Not feeding Tre and others inside was a manifestation of Iowa's long long long defensive players--center 7'2: H.S. All American, two 6'9" wings and three 6'8" to 6'9" guys off the bench.

also why guys shot so poorly--trying to hurry it over the skyscapers.

they won't see a front line like that again in the MAC

Cagey, there is some truth to what you are saying but Threloff and Maric are pretty big guys. You have to get the ball in there and those guys have to get position. Baker was shooting wide open shots all night. In his last 35 games, he is shooting 320%fg and 250%3pt. He needs to stop taking so many shots and stop shooting 3's! Our point guards cannot shoot(1-16) in IOWA game.

(11-27-2014 05:41 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Baker was shooting wide open shots all night.

dekalb222, I hope some folks on here remember your spot-on analysis on Baker. His .320fg and .2503pt percentages are representative of his touch right now. Hopefully, he works hard on improving that and until he does, as you put it -- he needs to stop taking so many shots and stop shooting 3's -- couple that with turning some of those misses into feeds to the big guys. He needs to work toward having more assists and fewer misses. That being said, he's going to be on fire some night and I'm willing to bet several people will forget what you just noted and they'll think that one hot game is the way he should always play.

Aaric Armstead 14-33fg, Bowie 11-22fg, Threloff 13-21fg and Chuks 5-9fg these guys are the ones that need to be shooting. Since, I've been picking on Baker here is a positive game for him. Idaho, Baker was 4-5fg, 2-3 3pts, 4-6ft, 2assists and 14pts.

(11-27-2014 11:23 AM)PrideinthePack Wrote:  

(11-27-2014 10:13 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-27-2014 12:49 AM)PrideinthePack Wrote:  A much better team whooped them. It had nothing to do about nerves. It came down to having far less talent.

Against Idaho they had the same exact completely open, non-contested jumpers from the outside and they made them as often as not. I don't think we have enough shooters but even still, they've shown they're capable of making more of the open shots than they did tonight (which was abysmal shooting). Most of them still have trouble finishing near the basket which has been an ongoing issue. Not saying they would have won tonight but they would have made it a competitive game.

It's excuse making. There's no shame to lose to a better team. Why couldn't the Iowa game be a true representation of the team? And the Idaho game be the outlier? Especially since you yourself said you don't think they have enough shooters.

Excuse making? Missing open shots is not an excuse, it's just a fact. We saw last year that they are capable of shooting well at times, so Idaho is not a complete outlier, though it is on the upper end of their shooting % in games - but with only 2 games so far against Division I it's hard to say for sure. I'm not saying there's any shame in losing to Iowa, I even said it's not too surprising they lost by 21 when the spread was 17.5. It could have been a lot worse, frankly. A couple years ago they would have lost by 30+.

A couple years ago, they would've lost by 40+. IOWA started the season ranked no.25. NIU did cut the lead to ten mid second half and had the ball.

(11-27-2014 09:54 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-27-2014 11:23 AM)PrideinthePack Wrote:  

(11-27-2014 10:13 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-27-2014 12:49 AM)PrideinthePack Wrote:  A much better team whooped them. It had nothing to do about nerves. It came down to having far less talent.

Against Idaho they had the same exact completely open, non-contested jumpers from the outside and they made them as often as not. I don't think we have enough shooters but even still, they've shown they're capable of making more of the open shots than they did tonight (which was abysmal shooting). Most of them still have trouble finishing near the basket which has been an ongoing issue. Not saying they would have won tonight but they would have made it a competitive game.

It's excuse making. There's no shame to lose to a better team. Why couldn't the Iowa game be a true representation of the team? And the Idaho game be the outlier? Especially since you yourself said you don't think they have enough shooters.

Excuse making? Missing open shots is not an excuse, it's just a fact. We saw last year that they are capable of shooting well at times, so Idaho is not a complete outlier, though it is on the upper end of their shooting % in games - but with only 2 games so far against Division I it's hard to say for sure. I'm not saying there's any shame in losing to Iowa, I even said it's not too surprising they lost by 21 when the spread was 17.5. It could have been a lot worse, frankly. A couple years ago they would have lost by 30+.

Can you prove that being nervous, another excuse that was used, is a fact?

Of course you can't.

I never said it was a fact. I said, I felt they were nervous.

(11-27-2014 11:31 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  I never said it was a fact. I said, I felt they were nervous.

My point was not aimed at you. It was aimed at the guy who said it isn't excuses, it's facts.

Being nervous, (another one of the excuses used) cannot be proved as a fact unless NIU players came out and said it. As far as I know they didn't. Maybe this guy knows something we don't.

(11-27-2014 11:36 PM)PrideinthePack Wrote:  

(11-27-2014 11:31 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  I never said it was a fact. I said, I felt they were nervous.

My point was not aimed at you. It was aimed at the guy who said it isn't excuses, it's facts.

Being nervous, (another one of the excuses used) cannot be proved as a fact unless NIU players came out and said it. As far as I know they didn't. Maybe this guy knows something we don't.

I meant that missing all the open shots was a fact, think I misunderstood your previous post. No, I can't prove they were more nervous than other games. They just looked that way.

(11-27-2014 06:45 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Aaric Armstead 14-33fg, Bowie 11-22fg, Threloff 13-21fg and Chuks 5-9fg these guys are the ones that need to be shooting. Since, I've been picking on Baker here is a positive game for him. Idaho, Baker was 4-5fg, 2-3 3pts, 4-6ft, 2assists and 14pts.

Jesus, it's early.