Reflections on last night

kicker22

kicker22

Well-Known Member
Going into last nights game and losing 6 of the last 7 my optimism wasn't at an all time high. However I truly thought we came to play last night and wasn't disappointed with theiir performance.

I saw Woody take his game to a whole different level offensively.

I saw Jok break through offensively.

I saw the team offensively carry the player that had been carrying them for the last few weeks.

I finally saw the bench get back to putting up the points they had early in the year.

I saw us make a number of clutch baskets late in regulation including a make in the final 20 seconds to send the game into OT, that I hadn't seen all year.


Although disappointed the season is over. I really thought I was a much better effort last night then I had in the previous few weeks. I thought we faced a good team that played a good game.

While its not what we all wanted. I'm satisfied with the effort I saw last night. This team has been through a lot lately and while its still a loss we went down fighting and played harder and showed more emotion/life then I thought we had recently.
 
I should add however that despite the length in our front court we need more size. Stokes killed us last night and had a physical advantage against anyone that was called upon to defend him. While athleticism and length are huge attributes we've got to find someone that isn't going to get pushed around.
 
I agree with what you said Kicker.

I'm not as worried about the front court as you are, however. I think another year in the weights and GO and Woody will stand up better.
Also, beasts like Stokes don't come around all that often; the length helps us more than it will hurt us (like last night).
 
Agreed, I just wish when we faced a player like Stokes we had some type of bruiser we could answer with that wasn't constantly out muscled for position.

Also wish that we could improve offensive production in OT, that was a bit of a disappointment, albeit at least we found it in ourselves to come from behind and tie it up in regulation.
 
Nice post Kicker...positive reflection. Was it frustrating to see them lose...yes...but the team showed heart...they could have packed it in when Tennessee started hitting everything and got the lead. They fought back.
 
kicker22 said:
I should add however that despite the length in our front court we need more size. Stokes killed us last night and had a physical advantage against anyone that was called upon to defend him. While athleticism and length are huge attributes we've got to find someone that isn't going to get pushed around.
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Typically when guys get "pushed around" you get some fouls called. I don't think I've seen such a bull in a China shop performance in a tournament game bince Sean May went to town on James Augustine in the UNC-Illini title game and of course, Augustine got a bunch of BS fouls called while Sean May was moving guys 5 feet with his shoulders, hips and forearms.
 
Iowa played well. Tennessee played well. It sucks we lost. One more kick in the groin for Iowa fans.
 
I just think its a miracle that buzzer beater didn't go in.. I had to stop myself from walking upstairs after Devyn made that shot to tie it cause I thought for sure they were going to splash a game winner. As much as I hate losing this game..I don't think I could've handled another buzzer beater in our first trip back to the NCAA Tourney
 
BlacknGold19 said:
I just think its a miracle that buzzer beater didn't go in.. I had to stop myself from walking upstairs after Devyn made that shot to tie it cause I thought for sure they were going to splash a game winner. As much as I hate losing this game..I don't think I could've handled another buzzer beater in our first trip back to the NCAA Tourney
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The fact that their last shot didn't go in is a victory in my book.
 
Very commendable attempt to find a positive spin . . . but that is all it is . . . spin. This is not the way this game and this season will be remembered until we see that these things have carried over into next season.
 
kicker22 said:
Going into last nights game and losing 6 of the last 7 my optimism wasn't at an all time high. However I truly thought we came to play last night and wasn't disappointed with theiir performance.

I saw Woody take his game to a whole different level offensively.

I saw Jok break through offensively.

I saw the team offensively carry the player that had been carrying them for the last few weeks.

I finally saw the bench get back to putting up the points they had early in the year.

I saw us make a number of clutch baskets late in regulation including a make in the final 20 seconds to send the game into OT, that I hadn't seen all year.


Although disappointed the season is over. I really thought I was a much better effort last night then I had in the previous few weeks. I thought we faced a good team that played a good game.

While its not what we all wanted. I'm satisfied with the effort I saw last night. This team has been through a lot lately and while its still a loss we went down fighting and played harder and showed more emotion/life then I thought we had recently.
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I'm right here too. That's all I wanted at this point was to see the team go down swinging and they did. They played hard, much harder than they had against NW, some shots didn't fall but that's going to happen. Tough for Marble to go out with a game like that, but making 1st team All B10 this year is a hell of an honor for him. I'm still excited about getting to watch Jok and Woodbury progress for the next few years, and before people predict all doom and gloom for next I suggest they look at what other B10 teams are losing. I think there's a very good chance we finish higher in the B10 next season.
 
Hawknigh said:
Very commendable attempt to find a positive spin . . . but that is all it is . . . spin. This is not the way this game and this season will be remembered until we see that these things have carried over into next season.
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Not sure where you're going with this? And I guess your right. Everyone should forget the fact that this team was in a slump and we should all be irate at the fact that this team couldn't just snap there fingers on the 8th game and snap out of it.

Your right, it may not be the way the game or the season will be remembered by most. But that said its not really an attempt to put a positive spin on things. And not to be that guy, but I will remember it. I'll remember it was a struggling team in one of the ugliest slides I've recently seen, put up an effort that in my opnion was commendable based on the way they'd played recently. I saw more fight in this team last night then I had previously in the past 3 weeks.

We get it, they didn't win. But despite the obvious fact that we lost, why is it impossible that something positive could have come out of it as well. I was proud of the effort put fourth last night and honestly had they played like that in some of the other losses this season maybe there wouldn't have been such a negative vibe at the end of the season.

There's no shame in losing to a good team if the effort is there. And as far as it "carrying over to the next season" I think its a great way to go into the offseason. For something to carry over it means it had to have started somewhere and while I'll definitely remember the collapse and the loss, the play of many coming back gave me some hope for next year.

Being someone that questioned where this team is headed without the seniors and what will happen with the void left by Marble, I was very encouraged at what I saw from Jok and Woody last night. I'd much rather go into the off season thinking about the positives I saw in their game then focus on questions I've had all season regarding who will lead the team in Devyn's absence. It's a glimmer of hope, IMO said a great deal about the character of the team in the fact that they continued to fight. Let's be honest this team easily could have rolled over and simply quit playing. It also said a great deal about the younger guys who stepped up and took over the scoring burden with Devyn slumping. Maybe it's just me, but against a team like Tenn I'd of laughed you told me that Devyn would be held in check and the rest of the team would step up to keep it respectable.

If you want to be focus on the fact that a team that was deemed in January and early Feb to be a potential final 4 team lost in the "first round" be my guest. Most of us have already acknowledged that the team that played last night wasn't that same team.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Typically when guys get "pushed around" you get some fouls called. I don't think I've seen such a bull in a China shop performance in a tournament game bince Sean May went to town on James Augustine in the UNC-Illini title game and of course, Augustine got a bunch of BS fouls called while Sean May was moving guys 5 feet with his shoulders, hips and forearms.
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This. The charging "foul" on AW--which was a result of a non-called foul--was atrocious.
 
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