HOOPS: C'mon, Guys, why so glum? There are bright spots.....
Posted By: ColoUte
Date: Tuesday, 8 January 2002, at 10:46 a.m.
PollyannaUte dominated the other two personalities in my head last night, but I think it's just because the other two ran off to get blitzed.
Anyway, as Grumpy SOB Ute was pointing out the eerie similarities between this season and the '93-'94 14-14 season (though he doesn't see any way we win 4 conference games this season to finish .500) PollyannaUte chimed in with some bright spots coming out of last night's game.
First of all, Osimani did step up and had a nice game. He had 7 points, was 2-2 from the field, and had 0 turnovers. Maybe, just maybe, this could be the confidence boost he needed.
Second of all, as bad as our offense was last night, our defense was pretty dang good. There aren't many teams that can score 41 points and win. Heck, there aren't many teams that can score 41 points and lose by less than 20. Granted, St. Mary's was plenty inept offensively, but you don't hold a team to 28% shooting in their gym and not give the D some credit. We held them to under 20 points in BOTH halves. Also, their leading scorer had as many points last night as I did.
Third of all, we may only need to lose 3 or 4 more players before Britton realizes that we may need him to start having good games. He actually had a decent game on the boards last night, and it only game at the complete sacrifice of his offensive and defensive games. Hey, Britton hitting on 1 of the 3 aspects of the game is better than what we were getting earlier in the season.
Fourth of all, Osmundson had 0 turnovers in the 2nd half. He was a turnover machine in the first half, though. He and Britton were handing the ball over with amazing effeciency last night.
Fifth of all, with Jacobson on the bench, we only scored 19 points in the first half. But once he got back in the game, we exploded for 22 2nd half points. Just think, if he can stay out of foul trouble, we can have some offensive games where we drop 45 on people. If we play bad defensive teams, we just may lay 50 on them.
Sixth of all, we weren't outboarded by a D-III team. We were merely outboarded by a much smaller D-1 team. Furthermore, we were only outboarded by 3. That's much better than the 11 boards by which Whitworth outrebounded us.
In all seriousness, while this doesn't bode well for the rest of this season, it might be nice to have 2 seasoned PG's next season. Getting Burgess back will help immensely, so I hope he can return sooner rather than later. I also hope Spivey and Majerus can make amends. This is more for Spivey than anything else. It would be a shame for him to be this close to earning his degree and throw it away over a dispute with Majerus. I hope Spivey isn't the stubborn sort. I doubt Majerus will make the first move.
GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOOPS: Some things I just don't understand
Posted By: Gilly
Date: Tuesday, 8 January 2002, at 10:28 a.m.
1. Quantum Physics
2. How a div I team with good height that stresses rebounding gets hammered on the boards by a Div 3 team
3. How the inversion stays around when it rains or snows every other day
4. How a bunch of Div 1 ballplayers who spend a good percentage of their life playing ball and shooting hoops can't score more than 41 points in a game
5. Why the country hasn't completely overhauled the presidentail voting procedures since the last election
6. How NickyJake is going to set three point records if he doesn't get any versus St. Mary's
7. Why you park on a driveway and drive on a parkway
8. How a team can look so good against a very good Texas team and look so bad in the next two games
Any insight would be appreciated.
There are many things I don't understand, here a just a few
How can Britton Johnsen get off 3 whole shots in ANY game?
Why could anybody except the castaways get off Gilligans Island?
How can Caton and B. Johnsen combine for fewer points than Oz and Osi?
Why didn't Gandalf just put Frodo on the back of that huge eagle and fly him over Mt. Doom and fling the old ring in, instead of sending the kid from hell to breakfast on foot?
Why did Phil Cullen lead this team in assists last night? Was he feeding that offensive juggernaut Oz and Osi?
Why do people from Box Elder County use the term "unthaw" as the opposite of freeze? "I gotta get in the pickup and let my feet unthaw."