UWM vs. Loyola -- 1/6/07

[thepantherfan]

these announcers/cheerleaders are ridiculous!!!

they arent so much objective commentators, as they are bias Loyola whores....

[bball30]

I didn't think Polka was POY, wasn't it Hughes?

[famouspnthrfan]

i thought it was jerry smith???

[teddyp00]

Who cares, so is our radio guy. Atleast they just say the are loyola fans rather than act like it and never admit like some other announcers.

[mwu]

thornton in at the end and nails another 3 ball. looks like that confience form the detroit game is growing.

we let this game get out of hand, seems like we forgot how gaurd the perimeter. we also got into foul trouble with what 3 (?) guys with 4 fouls at one point. had avo not fouled out i think we stay closer down the stretch. we can thank the refs for their "stellar" performance.

[teddyp00]

loyolaramblers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/polka_andy00.html

High School: Earned Mr. Basketball Award in Wisconsin after leading Oshkosh West to an undefeated season (26-0) and the Division I state title in 2005-06...averaged 14.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, while also hitting 59 percent of his shots from the field, as a senior...earned First Team Milwaukee Journal Sentinel All-State honors...as a junior, posted 14.2 ppg and 11.3 rpg en route to first team all-conference accolades...attended the same high school as Loyola junior forward Tom Levin...is the second Rambler recruit in as many seasons to have led his team to an undefeated season and a state championship, joining J.R. Blount as the other LU player to achieve that milestone...competed for the United States and averaged 4.6 ppg and 6.6 rpg in five contests at the Global Games in Dallas in the summer of 2006...helped the U.S. to a third-place finish at the 2006 Global Games.

[famouspnthrfan]

good find teddyp

[Pantherholic]

Polka was named Mr. Basketball from the WBCA whereas Smith got it from the AP. so technically they were both named. i'd consider WBCA more credible as the AP seems to go more off press clippings but also to be fair, Smith missed the state tourney.

[MarkMiller]

I remember asking Bruce Pearl why they didn't offer J.R. Blount. His response?

"We had just taken Allen Hanson and I didn't want to take two lead guards in back-to-back years."

I also recall Bruce saying how much he liked Blount as a player. Sometimes, recruiting is as much about timing as anything else.

On another note, it appears Ricky Franklin is starting to come around. Nice to see that he has kept with things and is beginning to show his considerable talents.

[teddyp00]

Also, as far as Polka getting player of the year had much to do with his and his teams performance in the state tourny.

Not taking anything away from him but its it bit hard for me to say that he is a better player than either Smith or Hughes last year.

[bigcatlover]

As always after a loss, I seem to be asking the same questions each time: Why did Jeter keep Sam and Marcus out when we needed some height near the basket in the second half?
We couldn't counter Polka at all, and Skinner might have been an improvement over Paige, but he played only 6 minutes all game. He might have managed some steals, which we lacked last night. I will admit there were some good things, but there also seemed to be a lot of options that were not tried. Does anyone have any ideas as to why? I watched the webcast, and it was sometimes hard to see. My thanks to anyone who went to the game; the radio guy mentioned our devoted fans; I was glad to see someone made it down there.

[dylanrocks]

Talked with Ryan the other day and his problem isn't so much confidence as it is frustration. Doesn't know when or if he's going to be used from one game to the next. After hitting the pinnacle shot against Detroit, he gets 22.4 seconds on Saturday. How's he supposed to get comfortable in a system?

[dylanrocks]

Paige was a train wreck, pure and simple. In a team-leading 38 minutes, he made 3-of-14 field goals, including several missed layups, scored seven points and added two rebounds. He short-armed a wide-open eight-foot jumper and a couple of free throws when the game was still marginally in doubt at 80-70. Take some of his minutes and give them to Sam or Marcus.

[PantherU]

I think you're reading too much in the box score. Paige plays terrific defense, something you won't get from an oft-confused Marcus and a lethargic Sam.

[bigcatlover]

I agree that Page often does play great defense, but not this last game. He was out-muscled or out-foxed (or something) as well as not shooting well. At that point, it might be better to put in someone else who has at least a chance to stop the other team, who shot over 60%. The first 20-25 minutes of his play should have shown that we needed a change in there, preferably someone bigger, not smaller, for the remainder of the game.