Up Next: Southern Illinois

[Neighbor]

For $5 tickets that was worth only $3.50. I'd like my change please.

We we lost the game because we stood around and didn't move without the ball.

An 8 minute scoreless drought in the first and 6 minutes in the second half is a result of standing around.

A first team all MVC can not have 2 points at half and 5 points in the game

we played to the level of our opponent not what our talent level is.

[CyCarp]

For $5 tickets that was worth only $3.50. I'd like my change please.

We we lost the game because we stood around and didn't move without the ball.

An 8 minute scoreless drought in the first and 6 minutes in the second half is a result of standing around.

A first team all MVC can not have 2 points at half and 5 points in the game

we played to the level of our opponent not what our talent level is.

I'm really having a hard time watching Carlson play. I swear every time he touches the ball, he holds it and waits for the D to catch up... so annoying. Why has McCloud been limited in minutes lately? He's solid defensively and one of our only guys who can drive effectively

[ronfitch]

Honest question ... is there a bout of the flu making its way around campus (or whatever you want to call it during the break)?

There was so much lethargy and lack of movement/effort amongst the UNI players tonight. So sluggish and out-of-sync.

[run&blade]

If they are only going to allow X number of people in the beer area they need to count the people that leave so new people can come in.

I was in a group of 6 people that wanted a beer at halftime and we were told they had no more wrist bands so New people could enter. Two women in group were in mid 50’s so it must be a numbers thing.

Watching crap basketball is bad enough but don’t compound it by degrading the game day experience.

Put it beer on the north end also. That is just wasted space when it could be making money.

amazing how many starters can’t score.

At end of first half uni had fouls to give. Why not put in all the bench warmers and. Run up fouls so they can’t get a shot off? The ended up draining a three.

[UNI Ka-Bullseye]

At end of first half uni had fouls to give. Why not put in all the bench warmers and. Run up fouls so they can’t get a shot off? The ended up draining a three.

We tried this. Gave one foul with about 5.6 left. They inbounded and instead of dribbling and letting us foul them they were smart and immediately launched a three. We needed to pressure the inbounds better rather than wait for them to catch it then go chase them.

[UNI Ka-Bullseye]

In the last 4 minutes the game was decided by 3s. Two made by them - a desperation to beat the shot clock (when it happens for you it’s clutch, when it happens against you it’s luck), then a truly lucky one that bounced about 8 feet off the rim and dropped on. Two missed by us - wide open misses by Pickford and Klint.

I’m glad to read on here that mine was not an overreaction. Poor effort to start conference play. Here we go again.

[hoopfan]

This was indeed an absolutely terrible effort tonight. Probably the most disappointing has to be Koch - 5 points, 2-8 from the field, 4 turnovers (he has a really bad habit of bringing the ball down low).

Just a very lethargic effort tonight. Perhaps a hangover from the Xavier game with the great crowd & showing.

The bold part of your post isn't a secret. It shows how poorly scouted UNI was by some non-conference opponents. Bennett should be doubled on every single touch. He can't handle it. Never has been able to and at this point, the ship has sailed on him learning how to handle it going forward. Teams don't have to worry about giving up open 3's because he is unable to identify where the double is coming from and where the open shooter will be. He can't catch the ball in the post without bending over at the waist and putting the ball between his ankles before standing up and trying to make a move. He rarely maintains his balance on the catch and has to dribble in order to make a post move. I've never seen anyone like him and I don't mean that in a good way. Meanwhile, Pippen caught the ball in the post and turned over his left shoulder and scored all night. He rarely dribbled and made a quick move after he caught it before the double could get there. I think it is going to be a rough MVC slate for Bennett as every coach is going to know his weakness and try to exploit it.

The senior "leaders" tonight had a combined 5 made field goals and 6 turnovers. For some reason, Carlson continues to get 40 minutes a game? Sevelev mentioned it above that the offense completely stops every time he touches it. He has to look for the hero pass, shot fake and jab step before making the next pass and keeping the defense rotating and guys moving.

I would love to see more of McCloud, Lohaus, Pickford, Brown and Phyfe on the court going forward. This may be the most athletic backcourt UNI has had and they clog the lane with Bennett and try to force feed him. Phyfe has a good stroke and can step out and open the floor with a 5-out set and make teams get down and guard. Bring Spencer off the bench with Bennett to try and make it harder for teams to double with a good shooter on the perimeter.

Juwan has to get better as well. It seems like UNI struggles to get into sets and at times when they are struggling to score he just needs to push tempo and go to the rim for bucket or get fouled. Wes was good at this and Deon was exceptional at pushing tempo to get a quick bucket when UNI was struggling to score. Juwan had a steal in the 2nd half tonight and had a 1 vs. 1 in transition and slowed it down and pulled it back out to run the halfcourt offense that wasn't working. He's got to attack and try to make something happen.

Random question that hopefully someone can answer....how is Greg McDermott able to coach such a high-powered offense and his protege is running the offense that sets ball screens 28 feet from the rim with no movement off the ball and doesn't ever seem to make adjustments?

[UNI Ka-Bullseye]

More questions than answers so here goes... feel free to take a stab at any of them.

1. Is it actually a double dribble if you hold the ball with two hands and touch the ball on he floor before dribbling? Bennett got called for that. I honestly have no idea but he’s done it before this year and hasn’t gotten that call

2. And why does Bennett do that? Especially off an offensive rebound surrounded by 3 guys?

3. This was more about our bad showing than the refs, but did it seem like Bennett got mugged all night without getting any calls? Yes, Pippen had 4 fouls but I swear they were all on him stepping out to contest a guard’s jumper.

3. Is it a violation or technical foul for an assistant coach to be 5 feet out on the court when the ball is at the other end? SIU Dude should have been paying rent for that spot on the court. Their bench was also 3-4 feet out on the court anytime anything good happened for them, including a couple guys running all the way under the basket when they got a timeout off of a scrum. You can’t leave the bench during an altercation, is this any different? It seemed the ref was constantly telling them to get off the court but never actually followed up on it. Or, I’m just a grumpy codger that should learn not to sit near the opposing team’s bench...

4. I agree Klint can be frustrating to watch, though I think he brings more to the court than the stats show. But does he really have to play the entire game? Luke McDonnell for 5-8 minutes anyone?

5. Can we get some more guys on the floor with a sense of urgency and something to prove like Hunter? The aforementioned McDonnell, or Ted for a few minutes after a good effort vs. Xavier?

[Kat34]

I rarely post... Been a fan since I was born. Grew up a panther and was at the uni game when the conference tournament was at the dome when Jason Reese, randy blocker etc. Played and then we beat missouri in the first round. Am now 36 yrs. Old. I am so frustrated with this team.. Once again it has come down to senior leadership. In all years i have watched uni bball it seems the last 2 years have been the most frustrating as a leader has yet to show themselves. When is carlson and koch gonna step up and say they are sick of being mediocre.

[vbfan19]

There has only been one season in the past ten years where UNI has won their first 2 MVC games. (2009-10)

[ubuntuCAT]

I've said this every game this year. I can't wait till Koch graduates. I hate his game.

[orangetennis]

How bad must Dahl be in practice not to see ANY run on this roster?

[uni1988]

Only one loss... we'll be fine. I've been told that the Valley is really weak this year.

[run&blade]

Seems like they always lose first conference game.

Likely a one bid league so regular season doesn't matter too much.

Koch has his faults but there is nothing else behind him so I think we have to take the good with the bad.

Need some guys to cut to the rim from the baseline, seems like there are chances to go to the rim without the ball and feed the cutter but are too content to just stand behind the arc and wait.

Sometimes UNI offense is like hockey, just hope to get shots off and get lucky once in a while.

Would have liked to have seen more Rhoades in first half, it was obvious the offense was bad and would have like to have seen if he could get it going.

[CyCarp]

I try to be positive, but we're going to lose a lot of games if we can't figure any offense outside of Bennett. There has to be a point where we don't look to him so often. He will keep getting doubled, and when he does 90% of the time it feels like it's an ugly shot or a turnover. We just can't continue to rely on him so much if we want to be successful. Need to focus on ball movement and our guards penetrating, imo.