further. I don't say that because lack of talent but I say it because we played 7 freaking players. Eventually that is going to catch up to you (like Robby actually playing in that game). It is what it is...those guys played hard and lost. Move on and stop pretending like ppl outside of us really care. It's something to talk about during the down time between games and will die out pretty quick, especially if they lose next week. Only way it doesn't is if they win it all. So please, everyone just chill out and enjoy what we saw this year. We will be back and we will be better in the near future.

This is correct. The magnitude of the loss is far less than if this was a round or two later. And, we were not expected to be in contention for a Sweet 16 spot to begin with. Outside of Cedar Falls, it will pass very quickly.

[pantherUNIverse]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

Farokhmanesh' response on twitter was perfect "some of us choose not to quit no matter how hard things get" followed by a link to an article about LeBron quitting leading to the Cavaliers playoff exit in 2010

[UNIChippewa]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

Farokhmanesh' response on twitter was perfect "some of us choose not to quit no matter how hard things get" followed by a link to an article about LeBron quitting leading to the Cavaliers playoff exit in 2010

In general, I hate Twitter and think it's pointless, but that's a "drop the mic" moment for Ali. I hope there's an emoji or whatever the h@ll they call it that he attached.

[run&blade]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

If espn was still putting out programs on top lists there is no doubt Sunday's game would be near the top if not at the top.

It was a historic collapse that I doubt will ever be topped. I can't think of anything even close because it was Damn near mathematically impossible.

It will fade over time but it will never go completely away. It is the gold standard of collapses in team sports.

The loss isn't that big of a deal but the way it happened will never be forgotten by panther fans or the national media.

They did a 30/30 of Reggie miller greeting 8 points in nine seconds against the Knicks. I think Sunday topped that.

Like Buckner, the only thing that soothed the pain was a world series. I think it would take a final four for last Sunday to actually be buried.

[Codytwo]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

This thread is pointless.

[panther-state]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

They did a 30/30 of Reggie miller greeting 8 points in nine seconds against the Knicks. I think Sunday topped that.

Really? That's the equivalent of us blowing a ~40 pt lead...for anyone who maths.

[Blue42]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

Obviously we would all take back that 40 seconds of basketball if we could. But that, combined with our now multiple tournament miracles, means anyone and everyone who cares about college basketball knows who we are.

You could make the argument that's been the case for a few years now, but there's no question our program is now a household name.

This is really the most interesting point.

UNI's name is now firmly connected with the NCAA tournament in the minds of sports fans across America...both for huge upsets and miracle shots...and for one awful minute.

One alternative would be to be nameless...a Loyola Chicago, a Drake, a Central Michigan. Even an Evansville who we slipped by. Toiling away in the hinterlands of college sports with no one knowing or caring who you are.

We're among a handful of mid-major teams in the country that most everyone knows...at least a little.

Some will focus on us blowing a winnable game in the Round of 32. Others will develop an affinity for UNI given the stand-up way Jake and the fellas carry themselves. But nearly all will know who UNI is...because of prior history and the wild weekend in OKC.

We'll see how this all plays out over the long haul.

Personally I think this TAMU game fades quickly once the next weekend of games runs it's course. We picked a tough time to blow one...with 4 quiet sports days til the next games. But once the action continues and new stories get written this weekend, an R32 game falls back into the shadows. There'll always be a little scar on the knee from where we fell, but it'll fade pretty quick.

[Blue42]

Re: LeBron just went below the belt on UNI

One other thought...

I heard Jake say on Monday there are 13 teams of the 352 D1 teams in the country that have won 54+ games and made R32 in the last two years.

That's 3.6% of all teams in D1.

Compelling.