Game 32: NIT @ BYU

[SteinPizza]

I agree with the it’s hard to get 6’10 plus guys to come to UNI, or any other mid major. That said, Drake and several other decent teams have gotten some guys in the 6’6 - 6’8 range who are fairly athletic and have some strength/bulk to at least be decent enough inside to win games. Several of those guys can also shoot. Broken record here, but get more creative in recruiting. Jucos, transfers, etc. Jake fell in love with that lineup where Carter was the biggest guy, and he’s not the physical force you need. Everyone else was 6’4 or shorter, with no physical presence.

All in all, give credit to Jake, staff, and the players for turning around a ****ty season and finishing strong. Be proud of them for that.

[orangetennis]

Having watched BYU's first round game, this one looked scary to me. We simply didn't have an answer for 5 guys on the court that could score. Once they made our outside game more challenging we had no answer on offense. As bad is the O got in the second half, the defense was worse. Not quick enough to double the post and recover to the open shooter. What a bummer given how well they played a few nights ago.

We also looked pretty gassed in the second half. I think the altitude played a role. Not saying we would've won otherwise, but

[Mad Dog]

Thanks Gary Rima. You were so good for so long. You will be missed for sure. Happy retirement, but never ever forget the Panthers.

[PurpleCatFan]

I am a big Panther Fan but I have to admit after watching our two games and the NCAA TOURNAMENT it is really boring watching our team play. We walk it down the floor and never press or challenge outside the three point line. We have to recruit differently and change our style of play

[Khan4Cats]

Good effort but BYU was able to make us pay for having to double down low and they hit their outside shots. I love AJ and I hope he comes back for another shot but he is definitely at best average on defense which also hurts when we have to play undersized. That said, next year will be the first without a transfer/juco on the roster. We have never made the Dance without at least one of those playing a key role. I don't know who may be available, and I don't know if we get AJ and AP back, but I hope we look to bring someone else in.

In the end, proud of the effort this team put in to figure out who could play and how we needed to do it with the pieces we had to make a run. A regular season conference title is a fine accomplishment and a post-season tournament win is good. Now get healthy, hit the weight room and build for next year. We can be right back where we finished next year but it will take the whole team, regardless of who leaves or who we bring in.

[UNI MadCat]

Thanks Gary Rima. You were so good for so long. You will be missed for sure. Happy retirement, but never ever forget the Panthers.

Agreed. My wife (not a UNI person) cannot understand why I refuse to turn this postgame off. Just don’t want it to end!

[Username]

Phyfe does a lot of things well but he plays small for his size, (doesn't block many shots, rarely dunks). Even when he's fully healthy he's not very effective against guys 6'10" or taller. For us to have a good shot at another sweet 16 run we need another big body, ala Eglseder/Dahl. Best chance to get that is in the portal.

tbf the last time that we were all but the biggest collapse in history from making the sweet 16, our center minutes also largely came from a 6'7 forward.

Having Phyfe for more than 8-10 minutes a game would have been a nice change of pace, but I'm not fully convinced trading our ridiculous offensive efficiency in the calendar year 2022 for slightly better defense makes us a better team.

[Leatherhelmet]

Kevin Boyle’s last game too. Terrific UNI coach and announcer and a great guy.

[SteinPizza]

Agreed. My wife (not a UNI person) cannot understand why I refuse to turn this postgame off. Just don’t want it to end!

Any noteworthy quotes from either Rima or Boyle?

[BrockLesnar]

Roller coaster season. We have very little margin for error when we play the 5 guard lineup. We also lived and died by the 3 shot too many times. We just don't have it in the post and we usually struggle with that part of recruiting. Hard to say what the future holds with a bunch of 6' 5" guys. Without Green we're starting over next season. We would be around 6th place in the league.

[achrist70]

Any noteworthy quotes from either Rima or Boyle?

Gary replayed his thank you from after the Loyola win. Coach Boyle thanked a few people. Coach Jake was a little emotional over the seniors and Gary and Kevin.

Anyone heard any possible names for replacements?

[BrockLesnar]

Gary replayed his thank you from after the Loyola win. Coach Boyle thanked a few people. Coach Jake was a little emotional over the seniors and Gary and Kevin.

Anyone heard any possible names for replacements?

Really hard to replace legends, but life goes on the world keeps spinning.

[BrockLesnar]

I am a big Panther Fan but I have to admit after watching our two games and the NCAA TOURNAMENT it is really boring watching our team play. We walk it down the floor and never press or challenge outside the three point line. We have to recruit differently and change our style of play

We do need changes. Pressing to be disruptive is one of them. Playing occasional zone or zone press can change the pace of a game. It would make us less predictable. Will change along with better recruiting happen?

[sevelev711]

I pray we somehow start to recruit better but I won’t hold my breath.

If we couldn't recruit better after back to back years in the round of 32, I don't know when we're gonna start doing that.

[unipanther2154]

If we couldn't recruit better after back to back years in the round of 32, I don't know when we're gonna start doing that.

Hence me saying I’m not holding my breath. It’s the one gripe I have with jacobson. We have missed on huge opportunities after successful season on getting higher caliber recruits. Ppls response is always “it’s not that easy” and I understand recruiting is hard. But let’s for a second remember that is what our coach and his staff get paid to do. He’s the highest paid coach in the league so go out and make your money. We get out recruited by lesser teams in our league for bigs far too often when we are better. Someone already mentioned the guy we lost to ISU(B).