NORTHERN IOWA @ SMC

[uniftw]

I was able to catch the first half and was not impressed with what I saw. No passing, just one-and-done quick, absolute prayer shots on offense. I guess if the shots are falling, it's not a bad offense to run? But what I saw last night was putrid.

I wouldn't put too much stock in 2 games, but I don't think UNI fans should be clamoring "Sweet 16" with this team. There is absolutely zero inside presence and the guard play was very shaky at best.

St. Mary's is a respectable opponent to lose to but the margin of defeat was a bit concerning as was the 41 points put up. St. Mary's isn't exactly known for their defense..

Who said anything about S16 with the team as it currently sits?

UNI is starting a true freshman at Center, has the only center with experience sidelined with a football injury right now, but has a couple more post style players that are freshman and sophs.

Any semblance of a post presence and UNI will have a very good team.

strike00 dropped the Sweet 16 comparison. That's why I mentioned it.

As for the inexperience on the inside, that's exactly why there is no inside presence. You're young. It's not a knock but it's a fact. Maybe, they'll improve throughout the year. I'm just going by what I was watching last night.

And I dunno if it's just a post issue. The guard play was pretty bad last night. Lots of forced shots and uncreative offense. It could be an aberration, who knows. Can only go by what we've seen so far. And that's where a couple of UNI fans need to realize that ugly games aren't gonna get pats on the back. They need to realize bad basketball was played, accept it, and move on.

I would bet any team in our league would have looked like that had they had the same schedule set up as UNI.

It was a bad night, but I'm very optimistic about hose this team will progress as the season goes on

[valleychamp]

UNI is fine. We are very, very young this year and we are going to have several games similar to this one as the year goes on. That's just the nature of a young team. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs with this team. Going into the road trip at ODU and SMC, going 1-1 is a success.

The game time, and travel schedule certainly played a part in how bad we played. But scheduling this game wasn't so much about this year, as it was about getting a great home game next season for what should be a team that can contend.

I have to laugh at some of the overreaction from some of the posters from other schools. Oddly enough, it seems like it is only the UNI fans who have looked at these first two games with realistic expectations and a level head. We beat ODU, and there were people on here saying that UNI could go unbeaten in the non-conf schedule (lol). We lose to St Marys two days later, and there are people saying the future of the program is doomed (lol).

[UNIFanSince1983]

I was able to catch the first half and was not impressed with what I saw. No passing, just one-and-done quick, absolute prayer shots on offense. I guess if the shots are falling, it's not a bad offense to run? But what I saw last night was putrid.

I wouldn't put too much stock in 2 games, but I don't think UNI fans should be clamoring "Sweet 16" with this team. There is absolutely zero inside presence and the guard play was very shaky at best.

St. Mary's is a respectable opponent to lose to but the margin of defeat was a bit concerning as was the 41 points put up. St. Mary's isn't exactly known for their defense..

Who said anything about S16 with the team as it currently sits?

UNI is starting a true freshman at Center, has the only center with experience sidelined with a football injury right now, but has a couple more post style players that are freshman and sophs.

Any semblance of a post presence and UNI will have a very good team.

strike00 dropped the Sweet 16 comparison. That's why I mentioned it.

As for the inexperience on the inside, that's exactly why there is no inside presence. You're young. It's not a knock but it's a fact. Maybe, they'll improve throughout the year. I'm just going by what I was watching last night.

And I dunno if it's just a post issue. The guard play was pretty bad last night. Lots of forced shots and uncreative offense. It could be an aberration, who knows. Can only go by what we've seen so far. And that's where a couple of UNI fans need to realize that ugly games aren't gonna get pats on the back. They need to realize bad basketball was played, accept it, and move on.

For me I am not looking for a pat on the back for the game. However, there were some fans that were dooming the entire program for years to come. That is the only thing I have a problem with. Without a post presence we are going to struggle. I think Tuttle and Singleton can be good inside players, but they are just 2 games into their college careers. We don't have the luxury of getting Jared Sullinger's at Valley schools. We need time to develop our talent.

I was not impressed with our guard play either, but when you don't have an inside game to rely on guards will do that. There was not a lot of movement off the ball either. I have seen this happen to a UNI team before, and it can be fixed. I know Jacobson will make adjustments. This team will be a middle of the pack team this year, and will be able to compete in years to come. I personally don't like how Jake Koch can flash greatness and then look like dog doo. He continues to remind us every game that he is not his brother. He has a decent inside game, but will not ever go inside.

I am disappointed in the performance, and don't think this year's team is going compete this year but think they will in a couple years.

[strike00]

strike00 dropped the Sweet 16 comparison. That's why I mentioned it.

Let me Clarify. I was not comparing this team to the sweet 16 team in terms of how good they are/ will be, hopefully most people understood that. The point of that post was that posters have always underestimated how good a UNI basketball team was because of the style of play, and overall "look" of the team. It has happens every year. Saying UNI won't be good because of a lack of athleticism has always been the cry of a lot of posters, even in the years UNI has won the MVC or made a Tournament appearance.

I have always had this team as a 4th-6th place team in the Valley, definitely not sweet 16.

DoubleJay, I agree about the post play. It will have to develop quite a lot over the season. I think UNI might have people that can be that physical presence, they need to learn how to assert themselves. It also hurts that the freshman post player that was going to play this season instead of Singleton and appears to be that physical presence, missed all of preseason practice due to injury and is now redshirting. That is the same player that an upperclassman gave up a scholly for this year so he could come here and help out with the inside game. Mayber he wouldn't make that big of a difference, but that is Just bad luck.

As far as the schedule goes, yes it was tough and far from ideal. I wish they would have gone a different route, but UNI gets St. Mary's at home next year, so it won't turn out all bad.

[Wufan]

With all due respect to Panther fans and without making any sweeping generalizations about your team, you looked awful. I only saw the second half but I was embarrassed for the team and the fans. I expected better and think you will be better, but if anyone is telling you not to worry about that performance, don't listen to them. They are either stupid or a liar. Much work yet to be done in Northern Iowa.

[valleychamp]

Great quote from our buddy DrWu on shockernet, who has annually been predicting the demise of UNI for about a decade now:

UNI has a problem in that they can't score much in the half court (and barely can score at all if James is cold) but the last thing they want to do is run up and down the court.

If you play the Panthers and refuse to play D, run down the court and take undisciplined and forced jumpers, don't rebound and make stupid passes and are very limited athletically, you're going to be in big trouble against UNI.

I don't doubt UNI will improve, but as I've been saying for some time, there aren't any Sweet16 players left. UNI isn't talented. I wish ValleyTalk still existed so I could remember the Panther fan that GUARANTEED me UNI was going to be better than WSU for at least the next 4 years.

And the Panthers are the perfect example of why I hate the Valley. They have NO CHANCE to compete nationally for anything. But they'll find a way to ruin it for someone that does.

But he's probably right. UNI has clearly proven time and time again that it has "no chance" to compete for anything. I will apologize on behalf of all UNI fans for the Panthers being such a drag on the conference. I'm sorry that we are ruining it for the "real teams".

[WSUbballer]

Seriously? Bringing in posts from other message boards?

Weak.

Maybe you shouldn't peruse opponent message boards anymore valleychamp, if you're always gonna get your senses rattled by them and then bringing them in here, pouting about it. There's about a million things I can disagree with on an opponent's message board, but I don't feel the need to bringing it here.

I don't get how you can be happy and say everything is perfectly fine with a performance like that. Was that the expected result? Probably. Was that the type of play you expected in getting that result? I would hope not. Unless this is all a part of the "plan".

[valleychamp]

Sorry, but when I read something as laughable as that, it has to be called out. That is some quality delusion right there.

Everything is fine. We have a team loaded with freshman, and we lost a road game to a very good team. I told everyone not to get too excited after the ODU win. Going to be an inconsistent year when you have a team as young as UNI does. But the overreaction from one game out of many people is pretty astounding.

[unipanther99]

All of the comments made by fans of other teams have been fair IMO. I just hope they are willing to take their own lumps should their team happen to lose by 20 at some point this season (my experience tells me most of the posters here will do so).

[MVCfans]

All of the comments made by fans of other teams have been fair IMO. I just hope they are willing to take their own lumps should their team happen to lose by 20 at some point this season (my experience tells me most of the posters here will do so).

UNI is 1-1 in two tough road games against Old Dominion and St. Mary's. All things considered, I'm not sure how many other MVC teams would have fared better. Last night may not have been pretty, but I think UNI should be praised rather than criticized at this point.