Game 19: at Evansville

[unipanther2154]

AJ Green is an outstanding basketball player. One of the best to ever wear the Panther uniform. But he is not a clutch, game-winning basketball player.

If we are going to continue to allow teams to get back into games late, we need a different offensive strategy.

I don’t think that’s actually correct or the issue. He isn’t a player who can get his own shot (regularly). He’s just not that athletic. I think AJ could actually do decent in the NBA because he would have a coaching staff that knows how to get him the ball in the right moment. AJ should be coming off a screen for a last second shot. He should not be going ISO trying to juke a player out to maybe get a open 2 or 3. AJ is as pure of a shooter you will ever see at UNI. His ability to make buckets in any moment it’s in question for me. How we go about getting him open for those buckets is a different story.

[Panther'73]

This is disgusting! Does AJ not have a clue where defense is? Our inbound plays suck!!

[ceaser150]

Win or lose, this feels like a loss. This team is going nowhere.

[sevelev711]

I'm trying to learn some programming right now, I should really invest my time in making a program that tracks live odds for UNI games, and bets heavily against them when they take a 10 point lead. Turned 5 bucks into 60 against Drake because I was paying attention last game, should've been paying attention to this one.

[Wxcpanther]

All that mattered tonight was winning the game, which they did. Evansville has been tough to deal with at home. Move on to Saturday. At worst by the end of the night they're in a tie for third in the conference, potentially a tie for second.

[CyCarp]

AJ Green is an outstanding basketball player. One of the best to ever wear the Panther uniform. But he is not a clutch, game-winning basketball player.

If we are going to continue to allow teams to get back into games late, we need a different offensive strategy.

That's not him. Coaches put him in a tough situation. I'd like to see Bowen as the ball handler there and with a couple passes to try to get AJ a look. We got lucky at the end, I thought the ball was is Bowen's hand on that review, was very surprised they kept the ball with us. Heise didn't seem comfortable inbounding late, there was a few inbounds I thought he had a guy open and just he faked it to him, then the guy was covered. Gotta recognize that right away and get the ball in. Ugly win, but I guess a win is a win.

[UNIGrainer]

No made baskets over the last nine minutes.

Third consecutive game we’ve had a big second half lead then just stopped scoring.

What the actual ****?

[BCPanther]

Problem is that if you don't start AJ with the ball, you're not going to get it to him. There isn't a team on earth that's going to allow him to catch off a screen or an action. It's a weird spot to be in.

1500 points in 87 games is kind of hard to argue against.

[QCPanther05]

Pretty weak effort. We are lucky we got out of there with a win. The ghosts of A&M continue to haunt us: blowing leads late and unable to inbound. Why can’t we fix this? This seems fixable to me, but it has dogged us for years and it costs us wins against better teams. If they fixed those two things then this would be a formidable team.

[orangetennis]

Problem is that if you don't start AJ with the ball, you're not going to get it to him. There isn't a team on earth that's going to allow him to catch off a screen or an action. It's a weird spot to be in.

1500 points in 87 games is kind of hard to argue against.

Then let someone else score the basketball.

[BrockLesnar]

Pretty weak effort. We are lucky we got out of there with a win. The ghosts of A&M continue to haunt us: blowing leads late and unable to inbound. Why can’t we fix this? This seems fixable to me, but it has dogged us for years and it costs us wins against better teams. If they fixed those two things then this would be a formidable team.

We don't fix stuff with this staff. We continue to be 4-6th place. That's the peak for this group of coaches. We're stuck with them due to the buyout until 2029. Just have to get used to it.

[BrockLesnar]

The talk of AJ in the NBA is beyond silly. True, he can shoot, but he can't get to the rim in the NBA or guard that level of talent. True, he is well suited for Europe and will do well over there starting next season. The discussion needs to be realistic.

[CyCarp]

Problem is that if you don't start AJ with the ball, you're not going to get it to him. There isn't a team on earth that's going to allow him to catch off a screen or an action. It's a weird spot to be in.

1500 points in 87 games is kind of hard to argue against.

Saturday against Drake holding it under a minute he turned it over. Tonight holding it under a minute he turned it over. I'm a huge AJ fan, but when I guy is getting doubled like that, you can't continue to go to him. If he's getting any kind of half way decent look, I'd agree, but we haven't been able to even get a damn shot up in these situations. Maybe it's just recency bias, but teams are watching this and will continue to defend him this way until we change things up.

[QCPanther05]

The talk of AJ in the NBA is beyond silly. True, he can shoot, but he can't get to the rim in the NBA or guard that level of talent. True, he is well suited for Europe and will do well over there starting next season. The discussion needs to be realistic.

I agree. I’m not trying to dunk on him because he’s one of the best players we’ve had, but he isn’t NBA-caliber, unfortunately. His college career was screwed up with injury and covid, so some of that is out of his control. But he looks kind of lost out there. And we might actually be better after he leaves because the team won’t rely on him so much. That said, I hope he stays around for another year. There isn’t any hurry to get to Europe.

[BCPanther]

Y'all are missing the point with the NBA talk. He's not going to be THE guy on an NBA roster, he's going to be A guy. He's seen elite shooter and a legit 6-4+.

He is a 10 minute a night guy that can hit stand still 3s. It's not like he's going to be the focus of the defense and he defends well enough to guard the 2 and 3 in short spurts. He's going to get a look.