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Post by shooting the J on Mar 5, 2013 8:13:24 GMT -6
Horizon League Tournament Round 1: Milwaukee @ Green Bay Tuesday, March 5th, 7:00 The Resch Center The one solace we take in not securing the coveted 3 seed is the opportunity to pound Milwaukee for the 3rd time this year. A lot at stake. A loss would likely end the season as it would cost them a shot at playing in the CBI or CIT. The team looked great in its Ohio road trip, but has looked lethargic since. Is the heavey minutes played catching up to them? They need to dig deep and take care of business tonight. Here's Andrew Gavin's Game Preview
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Post by shooting the J on Mar 5, 2013 10:04:39 GMT -6
Rob Demovsky's story today: Green Bay must prove itself in tournament pressureA very realistic look at where the team is right now. Kowalczyk's teams couldn't win in the HL tournament. They were too soft. This team seems better equipped, but they have to prove it on the floor.
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Post by phearthephoenix on Mar 5, 2013 11:31:04 GMT -6
Speaking of the CBI, does anyone else think it's really small time to have CBI banners hanging right next to our NCAA banners? I'd be okay with 1 banner that lists the years we participated in the CBI but come on, it looks really dopey having those banners next to the four NCAA banners, which is the ultimate prize. Just my opinion
Lets go Phoenix. Put another beat down on Milwaukee and lets play Friday in Valparaiso!
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Post by GBPhoenix1 on Mar 5, 2013 17:31:16 GMT -6
I really want to go to Valpo this weekend. Need a win. If they can play their style of game with energy all night I think I can gas up the car.
For the first time in a long time Milwaukee fans didn't travel well last week. I don't think they will this week either. I am not sure much of a crowd will be there period so GB has to make it's own atmosphere and energy.
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gb10s
New Member
Posts: 12
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Post by gb10s on Mar 5, 2013 21:13:07 GMT -6
Speaking of the CBI, does anyone else think it's really small time to have CBI banners hanging right next to our NCAA banners? I'd be okay with 1 banner that lists the years we participated in the CBI but come on, it looks really dopey having those banners next to the four NCAA banners, which is the ultimate prize. Just my opinion Lets go Phoenix. Put another beat down on Milwaukee and lets play Friday in Valparaiso! I couldn't agree more. There is not a single person who looks at the CBI Banner and says "Wow..what a year that was" All the CBI does is provide nervous coaches a way to say they made it to the post season.
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Post by phearthephoenix on Mar 5, 2013 21:22:32 GMT -6
3 game sweep of Milwaukee. 3 straight beat downs
Jordan Fouse is amazing, I cant wait to watch him grow thru the years. 12 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks. Mays had a nice game as well with 10 boards. Brown like usual just tearing up UWM. Sykes with a big second half like he has done the last handful of games. It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win and we're moving on
Also, I tweeted this during the game but its crazy that nobody on this current roster was on the squad the last time GB won a HL tournament game. Hopefully they can get 3 more this season ;D
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Post by stillaphoenixphan on Mar 5, 2013 21:39:26 GMT -6
Plus instead of waiting until the 6 min. mark to put them away. This time they did it with a 12-2 run starting the 2nd half. Phoenixphan did a great job of summerizing the game.
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Post by shooting the J on Mar 5, 2013 22:00:45 GMT -6
The Nix are dealing with some tired legs, and missed a ton of wide open jumpers, but won the game easily by doing what they do best. They held a fresh Milwaukee team to just 26% shooting and out rebounded them by 15. Well done.
Jordan Fouse is simply fun to watch defend. Hope he really goes to work on his jumpshot in the offseason. If he does, he will be a dominant force. He has improved dramatically his ability to finish around the basket.
I thought Carrington Love played his best game in awhile. He really defended Jordan Aaron hard.
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truth
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Post by truth on Mar 6, 2013 8:01:31 GMT -6
Congratulations to Coach Wardle and all associated with the program on a solid win.
If they can outlast UIC this Saturday, and put a scare into Valpo or maybe even upset them, fans will be excited to come back next year. (And we played so poorly against Valpo last Saturday that we should know what NOT to do next time, especially defending 3 pt shooting.)
Lot of talent on this Nix team, still just a little sloppy on offense. Hope we can get in a groove this weekend in Indiana.
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Post by shooting the J on Mar 6, 2013 8:16:25 GMT -6
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Post by GBPhoenix1 on Mar 6, 2013 9:02:08 GMT -6
I give the guys a lot of credit. They played pretty solid defense most of the game. In the first half they had a ton of open looks and just could not get a shot down. I felt pretty confident at half time they could pull away. The misses had little to do with uwm's defense at that time.
It was good to see big time players like Sykes, Brown and Fouse doing big time things when they needed it.
Good defense + rebounding = win
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Post by wannabeaphan on Mar 6, 2013 9:28:33 GMT -6
Congrats to the team for their first tournament win under Wardle. Congratulations to Fouse for his All-Horizon honors on all-newcomer team and all-defensive team. Congratulations to Sykes on make the all-Horizon League first team.
I have said that I am a newcomer to GB, and want to love this team because I love college basketball. But, I can't say i'm a total fan. I am a fan of the players on the team. They seem to win in spite of the coaching staff. Andrew Gavin called there play last night scrappy. Maybe. He says there early possession with 5 missed shots was "telling". I think it was frustrating. There is no reason that this team should be shooting so poorly expect that they are tired. I will agree with others who have said that. One reason they are tired is that some of the players play too much especially when the team is up by a wide margin. The team needs Sykes healthy and effective to win. He should not have been playing when the team was clearly going to win. And while he is the most exciting player on the team to watch, his shooting percentage needs to improve for the amount of time he plays. Speaking of exciting-that is a word that I can't find myself to use in describing this team. It seems like the life has been sucked out of this team. Must be a lot of others that feel the way I do, as evidenced by the complete lack of student support and attendence and overall attendence at the games. The place was empty last night. Kind of seems like no one cares. Every team needs fans. No team can be great without fans. The team does very little to win us over, and I put a lot of that on Wardle. I don't know what will happen when Cougill is gone next year and there is no one with any enthusiasm on the team. Seems that Daniel Turner is gone, at least he was good for some cheerleading while sitting on the bench. And whatever the reason that Ceroni is gone, he had energy. In high school Stefan had a reputation for being an emotional player, mixing things up on the court and "talking smack". I don't see him open his mouth. Nor do I see any of the team show emotion. Some never had it (Brown for example) but it seems like as I watched the season progress the players have become less and less excited about playing. That's what poor coaching staffs do to good players. I hope that this staff takes a good look in the mirror after the season is over. Are these players better than they were before the season started? Some yes, some no, but there is so much lost opportunity. No excuse for Brown to have had a worse season overall this year than last. I also see shooters who are taken out of the game as soon as they make shots: Love, Muhammed, Stefan. (Although Love and Muhammed finally got some serious minutes last night) I thougth Wardle was a shooter in college? He should know that the worst thing to do to these guys is to bench them when they miss, bench them right after they make a shot. Let them work through it. NO ONE on this team is a "shooter". They were, they arent' now. they have learned how to hang on to the ball, decreasing turnovers, but take a look at the individual stats on shooting. Dismal. And, how many of the team's 7 footers shots come from outside the paint, or the arc? There should be more from the post.
I wish this team luck against UIC, and hopefully beyond. But I really wish them the best in the off season which will hopefully include some way to put some life into these young men, rather than taking away there personality. I have the suspicison that Wardle is one of those "break them down to build them up" old-school coaches who then want to take the glory for building a team. He recruited talented players-let them use there talents to become even better players.
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Post by shooting the J on Mar 6, 2013 10:19:39 GMT -6
Congrats to the team for their first tournament win under Wardle. Congratulations to Fouse for his All-Horizon honors on all-newcomer team and all-defensive team. Congratulations to Sykes on make the all-Horizon League first team. I have said that I am a newcomer to GB, and want to love this team because I love college basketball. But, I can't say i'm a total fan. I am a fan of the players on the team. They seem to win in spite of the coaching staff. Andrew Gavin called there play last night scrappy. Maybe. He says there early possession with 5 missed shots was "telling". I think it was frustrating. There is no reason that this team should be shooting so poorly expect that they are tired. I will agree with others who have said that. One reason they are tired is that some of the players play too much especially when the team is up by a wide margin. The team needs Sykes healthy and effective to win. He should not have been playing when the team was clearly going to win. And while he is the most exciting player on the team to watch, his shooting percentage needs to improve for the amount of time he plays. Speaking of exciting-that is a word that I can't find myself to use in describing this team. It seems like the life has been sucked out of this team. Must be a lot of others that feel the way I do, as evidenced by the complete lack of student support and attendence and overall attendence at the games. The place was empty last night. Kind of seems like no one cares. Every team needs fans. No team can be great without fans. The team does very little to win us over, and I put a lot of that on Wardle. I don't know what will happen when Cougill is gone next year and there is no one with any enthusiasm on the team. Seems that Daniel Turner is gone, at least he was good for some cheerleading while sitting on the bench. And whatever the reason that Ceroni is gone, he had energy. In high school Stefan had a reputation for being an emotional player, mixing things up on the court and "talking smack". I don't see him open his mouth. Nor do I see any of the team show emotion. Some never had it (Brown for example) but it seems like as I watched the season progress the players have become less and less excited about playing. That's what poor coaching staffs do to good players. I hope that this staff takes a good look in the mirror after the season is over. Are these players better than they were before the season started? Some yes, some no, but there is so much lost opportunity. No excuse for Brown to have had a worse season overall this year than last. I also see shooters who are taken out of the game as soon as they make shots: Love, Muhammed, Stefan. (Although Love and Muhammed finally got some serious minutes last night) I thougth Wardle was a shooter in college? He should know that the worst thing to do to these guys is to bench them when they miss, bench them right after they make a shot. Let them work through it. NO ONE on this team is a "shooter". They were, they arent' now. they have learned how to hang on to the ball, decreasing turnovers, but take a look at the individual stats on shooting. Dismal. And, how many of the team's 7 footers shots come from outside the paint, or the arc? There should be more from the post. I wish this team luck against UIC, and hopefully beyond. But I really wish them the best in the off season which will hopefully include some way to put some life into these young men, rather than taking away there personality. I have the suspicison that Wardle is one of those "break them down to build them up" old-school coaches who then want to take the glory for building a team. He recruited talented players-let them use there talents to become even better players. Seems like a lot of excuse making to cover up for the fact that you guy, Stefan, is stinking up the joint. Brown should be the most tired of anyone, yet he's killing it right now from 3. Stefan stayed in after misses last night only to miss again. He was wide open all night. Make a shot. Sykes and Brown weren't 3 point shooters before coming here, and both are having excellent seasons shooting the 3. Sultan Muhammad's 3 point shooting % is way up from what is was last year versus JuCo competition. That doesn't lend much credence to the idea that the coaches are killing the shooters. The team has no life? They killed Milwaukee on 50-50 balls last night. Some players don't show emotion. Some consider that poise. Green Bay has outdrawn a huge majority of schools it's size. What 6000 student public school draws better? The team doesn't need cheerleaders, it just needs a few more productive players. The community will rally around the Phoenix if they just win a little more. The lack of production from the SG position has been killing the team all year. If/when Stefan ever starts hitting wide open shots the team will be dramatically better. I sit behind the bench so I know why Stefan is being pulled from games. If he starts defending better, he'll play more, regardless of his shooting.
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Post by stillaphoenixphan on Mar 6, 2013 13:09:59 GMT -6
One thing I wanted to point out about last nights game was Sykes educating Love. They had a 2 on 1 fast break with Love handling the ball and taking it to the hoop and missing. The next time only seconds later 2 on 1 fast break with Sykes handling the ball and at the last second he passed it to Love for a easy basket. Milwaukee called time out and Sykes went over to Love and Love was thanking him for the pass. I'm sure Sykes pointed out to him we would have had 2 easy baskets if he had passed it the time before.
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Post by GBPhoenix1 on Mar 7, 2013 7:46:25 GMT -6
As a new fan you wouldn't know that a lack of student support has been a problem for over a decade and not just related to this team or this staff. GB hasn't been to the tournament since 1996. That means every traditional student was probably 5 years old or younger. If they were born they certainly don't remember the glory days of the GB program. In an instant world it is hard to build a tradition on a past that happened before their lifetime. To that end the actual fan support is pretty good given a complete lack of success for a decade and a half. These fans have a wait and see response. A big game last Saturday brought out 4800 people. It is up to the team to play more big games because people will come out for them.
A complete lack of emotion is hard to justify as a comment. Sykes, Mays and Cougill play with lots of emotion. Love has some edge too but it is hard to show it when he isn't quite ready for this level and doesn't make a lot of plays. Fouse, Brown and Sultan don't seem to be the kind of guys who are like that on or off the court. I still see Cole pumping his fist and talking after makes. He just doesn't make enough shots. On Tuesday he had a lot of good looks. Wardle can't make them for him.
Lumping Love in with shooters is questionable. He was never a shooter and is a long way from becoming one. I am frustrated that he hasn't figured out how to get to the rim consistently in the half court. He is quick and strong enough to do it.
I have no problem with Brown scoring from the outside. Opponents consistently double and triple team him down low, not much anyone can do against that. Personally I get frustrated when they keep pounding it in to him instead of him letting work in ways he can get open.
I personally think Wardle is a decent motivator and player developer. I worry that he doesn't have the X & O ability yet and that aside from Brian Barone I am not sure any of the staff even knows as much as Wardle does. I would like to see a staff with one less recruiter type and add one solid hoops coach.
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