Coaching 101. Down 2 with the ball at half court. Do you call time out or let them play? MM lets them play and NIU gets a turnover.

NIU can't even win games where they hold the home team to under 60. This team just can't score and there's no reason for optimism that they'll suddenly be able to.

Best case scenario is NIU being an annoying .500 team.

I guess MM can cancel that appointment with Sean for a contract extension.
We just lost to Eastern Illinois. Yes, Eastern Illinois. This is a game the AD adds to the schedule for an easy win and pads the won loss record of the head coach.
Please no more talk of us joining the BIG 12. A sad night for NIU basketball.

Bad loss... Eastern looked like a high school team physically except for the 7-2 oaf.

Actually, a lot of coaches let them play. Huskies are not strong with the ball. Bowie has to make the shot or get founded. This game went about the way most thought it would.

Yeah, I can't fault MM for not taking a TO there because....what are you going to run? Its like you just hope for a lucky shot each time down the court....

I'll give MM this-these kids play hard for him...they rebound, tough D, get after loose balls...but its just not enough without any modicum of offense.

After 4 years of MM, I would have hoped to see more..

(12-13-2014 10:07 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Actually, a lot of coaches let them play. Huskies are not strong with the ball. Bowie has to make the shot or get founded. This game went about the way most thought it would.

Some great coaches with great teams will let them play the last ten seconds. These great team have great point guards that will run an offense that will have their best player shooting the ball with 4 seconds left. We are not in that group of great coaches or great teams.

When does MM start to feel that heat? This is year 4 and he has no offensive game plan yet.
Time to start tightening the leash a little.

Terrible for Bowie to take that last shot for NIU. Even if he was shooting good, there is no way thats how the offense was supposed to run.

You have got to make some shots! It's that simple for this team. They are not good at half court offense. Blame the coaches, blame the players but they are bad at it. Bowie got to the basket but was not strong with the ball.

(12-13-2014 10:21 PM)huskie1stdown Wrote:  When does MM start to feel that heat? This is year 4 and he has no offensive game plan yet.
Time to start tightening the leash a little.

Probably, but I just can't shake the feeling that if MM can't get this turned around that we're starting to enter EMU football ineptitude territory....I know its only been 8 years since our last "title" (a very hollow one as I recall) but it seems a like a lot longer...

Huskie1stdown, you must not follow NIU ball. Monty just got a extension until 2017-18, he is not going anywhere.

(12-13-2014 10:21 PM)huskie1stdown Wrote:  When does MM start to feel that heat? This is year 4 and he has no offensive game plan yet.
Time to start tightening the leash a little.

Nowhere near enough people care about basketball for him to feel heat or get fired.

They've gotten better. They're missing their best player due to bad luck. I don't think there's a reason to ditch Monty yet. He's juuuuuuuust starting to get NIU to not awful. It's going to take a little more time for "good" to come.

I get the frustration, I'm annoyed too. But I don't think it's realistic for him to get fired and I don't think he deserves it....yet.

(12-13-2014 10:27 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Huskie1stdown, you must not follow NIU ball. Monty just got a extension until 2017-18, he is not going anywhere.

You are right, I missed it. When did this happen? With an extension, he will be around next year for sure. Are we really moving forward to justify an extension? Sean must think so, and that is the only person that counts. I doubt we have several big bucks alumni that will stating putting heat on the program.

(12-13-2014 10:27 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Huskie1stdown, you must not follow NIU ball. Monty just got a extension until 2017-18, he is not going anywhere.

I follow basketball plenty. He may not be able to get fired but he DOES NOT deserve a pass anymore. Year 4 is your team and if Bowie still plays like an out of control Freshman that is on you.

(12-13-2014 10:25 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  You have got to make some shots! It's that simple for this team. They are not good at half court offense. Blame the coaches, blame the players but they are bad at it. Bowie got to the basket but was not strong with the ball.

This is possibly a crazy rationale to partially defend the poor shooting, but I just want to throw it out there in case anyone familiar with playing the game can let me know if Im crazy. I know all teams lift weights, but I am starting to wonder if maybe the weight program has been taken to an extreme. Is that possible for a basketball player. Could that partially explain the poor shooting, I know when you bulk up your range of motion may be a little disrupted. Would it make sense to back off one weight training more once the season starts? I know we may not have great shooters, but they are not this bad, they just can't be.

Very disappointing loss tonight, I never thought this team would be where they are right now. I do think life without Bolin has been a bigger adjustment with this team than we thought it would be. He was a stabilizing presence. This season outlook sure has changed on a dime the past few weeks. Guess we should have listened to the naysayers a bit more than we did.

(12-13-2014 11:27 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(12-13-2014 10:25 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  You have got to make some shots! It's that simple for this team. They are not good at half court offense. Blame the coaches, blame the players but they are bad at it. Bowie got to the basket but was not strong with the ball.

This is possibly a crazy rationale to partially defend the poor shooting, but I just want to throw it out there in case anyone familiar with playing the game can let me know if Im crazy. I know all teams lift weights, but I am starting to wonder if maybe the weight program has been taken to an extreme. Is that possible for a basketball player. Could that partially explain the poor shooting, I know when you bulk up your range of motion may be a little disrupted. Would it make sense to back off one weight training more once the season starts? I know we may not have great shooters, but they are not this bad, they just can't be.

Very disappointing loss tonight, I never thought this team would be where they are right now. I do think life without Bolin has been a bigger adjustment with this team than we thought it would be. He was a stabilizing presence. This season outlook sure has changed on a dime the past few weeks. Guess we should have listened to the naysayers a bit more than we did.

Its not that they're so bulky so much as it is they're hopelessly unpolished, lacking in finesse and the ability to finish.

It well could be part and parcel of the same issue, that of Montgomery being too focused on D to the exclusion of adequate offensive preparation. I do suspect MM was really counting on Highsmith to be the man as far as offense goes. Its pretty clear his absence has left a gaping hole in whatever offensive game plan they had coming into this season..

(12-13-2014 11:40 PM)Flying Corn Wrote:  

(12-13-2014 11:27 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(12-13-2014 10:25 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  You have got to make some shots! It's that simple for this team. They are not good at half court offense. Blame the coaches, blame the players but they are bad at it. Bowie got to the basket but was not strong with the ball.

This is possibly a crazy rationale to partially defend the poor shooting, but I just want to throw it out there in case anyone familiar with playing the game can let me know if Im crazy. I know all teams lift weights, but I am starting to wonder if maybe the weight program has been taken to an extreme. Is that possible for a basketball player. Could that partially explain the poor shooting, I know when you bulk up your range of motion may be a little disrupted. Would it make sense to back off one weight training more once the season starts? I know we may not have great shooters, but they are not this bad, they just can't be.

Very disappointing loss tonight, I never thought this team would be where they are right now. I do think life without Bolin has been a bigger adjustment with this team than we thought it would be. He was a stabilizing presence. This season outlook sure has changed on a dime the past few weeks. Guess we should have listened to the naysayers a bit more than we did.

Its not that they're so bulky so much as it is they're hopelessly unpolished, lacking in finesse and the ability to finish.

It well could be part and parcel of the same issue, that of Montgomery being too focused on D to the exclusion of adequate offensive preparation. I do suspect MM was really counting on Highsmith to be the man as far as offense goes. Its pretty clear his absence has left a gaping hole in whatever offensive game plan they had coming into this season..

Good points, it sure does feel like a confused team right now

(12-13-2014 10:32 PM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  

(12-13-2014 10:21 PM)huskie1stdown Wrote:  When does MM start to feel that heat? This is year 4 and he has no offensive game plan yet.
Time to start tightening the leash a little.

Nowhere near enough people care about basketball for him to feel heat or get fired.

Well that didn't used to be the case...but sadly, it's where we're at with this program.

Quote:They've gotten better. They're missing their best player due to bad luck. I don't think there's a reason to ditch Monty yet. He's juuuuuuuust starting to NIU to not awful. It's going to take a little more time for "good" to come.

I get the frustration, I'm annoyed too. But I don't think it's realistic for him to get fired and I don't think he deserves it....yet.

Three years is the magic # when it comes to a coach turning a program around, but I think your earlier point is a stark illustration of the ebb into which NIU hoops has descended.

This is a Novak-type rebuild, and its probably going to take at least 5, 6, maybe even 7 years to get back to competing for division titles, let alone MAC titles....

With NIU losing to EIU, our rpi drops to 253 out of 351. And this is MM's fourth year.

http://www.rpiforecast.com/live-rpi.html