Tennessee Tech

[fan]

milwsport said:

Tucker is taking those shots because in the Swing offense the guards post up to draw the fouls and the forwards shoot from the outside.

From what I heard, the refs sounded awful. At least three times, the announcers said a UWM bucket was a three only to take it back when the refs said it was a two. They reversed themselves on calls after the TT bench complained.

What? I realize that this can happen with the swing offense but I'm almost positive that this is not the objective of the offense unless a team has abnormally large guards or something. Are you asking Chris Hill to post up? Maybe this is sarcasm that I'm missing.

As for the official criticism, I'm assuming you were listening to Bill Johnson. If this is the case, then I urge you to take his ref assessment lightly. I don't think I've ever found anyone to be as critical.

1. I have never claimed to "jump ship". In fact I don't even know what this entails. Does this mean to say we suck or we're doomed? If so then no way have I ever jumped ship.

2. If you think I had high expectations for this season then you're missing the boat. I've always been in the "Ed Mccants was a huge loss for us" camp and I didn't see us winning as much as last year. Conference #1-3 coming into the tourney should not be unreachable.

3. I don't intend to continually bash Jeter. But your claim that Jeter has been successful on every level troubles me. How?

[MUCrisco]

The Swing offense is almost exactly like the offense that you ran last year, which is the Flex offense. The only difference, is that there is a back screen in the Swing, and a down screen in the Flex.

[sauby]

CALM DOWN EVERYONE!!!!

[Rawls]

Sauby's right. The game was embarrassing, but we need to move on. So does the team. If we dwell on what we COULD'VE done the previous game we will keep on losing. Move forward and focus on the game coming up. The Billikens are going down.

[nighthawk]

I am not willing to call for anyone's head, and firmly believe that anyone that does right now is an idiot.

I am willing to criticize obvious faults as I see/hear them.

I have been concerned since the Parkside game. In every game this season, the offense has disappeared for extremely long stretches. You can win against Parkside, Platteville, and Upper Iowa that way, but they will get slaughtered against even average DI competition if this continues.

I still have faith, but it's not blind.

[pnthr97]

Seriously, reading the posts here makes me sick to my stomach. Some people on here have incredibly delirious expectations. Womack, you seriously need to calm down.

Listening to the game, when UWM took quick shots, some of them in transition, is when TTU's lead opened up. When we started to play the offense, that's when the lead was chipped away. I hope there's a lesson to be learned there.

We all need to keep in mind that TTU is a tough, if not near impossible team to beat at home. They shot well, we didn't. We missed alot of easy buckets, open shots, etc. That's not RJ's fault. We played out of the offense and allowed the game to get away. That's not RJ's fault. Poor execution is the fault of the men on the floor.

This team, nor many others, would beat anyone shooting 31% and turning the ball over 17 times.

Let's hope they can turn it around against SLU.

[PANTHERfan]

totally agreed 97... some of the posts in this thread are just plain ridiculous and completely embarassing. we've lost two games to two very good teams and people act as if the world is coming to an end.
reality check, UWM is a mid-major team with a major target on its back. we'll get everybody's best every game we play this year. we have a new coach and new system that will absolutely work in the long run but will take time to learn. you don't just implement things over night. the fact that we were within 1 point with a minute to go in a place nobody has won in a year and a half says something.

believe me, i hate losing as much, if not more than anyone else and i also really love the passion people here have for this team. it means we've done something right and people actually care about the program. just keep things in perspective. it's a long season and we're going to have a bumpy ride early on. the wins will come...

[TBone]

I don't recall anyone saying that this loss was Jeter's fault. A few people mentioned not playing the up-tempo press and I thought we could have mixed it in there a bit as well, but that's about the extent of it.

The refs made more charging calls on Tech then they did on us. Refs didn't cost us that game, we did with poor execution.

People are just frustated in losing a game we really could have won had we performed with better execution.

In all honesty, I don't care if the forwards are supposed to shoot the ball in this offense. Joah's 2-13 on the year shooting threes. They're wasted opportunities and don't play to his strength in any way. He doesn't have the shot to be hucking those things.

My concern is this, which is very similar to last year. We have three scoring options, and it seems like we're going to struggle to win when only two of those scoring options are having a good night. Last year, we started to come on when Boo started playing more and making shots. This year, we need a Massiah or someone else to step up for nights when either Joah or Boo are off. AT should be fairly consistent with 10 - 15 a night.

Seeing how we've played in five games so far, I don't think we're nearly the lock on the Horizon that everyone predicted. And that's why I'm disappointed.

Someone mentioned that these games prepare us for the conference season. Well, the other teams in the conference have also played games to prepare them for the conference season. Loyola's 3-0 with wins against IPFW (who played a close game against Michigan St) and Evansville. (who plays in the MVC) UIC is 3-3 with wins against Montana St, SDSU, and at Georgia Tech and a loss to DU. (who was second in the Sunbelt last year I believe) Butler's 2-3 with wins against some bad teams, but losses to Ohio St and Michigan in relatively close games. Detroit's 2-3 with no quality wins and losses at Drake, at Oklahoma State, and at Buffalo. We're 1-2 with no division 1 wins and losses to quality teams on the road. I don't see how we're any better prepared if less prepared at this point for the conference season over our primary competition in the league.

The game at South Dakota State is not going to help us gain any confidence or momentum. The other three games before the Horizon League starts are St. Louis which we are capable of winning, Hawaii which will be a very difficult game, and at Wisconsin. There's a very real chance that we're 3-4 come conference play. Hopefully the guys will have a handle on the offense and the overall system by that point. Hopefully the guys will have eliminated many of the mistakes that are being made now and taking advantage of the strength of each players' game.

Regardless of that, I still say we're going to struggle to get that one seed in the conference tournament based on how we've played so far and what I see as viable options for our offense.

T

[PANTHERfan]

good post TBone, i'd echo many of those concerns. i'd argue we have the talent and depth in the long run to become a very good team this year. you're absolutely right in regards to needing another serious scoring threat... could be Massiah, Avery Smith, etc... only time will tell. last year we had the luxory of working out the kinks against some less than stellar opponents - Prairie View, a down Air Force, SDSU, a down St. Louis, etc... granted we did get a couple hard fought wins, but when we played proven teams we all saw the results. my feeling is once this team gets it, and they will, they'll really take off. maybe last night's second half effort will be the spark? a win against St Louis with a rocking Cell would go a long way into getting this season on track.

[teddyp00]

I could not agree more with what you just said TBond. I was unable to listen to the game last night so just know what I have read from posts on here and the box score. It seems to me that our poor shooting (see Tucker) was our biggest downfall last night. Why does Joah continue to jack up the 3's? I know pro scouts told him he needed to work on his outside game, but right now it has to be hurting his stock more than anything. We are finding out how painful it can be when your team does not have multiple long range threats like we had gotten use to over the past few years. Boo may be poised for a good year and I need to give him some love since in past posts I had been a bit hard on him. I just hope that what is starting out as a bit of a rocky year does not scare off the many new casual fans we gained after last years run.
Some positives from last nights game: We did ver well on the boards, especially on the offensive glass. Boo which I already mentioned and Tigert is the rock which we have gotten use to. The come back we made when they were down, nice to see there is some heart there and no quit.
I hope this serves as a wake up to the team and they use this to build on. We need to win Satruday to defend the homecourt. This year the Horizon title is up for grabs, but I still believe that at this point the tourny still runs through the cell.

[PantherLou]

Wow, I hate to say this, but I am really disappointed in our hard-core fan base, which I do believe this board to be an accurate reflection of. Frankly, some of you are acting like idiots. If this is how our fans are reacting, I hate to see how the general public thinks of us. Way to go guys, you sure are doing a great job of promoting this program. At this pace, I expect to see some of you picketing outside the Cell if we lose again. Pathetic.

Yes, it was a frustrating loss, and yes, we do have the talent to have won last night’s game, but we didn’t. The reasons why are pretty simple, IMO:
1. We shot horrible (31%)
2. We turned the ball over (17 turnovers)
3. We got into foul trouble (Hill, Tucker, Smith)
Reading some of the posts on this thread, it would seem that some of you have never watched another college basketball game in your life. This is a tried and true way to lose to an inferior opponent on the road. And let me tell you, Tennessee Tech is hardly inferior to us. They may not have quiet the athletes we have, but that is a good mid-major team we played.

All this talk that Jeter is running “the wrong system” for our players is ridiculous. Rob Jeter was hired to create his own program, with his style of play. Yes, there is a need to adapt and learn to play well together as a team, but I do have faith that this will come.

Pantherholic’s comment was spot on: We can’t expect this team to play an up-tempo style until the fundamentals of this offense are learned. Of course it is frustrating that we have not played to our ability yet, but we will. To expect that we would simply assimilate all the change immediately is foolish.

I sure hope that those of you who are students are not running around campus spreading this nonsense. You want this team to be better? Show up on Saturday, and bring a few friends.

[mwu]

pantherlou
"All this talk that Jeter is running “the wrong system” for our players is ridiculous. Rob Jeter was hired to create his own program, with his style of play. Yes, there is a need to adapt and learn to play well together as a team, but I do have faith that this will come. "


right on lou,
i think people fail to realize that it was jeter's offense that got us back into the game. the notion that the only reason we came back is due to techs poor freethrow shooting is absurd. yes it helps but it is not that simple. besides what difference does it make how a team lets us back into the game, this time it was at the line it could be from the field or by turnovers next, the point is we put ourselves in a position to win the game but it just didnt work out that way this time. last year i seem to remember us launching 3s all over the place at inappropriate times it seems as if this is all we know what to do when we're down but unlike last year we dont have anyone as accurate as mccants. this is where the new offensive system comes into play.

[FTA1982]

This feels quite like the day after the Badger game last year. I remember people on here wanted to bench Ed for Nick Hansen etc. Guess what happened last year??? We made the Sweet 16. People need to calm down and realize this is a long season and that the only way we are getting in the tourney is through the Horizon League Conference Tournament. I'll see everyone in March when we are back in the dance and Jeter is the big coach on campus.

[fan]

Speaking of overreacting,

Yes Lou the students are all walking around campus talking about how much we suck etc. How can you be dissappointed in a fan fase that has posted 16 pages on a topic? Griping or not, these are people who care. And yes these are the "hardcore fans" who post on here. They are hardcore for a reason and keep their griping to the board. This will not hinder anyone from recruiting more people to come to games. Get real pal. People will go chicken little. They did last year and we won regardless as well.

I was wrong a couple weeks ago. Jeter needs to run what he knows best. We can't criticize him for his offense. He isn't going to and frankly shouldn't run another offense. Thats not how you coach.

[PantherLou]

Fan,

Call it what you want, but yes, people are overreacting. And forgive me if I think some of these hard-core fans[/b] are acting like idiots, but they are.

Just because people will act like the sky is falling doesn't make it admirable.