Post by PantherLou on Nov 18, 2010 13:58:51 GMT -6
I was lucky enough to be at the game last night. Here’s my trip report:
We got back in at 12:45am last night, home by 1:30, and I am completely exhausted today. But it was well worth it. Last night was a great game and I cannot be prouder of our team and how they performed under incredibly difficult conditions.
We met the team at the hotel and it was obvious just by body language alone that the guys, the coaches, and everyone else were pretty beat. Remember that the team had left Milwaukee a week earlier, and had a 12 hour travel day just 2 days before, flying from Portland to Atlanta to Buffalo (thanks Koonce!) I know that most of them had their sleep schedules totally screwed up and few told me that they hadn’t fallen asleep until 4am the night before. I was concerned that the guys were going to come out flat and frankly, I couldn’t blame them if they did.
We had about a 40 minute bus ride to Niagara and my concerns were not lessened upon walking into the gym. The Gallagher Center is a small gym, and feels more like a high school gym than a D1 arena. For those who have been to Loyola, it is a lot like a smaller version of the Gentile Center. Yes, smaller – it seats only 2,400.
During warmups, there were probably a hundred people milling around (including the Niagara cheerleaders who appeared to be auditioning for “Jersey Shore , Western New York” – seriously, there was so much black hair and orange fake tan that I have expected Snooki was an alumnus). Anyway, even with barely anyone in the gym, it was loud. Over an hour before game time, the students began to show up, and I was certain that we were in trouble.
By the time the game started the place seemed packed to the rafters. I know that the box score said 2,013, but I really don’t know how another 400 could have fit in that place. The student section was packed, and they were loud, and very well organized. They are also pretty much right on top of the court. The closest students could not have been more than 15’ from our bench. My guess is that they had 500+ in the student section. It was impressive.
From the opening tip it was apparent that this Niagara team, while younger, was going to play exactly like the team we faced at the cell last year. Simply put, they are built to play in that gym. They are fast, athletic, and completely fearless. They are also somewhat undisciplined, but I think that’s as much a factor of their style as it is their skill. Combine their frenetic pace with the absolutely insane crowd and I can imagine that a lot of teams simply get run out of that gym.
I can’t say enough about that crowd. In my 7 years now of being a hard core Panther fan, I have experienced a number of pretty intense road atmospheres. None come even close to this. For a good part of the game I could not hear a thing that my fiancée said – and she was right next to me. It had to be worse on the floor. Players and coaches were unable to communicate and on more than one occasion, it was obvious that the guys were not all on the same page as a result. During time outs, they chanted and yelled just as loudly. In fact, due to the PA announcer during the breaks, it may have even been louder. I’m telling you, it was intense.
The players and coaches simply endured and stuck with their game plan. Every player played well, despite what the stat sheet may say. I can’t really gibe a full breakdown of everyone, but here’s a few things that jump out:
- Kaylon was simply awesome. At one point early he had 3 turnovers and no assists. After that, he was a rock out there. Just took what Niagara game us, didn’t force things, just stayed cool and calm. One play in the second half really illustrated his skills: we had the ball on the low post, it was knocked out, nearly stolen, and bounced around the perimeter and collected by Kaylon with about 20 second on the shot clock. Rather than immediately try to feed the post again, or jack up a 3, he calmly stepped back, regained composure, and called for Ant to come out and set a high ball screen. The play worked to perfection and resulted in a Tony Meier layup. It was a thing of beauty.
- Tony Meier played the best game he has ever had in a Panther uniform. Amazingly, it could have been even better. He continually worked well off the ball and had some great looks that just didn’t fall. Unlike at times last year, Tony simply looked calm and in control throughout. On at least 3 of Tony’s rebounds he simply ripped the ball away from one or more players. On one play in particular he tore the ball away from a defender on the offensive glass, stepped back and calmly drained a 10 foot baseline jumper.
- Ryan Allen singlehandedly carried us for a 5 minute stretch in the first half. His ability to cut to the basket was unmatched on the court. His first dunk miss was actually a foul that was missed by the officials (which I can’t blame them for – it had to be a very tough task calling that game). The second dunk was a slip or something. Even though it happened right in front of me, I still don’t know what happened. I think that telling Ryan not to dunk would be a terrible, terrible idea. He plays fast, attacking basketball and we need a player like that. Not everyone mind, you, but he certainly should be encouraged to keep doing what he is doing. As he continues to get better at staying on his feet on defense, he will be a nightmare matchup for opponents.
- Ant looked a bit tired early, but he really turned it on late in the first and into the second. I was SO impressed by how strong and determined he was. You could just tell that he determined that he was not going to be stopped and he did it.
- Overall defense was far better than you might think in a game that we gave up 73 points. Not once did Niagara come near a shot clock violation or a rushed shot. They play to get maximum possessions and are a high scoring team. With the exception of some sloppy transition D and some mistakes with help defense in the early part of the game our defense was very good. The second half defense was phenomenal.
- Kudos to Rob for a great coaching job. I though the subs were all well timed, and he really seemed to have a handle on what we needed and when we needed it on the court. The time outs were perfect and despite the chaos of the surroundings, Rob had his hand on the pulse of the team throughout.
There’s more than just this that I liked, but I’m tired and really need a nap (yea, I’m getting old). To summarize, I just cannot say enough how impressive I felt this win was. I feel confident in saying that our teams of the past would have been run out of the gym and we would have lost that game by double digits. This team looks mentally strong and ready to tackle adversity.
I know we won’t face a more hostile crowd this year. Bring on Northern Iowa.
We got back in at 12:45am last night, home by 1:30, and I am completely exhausted today. But it was well worth it. Last night was a great game and I cannot be prouder of our team and how they performed under incredibly difficult conditions.
We met the team at the hotel and it was obvious just by body language alone that the guys, the coaches, and everyone else were pretty beat. Remember that the team had left Milwaukee a week earlier, and had a 12 hour travel day just 2 days before, flying from Portland to Atlanta to Buffalo (thanks Koonce!) I know that most of them had their sleep schedules totally screwed up and few told me that they hadn’t fallen asleep until 4am the night before. I was concerned that the guys were going to come out flat and frankly, I couldn’t blame them if they did.
We had about a 40 minute bus ride to Niagara and my concerns were not lessened upon walking into the gym. The Gallagher Center is a small gym, and feels more like a high school gym than a D1 arena. For those who have been to Loyola, it is a lot like a smaller version of the Gentile Center. Yes, smaller – it seats only 2,400.
During warmups, there were probably a hundred people milling around (including the Niagara cheerleaders who appeared to be auditioning for “Jersey Shore , Western New York” – seriously, there was so much black hair and orange fake tan that I have expected Snooki was an alumnus). Anyway, even with barely anyone in the gym, it was loud. Over an hour before game time, the students began to show up, and I was certain that we were in trouble.
By the time the game started the place seemed packed to the rafters. I know that the box score said 2,013, but I really don’t know how another 400 could have fit in that place. The student section was packed, and they were loud, and very well organized. They are also pretty much right on top of the court. The closest students could not have been more than 15’ from our bench. My guess is that they had 500+ in the student section. It was impressive.
From the opening tip it was apparent that this Niagara team, while younger, was going to play exactly like the team we faced at the cell last year. Simply put, they are built to play in that gym. They are fast, athletic, and completely fearless. They are also somewhat undisciplined, but I think that’s as much a factor of their style as it is their skill. Combine their frenetic pace with the absolutely insane crowd and I can imagine that a lot of teams simply get run out of that gym.
I can’t say enough about that crowd. In my 7 years now of being a hard core Panther fan, I have experienced a number of pretty intense road atmospheres. None come even close to this. For a good part of the game I could not hear a thing that my fiancée said – and she was right next to me. It had to be worse on the floor. Players and coaches were unable to communicate and on more than one occasion, it was obvious that the guys were not all on the same page as a result. During time outs, they chanted and yelled just as loudly. In fact, due to the PA announcer during the breaks, it may have even been louder. I’m telling you, it was intense.
The players and coaches simply endured and stuck with their game plan. Every player played well, despite what the stat sheet may say. I can’t really gibe a full breakdown of everyone, but here’s a few things that jump out:
- Kaylon was simply awesome. At one point early he had 3 turnovers and no assists. After that, he was a rock out there. Just took what Niagara game us, didn’t force things, just stayed cool and calm. One play in the second half really illustrated his skills: we had the ball on the low post, it was knocked out, nearly stolen, and bounced around the perimeter and collected by Kaylon with about 20 second on the shot clock. Rather than immediately try to feed the post again, or jack up a 3, he calmly stepped back, regained composure, and called for Ant to come out and set a high ball screen. The play worked to perfection and resulted in a Tony Meier layup. It was a thing of beauty.
- Tony Meier played the best game he has ever had in a Panther uniform. Amazingly, it could have been even better. He continually worked well off the ball and had some great looks that just didn’t fall. Unlike at times last year, Tony simply looked calm and in control throughout. On at least 3 of Tony’s rebounds he simply ripped the ball away from one or more players. On one play in particular he tore the ball away from a defender on the offensive glass, stepped back and calmly drained a 10 foot baseline jumper.
- Ryan Allen singlehandedly carried us for a 5 minute stretch in the first half. His ability to cut to the basket was unmatched on the court. His first dunk miss was actually a foul that was missed by the officials (which I can’t blame them for – it had to be a very tough task calling that game). The second dunk was a slip or something. Even though it happened right in front of me, I still don’t know what happened. I think that telling Ryan not to dunk would be a terrible, terrible idea. He plays fast, attacking basketball and we need a player like that. Not everyone mind, you, but he certainly should be encouraged to keep doing what he is doing. As he continues to get better at staying on his feet on defense, he will be a nightmare matchup for opponents.
- Ant looked a bit tired early, but he really turned it on late in the first and into the second. I was SO impressed by how strong and determined he was. You could just tell that he determined that he was not going to be stopped and he did it.
- Overall defense was far better than you might think in a game that we gave up 73 points. Not once did Niagara come near a shot clock violation or a rushed shot. They play to get maximum possessions and are a high scoring team. With the exception of some sloppy transition D and some mistakes with help defense in the early part of the game our defense was very good. The second half defense was phenomenal.
- Kudos to Rob for a great coaching job. I though the subs were all well timed, and he really seemed to have a handle on what we needed and when we needed it on the court. The time outs were perfect and despite the chaos of the surroundings, Rob had his hand on the pulse of the team throughout.
There’s more than just this that I liked, but I’m tired and really need a nap (yea, I’m getting old). To summarize, I just cannot say enough how impressive I felt this win was. I feel confident in saying that our teams of the past would have been run out of the gym and we would have lost that game by double digits. This team looks mentally strong and ready to tackle adversity.
I know we won’t face a more hostile crowd this year. Bring on Northern Iowa.
