I’ll be curious what the spread is for the consolation game tomorrow. We are bad, but so are South Dakota and LIU, can see us somehow being the favorite against both teams by the books. Sam Houston State belonged in the top bracket (as proven by their win over Utah at the campus sites.)

LIU leads South Dakota 31-28 at half.

(11-22-2022 02:47 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(11-22-2022 02:04 PM)ChicagoHuskie Wrote:  Team got steamrolled by Sam Houston, but I give them credit for giving it their all the entire game. Also, the team really seems to stick together. I am not a hoop expert, but it feels like we have some individual talent on this team, but just so disjointed together. Over time and by MAC play I am hopeful they will be more in sync with each other & be able to slow the game down.

Easy team to root for and hopefully they will be rewarded for hard work and staying together.

I agree. And have hopes that this long road trip is good for the team coming together.

Ultimately, with no post presence, this team is going to struggle no matter how you slice it. Durosinmi plays pretty decent defense and has a knack for taking charges but he's a zero on offense. I like Ibarguen's athletic build and how he moves but he's a walk-on and there's a reason for that. He might develop into a decent depth guy who can come in, grab a few fouls and give the main guys a breather and not kill you in the process, but he's nothing more than that...if that.

We have guards who can score but they aren't in a flow with each other right now. Williams seems out of sorts as last year he was the only scorer and the ball went to him first. But Coit plays a different game and seems to like to be the man. It's what he's always done (HS/JUCO) and he's struggling to figure out how to mesh with Williams.

Nutter is the guy who impresses me most. He seems like a more mature presence who isn't intimidated by anything but is also still figuring out D1 basketball. I wonder about who has a voice on the team now that Hankerson is gone. I don't think that's the kind of guy Williams is. He's a great talent but I'm not seeing him take Hankerson's pseudo captain's spot over. Nutter might be that guy but I'm not sure he's asserting himself.

They desperately need Niederhäuser to get healthy and get playing. That should help guys like Crump and Amos get some space and not have to be the post guys. I'm perplexed as to when Yanic got injured but he had a pretty busy summer playing international games so it could some something that materialized then and bled into now.

Either way, they're frustrating to watch but they've played a couple of teams lately who are way ahead of them in talent. I actually looking forward to the next game (either LIU or SD but I'm kind of hoping for LIU but SD also looks to be down) as it might give a better picture if they're playing someone closer to their level. And, if for nothing else, they need some confidence builders and right now, they aren't able to do anything than play hard and scramble against much better teams.

The comeback against GT was fun and I think they built some confidence in it but there are reasons they were down big to begin with.

Good stuff as usual, BR. Like to see Niederhauser in there ... listed at 6-10 215. If nothing else a potential intimidating presence under the basket, but of course hope for more.

South Dakota up 45-44 with seven minutes left.

LIU it is!

Final

SD - 68
LIU - 58

SD is going to get treated much like we did.

Niederhauser is a freshman i am not expecting much from him. This will be a perimeter oriented team. And in paint scoring will come from driving lanes to the basket and off rebound put backs

(11-22-2022 01:45 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  No offense to anyone personally, but ... are we turning into old-time "Loveable Loser" Cub fan rejects? (Hey, I know, I was one, but not the reject part).

First, someone says they're ok with losing to Georgia Tech by 18 because at least it wasn't 20 and some guys played well. Now someone says getting whomped by 17 by Sam Houston is a small improvement. What ... by 1 point? (It's actually 30 down as I write.) So if NIU only loses to the next opponent by 15, is that grounds for a parade?

Getting whomped is getting whomped. And losing is still losing.

It's gonna be a loooong season.

I look at it that if they can hang a bit with a far better team, it's showing the players are at least trying and buying into the coach's game plan. If the other team is emptying the bench early in the second against NIU, the players gave up already.

What is coach Burnos game plan? We knew with Monty it was defend rebound and fast break when it was there. Monty was not successful here but that’s what he was trying to do. BigRed, we’ve had plenty of talented individuals German, Highsmith, Maric, Bradley, Thorpe, Wilson, Porter, Hankerson but still bad teams. If you can’t make baskets in basketball you won’t win many games it’s that simple!

(11-22-2022 06:55 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  What is coach Burnos game plan? We knew with Monty it was defend rebound and fast break when it was there. Monty was not successful here but that’s what he was trying to do. BigRed, we’ve had plenty of talented individuals German, Highsmith, Maric, Bradley, Thorpe, Wilson, Porter, Hankerson but still bad teams. If you can’t make baskets in basketball you won’t win many games it’s that simple!

I thought Monty's game plan was not to recruit from High Schools and only recruit Div. 3 or Junior college transfers that do not have Div. 1 talent.

Oh, and by the way, Burno's gameplan is to get rid of the stench that Monty left on the program.

(11-22-2022 07:00 PM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  

(11-22-2022 06:55 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  What is coach Burnos game plan? We knew with Monty it was defend rebound and fast break when it was there. Monty was not successful here but that’s what he was trying to do. BigRed, we’ve had plenty of talented individuals German, Highsmith, Maric, Bradley, Thorpe, Wilson, Porter, Hankerson but still bad teams. If you can’t make baskets in basketball you won’t win many games it’s that simple!

I thought Monty's game plan was not to recruit from High Schools and only recruit Div. 3 or Junior college transfers that do not have Div. 1 talent.

Oh, and by the way, Burno's gameplan is to get rid of the stench that Monty left on the program.

Not an easy task.

As for his actual gameplan, he's talked about it a lot and it is to play pressure full court defense for 60 minutes. Honestly, this is what keeps us in games or what gets us back into games. I don't think he fully has the players and the development he needs to have at this point (because he's still missing a point producing post player) but he's got horses that can run. It's a hard way to play. Fitness has to be absolutely top notch for everyone and, I would say for us, it is. But he also has to have depth and that game we lost against UIS, he didn't and he was missing key players as well.

Nevertheless, the team does need a better identity on offense and, like I said, they don't seem to be on the same page often on the offensive side of the ball. The excuses are built in (tons of newcomers and international players and some early season injuries/illness) plus, we've got a meat grinder of a non-conference season. Often times these kinds of early season grinds pay off down the road.

I'm sure hoping this will.

Schafer bear, BigRed, you guys think Burno is out recruiting Monty so far? He may very well but as of now I don’t see that! NIU hasn’t pressured anyone. Saying that’s what you want to do is different than actually doing it. Monty said we will be a top MAC defensive and rebounding team and they were. They won many games at home but couldn’t win on the road thus Monty was unsuccessful!

(11-22-2022 10:51 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  Schafer bear, BigRed, you guys think Burno is out recruiting Monty so far? He may very well but as of now I don’t see that! NIU hasn’t pressured anyone. Saying that’s what you want to do is different than actually doing it. Monty said we will be a top MAC defensive and rebounding team and they were. They won many games at home but couldn’t win on the road thus Monty was unsuccessful!

Oh, I can very much see the difference in the high pressure press defense they employ vs the style Monty used. It's different for sure. But, it's hard to do and...well...I've already said it.

The guys he inherited were pretty bad. Monty inherited some bad players too and, I'm not so sure what he left for Burno was much different, tbh. Monty had some good recruiting classes that completely crapped the bed. But he also had guys sprinkled in here and there but German was his diamond and made a lot of the other deficiencies disappear (or overcome-able). And Monty complete lucked out with German. How no other program in the country even made an offer to him is mind-blowing.

Nevertheless, he leaned heavily on German and two walk-ons down the stretch of his career and then when German left...he was screwed. He literally put all of his eggs in the German basket and then covid happened and German graduated and all of a sudden it was the three headed monster of Hankerson, Beane, and Mateen (yikes!). He didn't know Cochran could actually score a little at that point. That was also the team that blessed us with Anthony Crump for the next generation of young Huskie fans to watch until they have grandkids of their own. Oh yeah...and not one freshman in the "recruiting" class.

Hey, I'm all for utilizing the transfer portal but my gawd...can you get me one high schooler? I'm not even sure he offered scholarships to more than 1 or 2 altogether.

Monty had a little success recruiting in Milwaukee and southern Michigan but that was the the majority of the breadth of his footprint. I see Burno reaching to much farther corners to find talent. Then again, he's just had just one recruiting class where he was actually able to see the kids play as seniors in high school. He's definitely got another year of leash from me on the recruiting front.

I like the limited video I've seen of Zongo who is already committed for next year. It's early but he's got a lot of feelers out (something Montgomery never did in his entire tenure at the helm) so I'm still in a wait and see mode. He's got to secure some kind of post pressence to go with Niederhäuser (if he's something.)..and I worry we're all starting to put too much hope in him since he's yet to play and we're getting desperate and delusional about the what if of a guy we've never seen before.

So maybe it is true. Maybe we have become the lovable loser cub fans of MAC basketball.

I’m giving Burno 4 years of leash - this year it hasn’t looked pretty but the only game so far that didn’t go as expected was the D2 loss in the opener (which is inexcusable).

The positive for him is he beat a 17 win Washington team last year, first Power conference win since the Judson era. Looking for him to make strides in MAC play this year, need to find enough wins to finish top 8 and qualify for the MAC tournament.

-3.5 point favorites this morning against LIU.

(11-23-2022 12:59 AM)Big Red Wrote:  

(11-22-2022 10:51 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  Schafer bear, BigRed, you guys think Burno is out recruiting Monty so far? He may very well but as of now I don’t see that! NIU hasn’t pressured anyone. Saying that’s what you want to do is different than actually doing it. Monty said we will be a top MAC defensive and rebounding team and they were. They won many games at home but couldn’t win on the road thus Monty was unsuccessful!

Oh, I can very much see the difference in the high pressure press defense they employ vs the style Monty used. It's different for sure. But, it's hard to do and...well...I've already said it.

The guys he inherited were pretty bad. Monty inherited some bad players too and, I'm not so sure what he left for Burno was much different, tbh. Monty had some good recruiting classes that completely crapped the bed. But he also had guys sprinkled in here and there but German was his diamond and made a lot of the other deficiencies disappear (or overcome-able). And Monty complete lucked out with German. How no other program in the country even made an offer to him is mind-blowing.

Nevertheless, he leaned heavily on German and two walk-ons down the stretch of his career and then when German left...he was screwed. He literally put all of his eggs in the German basket and then covid happened and German graduated and all of a sudden it was the three headed monster of Hankerson, Beane, and Mateen (yikes!). He didn't know Cochran could actually score a little at that point. That was also the team that blessed us with Anthony Crump for the next generation of young Huskie fans to watch until they have grandkids of their own. Oh yeah...and not one freshman in the "recruiting" class.

Hey, I'm all for utilizing the transfer portal but my gawd...can you get me one high schooler? I'm not even sure he offered scholarships to more than 1 or 2 altogether.

Monty had a little success recruiting in Milwaukee and southern Michigan but that was the the majority of the breadth of his footprint. I see Burno reaching to much farther corners to find talent. Then again, he's just had just one recruiting class where he was actually able to see the kids play as seniors in high school. He's definitely got another year of leash from me on the recruiting front.

I like the limited video I've seen of Zongo who is already committed for next year. It's early but he's got a lot of feelers out (something Montgomery never did in his entire tenure at the helm) so I'm still in a wait and see mode. He's got to secure some kind of post pressence to go with Niederhäuser (if he's something.)..and I worry we're all starting to put too much hope in him since he's yet to play and we're getting desperate and delusional about the what if of a guy we've never seen before.

So maybe it is true. Maybe we have become the lovable loser cub fans of MAC basketball.

Big Red, couldn't have said it better.

DC1, Monty inherited a disaster but had a lot of time and chances to right the ship which he never did. You may like Monty's thinking and direction, but it didn't work here. It's not like Monty was canned while having winning seasons.
As they are saying on the Right, it's time to move on.