RIP 11/12 season. This game ended like so many before it this year. Did we really finish 18-15? It feels much worse than that.
Did anyone else notice that Kuoang wasn't at the game tonight?
The crowd was about what I expected, but was surprisingly loud at times.
Thought our young big guys RJ, KItch and Gant were good.
I listened to Coach on the post game show and he said they did have chemistry problems this year and that he wasn't going to let it happen next year. That confirms what most of us thought.
I don't want to pick on Coach because he has forgotten more than I will ever know. But, we need to change up our offense and defense, we are way to predictable. Good athletic teams break us down easily on both ends.
I usually sit in the upper bowl but tonight I spurged and bought tickets 6 rows from the floor. Wow! what a difference in excitement and noise, but also perspective on our team versus the other. I like a lot of our players but we are not even close in athleticism to most teams. RM was relentless on the boards. They out rebounded us by jumping over us. They had players who could create their own shot. They could hit the open shot and got more of them. They could defend. I was mad in the second half at our play but the bottom line is they were better.
We have had 3 consecutive winning seasons, which is great. But, if we want to take the next step and become a mid major power or at least finish in the top half of our conference, we have got to recruit better players. I really hope the guys we have coming in next year are as good as we think they are, because we need them.
On the positive side, we have a good nucleus to build around, we just need some more athletes.
Meistro, very well stated and spot on in my opinion. Since I agree with all of his (her) statements, I decided to speak my piece linked to his excellent summary as opposed to my "the game sucked" thread. I will tell you, that had I commented about my thoughts on the RMU game when I arrived back from TH, instead of waiting till I calmed down, my thoughts would have been more emotional and likely over-stated. The game last night was so tough for me to watch that I might have broken "my" rules about pointing fingers at specific players (or coaches). Here are some of my thoughts.
1. With 2,100 tickets sold and maybe 1,500 in the house, most of our projections were very accurate. Coach Lansing was said to have purchased 100-200 tickets for the game to give to students and I counted less than 50 there so right off the bat, I was pissed about this game. My partner in crime last night couldn't get off the subject of how few students were there and with the exception of a couple of games, their apathy did not go unnoticed all season. They must figure out something because as mad as I was about so many other things, that the student apathy was my biggest disappointment not only last night but of the entire year. If RP paid $31K for this game, he lost his shirt. I think it is awesome that they could do it, but like the "bought" game with Quincy, sometimes those games do not pan out like they should. We ran into a couple of Sparkettes getting a quick bite to eat on the way out of town and we asked them about the students and the "obnoxious" fans and their expletive-laced "noise' and they both said it is basically a few guys that are the offenders and they were well aware of the two "relatives" of players that have been rumored to be causing all the ruckus.
2. The crowd did make some nosie in the first half when we were playing well. The time out promos were absent and it was quite refreshing. As stated on here before, those promos disrupt the cheerleaders when those idiotic games are going on and I thought they did a much better job of engaging the crowd because of it. The bad news is that the crowd was so scattered around, that it was hard to get them revved up.
3. I agree with meistro that R.J, Kitch and Gant looked pretty good and with some new pieces added to the puzzle, it will be fun to see all of the young players improve and be even more effective next season. The bad news here is that Kuong was missing, Carl was missing, our Gonzaga guy looked like he was wondering the entire game why he came to Terre Haute in the first place, and although the chemistry looked pretty good in the first half, when things went south, they looked like they all hated each other. If someone high fives me and is looking at the floor when they do it, it just doesn't look sincere. Anyone else notice that? I have said it all season but these missed 5-ft or LESS shots at the basket have to be setting a record for points lost at close range. It is also very tough to watch them NOT dunk the ball up close as well. They missed three close-range shots that might have gone in had they dunked them instead of trying to finesse the ball into the hoop. It is flat out ridiculous that they miss so many of them. Once again, the players tend to make a move to the basket with no plan of attack and end up throwing up a prayer or they turn it over. That is ugly to watch time after time. They also missed TEN fricking free throws. That is a brutal stat as well. I also agree with meistro that we lack athleticism. These guys need to work hard in the off season to toughen up and get in better shape.
4. I won't criticize coach but suffice it to say that he is aware he has some work to do. I am a huge supporter of Greg but he should link up with Steve Alford or Coach Knight and go fly-fishing for a week so they could talk hoops and strategies. He commented after the game that chemistry is an issue and that likely means the coaches as well. Bad chemistry can hurt you as bad as injuries and frankly there is something wrong there and I can't really put a finger on it. If he can't go fishing with Alford, maybe he should find a sport psychologist.
5. We have said it on here but they MUST figure out the whole lower bowl situation. Obviously, with such a small crowd, the bowl was sparsely populated but basically, it has been all season. We have never come up with a genius idea about how to solve the no-shows who don't use the seats that they have purchased in the lower bowl. Figure it out because it too, detracts from the atmosphere tremendously but the more people we can get near the court, the louder the place becomes. Winning, of course, will solve that problem too and hopefully this team will come back ready to play next season.
Bottom line, three winning seasons in a row shows a good trend. Attendance has shown a steady improvement and that is a positive BUT there is much to do, with the coaches, the players and more importantly, the atmosphere in Hulman Center. Let's hope we continue to improve the product. A shitty game like last night is a terrible setback heading into the off-season but hopefully, we can put it behind us and start fresh next season.
Since I am a football guy, I can hardly wait for that season to start.
