Detroit -- Wednesday 1/18

[FTA1982]

If Allan Hanson continues his good play, I will have to retract my feelings on him as a player.

I agree with NCAT, we aren't the same team as last year, meaning we'll have to grind a lot of games out like this one.

[uwmpanther]

Let's see. I remember quite a few of those "grind-out" games from last season: at Manhattan, at Valpo, at Butler, and the HL tournament final against Detroit. All of these came down to the wire.

[milwsport]

Let's not be getting on Joah here. Yes he leads in TO's but he is also the most defended player on the team. If anyone else had three guys on him when they got the ball, they'd be turning it over plenty as well.

He draws those defenders and that leaves other guys open. When they hit their shots, we win comfortably, when they don't we have squeakers.

Tonight by the time he fouled out they had a bunch of guys in foul trouble, and they were pretty well wore down. But without his points earlier we don't win that game.

[jhart05]

I just got home. Watching the game again here at home with the sound.

Are you kidding me? With 4:47, they give Det two throws?

I haven't read any other posts, so sorry...

[jeff2bag]

ok so not sure if everyone else heard it but jason clark was ranting and raving about how tough the practices have been this week after the loss, and that there was one bright spot this week and that was tyrone young. he specifically said that tyrone pretty much scored on every touch and was "instant offense". If we were down all game and this is the case why the hell isnt jeter putting him.....i dont get it....instead nick hanson sees mins. that he hasnt all year long.....i guess were winning but i just dont get his philosphy i guess....no knock on nick but come on he hasnt played much all year and he throw him out there.....pancratz didnt even see the floor.....its like if a guy messes up once or twice he looses everything he earns....i dont know if i like this so much....but i guess it makes players really go at it in practice if they really want to see the floor..i guess any one of the guys on this roster could play if someone above him fell off so to speak.....just wanted to see what everyone else thinks......i mean i know tyrone shoots all the time when hes in but with his past and the stats weve all seen what if this guy really is instant offense......i really hope rob gives him the towel on the next substituion rather then have nick hanson running it out there.........

[jhart05]

Down 11 right now with 4:26 and Boo at the line.

How did they pull this out?

I'm still not reading any posts yet.

[milwsport]

jeff2bag said:

ok so not sure if everyone else heard it but jason clark was ranting and raving about how tough the practices have been this week after the loss, and that there was one bright spot this week and that was tyrone young. he specifically said that tyrone pretty much scored on every touch and was "instant offense". If we were down all game and this is the case why the hell isnt jeter putting him.....i dont get it....instead nick hanson sees mins. that he hasnt all year long.....i guess were winning but i just dont get his philosphy i guess....no knock on nick but come on he hasnt played much all year and he throw him out there.....pancratz didnt even see the floor.....its like if a guy messes up once or twice he looses everything he earns....i dont know if i like this so much....but i guess it makes players really go at it in practice if they really want to see the floor..i guess any one of the guys on this roster could play if someone above him fell off so to speak.....just wanted to see what everyone else thinks......i mean i know tyrone shoots all the time when hes in but with his past and the stats weve all seen what if this guy really is instant offense......i really hope rob gives him the towel on the next substituion rather then have nick hanson running it out there.........

Tyrone did not score on every touch. Hanson played well and got some points, we needed scoring and a big body which is probably why Pancratz didn't see that many minutes.

Bottom line is that Detroit is tough to beat at home. We were down by 11, very late in the game, and the team looked lethargic for most of the game

But in the end Jeter's strategy to wear them down, get them to foul to open up some shots late in the game and to pound away worked. His first match up against one of the better coaches in the league and he comes away a winner. Give him credit for a good win against a good team.

[aknowsense]

In a season teams will have games like the UWGB game and they will have games like this; nasty, ugly, but when a team who just lost on the road is losing the whole game and ends up winning it's a good sign. It's even better when everyone agrees that the best player(s) didn't have their A game this evening. That's not a bad thing IMO, other guys on this team are showing that they may not be big names but have talent and together can play w/anyone in this league. It's a good ugly win on the road in conference and that's huge. I don't think it's time to excommunicate Joah just yet I think you may see some better ball from him starting this Saturday.

[Womack]

I agree with Milwsport...Lets get off Joahs back

You all will be praising him a he carries us on his back later in the season just like he did last year in the tourney...The guy is not playing real well and is in a tough stretch right now, but for gosh sakes get off the guys back, he is helping us more than he is hurting us all around beyond a shadow of a doubt

[UWMKrazie]

These last two games will bring the team down from our eliteness high and make everyone realize how hard we have to work for these conference wins this year.

This was certainly almost as excrutiating to watch as the UWGB game (less only because we won). I didn't start watching until 3/4 through the first half, but I'm assuming our lead never came until those last minutes. Everytime we'd get to within 3 they'd run us down 10 again.

I also second on the comment that the second half felt like the longest ever! I forget the exact comment, but were there something like 8 fouls called in the first 4 min. of the second half?

Joah fouling out and our comeback definately asserted our depth as a team. Think if Evanchko fouled out in the UWGB game...there is a very good chance UWM would have ran away with that game.

Lastly, airball on Tigerts first freethrow? And Boo hitting his first 3 late in the 2nd half? Not good, not good.

[nighthawk]

A few observations:

The Horizon League has possibly the worst officials in all of organized basketball, INCLUDING Y-Ball and Pee-Wee ball.

AT's got some dead legs right now (short on free throws, moved out of the block repeatedly, etc.).

Joah is in a slump right now, but he had down times last season. Coach Jeter hasn't given up on him yet, otherwise he wouldn't be starting. I will reserve judgement on him for now.

The Detroit win was a show of character for this team. Lesser men would have rolled over with 2 minutes left. This team didn't quit, and are a reflection of the personality of the coach.

Avery Smith needs to go to a shooters clinic.

Ford coming out party? Could be. He played like a man among boys last night. STRONG on the glass, held position well, limited dumb fouls, HUGE at the line. I hope he continues playing at this level. This is what we all expected of him from the beginning.

Did I mention that the Horizon League officials are the worst in all of organized basketball?

[damasa]

Wright state will sweep...the losing column.

There's no way they come to Wisconsin and pull a sweep.

[pnthr30]

To keep the comments on the game short.......

We stole this one.......but good teams win ugly, and that is exactly what this was - UGLY.

Detroit is a tough place to play - it doesn't matter if their crowd is sparse.

A Hanson played very well - big three and steal late in the game.

D. Ford played his ace off! While I don't see him being a factor in all of our games, he can definitely be the difference maker against certain teams/match ups - which he showed tonight.

As much as I don't care for AS to try and make plays/hunt shots, he did make a good decision in going hard to the rack at the end - and yes, he most definitely did get fouled. However, he was all twisted up, he definitely should have made a better attempt at making the shot. He was in a PERFECT situation to get a three point play....he didn't get fouled up top, it was all body - much easier finish.

JT -

Some of RJ substitutions seemed a bit strange.

Hill is a true senior leader - not just because he hit the last shot, but because of his overall attitude, calmness, head and demeanor.

Best quote of the night
"It hit the front, hit the side, it might have hit the backboard," Hill said excitedly. "I don't know what it hit, but it hit the bottom of the net. That's all that matters." ;D

[kaygee]

IMO, in close games the ball needs to be in Hill's hands and there needs to be more of effort to get the ball into AT's hands as well. I think AT only took 3 shots last night!

[brewtownbrian]

WOW! To go from thinking the game was going to result in a "Loss" to, "HOLY S**T, they f***in' won!!" was too much for my ticker. Almost had a coronary in my living room.

Thoughts on the game, and this will echo some things said already, but keep reading...it's a little long.

1- Big D-Ford! 10-10 from the FT line, very impressive and definitely a key factor in the win. Senior leadership shines through when most needed.

2- Most repeated statement of the night from my mouth..."How can they not call a foul on that?!"
Those ref's were terrible. I used to think that the Horizon league had their own pool/group of ref's and because it is a "mid-major" conference, we got mid-major ref's, but I've seen guys who ref UWM games and on ESPN the next night they're calling a Big 12, Big 10 or Big East game. I don't get how they can be so bad for Horizon games.

3- Jeter's rotation...I'm stumped. Why did he put "Instant Offense Tyrone Young" into the game with 2:30 left in the game? Glad to see Nick Hansen playing, but why all of a sudden? He hasn't seen more than 5 minutes of PT, in one game, all season.

4- Joah(see next comment)

5- Something that hasn't been mentioned/talked too much about yet is the zone defense that they struggle against. UWGB threw it on and it slowed down the offense to a damn near stall.

Detroit played a lot of zone and it worked. Almost everytime Tucker got the ball near the post he was swarmed, same with AT. We all know Tucker has blinders on when he makes his mind up to go to the hoop, so he struggles more with double/triple teams.
AT does a little better because he's a good passer.

The best way to beat a zone defense is hit outside shots...3's preferably.

The best way, against a zone to get open 3's is to kick it down low...let the defense sag or collapse on the post man with the ball. Kick it out, catch and shoot. It's got to happen fast though. Too many times guys held the ball for a second too long and when they kicked it out and/or it got swung around...it was too slow and the zone defense caught up to it.

This is precisely why I think Joah struggled last night and against GB. Guys collapse on him and he's so intent on scoring the bucket he forgets that Boo or even Hill and A. Hanson are spotting up and they've got open looks. The result is (a) a travellling call, (b) a missed hoop, (c) a turnover or (d) a foul...which when your struggling from the line, as Tucker is, is not the best option either.

The team and the coaching staff need to work on playing against a zone and figure out a way to beat it. I'm sure they're doing this, but they're going to see more zone now that GB and Detroit have shown that it works. Basically, they played zone to slow down Tucker and let everyone else beat them...or not.

Sorry for the long post...thoughts on or zone offense?