TCondon's Thoughts on NCAAs, the recent struggles, etc.

[BCPanther]

Thanks TC, and I take back that Masquerading Hawkeye fan crack. I know you are also a big UNI supporter

[Newsbreaker]

WELL done TC, very well done.

[Sex Panther...]

Sorry it took so long to answer you. Brooks McKowen can play at the MVC level. Is he a great player? No. A good player? No. But he is an average player. Brooks struggles at the point position. He is not natural there. But he is the best that UNI has, and that is why he plays. I try to stay off college players as much as possible. I have defended Brooks before on this forum and others.

Their is a reason that UNI went after a JUCO point guard in the offseason. They didn't need a backup point guard, as they had one in Jared Josten. They wanted somebody that could step in, play great defense on the ball and run the system. Williams hasn't been able to run the system and that is why he is not the point guard.

Brooks does a lot of great things; leadership, knowledge of the game, etc. But he is not a good passer for a point guard. He is averaging 2.8 assists per game. 56 turnovers this season, just under 2 a ballgame. 1.4/1 assist to turnover ratio. Those are the numbers. Shooting the basketball has been tough over the past two seasons for him. He's shooting 27% from 3 point land this season.

As I said before, this wasn't meant to rip on Brooks McKowen, and I'm sorry if I offended you or Brooks in any way. What I was trying to say (and did poorly) was that Brooks could be a very good backup for a number of teams. I think that the Panthers would be better off if they had a more complete or a pure point guard to man the position. They don't have that in McKowen.

I'm not offended, I'm not in a position to be. I'm just a fan. I think you can understand why I was looking for clarification when you make a blanket statement like you did under the thread title of "recent struggles". I understand the numbers, I understand that Brooks isn't a pure point guard. My take is he belongs on the floor with the rest of the MVC, he belongs on the floor with the rest of D1. To back this up I would point to the fact that he played decent minutes as a true freshmen, he was Mac's choice at minimum of an equal level over Chris Foster last year. I have seen him hold his own against the guard court of Iowa State and Georgia Tech during his career. I have seen him have some great offensive games in a Panther uniform. Once again he is obviously the best choice UNI has this year at the point guard position to the tune of 30+ minutes this year. 56 turnovers is not a bad number, compare it with the rest of the guards in the league. I would argue that his assist total is a product of the system as well. Has he shot the ball well...you got me there. He's not playing his best ball right now, but he is going to bounce back...watch.

Is he a great player ...no
Is he a good player ...without a doubt
Is he a starter in this league ...yes, even at point guard

You made your case; I made mine. I'm ready to move on now.

[DWadle1983]

Well, I have my Field of 65 ready to go. In 1-bid leagues, I just picked the current leader. The Patriot and the WAC, as well as Conference USA are leagues that UNI will want the current leaders (Bucknell, Nevada and Memphis) to win their league tournaments.

So, here goes:

Albany (American East Auto)
George Washington (Atlantic 10 Auto)
Charlotte (Atlantic 10 At-large)
Duke (ACC Auto)
NC State (ACC At-large)
North Carolina (ACC At-large)
Boston College (ACC At-large)
Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun Auto)
Texas (Big 12 Auto)
Kansas (Big 12 At-large)
Oklahoma (Big 12 At-large)
Colorado (Big 12 At-large)
Villanova (Big East Auto)
Connecticut (Big East At-large)
Pittsburgh (Big East At-large)
West Virginia (Big East At-large)
Georgetown (Big East At-large)
Marquette (Big East At-large)
Syracuse (Big East At-large)
Cincinnati (Big East At-large)
Northern Arizona (Big Sky Auto)
Birmingham Southern (Big South Auto)
Ohio State (Big 10 Auto)
Iowa (Big 10 At-large)
Wisconsin (Big 10 At-large)
Illinois (Big 10 At-large)
Michigan (Big 10 At-large)
Michigan State (Big 10 At-large)
Pacific (Big West Auto)
George Mason (Colonial Auto)
UNC-Wilmington (Colonial At-large)
Memphis (C-USA Auto)
UAB (C-USA At-large)
UW-Milwaukee (Horizon Auto)
Penn (Ivy Auto)
Iona (Metro Atlantic Auto)
IUPUI (MId-Con Auto)
Kent State (MAC Auto)
Delaware State (MEAC Auto)
Wichita State (Valley Auto)
Creighton (Valley At-large)
UNI (Valley At-large)
Missouri State (Valley At-large)
San Diego State (Mountain West Auto)
Air Force (Mountain West At-large)
Fairleigh Dickinson (Northeast Auto)
Murray State (Ohio Valley Auto)
UCLA (Pac-10 Auto)
California (Pac-10 At-large)
Washington (Pac-10 At-large)
Arizona (Pac-10 At-large)
Bucknell (Patriot Auto)
LSU (SEC Auto)
Tennessee (SEC At-large)
Florida (SEC At-large)
Kentucky (SEC At-large)
Alabama (SEC At-large)
Arkansas (SEC At-large)
Georgia Southern (Southern Auto)
NW State (Southland Auto)
Southern (SWAC Auto)
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt Auto)
Gonzaga (WCC Auto)
Nevada (WAC Auto)

OK, I've got 64 teams in and I'm looking for one more at-large between:
Florida State (17-7)
Virginia (14-10)
Miami (15-12)
Texas A&M (17-7)
Nebraska (17-9)
Seton Hall (16-9)
Louisville (17-9)
Indiana (14-10)
Minnesota (14-10)
Hofstra (20-5)
Old Dominion (19-8)
UTEP (17-7)
Akron (19-7)
Southern Illinois (18-10)
Bradley (17-9)
Stanford (13-10)
USC (16-9)
Louisiana Tech (17-10)
Utah State (18-6)

Who would you guys keep in, leave out?

Last one between Bradley, Hofstra, and Seton Hall. Hofstra beat George Mason tonight.

[Panthers Win!!]

Interesting analysis Tcondon. You are always very thorough and make cogent arguments to support your opinions. I enjoy your posts. I suppose it's tough to try to point at deficiencies, particularly if part of it is the play of a particular player, without someone wanting to shoot the messenger of an opinion they disagree with. I haven't seen Brooks play (other than in one game and via the audio feed) but I know several that were on the board here in the chat seemed to agree with you when he had the five second turnover. Games are won or lost as a team but there are obviously things within the team's play that can be identified that can be improved. To ignore them would of course be a mistake.

I am confident of Coach McDermott's skills however and whatever it is the staff will get it corrected before heading off to St. Louis.

[tcondon]

Thanks TC, and I take back that Masquerading Hawkeye fan crack. I know you are also a big UNI supporter

Thanks bcrawf.

[Panthers#1]

[QUOTE=Sex Panther...]
Is he a great player ...no
Is he a good player ...without a doubt
Is he a starter in this league ...yes, even at point guard
QUOTE]

Not to beat a dead horse but are you saying that Brooks could have the starting PG spot at CU or SIU or BU or even EU? I don't know about that if that is what you are implying.

[Sex Panther...]

Not to beat a dead horse but are you saying that Brooks could have the starting PG spot at CU or SIU or BU or even EU? I don't know about that if that is what you are implying.

If they ran our system yes. If not then he'd be playing significant minutes at the off guard position for any team in the league.