** For better or worse (and I expect most will choose the latter), I suspect what we watched this evening is the best our Panthers Hoopers can be.
** There’s no doubt that Minnesota is not a good team, but they are a Power 6 team, and that’s something.
** And against the Golden Gophers, we watched the Panthers bring 40 minutes of intensity and just about the best focus they might be able to muster.
** For nearly the entire game, they worked together to find offense, and communicated and played together on defense.
** And as for me as a fan, I can say I actually enjoyed watching the Panthers for the first time this year for all but the last few horrible seconds I suppose. But we’ll get to those last few seconds in a bit.
** Watching Big John was nothing short of a complete pleasure. He did so many things well on both ends of the court, I couldn’t help but feel terrible for him when Minny tipped in the game winner.
** What I liked best about Big John this night was the number of times he dragged his huge frame off the court after hitting the deck. I especially liked his dive for a loose ball and timeout to save a possession in the last minutes.
** If we lived in day when we could think about the future, you’d think he’d be a really good player to build upon. But with the reality of our coaching situation followed by the ease of transferring, we may have to enjoy him while we can.
** Throughout the game, my friend with whom I was sitting along with @4Mark_Marty, who joined us midway through the game, all marveled at the work of Mo, who made so many winning plays on the glass and on defense.
** We also appreciated the intangibles of Will, along with his first meaningful three of his career. Will is really an excellent defender but he really will have to find some more offense someday.
** Perhaps it can be said that the three of us were grateful to have a game we could indeed enjoy. We haven’t had one yet this year, and it’s hard to think we are going to have many more this year.
** But like the rest of the shrinking Panther Hoop nation, we were terribly dismayed at the failures of offensive in the last moments.
** My big prediction to our group at the under 4 timeout was the Femi was going to hit a big three. Instead, both he and Jamarius failed to look for Big John at all, resulting in two misses by Burton and a turnover from Femi. Up until those last moments, the Panthers had solid execution on offense allowing them to grind for points. There was no such focus on those final few trips.
** This magnifies the biggest and most obvious problem the Panthers have at the moment and will likely have all year long … we are just a really, really bad shooting team, and there’s no room for error, neither physical or mental.
** From time to time, it would be great if we had a Panther hit a really tough three. Minny hit a couple of those. We are pretty fortunate to even hit an open jumper it would seem.
** Along those lines, this was the first game this year where I really would have wanted Ithiel on the court. So it is.
** Before closing, I also want to offer a most deserved congratulations to Onyebuchi Ezeakudo who played really well all over the court and brought so much more on the offensive end than we may have ever thought he was capable of contributing.
** I believe we really should also offer something of a sincere congratulations to all of the Panther players after this one. It’s always a good thing to see them play as hard as they did tonight. This night, they deserve our respect as fans.
** As for the coaching staff, it’s obvious that they didn’t mail it in either. Nonetheless, failure of a team to execute in the final minutes is almost always a reflection of the abilities of the coaches. But in this regard, it’s not as if we are learning something about them that we didn’t already know.
** So after this disappointing finish at the Pete, I’ll leave on a high note – GO PANTHERS!! – BEAT THE DEMON DEACONS IN CHARLOTTE ON SATURDAY!!
** There’s no doubt that Minnesota is not a good team, but they are a Power 6 team, and that’s something.
** And against the Golden Gophers, we watched the Panthers bring 40 minutes of intensity and just about the best focus they might be able to muster.
** For nearly the entire game, they worked together to find offense, and communicated and played together on defense.
** And as for me as a fan, I can say I actually enjoyed watching the Panthers for the first time this year for all but the last few horrible seconds I suppose. But we’ll get to those last few seconds in a bit.
** Watching Big John was nothing short of a complete pleasure. He did so many things well on both ends of the court, I couldn’t help but feel terrible for him when Minny tipped in the game winner.
** What I liked best about Big John this night was the number of times he dragged his huge frame off the court after hitting the deck. I especially liked his dive for a loose ball and timeout to save a possession in the last minutes.
** If we lived in day when we could think about the future, you’d think he’d be a really good player to build upon. But with the reality of our coaching situation followed by the ease of transferring, we may have to enjoy him while we can.
** Throughout the game, my friend with whom I was sitting along with @4Mark_Marty, who joined us midway through the game, all marveled at the work of Mo, who made so many winning plays on the glass and on defense.
** We also appreciated the intangibles of Will, along with his first meaningful three of his career. Will is really an excellent defender but he really will have to find some more offense someday.
** Perhaps it can be said that the three of us were grateful to have a game we could indeed enjoy. We haven’t had one yet this year, and it’s hard to think we are going to have many more this year.
** But like the rest of the shrinking Panther Hoop nation, we were terribly dismayed at the failures of offensive in the last moments.
** My big prediction to our group at the under 4 timeout was the Femi was going to hit a big three. Instead, both he and Jamarius failed to look for Big John at all, resulting in two misses by Burton and a turnover from Femi. Up until those last moments, the Panthers had solid execution on offense allowing them to grind for points. There was no such focus on those final few trips.
** This magnifies the biggest and most obvious problem the Panthers have at the moment and will likely have all year long … we are just a really, really bad shooting team, and there’s no room for error, neither physical or mental.
** From time to time, it would be great if we had a Panther hit a really tough three. Minny hit a couple of those. We are pretty fortunate to even hit an open jumper it would seem.
** Along those lines, this was the first game this year where I really would have wanted Ithiel on the court. So it is.
** Before closing, I also want to offer a most deserved congratulations to Onyebuchi Ezeakudo who played really well all over the court and brought so much more on the offensive end than we may have ever thought he was capable of contributing.
** I believe we really should also offer something of a sincere congratulations to all of the Panther players after this one. It’s always a good thing to see them play as hard as they did tonight. This night, they deserve our respect as fans.
** As for the coaching staff, it’s obvious that they didn’t mail it in either. Nonetheless, failure of a team to execute in the final minutes is almost always a reflection of the abilities of the coaches. But in this regard, it’s not as if we are learning something about them that we didn’t already know.
** So after this disappointing finish at the Pete, I’ll leave on a high note – GO PANTHERS!! – BEAT THE DEMON DEACONS IN CHARLOTTE ON SATURDAY!!
