I agree that Aksel looks tentative to shoot the ball. I wonder if he has a quick trigger; some shooters take a while to load up a shot and that hurts them. Some guys are just too unselfish.

It would be fantastic to have an inside-outside game. From that article on Huskiewire, Toler made it sound like he was more of an around the basket player before Ricardo told him to start shooting more threes. Relying on the outside shot will lead to big wins and big blowouts. We don't even have a guy that can slash to the basket that often (other than Silas).

Our guns don't have a full clip, basically.

Hall looked impressive driving to the hoop. Too bad he doesn't do it more. And he never looks to shoot. Toss up a couple of jumpers, Bryan, they might go in.

Also wanted to see Cameron Madlock, but he never got off the bench. Neither did Storm. Wish he'd get a chance. If anything, he's fundamentally sound (a coach's son) and could help in some capacity.

I think Madlock played a very short stint and then come out. I don't know if it was a minute or two, but it didn't seem long enough to do anything good or bad. I remember seeing him come out and thinking I hardly knew he had gone in. Storm did not play at all. I would think that both of them have something to offer in certain situations and could be a benefit. Obviously the coaching staff doesn't feel that way. I don't know what Madlock was like in JUCO. But we did see that Storm was able to do some good things as a freshmen. That's what make his situation confusing. Madlock seems long enough to give guys a rest and maybe make it tougher for posts to shoot over us. He needs to be stronger and more of an offensive threat for lots of minutes, but he might be serviceable for stints. Storm could handle the ball and help us with some stability on offense, and can make free throws when we need them. He seemed like a shooter when he was younger, but now he seems uneasy shooting. Christian is another one that I'm thinking could have a role but he is only a freshmen and is learning. He is athletic and seems to make something happen. Maybe when we are pressing or need to pressure some perimeter players.

(01-17-2011 08:11 PM)beachboy Wrote:  Hall looked impressive driving to the hoop. Too bad he doesn't do it more. And he never looks to shoot. Toss up a couple of jumpers, Bryan, they might go in.

Also wanted to see Cameron Madlock, but he never got off the bench. Neither did Storm. Wish he'd get a chance. If anything, he's fundamentally sound (a coach's son) and could help in some capacity.

I agree that Hall needs to be more aggressive shooting. Yeah, you may not be a great shooter but if you're open, you've got to shoot it at least sometimes. If only to make the defender stay closer to you.

The game was not quite as ugly to watch as I had first feared before tip off.

Both teams combined for "only" 24 turnovers total. NIU did NOT throw away the ball as often as I have seen in games the past two seasons.

Toler got hungy and forced shots the last five minutes. Big Dude has a nice touch from several spots on floor . Too bad our biggest beast is forced to play outside so much.


Fisher had a nice game. Hall did a fair job of penetrating and few TOs in 33 minutes. He surprised me but then again it was TOLEDO. UTs Griffin surprised me to have so many pts when all was said and done. He had his way with NIU D especially final six minutes.

____


YOUR ENTERTAINMENT VALUE:

Mascots added some entertainment for VEH birthday. South Park is dang funny and had the best moves of any players on court Saturday. Musical chairs kinda cool when S.Pk. yielded his seat to VEH.

Silverettes okay with sultry version of FEVER.

Hey, it 's been awhile since I attended a game, but is that a new PA & speaker system overhead section 116? It's much better but still not great. Now if only the automated audio was not quite so fast with words run together, maybe it would be easier to actually hear all the words. Who announced mens game? I saw Hoey in stands.

Cannot but help to imagine what the Convo would be like if a full house was really into a game and fans could
redeem their ticket for free Wild Wings after fan hit half court shot....

I like the pregame video and clips from yesteryear in Evans. There were times when NIU bbal games were relevant.

mybottomline. Nothing last saturday discouraged me enuff not to show up again. ...maybe for bracketbusteer pending who is the opponent.

(01-18-2011 04:29 PM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  

(01-17-2011 08:11 PM)beachboy Wrote:  Hall looked impressive driving to the hoop. Too bad he doesn't do it more. And he never looks to shoot. Toss up a couple of jumpers, Bryan, they might go in.

Also wanted to see Cameron Madlock, but he never got off the bench. Neither did Storm. Wish he'd get a chance. If anything, he's fundamentally sound (a coach's son) and could help in some capacity.

I agree that Hall needs to be more aggressive shooting. Yeah, you may not be a great shooter but if you're open, you've got to shoot it at least sometimes. If only to make the defender stay closer to you.

+1 The most frustrating thing about Hall is that you see him going full speed and you think he is about to attack the rim but he get to the FT line and then back out. He is too much of a safe PG. Inside we got nothing because for whatever reason Toledo packed it down low. Until Matlock and Fisher become scoring threats we will suffer in the paint. They was doubling Rucker all the time he was in there. He did not play much in the second half, is he injuried? Patton must force Hall to attack the rim or get him out of the game its that simple. In this league the PG must be a threat or the defense will not guard. Good post 'The Frisky Biscuit'

(01-18-2011 04:29 PM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  

(01-17-2011 08:11 PM)beachboy Wrote:  Hall looked impressive driving to the hoop. Too bad he doesn't do it more. And he never looks to shoot. Toss up a couple of jumpers, Bryan, they might go in.

Also wanted to see Cameron Madlock, but he never got off the bench. Neither did Storm. Wish he'd get a chance. If anything, he's fundamentally sound (a coach's son) and could help in some capacity.

I agree that Hall needs to be more aggressive shooting. Yeah, you may not be a great shooter but if you're open, you've got to shoot it at least sometimes. If only to make the defender stay closer to you.

I just don't get how a division I athlete that has played basketball for a good part of his life seems petrified to shoot the ball.

There is no way he is that bad of a shooter. If Hall can score anywhere from 6-8 points per game range, it would open things up dramatically for everyone else. He is quick enough to get by defenders and he has shown he has the ability to finish or at the very least draw a foul.

Jake Anderson was the only player on this team that took the ball to the rim. Hall has the ability to do that, I'm dumbfounded that the coaching staff doesn't stress that and have him drive the ball to the hoop more often.

Or at least give him the green light to take the shot when he is open.

BTW Rucker had a bad hamstring this past game.

hall is that bad a shooter..he knows it and the defense knows it...i disagree vehemently with the poster that said something to the effect of "chuck one up it might go in" ....him shooting jumpers is almost like a turnover....i agree, when there he should get to the rim, but he is only 6'1" or so and has smartly learned to pick his spots as the big boys will eat his shot for lunch if he isn't selective about drives.....i prefer drive and dish for him...get to the paint and kick it out or dump it when bigs come to help....Matlock has NO offensive game and fisher is too spotty outside of dunks...I actually like the shorter rotation where the best and most productive players play the most minutes...we cannot always afford to just give minutes to a storm or matlock or christian hoping they may produce when that means the better players (scorers) like Tim or Nixon or Rucker or Landers or even lil Patton in spots miss scoring opportunities...I can't quarrel with any sub patterns this year. I believe the coaches have seen enough of all these guys in practices to know who can and who can't score and defend in their respective positions against MAC athletes...I, too, would love to see Nate get more touches but defenses are stacking against that by pressuring the passer to make the inside feed harder and putting bigger guys on Ruck to deny entry passes...perhaps quicker ball movement will help, but with the ability of Hall's defender to almost ignore him and help in the post makes it tougher. This is where we truly miss Kyree and, obviously, the big inside presence of a Kowal. We wouldn't be talking about Jake and ignoring his bad attitude for the last three years if both these guys were available. It looks like the change of scenery has benefited Jake and good for him..but, he was not about to blend with this team so it wasn't a good fit going into this year. He has accepted a role as the 3rd or 4th option at ISU that he would not accept as 2nd option here...C'est la vie

Hall will never get to the rim if he isn't a remote threat to shoot at least sometimes. The defender will back off, call his bluff and the ball will just circulate around the perimeter. HALL. MUST. SHOOT. SOMETIMES. Then he can upfake and make his drives more effective.