I was surprised that the Rockets waited so long to amp up their defensive tempo which gave them a window to victory. Oakland was shooting way too high a percentage to not pressure them sooner.

It was like Oakland had something to prove and UT was bored playing in a high school gym.

That public address announcer at Oakland must have thought he was announcing an "And One" exhibition. By about the mid way point of the second half, I just wanted to pummel him until he couldn't utter another word. I guess that is sports in this era, make everything a show unto itself. He never went more than 10 seconds without opening his yap about something, playing the sound effects of a cash register after every made free throw or proclaiming "you can't do that" after a traveling violation - when then prompted the band members and a few students who went to the game to follow suit with a chant of "You can't do that"... Kept it interesting for all 1,500 fans in attendance - and that is being generous.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that guy. He'd hop the press table and run out onto the court during every stoppage. They'd throw T-shirts literally across the court for every made 3 pointer. And let's not forget about those upside down jerseys that they wear. It's like a WNBA jersey. Their fight song is as close to Western Michigan's fight song as "Ice Ice Baby" is to "Under Pressure". And yet all the times we've gone up to play them, we've only beaten them like once.

The Rockets lack the toughness that Ryan Pearson brought to both ends of the floor. His effort and "wanting to win" is lacking right now. The only guy that plays that hard all the time is Lauf, unfortunately, he isn't as talented offensively.

(11-30-2014 02:15 PM)letsgoblue Wrote:  The Rockets lack the toughness that Ryan Pearson brought to both ends of the floor. His effort and "wanting to win" is lacking right now. The only guy that plays that hard all the time is Lauf, unfortunately, he isn't as talented offensively.

I agree that they had an air of toughness last year that won a lot of close games for them that appears to be missing this year. But I can also remember times when Ryan Pearson would get frustrated or down on himself to the point that Coach K would sit him for a bit. Pearson is obviously is missed but I sense there may be something more than just his absence (and that of Matt Smith) that is missing this year, but I can't figure out exactly what it is.

Leadership???

(11-30-2014 02:35 PM)T-Town Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 02:15 PM)letsgoblue Wrote:  The Rockets lack the toughness that Ryan Pearson brought to both ends of the floor. His effort and "wanting to win" is lacking right now. The only guy that plays that hard all the time is Lauf, unfortunately, he isn't as talented offensively.

I agree that they had an air of toughness last year that won a lot of close games for them that appears to be missing this year. But I can also remember times when Ryan Pearson would get frustrated or down on himself to the point that Coach K would sit him for a bit. Pearson is obviously is missed but I sense there may be something more than just his absence (and that of Matt Smith) that is missing this year, but I can't figure out exactly what it is.

IMO, Pearson was the only "tough" player we had last season. Nobody has stepped up to fill that void. If an opponent has "athletes" or physical/tough players--heaven help us if they have both--we seem to struggle.

I have had a strange feeling about Coach K's rotations. Wonder if he will be giving minutes to everyone in diff combos to really focus on conference.