UE @ Drake

[Aces Aces]

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/f ... /#comments

It doesn't sound by Marty's postgame comments, he thought his team competed hard against the Bulldogs.

[pafan]

I agree with 0976 ... the role that coach Simmons has had to ask PVT and Hopf to pay for UE is not what he had hoped they would be doing this year. The number of big men who have left UE the last few seasons has been disproportionate.

One thing UE has been severely missing this season is a true PF player.

[Aces1982]

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/feb/23/aces-lack-resistance/#comments

It doesn't sound by Marty's postgame comments, he thought his team competed hard against the Bulldogs.

After a loss, I could almost quote what he will say. He says the same stuff. "we got outplayed", "we were out hustled", "we stood around on offense", "we need to get tougher", "we need to get better", "we didn't execute"...

[pafan]

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/feb/23/aces-lack-resistance/#comments

It doesn't sound by Marty's postgame comments, he thought his team competed hard against the Bulldogs.

Marty is NEVER complementary, though. We could have blocked 15 shots as a team last night and Marty would have only told the paper we could do better.

After one of the MVC's signature wins this year (according to posts on this site at least) over Butler, the Courier printed this:

"We ran the same set at the end of regulation and the end of overtime," said coach Marty Simmons, "and it worked a little better the second time around."

After defeating ISU Blue the second time:

"He really showed a competitive side," UE head coach Marty Simmons said of Jahr. "He really battled. He was giving second, third and fourth efforts. He made shots."
...
As for Jahr's effort on the boards, Simmons called the freshman "sneaky athletic."

[Ace Dad]

Just my 2 cents, it seems like ever since the Creighton road game, our confidence on the road went into the toilet. To me, our confidence seemed to be a huge factor when we were playing our best. For now, we still seem to be playing agressive, confident basketball at home. As for our bigs, I think the biggest problem with Hopf is health, he's just not physically the same player as he was last year. Not that he was ever a great athletic specimen, he was always agressive and physical. It's hard to be that way with two bad knees. As for PVT, I think he has improved greatly over last year, it's just he never has been/ never will be a hard nosed physical banger inside. It's just not in his DNA. The other problem with Piet is that we don't seem to be able to feed the post worth a darn, there have been games where he has looked really good on offense and we just don't get him the ball, I just don't understand it. One thing I will NEVER question with either Hopf or PVT is their effort, those two play as hard as any big men in the league, PERIOD. Remember, at the beginning of last year, those two were supposed to be our backups for this year as well (Bouchie and Haarsma) and I think they've done as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Sorry for the rant, I just get tired of hearing our own fans (especially at the games) dog these two seniors. I give credit to Drake, good game, they seem to be putting things together and I too don't think anyone will really want to play them in the tourney.

Thank you. We sometimes forget how losses in one year impact the next. Losing does not mean poor effort all the time.

[DUBulldog]

Even though the Aces were never in the game, they also never gave up, continuing to play hard even after falling behind by 25. Quite honestly, I just don't think UE could match up with Drake physically, especially on the interior.

[sect.3purple]

I think that the comments by Drake fans concerning my team's play last night are interesting...thanks to all you Bulldog fans who posted. I think what concerns me about my team is that I have seen at home games what the Aces are capable of....and then when we take this very same team to an opponent's court we play miserably. Several people have commented that we played hard, gave good effort, etc....but we just didn't match up or didn't have the talent to compete effectively. See, that is EXACTLY what bothers me about our team....we brought the same team to Knapp as faced the Bulldogs at Roberts...where we won fairly easily. This has happened against other opponents, too....so why is the outcome so different? I am concerned about mental attitude which shows in our play.

Our fans know that our team has to overachieve...fight like mad and just plain old out hustle the opponent to win any game. Ryan is the real deal, a true natural talent, and even he has to work extra hard to score points on this team...next year, at least on paper, he is getting some much-needed help. I hope he makes first-team MVC. I think he deserves it when you consider what he has to do every game.

I have faith that we will get this program turned around and this will all be part of our long basketball journey in a community that loves our Aces....we just are growing a little impatient with the uphill path back....St. Louis will tell the tale of whether we have actually turned the corner...or if we are still peeking around it.....my money is on the Aces. I hope they wear those Evansville jerseys with great pride...and a lot of sweat!

[DUBulldog]

See, that is EXACTLY what bothers me about our team....we brought the same team to Knapp as faced the Bulldogs at Roberts...where we won fairly easily. This has happened against other opponents, too....so why is the outcome so different?

I can't speak as to what might be different between UE yesterday and UE when they played Drake at Roberts. But, I can say that the Drake team right now is probaby 15-20 points better than the Drake team in January. In the first meeting, Jordan Clarke was just coming back from his injury and was extremely rusty; Ryan Wedel had just made the move to point guard and wasn't comfortable there yet; Ben Simons had not yet rediscovered his jumpshot and confidence; Kraidon Woods had not yet rounded into shape after essentially not playing for 3 years; Rayvonte Rice was making a lot more young, foolish mistakes, Kurt Alexander still had not adjusted to D1 basketball, etc. The team chemistry for Drake now is much, much better than it was at the beginning of the conference season.

None of these things are surprising when you consider that every player on Drake's team is in their 1st or 2nd year of playing for DU.

[Ace Dad]

Section, in college basketball, it is very common for the home team to win at home and the road team to lose on the road and vice versa for evenly match teams. Drake and Evansville, based on standings, are evenly matched. However, I believe Drake has better talent, across the board.

In college basketball, upper tier teams go on the road and will lose to a mid tier team and sometimes to a lower tier team.

Only about (and I am pulling this from my axx) 20-25% of the teams are good enough to go on the road and consistently win. Those teams are ranked and you can find them in the Top 25-Top 75. The vast majority are not going to consistently win on the road.

Why is the road different?

1. There is no fan support to get your juices flowing. When Drake turned off the lights last night and started playing their music, my head started bobbing, and I got a warm and fuzzy feeling as they showed the player's photographs. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy. Meanwhile, the Aces are trying to listen to the coach to drown out the distraction. When the Aces scored he first two baskets, the arena was quiet. When the Bulldogs hit the first three, the crowd erupted. When the same Bulldog hit the second three the crowd erupted louder. When he hit the third three, I stood up and clapped for him.

2. Travel: I travel for living. It sucks. I do not care how early you leave, or arrive or what class you fly--it is not fun and drains energy. I just finished living in a hotel room for 25 days. It sucked. I ate strange food, kept different hours, and slept in an uncomfortable bed.

3. A college team never plays the same team twice. As DU Bulldog said, a team in December is not the same team in February. Teams get better and make adjustments. Some teams get poorer due to the wear of the season, based on their roation and bench. Think about it: Hopf is 85%. Harris had a concussion. Jahr had a concussion. Lacey's ankle is wrapped. Conversely, the other teams deal with issues, too.

4. Referees: Ever hear about home court advantage

Be very, very careful about assuming that losing is always tied to effort. A team can play well and shoot poorly. A team can play poorly and shoot well. Last night Drake played well and shot extremely well. The Drake posters have identified our weaknesses and strengths and I trust their eyes better than yours or mine. A poster on the Evansville newspaper said:

candprag writes:
in response to Ace_Dad:

Even mighty Kentucky can't win this year without the home court advantage; 1-6 in SEC road games...OUCH.

[musiccitybulldog]

I watched the game on internet TV last night. The thing I have noticed many times since the 3 shot inception is when a team hits 3 to 4 quick three pointers, it can decimate an opposing teams focus. I don't think it really has that much to do with road competitiveness or readiness, but it sure seems to have a psychological effect and not just a score effect. When it happens it seems to be deadly in some cases. Some teams battle back but many don't. It seems after a "3" rally many times nothing goes right. It would be interesting to see how many turnovers happen after a "3" rally. It seemed the Aces had some travel calls and ball handling issues right after Wedels bombardment. I remember the same type of thing happening at Evansville a few years ago. The game was close and then midway through the second half Holszinger hit 2 or 3 "3's" in a row and that was it.
Some teams then over-compensate trying to put up "3's"in trying to catch up and it makes things worse.

I look forward to going to the new Evansville arena. We will miss that pizza place just west of Roberts.