Encouraging

[BBFran]

Yeah, I know we got beaten handily, but I still saw a lot of things I liked.

First, I really thought we rebounded aggressively.

Second, our ball movement was much better at times. Got a lot of open look and layup opportunities, although poor shooting negated too many of them.

Third, we played hard. Kept at it in the second half even when we fell behind big.

Fourth, Sam had another solid showing defensively.

There were more positives, but I won't try to list them all. Fundamentally, a much more experienced team with some very good low post players took advantage of us. Our poor shooting compounded the problem.

But that said, I saw real progress since the Wazzou and UAB games. I think we are going to be a solid ballclub by the time the Horizon rolls around. Next year, when we get the big infusion of depth and talent in the low post, we will be much better equipped to play with teams like UNI. UNI will be a force in the Valley again this year, especially with that beautiful new arena.

[uwm97]

This team won't do much of anything against anybody until they learn how to shoot. They put up one brick after another.

[pantherdon]

A lot of it is getting to the right spot and taking the right shots.
They will get better at shooting as well.
Tonight's 38% is better than the season avg of 33%

[uwmfutbol]

If you take away about 5 minutes of the game, this was actually pretty close. Unfortunately, there were a few instances in the game where UNI just destroyed us in the paint.

You can tell Swiggett, Franklin, and Gentry are young--they're making a lot of rookie mistakes. Thankfully, the talent is there, and they'll get better.

As uwm97 pointed out, our shooting is horrible. However, so is our defense. I understand that their bigs tore us apart, but this is the 3rd game this season where our defense has allowed higher than 50% shots made. That HAS to change.

This is a frustrating season, but I'm not giving up yet.

[thepantherfan]

looks like we are improving and playing more like a team. We are still gonna take our lumps during non-conference games, but I think by the time the conference games roll around we will surprise a lot of people. With a little more improvement and a better shooting % there is no way the Panthers finish 7th in the Horizon.

[famouspnthrfan]

Don't give up yet anyone. I don't think it's much of a coincidence Rob set up such a difficult non-conference schedule...by the time the important part of the season rolls around...this team will be much improved and battle tested. They'll grow up in a hurry at this rate...and we are already seeing some subtle improvements.

[panthercub]

"When Mauldin is in the paint the other team isn't!"

[BBFran]

Actually, our defense wasn't horrible, it was just very inconsistent. We actually played very good defense at times. I thought our low post guys really worked hard, forced a lot of tough shots and blocked out well to get the rebounds and not allow the reset by UNI. There was a great moment in the second half where we forced a shot clock violation also.

In fact, I saw more learning on defense going on than on offense, although I think the offense is also improving. Again, I'm emcouraged by the impovement I'm seeing. Predictably, this club looked ragtag in the exhibition season. Now you can start to see the lessons sinking in and the identity of the team starting to be formed. To me, this is one of the most enjoyable kinds of seasons -- when a coach takes a completely unformed team and molds it. The wins will be tough to come by, at least early, but watching the architecture being created and the building going up is really fun.

By the way, I bet Tim Flowers and Joe Allen are going to look a lot like those low post beasts UNI threw at us today, in terms of how they play, and I can't wait to see it.

[famouspnthrfan]

Is Joe Allen able to play for us next semester or second semester next year...i thought i read that somewhere...

[Kingsbury]

Yes, Joe Allen will be eligible to play second semester next year.

I like the improvements that I have seen so far since the Parkside game. Out bigs do a good job despite there lack of height. Next year Paulsen is not going to have bang with the opposing teams big man with Allen, Johnson and Flowers in the paint. This team could really use a shot blocker. Think of how much our guards were able to gamble last year because they knew McCoy was behind them.

As far as I'm concerned as long as they keep playing hard and improve on the mistakes from game to game this team should be just fine by the time the heart of the HL conference season rolls around.

[mwu]

i echo all the points from above....

i thought swigget is gaining creativity on offense, the baseline dish to paige (?) was pretty sweet.
mauldin's dunk, it looked like franklin was finding the flow a little better.

i thought the halftime walk-through of the pavilion was pretty sweet, showin it off to kids veiwing in.
who ever posted gonzaga's gym as perfect, i beg to differ. i can't wait to go out there and check out uni's place for myself sometime. an absolutly beautiful place to play.

[milwsport]

I was also encouraged. It's important to keep in mind that a lot of our turnovers have been passes sent to people who weren't there. That's part of learning the swing.

I'd also like to point to last year's Womens' BB team. They took a lot of lumps in the preseason due to a tough schedule. But come HL time they won the league and the league tourney and gave Michigan it could handle for all but the last 7 minutes of their first round game in the NCAA.

Like this year's men's team, they looked bad in the pre-conference season. Hopefully like last year's women's team, the men will look great once the HL season rolls around.

[raar]

I am pretty frustrated with the team's overall inability to shoot and with Jeter's reluctance to play a little bigger (with Mauldin, skinner and Massiah out there at the same time...or even Bendall). This 3 guard thing ain't working.

[raar]

So what's this team's average shooting percentage on the year? Like somewhere near 30%? That is bad. I am starting to question the ability of these players. How can you miss so many shots? I mean I understand the turnovers and misreads. But These guys should be able to make their short open jumpers and lay-ups (even with slightly contested), right?

[dylanrocks]

This team will not again this season face a four-game stretch against the likes of Washington St., UAB, Michigan and Northern Iowa. I am incredibly optimistic about the future of the program and excited about watching this year's young team grow.