Official UNI vs. CU game thread.

[Gramps2005]

I am huge Eric Coleman fan!!!! But sometimes he really bothers me with his lack of aggressiveness when things are not going well. Does anyone else notice this?? He can be dominant player when his attitude is good, but as soon as teams get on him, his attitude, and his play turns ugly. I wish he would play hard 100% of the time no matter what is happening on the court.

[Purple For Life]

Hartzell's wife even got hot when that kid stepped on the line. She jumped out of her chair so fast, I thought she was going to force herself into labor.

Ahahaha, that seriously cracked me up. I bet the refs would stop play for that one!

Gary mentioned on air that Hartzell had to step out for a while, he was so steamed at that call.

[unigriff]

im sad...i didnt get to use my Get Well ad for FSN...1 side said Funk Sighting? Not here. (for FSN) and the other side was a funny crack up joke for Higgins, since a ton of us don't like him too much...just said Get Well Soon Higgins

[IH8SIU]

Made my first trip to Cedar Falls last night. Very nice new building, very loud, and VERY classy fans. I was worried about selling two extra tickets I had to UNI fans becasue I didn't know how they would react to our overall obnoxiousness. I ended up giving them to a dad and his son and they put up with us, as did all the other Panther fans around us. No arguing or yelling. You guys are by far my favorite fans in the Valley. Now I wonder if we will get the same reception up in Carbondale...

By the way... great game. And Hightower was bad for both teams and has always been bad. You know it's bad when I resort to yelling at the end of the game "My team won and I still think you suck!" Anyways, you guys aren't going to lose many at home over the years. I'm jealous of some aspects of the atmosphere you guys have. Good luck the rest of the way.

[Jet]

Attn. BMPANTHER, I couldn't agree with you more on the playing time of Jordan and Adam's. Jordan is clearly the better scorer,rebounder and shot blocker .

[Schack]

Some comments from Blue Jay fans about the McLeod Center:


“Just got back from Cedar Falls.. That was the LOUDEST arena I have ever been to.. Great environment, their fans were very friendly..”



“I was at the game as well..That is the loudest building I have ever been in..Reminded me of the Civic in a sell out the last year, but louder... “

“Getting a win there was HUGE..that place is going to be tough to win at.”

[ThePurpleandtheGold]

I've only been a member of PN for a month, but it seems like a lot of members push the panic button after each loss. Yes, it is frustrating to lose, especially at home, but you can't realistically expect to run the schedule. The season is long and you will have some low points no matter how good of a team you have. You have to learn from these experiences and use them to get better as a team. We have veterans on this team (Brooksy, Stout, Coleman) who have been in these situations before and will help us to bounce back. I don't think it is time to push the panic button yet.

Regarding Jordan's playing time, trust Coach Jake and his staff. I think Jordan is going to be a major player for us in the future, but it seems like it takes true big guys a little longer to develop. I like the way they are bringing him along slowly. Koch is a much better athlete and has more versatility which is why he is seeing more time. Coach Jake is just putting his best team on the floor.

[FerociousCat]

Seriously, before the season did you think we would beat the preseason conference favorites?
The thing I have enjoyed the most this basketball season is the "surprise" factor. Before the year I wouldn't have predicted a win at WSU, or home wins against SIU, or CU. We always lose a road game to a "lower" tier conference team (Indy St. last year, Evansville 2 years ago). So Ill St. shouldn't have been a huge surprise.

Benny J----3 tourney's in 4 years
Nate Funk--- can he say that Bcrawf????? Guess Mac got it right.
I like Nate Funk because he is an Iowa boy. Would you rather a kid from Texas, Florida, etc. torch the Panthers? I wish Nate the best, and hopefully we can finally get the best of him in Omaha or in St Louis.

Ed Hightower is horrible when he attempts to steal the show with his over dramatic actions. He does better with the more high profile games because he must enjoy the bright spotlight and blends in better. When he works a lower profile game it's as if he's thinking,"Here I come to save the day!".

Madcat--He must have been kind to the Badgers at some point for you to think he is a quality official after Friday night. I mean no disrespect to you as a fellow Panther and Bear fan, and I have always respected your posts. But Ed made some bad, bad, bad calls against both teams.

[BCPanther]

Benny J----3 tourney's in 4 years
Nate Funk--- can he say that Bcrawf????? Guess Mac got it right.
I like Nate Funk because he is an Iowa boy. Would you rather a kid from Texas, Florida, etc. torch the Panthers? I wish Nate the best, and hopefully we can finally get the best of him in Omaha or in St Louis.

Actually, he will be able to say 4 tourneys in 5 years. But thats not the point. And I don't remember saying anything negative about Benny, he was also a great player (see UNI's third all time leading scorer).

I would have liked to see Mac make a serious run at BOTH of them. Can you imagine being able to use both those guys on the floor together. You could have been able to give teams a ton of different looks the past four years.

[General_Panther]

AFter having a day and a half or so to reflect on this game I have come to two conslusions, one of which I have known for a very long time.

#1.(New conclusion) It seems as though over the past 5 years or so UNI Has had some sort of Mental Funk (no pun intended) when we play Creighton. It's almost like a Complex like they say to themselves going in "We can't Beat Creighton they're too good." I'm sure they don't say that, but subconsiously, you know what I mean. Ever since the student section really got going and I became a member of it it has seemed to me that we have always had trouble with Creighton, that has not been the case with SIU, MSU(SMS) or Bradley. WE have beaten the last three listed on numerous occasions over the past five seasons, and yes we've beat Creighton a few times as well, however we just seem to be a completely different team when we play Creighton. This was the case Friday night as it has been said numerous times we only scored 4 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. I'm sorry, but we are not going to beat anyone scoring only 4 points in the first 10 minutes. I understand that Creighton has always had a good program and they ahve essentially always been a "Power" in the conference, but we have been a "Power" in the conference for at least 3 years now and there is no reason we should have any kind of mental block when we play Creighton. They're not that good. Yeah, they are a good team, but they are not THAT good, We should be able to beat them.

#2. (conclusion i've known for a long time) Ed Hightower is quite possibly the WORST REFEREE IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL. Why do I say this is an old conclusion, because when I was a kid I was a HUGE Iowa fan, that is no surprise to anyone here, and I remember watching Ed Hightower cost Iowa many games over they years. He just seems to make Rediculous calls that no other ref would make. It's absolutely obsurd. When I can see something happening on TELEVISION then the refs, who are five feet or less away, have to be able to see it. I'm not even sure why Hightower was reffing our game, I don't think I've ever seen him in Cedar Falls before so why the change now? With that being said, the terrible referee job is not a surprise to me after watching Valley basketball for the past several years, the Valley refs are terrible PERIOD. Also the refs did not cost us the game, the first 10 minutes of the first half cost us the game.

I do not think for one minute that our season is over, however, if we continue to play the way we did in the first 10 minutes Friday night, then we are in alot of trouble, especially with the next four games coming up. 3 of our next 4 are on the road and the home game against Indiana State will not be an easy one. Yes I know it's Indiana State but apparently they decided to show up this season. @MSU, @SIU and @Drake will also not be easy. I know Drake is 0-5 (or whatever) in the Valley, but they always play us tough. I just hope we can bounce back from these two tough losses in a row and end the season on a good note, with a Regular Season Valley Title and an MVC Tourney Title followed by an NCAA Appearance.

Just my thoughts (Sorry this is so long)

[ejacobson]

Funk sure would have looked good in purple and gold... WAY TO GO MAC!!!

Problem with that is that UNI is not a catholic school and dana had Nate very early, as well as the fact that Coach Mac had his eye on Ben before he even got to UNI. Their (Ben, Nate, Jeff Horner, Adam Haluska) was a class stocked with good guards. Tough to pick the best from the group.

['70 Grad]

1. CU has had our number for sure. Its like 9 of the last 10 or 10/11. Several games have been quite close and they are an MVC power, but we have had more success against other powers. Does Dana A. have Mac's/Jake's playbook? That is one explanation.

2. The officiating was poor. And I mean the Panthers got away with a few travels, hacks, and over the backs when they were on my end too. All three guys had problems. And no, I don't think it is a good thing when people know a ref's name. It can't be for a good thing. I bet many Hawk fans still remember the name Jim Bain - and actually he really only identified a foul with the right team but wrong number. (Was this in Kevin Boyle's era?)

Was someone above saying that Ed H. was a sub on this crew? I did see him call some things that were fouls, but aren't usually called.He missed others - like the other two. My biggest beef with him is he comes off as being arrogant. Unlike anything you can do in high school, D I coaches are standing right next to a ref & having a conversation/barking WHILE THE CLOCK IS RUNNING. And the refs appear to be listening & discussing back! I'm not sure, but this is the way most refs seem to think is the best way to conduct the game. It works. Ed moves around, is most often on the far side, and stares at the coaches. I was expecting him to "rabbit ear" a T on Jake.

For the other poster that was unhappy that the board starts to come down on the team so quickly after losses, I attribute some of that to the fact that generally people are pretty optimistic on this board. A few wins and we are going to run the table! But why not - it is a Panther board. If we can't be, who can? Luckily PTTB gives us some sobering info on upcoming opponents.

The general consensus was we needed to be 4-2 (hopefully 5-1) after 6 games. I thought that was realistic, maybe optimistic. So here it is. But starting out 4 - 0 and then having this happen does sting.

One game at a time.

[FerociousCat]

Actually, he will be able to say 4 tourneys in 5 years.

Actually, He MIGHT be able to say 3 tourneys in 5 years. They didn't go last year or in 2004.