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Wow. I feel as though I watched a different game at times after reading some of the comments on here. Here are some of my observations.
One, I really enjoyed watching that game. I hate losing, but as a fan of basketball watching the game, I thought it was a fun one to watch. The refs dictated the game by calling it close and then letting them go, and then calling it close again. Mike Sanzere was not very consistent tonight officiating. But, I guess going into this game, I expected the game not be called tight. I really thought the 'And One' by Falker was a huge momentum swing. It was a pretty weak call on Crawford.
When looking at this game, it was a great defensive battle by both teams. Sure UNI missed open shots, but they took up the slack on the defensive end. Holding an opponent to 40 points is amazing. Offensively, we missed some open shots, but SIU was not giving UNI any room to opperate. We knew this was going to happen from the beginning, but unless the officials call it tight, it's going to be difficult for UNI to score alot on SIU.
Stout's 2 early fouls were weak, IMO. That really hurt UNI in the end I believe. You could see that when the first media timeout didn't happen for a while, Coleman was gassed, and was not making great decisions. He needed a break physically and mentally. He almost turned it over a time or two before that TO. Where was he at the end? That's a good question, but you have to realize that Coleman logged 25 minutes in the first 27. That's alot of minutes for a big man. He needed a break. A 12 minute break in the second half might be the question...but UNI did need the four guards to keep up with Tatum (aka- Rip Hamilton), Young, Mullins, and Shaw.
Where I thought UNI could have really capitalized was at the FT line. If they would have made their FT's, the Panthers would have been able to extend leads at times, but they didn't. If 60% FT shooting was 80% this game would have gone to the Panthers and they would have been in control all of the game.
What you saw this weekend was two things. What a Panther team can do when physically and mentally rested, and what can happen when this team goes head to head with a physical team on less than 24 hours rest. UNI is going to be good in the NCAA's. They are going to be physically rested. Give Greg McDermott and his staff this much time to prepare, and they are going to be fine. We saw that last night. The following game might be a little more of a challenge, but having 48 hours to rest up, compared to less than 24 hours is a different beast. Plus, in the tourney, teams don't know how to defend UNI. I doubt we will see a better defensive team in the tourney than SIU. I honestly think that SIU could hold Duke or UConn to 55 points or less...whether they score more is debatable. I think that most fans still feel as though our team is playing "mid major" competition, but we aren't. We are playing top 40 competition night in and night out (twice a week, sometimes more) for the last 2 months of the season...with one break (and we saw what UNI can do when rested).
Don't get down Panther fans!!! The Panthers team we have seen at the beginning of the season is still there. Once rested, they will show the country again. UNI is in the Big Dance. The RPI won't drop below the mid-20's. Most of the teams behind UNI in the RPI lost today. The Valley is looking good for 4 bids, and 5 might be on the way. This upcoming week is where it's at. We as fans get to watch teams play their way out of the tourney (more often than into the tourney). It's fun to see. Enjoy this week off Panther fans, because the road to the NCAA Tournament started back in November, and it won't be ending for at least 2 weeks!!
One, I really enjoyed watching that game. I hate losing, but as a fan of basketball watching the game, I thought it was a fun one to watch. The refs dictated the game by calling it close and then letting them go, and then calling it close again. Mike Sanzere was not very consistent tonight officiating. But, I guess going into this game, I expected the game not be called tight. I really thought the 'And One' by Falker was a huge momentum swing. It was a pretty weak call on Crawford.
When looking at this game, it was a great defensive battle by both teams. Sure UNI missed open shots, but they took up the slack on the defensive end. Holding an opponent to 40 points is amazing. Offensively, we missed some open shots, but SIU was not giving UNI any room to opperate. We knew this was going to happen from the beginning, but unless the officials call it tight, it's going to be difficult for UNI to score alot on SIU.
Stout's 2 early fouls were weak, IMO. That really hurt UNI in the end I believe. You could see that when the first media timeout didn't happen for a while, Coleman was gassed, and was not making great decisions. He needed a break physically and mentally. He almost turned it over a time or two before that TO. Where was he at the end? That's a good question, but you have to realize that Coleman logged 25 minutes in the first 27. That's alot of minutes for a big man. He needed a break. A 12 minute break in the second half might be the question...but UNI did need the four guards to keep up with Tatum (aka- Rip Hamilton), Young, Mullins, and Shaw.
Where I thought UNI could have really capitalized was at the FT line. If they would have made their FT's, the Panthers would have been able to extend leads at times, but they didn't. If 60% FT shooting was 80% this game would have gone to the Panthers and they would have been in control all of the game.
What you saw this weekend was two things. What a Panther team can do when physically and mentally rested, and what can happen when this team goes head to head with a physical team on less than 24 hours rest. UNI is going to be good in the NCAA's. They are going to be physically rested. Give Greg McDermott and his staff this much time to prepare, and they are going to be fine. We saw that last night. The following game might be a little more of a challenge, but having 48 hours to rest up, compared to less than 24 hours is a different beast. Plus, in the tourney, teams don't know how to defend UNI. I doubt we will see a better defensive team in the tourney than SIU. I honestly think that SIU could hold Duke or UConn to 55 points or less...whether they score more is debatable. I think that most fans still feel as though our team is playing "mid major" competition, but we aren't. We are playing top 40 competition night in and night out (twice a week, sometimes more) for the last 2 months of the season...with one break (and we saw what UNI can do when rested).
Don't get down Panther fans!!! The Panthers team we have seen at the beginning of the season is still there. Once rested, they will show the country again. UNI is in the Big Dance. The RPI won't drop below the mid-20's. Most of the teams behind UNI in the RPI lost today. The Valley is looking good for 4 bids, and 5 might be on the way. This upcoming week is where it's at. We as fans get to watch teams play their way out of the tourney (more often than into the tourney). It's fun to see. Enjoy this week off Panther fans, because the road to the NCAA Tournament started back in November, and it won't be ending for at least 2 weeks!!
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