11-12-06 vs. UAB

[camshaft]

milwsport said:

They were much more aggressive going after rebounds and trying to get the ball inside in the second half. We outscored them in the second half.

To me that says the guys can learn and make adjustments.

Well put sport, please remember everybody; this is only the 3rd game, and unfortunately they had no time to drill/practice in between these games. I think they are starting to pick it up, albeit slowly. I was only hoping for 1 win this weekend and I got it, after that win I had higher expectations than I probably should have against two very solid teams with post season possibilities.

This season is just getting started and so far there are several encouraging signs of growth. After Mauldin gets healthy and we can get some lotion for his hands (no touch) he is going to play a solid role this season. Avo refrained from shooting too many jumpers (a good thing IMHO) and Thornton actually looked at the basket before shooting once.

[PantherLou]

raar said:

I think this weekend proves we can't go 3 guards. we need some size. Even if it means less "talent".

I couldn't disagree more. Our strength (talent wise) is in the guards. let these guy play, get some experience, and see where we are in 3 months. Its a long season. Now is not the time to be making lineup decisions for the short term benefit.

[ArtVandelay]

JG I'm with you on Mauldin. The guy may not be a legit scoring big man, but he can use his size to disrupt defenders in a way that Skinner hasn't been able to do. I'd be very pleased with him if he can continue putting up stat lines like he did tonight (4pts, 5 rebounds in 12 min).

This team needs to improve its ability to get the ball into the paint. Putting up 28 threes is borderline absurd. That many attempts may work for Butler, but that isn't our style of play. The entry pass is often open, but for some reason the guards don't want to pass it inside. At this point it really doesn't matter if they make the pass anyways since our forwards can't finish around the hoop. These guys need to start making doubles moves to get the defenders in the air, draw contact, and get to the line.

This team has zero margin of error right now when it comes to playing good teams. I see that the players have the talent, they just aren't confident enough in themselves and other to make it work. If Avo can slice into the lane and make baskets I'm confident that Ricky, Charlie, and others can do it as well.

Art Vandelay

[bball30]

I also agree that the strength is in the guards, and it would be wrong to go with a bigger line up. I do think however Franklin, Swiggett, and Smith are playing the best basketball. Hanson is most definitely not. Does anyone else think barring any dramatic changes that Gentry should have possibly red-shirted?

[famouspnthrfan]

Tonight seemed like two different games. The first half was simply atrocious and so was most of the second half, but when Mauldin was in the game, bad knee or not, this team was completely different. He challenged most shots that came in the lane and he had more offensive boards it seemed than the rest of the team combined. The swing offense just doesn't seem to work without a big guy. You can't expect to have both Paulsen and Skinner out on the perimeter and after a pass and shot go crash the boards. They have no chance to box out. If they run the swing with a guy who is 6'9" down low the rebounding chances are much better but with a 6'6" guy going against 3 guys who are the same height or taller...offensive boards are at a minimum. Ricky is very talented but he needs to figure out his role. He is still adjusting to playing competitive ball and it shows, but is he a point, a shooter, he reminds me a little of Sam Cassell without the confidence. However, he doesn't drive enough when he's on the perimeter, and that goes for all the other guards too. (except Avo). It's obvious out there who will be good and who won't...but none of these guys will be good enough until they figure out their roles...and that takes time, experience, and chemistry...and they don't have any of that yet.

[teddyp00]

You play your best players. Sure right now playing against a PAC-10 team and UAB which is a very established program we are at a big height disadvantage. However, once we get into conference the size will not be nearly the factor it is right now. You can tell Jeter has everyone almost focused to much on the team aspect right now and no one really wants to step up and become an offensive leader.

I really wish Paulsen was a bit more of a post presence. He has one move down low and other than that he looks scared to be within 10 feet of the basket. The past two games the passing and spacing have been really bad which makes it impossible to get easy buckets and makes the job for the defense that much easier.

Speaking of the defense, that right now is just beyond bad.

[milwsport]

Our defense was much more aggressive in the second half. In fact it was fairly good for most of the half. Yes there were some lapses but we held UAB to just 33% shooting in the half and outscored them by 7.

[FTA1982]

Is there a reason why Torre is not sitting behind the bench with Deion and Joe? I saw him sitting behind Sec. 206. after tonight's game. I know there was talk of him maybe never playing for UWM. This kind of worries me for next year.

[teddyp00]

yeah thought that was him. He was right next to where we have our season tix. I thought that was a bit odd too, but maybe there is some reason for it.

[bball30]

I think it's just because he's an everyday "transfer" student right now. He will be walking on next year from my understanding, and doesn't have a role within this team right now. I could be way off though, but not worried yet.

[pantherhoops]

One thing that concerns me is the lack of adjustments made during a game. To start the game UAB was spreading the floor and penetrating at ease. Our defense was not rotating over and nobody was helping. This is how UAB established their controlling lead in the early part of the game. There was no adjustment made. We did try to shift to a zone, but that may have been the worst zone defense I have ever witnessed.
I will give Jeter and Co. credit though. They do seem to make adjustments during the practice time. They did not make many of the same mistakes that they made against Parkside when they played Edgewood. I just don't think that it should take untill a film session or a practice to fix some of these things. Tonight the lack of help defense could have been fixed during a 30 second time out with a good *ss chewing.
Our transition defense is absolutely horrible. When a team pushes the ball we need to just match up with anybody. We are so concerned about picking up our man that we let people run free. We need to pick somebody up and the switch, for a better match up once we get back on d.
We also lacked effort on numerous loose balls. There were two times for sure when a UAB player hit the ground for a ball. UWM just had two guys standing there. We lack that heart and desire. UWM teams of the past had no problem picking up a floor burn. I don't see that this year, and it's disturbing. Our former more talented teams had that desire, why don't these guys understand they need to exert that kind of effort.

[bball30]

Teams are shooting roughly 60% against UWM this season. That needs to be fixed by Wednesday.

[famouspnthrfan]

I was also wondering that about Torre. I did see Deion and Joe and Jason but no Torre...At least he was there I guess. I was nervous he wasn't even in the arena. That was making me nervous

[pantherpanther]

I don't think Torre can sit behind the bench right now...as one other poster said, right now he is just a transfer student, with no real link to the team. I may be wrong, and if I am somebody correct me, but I believe that is what is going on.

We are a work in progress...we must all learn to be patient.

P^2

[BBFran]

All I have to say about tonight is that Sam really deserves recognition for his minutes out there. You could tell he was laboring but he worked hard on defense. Gave us what he had. Oh, and I hope Paige has some ice in the fridge. Ouch!!!

This is going to be a long process, folks. But there is talent on this team. Let's not forget that most of the night we had three or four guys on the floor together who have never played a D1 basketball game until this weekend.