Green Bay Saturday

[teddyp00]

I will never blame a win or losss on officials. While the ones yesterday did do a good job of impacting the game it came down do GB outplaying us yesterday. GB shot nearly 50% from the field where we shot under 40%. They shot over 40% from 3 and we shot less than 20%. The shot over 80% from the line for the game (going 20 of 24 in the 2nd half : while we shot less than 70%.

I hope that the Horizon League sooner rather than later decides that its time to step up and pay for higher quality officials like the MVC has done. You can not let the officials play a major factor in one of the few nationally televised games the league gets each year.

Props to the student section they were loud and out in force and many looked to be having a good time. I know the loss will hurt the chances of many making it back for games this year. But someone needs to tell them that 3/5 of the starters for next year were on the bench in street clothes and the other likely two have been playing in nationally televised games in high school this year.

Is anyone else really looking forward to Hanson hopefully going back to getting only spot minutes like he did his first two years? (1 for 8 on 3's )

[7xchamps]

As a GB alum.....I hated when Kowalczyk made that comment about too many games in a short stretch....it definitely sounded like whining. That said....he's still our coach and I will stick with him even though the team is underachieving a bit this year... Without a doubt....yesterday was the best game they played all year.....Say what you want about the refs (and I'll agree....that probably wasn't a charge).....you can't tell me Evanochko wasn't getting held on some of those inbounds plays late in the game. I thought GB was gonna piss that game away....I'm just glad we held on.

As for UWM's offense......be patient. Remember how young your team is. It will take time for souch a young team to realize what kind of shots to look for out of the swing offense. The number one goal is to look into the post in that offense, and I think they will get that eventually.....it will just take time. I was at the Washington State game earlier in the year and from what I can tell from the scores since that day.....UWM is an improving team. This should be quite the rivalry in the next few years.....I'm looking forward to it.

[ArtVandelay]

7xchamps said:

As a GB alum.....I hated when Kowalczyk made that comment about too many games in a short stretch....it definitely sounded like whining. That said....he's still our coach and I will stick with him even though the team is underachieving a bit this year... Without a doubt....yesterday was the best game they played all year.....Say what you want about the refs (and I'll agree....that probably wasn't a charge).....you can't tell me Evanochko wasn't getting held on some of those inbounds plays late in the game. I thought GB was gonna piss that game away....I'm just glad we held on.

As for UWM's offense......be patient. Remember how young your team is. It will take time for souch a young team to realize what kind of shots to look for out of the swing offense. The number one goal is to look into the post in that offense, and I think they will get that eventually.....it will just take time. I was at the Washington State game earlier in the year and from what I can tell from the scores since that day.....UWM is an improving team. This should be quite the rivalry in the next few years.....I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks for the kind words. It sucks that we lost, but overall it was a really fun game to be at. The "charge" call at the end of the game sealed it, but we could have done plenty to win the game. We left ourselves in a position to let that call decide the game, and we paid for it.

Tough loses like yesterday should inspire and drive everybody on the team to work harder.

I'm sure the game in Green Bay is going to mean a little more to the guys on the team after losing the way they did. If its anything like yesterday's game it will be lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to it.

Art Vandelay

[mcdadenets50]

mcdadenets50 said:

pantherholic said:

also props to Jimmy for using poor man's words against him in the press conference. keep it up!

I'm missing something here, please explain.

Got it, nailed him on the so-called unfair schedule. Nice work.

[mcdadenets50]

pantherholic said:

i also loved how everytime a foul was called on Evans he thought it was complete crap. apparently jumping onto two guys' backs to get a rebound is legal? good luck explaining that one.

Right on. Evans is a whiner who apparently has never committed a foul in his life.

[Deleted]

Good journalism Jimmy!

[GVD]

Anyone know how Kaylan is doing? It sounds like he took quite a shot to the mouth when he was "assaulted" by the "bad boys of Wisconsin" yesterday.

[dylanrocks]

Speaking of good journalism, Rob's account in the Press-Gazette seems to be far more comprehensive and explanatory than the one which appears in today's Journal-Sentinel.

By Rob Demovsky
[e-mail]

MILWAUKEE — Troy Cotton couldn't have picked a better time — or place — to play the best basketball game of his young college career.

With his University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men's basketball team in desperate need of a victory over rival UW-Milwaukee in a city where it hadn't beaten the Panthers since 1998, the hometown freshman came through big time.

The 6-foot-1 guard, who played his prep basketball down the road at Milwaukee King, was almost flawless on Saturday, leading the Phoenix to a critical 73-67 Horizon League victory in front of 6,190 fans at U.S. Cellular Arena and national television audience on ESPN2.


"He played great and hit huge shots," UWGB senior Josh Lawrence said of his young teammate. "He's come a long way for a freshman. That's the kind of stuff we need right now."


Cotton didn't do it by himself, but his career-best 23-point performance on almost perfect shooting was one of a handful of reasons UWGB (12-9) finished the first half of conference play 4-4. Even better was that the Phoenix, which began the day in eighth place in the nine-team league, jumped all the way to third place, one-half game ahead of a four-way logjam of teams at 4-5.


The others major factors in the Phoenix's most important win of the season were its quick start that led to a 16-point lead in the first half, the steady play of point guard Ryan Evanochko (18 points, seven assists, six rebounds) and overcoming late-game turnovers against UWM's full-court press.

But make no mistake, it was Cotton's performance that set the standard. He went 6-for-6 from the field (including 3-for-3 from 3-point range) and made 8-of-9 free throws. He added two steals.

More importantly, he hit one of the key shots that broke the Panthers. After UWM (7-16, 4-6) cut an eight-point halftime lead to four, 43-39, Cotton knocked down a 3 from the left corner after Evanochko found him with a perfect pass.

"He played within himself, just under control," UWM coach Rob Jeter said of Cotton. "You never saw him try to do things that he can't do. He didn't try to do anything fancy. He moved well without the ball. That's the sign of a pretty good player. It's the sign of a mature player, especially for his age. He had a great game and played within himself."

After Cotton's big 3, Evanochko, who played perhaps his most steady game of the season, ran a textbook 2-on-1 fastbreak that led to a one-handed dunk by Mike Schachtner (15 points), and the Phoenix was back in a comfort zone midway through the second half.

It stayed that way until the final minutes. UWGB led by 12 with 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining, but couldn't seem to get the ball inbounds against UWM's press. While Panthers guard Avery Smith (17 points) was in the midst of scoring 11 straight points, UWGB's Terry Evans committed back-to-back turnovers.

"I thought we played with a great deal of passion and heart, and we almost let one slip away," UWGB coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "That's a lesson that we have to learn. When you have a team down 12 with that much time left, it's not over."

It was finally over when, after the Panthers had cut UWGB's lead to 66-61 with 55.2 seconds left, Smith drove the lane, ran into Cotton and was called for a charge. The call infuriated Jeter, who stepped on the floor to protest and was hit with a technical foul. He ripped off his suit jacket in disgust. Schachtner made the technical free throws, essentially ending any chance UWM had.

"They call fouls," Jeter said, "so there's nothing I can say about it."

The Phoenix's second straight victory was a continuation of its solid play in Wednesday's 20-point rout of Illinois-Chicago, and though it only improved to .500 in league play, the schedule turns in its favor.

UWGB and Detroit were the only two teams to play just three home games in the first half of league play. The second half begins Monday at the Resch Center against second-place Wright State.

"It's a road win, and it's a rivalry win," Kowalczyk said. "We haven't had the advantage of our schedule yet. It'll swing in our favor now."

[TBone]

Tough loss, but I like the grit and determination in coming back.

Those of you begging for Thornton to get more time likely saw why he's not getting more time. He looked rough on D. I really like the way Gentry's coming on though. Overall, I still love the way the team is coming together, gelling, and playing better as a team. I think this team could make some noise in the tournament and will have learned a lot of lessons going into the next season.

And yes, I know I'm talking about next season. I've not given up on this season, nor will I. However, it's going to be very tough for any team (not just us) to go into Butler (an assumption) and win the tournament this year. I'm still hoping for a .500 record in the conference and at least one win in the tournament this year. I think this is still do-able, but will be tough as we've got some rough road games coming up this season.

T

[fan]

tbone said:

Those of you begging for Thornton to get more time likely saw why he's not getting more time. He looked rough on D.

rough seems to be an understatement. To me, it seems he has to play the 4 or 5 given his lack of speed. Too many 3 guard sets to have him out there trying to play man-to-man.

[dylanrocks]

Can we please not use the word gel for awhile. Bad associations.

[JimmyLemke]

I agree with Paul. Gel is a dirty word, haha.

Actually, I noticed in the press conference that there was a surprising lack of hair gel used by the poor man. Maybe UWM brass aren't the only ones that read the board.

[Pantherholic]

jimmylemke said:

I agree with Paul. Gel is a dirty word, haha.

Actually, I noticed in the press conference that there was a surprising lack of hair gel used by the poor man. Maybe UWM brass aren't the only ones that read the board.

that one ref probably borrowed most of it. a hurricane couldn't move that guy's hair.

[BBFran]

I am surrounded by a bunch of fans whose only apparent purpose at the games is to scream for Ryan Thornton to be put in and complain about Jeter not putting him in. When I have asked "what about defense" they give me blank stares.

I love the kid. He's fearless and eager. But very rarely have I seen a player who needs more strength and better foot speed before he can safely be on the floor for us except in the most limited circumstances. It's too bad he didn't redshirt but we were struggling to score so much early that we needed him. Or needed his potential, anyway.

I think he'll be a great sniper for us in time -- but not yet.

[uwmfutbol]

I would imagine it's going to take another season for us to see Thornton's full potential.

Next year, on the other hand, Charlie (if he's healthy), Ricky, and Gentry (after seeing him against UWGB I'm more confident) should all be dangerous players.

What will really be interesting next year is who ends up starting. Between the seniors, the talented sophomores, and the new recruits, it's going to be competitive.