Western Michigan was a team that had a record of 5-10, the same as ours and was missing one of their top players. Where is Cagy telling us about our Game Plan for the WMU game and how well it was executed?….

Those of us that are NIU alumni, fans or friends are very proud of our school and like to compare NIU to the other area colleges….Because NIU is a GREAT INSTITUTION….

The Chicago Tribune every Sunday compares the area college BB teams. These stats are in order of winning percentages and are taken from last Sunday’s Trib Sport Section, page 8…..

*Illinois State 15-2
Illinois 15-3
Bradley 11-6
Loyola 11-8
*Chicago State 10-8
Northwestern 8-6
Ill(Chicago) 9-8
Eastern Ill. 8-9
DePaul 8-10
Southern Ill. 7-10
*Western Ill. 6-12
NIU 5-10

*Coaches that took over from a coach that was fired…Tim Jankovich (Illinois State) and Benjy Taylor Chicago State (Former NIU assistant) was hired the same year as Coach Patton. Jim Molinari Western Illinois (Former NIU Head Coach) is in his first year.

Which school on this list, has the highest paid BB Coach in their conference?…..

The good news is that we play Eastern Michigan (3-14) tomorrow night and we will WIN….



..............................................GO HUSKIES..........................................................

(01-19-2009 03:47 PM)ELGIN HUSKIE Wrote:  The good news is that we play Eastern Michigan (3-14) tomorrow night and we will WIN….



..............................................GO HUSKIES..........................................................

I wouldn't be so sure. This is probably the EMU game plan: "Foul the hell out of the Huskies and make 'em beat us at the line." We pretty much know what will happen then.

Those teams are placed in order of record, not how good they are. We are better than Western Illinois and Chicago State. We already beat them both. They are both better than Eastern Illinois who has played a very weak schedule to get their wins. Loyola has the 4th best record but isn't the 4th best team in the state......

Our hopes were, in our own minds, set too high for this team. After the dismal seasons of the lasts several years we probably anticipated too much from the kids. It is hard for me to do but let's just sit back and hope for progress.

(01-20-2009 09:53 AM)HuskieBro Wrote:  Our hopes were, in our own minds, set too high for this team. After the dismal seasons of the lasts several years we probably anticipated too much from the kids. It is hard for me to do but let's just sit back and hope for progress.

I agree, but let's ask ourselves this question: "Has there been any measurable progress/improvement since game one?" I'm not sure if I know the definitive answer, but IMO there has been little, if any, improvement. As a matter of fact, I think we were better in our first few games, and there has been a decline. While this may not be uncommon with an inexperienced team, this is not a good sign.

I think we are in uncharted territory in the sense that there is no way any of us can really know what to expect from a team like this. There literally is no player who has 2 full years of D-I experience playing this year (Silas is the only one and he can't play). Some are in their 2nd year, many in their first. What other team at any school has been this inexperienced. I'm sure there has been some somewhere at sometime, but I can't think of one off hand. We had and have our hopes and expectations for this season, but based on what? There is no past experiences we can use to base those hopes and expectations on with this particular team. You can't put a value on experience and we are seeing that. I don't have the knowledge or understanding to know how hard it would be for these players to learn how to play at this level and to struggle with all that goes with it, but I have to think it would be a lot easier if there were some players on the team who had the experience to show the youngsters what to do and how to get through it and to be leaders and who we could count on for consistency on the court. Most teams have that every year. We have none.

I think everyone, including myself, underestimated the struggle of rebuilding a program without any high level of experience in any player. It is easy to lose patience because we don't understand it. I think I've been very positive and supportive of the program no matter what, but I would like to see us get rewarded with more wins as well. We don't know what they are going through. We don't know enough to be able to see some progress that is being made because some improvement may not translate to immediate wins. Maybe if any of you played or have insight you can shed some light. I just can't imagine it is easy and that struggling can't be fun for the players or coaches either. It is easy for us to say it should be this way or that way or better than that because we don't really know anything except what we want. What we want we can't have yet. I think HuskieBro has the right idea. Let's just sit back and watch and, here is a thought, even support these young guys and see what happens the rest of the season. It sounds more enjoyable than being miserable craving wins that maybe just aren't real possible yet. I can't go tonight but hope to be there Saturday cheering on the team no matter what happens. Next year I will worry about expectations.

NIU desperately needs to string together a win or two. Otherwise the few hundred people who still semi-care and follow NIU basketball are going to tune the rest of this season out. We may be facing a situation where there are 500 or less people in attendance for February games at the Convocation Center.

While this roster is insanely young and inexperienced, it is safe to say on the other hand that several youngsters have been very disappointing to date. Certainly the playing time is there for anybody to step up and grab. The fact that Patton has significantly limited the minutes for some of these kids is a poor sign. When a coach is not willing to dish out "on the job training" minutes when there are few roster options to begin with and in the midst of a rebuilding year???? Which is starting to make me wonder if there are going to be a few transfers out at the conclusion of the season. Which of course would be bad rewind of the nightmare Rob Judson administration.

I feel like an overreacting type fan, but I'm starting to have some Patton concerns :(