Brooks McKowen needs to see some pine

[Hime_Peterson]

I'm not trying to be critical of any personnel decisions because I think the staff at UNI is second-to-none.

However, Brooks McKowen was in way over his head again today. That Mullins kid completely molested him. I realize Mac needs somebody who can run all of the sets, but I think it's time to move Crawford to point and start Little. McKowen just doesn't bring a single thing to the table.

[PantherAlum05]

We came back with him on the pine. I like the line-up with Little, Crawford, benny, coleman, and stout. Wish Mac would use it a little more.

[jegbomb52]

How dare you question an athlete by name on Panther Nation.com! You just can't do that!

Just for the record, I expect to see everyone on this board rip this guy a new a$$hole the way they did me when I said Brian Wingert should have been benched during FB season!

[Matt Trump]

How dare you question an athlete by name on Panther Nation.com! You just can't do that!

Just for the record, I expect to see everyone on this board rip this guy a new a$$hole the way they did me when I said Brian Wingert should have been benched during FB season!

The difference is that this war has been ongoing for most of the conference season and Brooks hasn't gotten on the board.

[DWadle1983]

We came back with him on the pine. I like the line-up with Little, Crawford, benny, coleman, and stout. Wish Mac would use it a little more.

I agree because it's their best offensive lineup. If Brooks can't create shots for others, and he isn't scoring, he probably shouldn't start.

[Hime_Peterson]

I guess I just don't see what positive things McKowen brings to the table.

He got a couple of steals early on when SIU big guys brought the ball down low.

However, he is very slow. He can't penetrate. He's not a great passer. He shoots about 25% from threes.

I stated before the season that the only thing that could possibly keep UNI from being a top 20 team was point guard play.

[unifan]

UNI plays a lot with better with Jacobson, Little, and Crawford guards, even sometimes Brown. McKowen just hasn't impressed me much at all since he's been at UNI. In high school he was unstoppable, he was hitting everything. Now I don't know what the problem is, but he can't make a shot, and he's not creating any shots for anyone else. He needs a little time on the bench, and have someone else play who's actually productive.

[Newsbreaker]

I'm less and less confident Brooks can get it done. He never, and I mean NEVER creates anything for anyone else.

I like the lineup posted above, and if we're not gonna have a PG, then let's not have one...start the best offensive players and at worst, we have an extra scorer on the court.

[MiloCat]

I'm less and less confident Brooks can get it done. He never, and I mean NEVER creates anything for anyone else.

I like the lineup posted above, and if we're not gonna have a PG, then let's not have one...start the best offensive players and at worst, we have an extra scorer on the court.

Exactly. Something's not going this teams way, and instead of hoping it works itself out, we need to try something different, IMO.

[NJ Panther]

I just have to wonder what the deal is with Mike Williams, who is actually a true PG. He got some hype comming in out of JUCO and PrimeTime and yet Mac seems really, really hesitant to play him. Don't know if he's practicing poorly or Brooks is awesome in practice and not the games or what. Sorry all, but Brooks was just horrible today. Taking him out was the only way it was close. Not saying everyone else was great, cause they were not, but he just looked like a infant among men. He's got it in him, I've seen it enough times over the years to know that, but he's just in a funk he can't seem to break right now. I'm rooting for ya Brooks.

[GonzoCat]

This just in:

Scientists have recently determined there are now 3 certain things - death, taxes, and Brooks McKowen being blamed after every UNI loss.

I don't like to single out players like so many of you do, but I will just point out one thing - Little 38 minutes, 0 points. Yeah that's the answer.

It took SIU about 10 minutes to figure out what every other team now seems to know about UNI, we have no one who can hit an outside shot, Brooks is just one of many. We were scoring at will by going inside, but once they figured out you just have to shut down UNIs inside game and it's over, that's what they did.

[PantherAlumMustang]

Gonzo..are you kidding me?

Not that anybody did anything spectacular today. But I totally agree with panther05. Nobody said Brooks is the total fault for the losses, but man when we play teams that really pressure the ball, he gives us nothing. YOu cannot start each offensive set from 90 feet away. When he is inbounded the ball he immediately turns his back to shield the defender. Then he proceeds to do this all the way down the court! This is his only move, and its not really even a "move". I'm sorry but the Bob Cousy technique isn't going to get it down anymore, you need to be able to get by guys with your ball handling. Be a threat. We may NOT have an answer for that, but Brooks can't do that, that is for sure.
Running each offensive set when the shot clock starts at 8 seconds and giving it to Benny isn't cutting it. We just can't possibly offensively rebound that well to count on all those put backs to stay in games. It leaves too much to the officials at that point to control the game.
It hurts to watch. Whats the answer?

[Newsbreaker]

Gonzo, this is why box scores don't tell the full story.

Little didn't score, however the reason we lost this game was because we simply couldn't get enough shots off. We couldn't get enough shots off becasue we really have nobody to run the offense.

You can go with this "we shouldn't blame an individual" thing until the cows come home, and while you have a point, we're at a point where we have to figure out how to fix our problems...and to fix our problems, we have to assess who is playing well and who is not. The assessment is clear...Brooks just can't get the job done. We probably do not have someone who can do better then Brooks, and if that's the case, then maybe the smart thing is to continue playing the same style, but replace our moch-pg with a shooter/scorer.

[GonzoCat]

How did we go 21-4 our first 25 games? Wasn't Brooks playing for those games? Why didn't we have the same "problems" up until that point?

If we had anybody on the team that could hit the ocean from the outside we would be fine.

[#1 Panther]

i agree with the majority on this one. brooks does little to help our team succeed. he's the type of player that i would like to see come off the bench giving us a steady 15 minutes a game, but i don't believe he should get starters minutes due to the fact that he doesn't score, he doesn't create, he is very slow, and just looks uncomfortable against SIU type pressure defense not to mention the fact that he just looks unconfident and very hesitant out on the floor. our team was clicking on all cylinders when he was scoring 8-10 points there for a couple of games in a row, but with him not scoring and logging heavy minutes it is basically 4 against 5 on the offensive end. I agree the lineup with crawford, little, and jacobson in the backcourt gives us the best chance to score the most points. i read above that somebody justified mckowen starting and being successful by the fact that little didn't score today, but little plays lockdown defense and adds quickness to our lineup. i also think that the return of crawford forced our guys to reestablish roles and we're having trouble adjusting on the fly. when listening to the postgame mcdermott said that his coaching decisions are the reason for our recent woes and hinted that he would entertain the thought of changing things up. now i don't know if that's play calling or personel decisions. it'll be interesting to see what happens next friday in STL.

GO PANTHERS!!!!!