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Post by Pantherholic on Mar 6, 2018 8:22:45 GMT -6
The fan base has always been fickle. That's not new and realistically won't change in the future too. You can tell they've made strides in trying to get students to games this season but the team has to win in order to keep them coming back.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Mar 6, 2018 8:34:39 GMT -6
"First of all, I'd like to thank our fans that came out and supported us during this tournament and throughout the entire season," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "Credit to our guys. They worked extremely hard from the time I got to campus to this point here. And credit to Wright State; congratulations to them. Obviously we went through the conference schedule beating them twice and we knew it was going to be a tough battle coming in here."
"Our guys really wanted it," Baldwin said. "I know Wright State's guy really wanted it, too. I felt like we put a lot of pressure on each and every shot and each and every defensive stop and possession. That just shows you the heart, the tenacity, and the want that our guys have in wanting to win so badly. I give them credit for that because they definitely deserve it."
"Nobody expected us to be here, but there are a lot of things to take out of - not only this game, but the entire season," Baldwin said. "I want our guys to be proud of who they are, their character, what they represent and that is being the best men they can possibly be for their families, and also for the community of Milwaukee and also the campus there."
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Post by steveisback on Mar 6, 2018 8:42:55 GMT -6
Paul,
One of best quotes ever above - so true - biggest problem is silence of our administration. With more vision and support we already could have been out of this moribund conference by now whether the coach was named Jeter, Jordan or Baldwin. Again, SO MUCH POTENTIAL but so little "will" on the part of the administratoin
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Mar 6, 2018 8:52:01 GMT -6
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Post by BBFran on Mar 6, 2018 13:22:04 GMT -6
"Nobody expected us to be here [...]" Baldwin said.
I find this comment interesting. "Nobody" expected us to be good enough to reach the semifinals (the last four) of the tournament in the worst Horizon League in history? Say what? We finished in fifth place in the league.
I can only imagine the outrage if a previous coach had said that in these circumstances.
This sounds like residue from that hackneyed coaching technique of trying to motivate your charges by telling them that nobody believes in them and that the whole world is against them. I don't know if that cliched approach works, but in any case it's not true here. Nobody's against the team or the players. It wasn't that there was "nobody" who expected that they would reach the semis -- an astoundingly low bar this year. The truth is quite different: it's that our program has been reduced to the point that "nobody" particularly cares. For proof, all you had to do this year was look up into the stands and count.
Want more proof? Here's a riddle: how is the UWM Basketball program just like Verne Lundquist?
The answer: in the Journal Sentinel this morning the game story about our season ending game got exactly as much space -- ONE COLUMN INCH -- as the news that Verne has decided not to announce the NCAA tournament this year.
That's how important our program is in the Milwaukee sports scene now. And just to be clear, that's not the coaches' fault, and it's not the players' fault. That's what our administration has done to this program.
Only a fool would expect it to change under this regime.
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Post by BBFran on Mar 6, 2018 13:28:55 GMT -6
Not surprisingly, our sports information wizzes haven't even mastered basic grammar. |
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Post by GoPanthersGo23 on Mar 6, 2018 15:28:39 GMT -6
Overall disappointing game, but hard to win when you chuck up 25 3 pointers and are only playing with a 7 man rotation. At the end of the day, I am proud of the way the guys fought down the stretch to get to the semis. Looking forward to see how the offseason goes for PB in recruiting.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Mar 6, 2018 20:43:01 GMT -6
Overall disappointing game, but hard to win when you chuck up 25 3 pointers and are only playing with a 7 man rotation. At the end of the day, I am proud of the way the guys fought down the stretch to get to the semis. Looking forward to see how the offseason goes for PB in recruiting. Wright State has only played with a 7 man rotation most of this season. Wright State didn't play on Sunday. Milwaukee did. |
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 6, 2018 22:22:25 GMT -6
This was another missed opportunity for Milwaukee, but I am extremely happy for Wright State and especially Ryan Custer!
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Post by GoPanthersGo23 on Mar 7, 2018 9:04:11 GMT -6
Wright State has only played with a 7 man rotation most of this season. Wright State didn't play on Sunday. Milwaukee did. I guess I should have said that in the post as well, but this is what I was getting at. I am happy for WSU as they had the best shot of possibly winning a game in the tourney over CSU. |
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Post by Spirit of Bruce on Mar 7, 2018 12:12:15 GMT -6
Man, with CWN unable to play, it sure would've been nice if the guy who was averaging 22 min a game in November and December could've re-emerged and helped out...
When is the REAL story of The Disappearance of Jeremy Johnson going to be revealed?
A couple takeaways from my short trip to Detroit:
1. The arena is BEYOND fantastic, and far too good for the HL, in my opinion.
2. So awesome to be there and see Oakland choke again. That fanbase retreated from LCA so quick my head spun.
3. Detroit is still mostly the burned out, decrepit DMZ I remember from a trip there in my childhood, but it was nice to see that there is a concerted effort being made to refurbish the downtown area. Not exactly a small undertaking! With that said, I hope that it was my first and last trip there for the HLT.
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Post by BBFran on Mar 7, 2018 14:19:42 GMT -6
Interesting questions. Personally I don't mind the city of Detroit. Watching the downtown reinvigorate is interesting and I hope the renaissance continues. But as the location for a conference tournament that was historically attendance-challenged in its earlier single-site era, it is a tragicomically terrible choice. Even the OU fans stay away.
You're also right that the LCA is "too good" for the HLT, at least in regard to its size. (The Joe was also "too good" in regard to its size, but in NO other regard.) I think a VERY large majority of HL fans would agree that we should go back to campus sites for the HLT, but at this point there is no reason to believe that the HL administrators and ADs are smart enough to agree. At the least they are probably too stubborn to admit how spectacularly wrong they were.
So, assuming we will continue with a single site tournament, I'm curious about possibilities. I know there has been speculation about Bankers Life in Indy. Downtown Indy is superbly well set up for such events, but that is a BIG arena. Until work and health issues prevented me from attending the last couple years, I had attended almost every Big Ten tournament from 1999 forward, including all but one, I think, in Indy. Notwithstanding the massively greater fan interest in that tournament than the HL could generate, the opening round games were often played before quarter-full houses. To say the least, we would be extraordinarily lucky just to get a championship game matchup that drew that many. In short, the HLT in Bankers Life would look like a little kid wearing Daddy's trousers. It would be as ridiculous as playing at LCA.
So suggest some alternatives in the HL footprint. I think I know most of the venues, but maybe I'm missing someplace that would work both geographically and facility-wise.
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 7, 2018 14:27:16 GMT -6
We need a facility that's no more than half the size of the LCA and Bankers Life. Panther Arena!!!! Are they smart enough to see it and is there too much of an Eastern bias in the league to overcome?
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Post by BBFran on Mar 7, 2018 14:56:55 GMT -6
Obviously the rest of the league won't (and shouldn't) agree to hold a single-site tournament at the home arena of one of its members. (Which actually takes Farmers in Indy out of play.) But you are right -- Panther Arena is the perfect size, and Milwaukee's setup from a hotel and bar/restaurant standpoint is excellent.
Oh well. None of this will matter once we rejoin the WIAC.
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Post by steveisback on Mar 7, 2018 15:00:32 GMT -6
Hate to say this but UIC Pavillion?
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