Well, at least it's good to know that we are capable of turning it up. I was having visions of Missouri State. Crazy thing is threes got us back into the game, but we still only shot 35%.

Krut is going to be kicking himself for going 2-6 from the line.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Why does that always happen to us?!?!

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MBB Scholarship Chart

One thing I’ll take from this game is Norris clearly showed he has an edge to him, and can be “that guy” at times. That’s a very good thing. We need more of that.

It remains impossible to imagine us closing out a close game in the valley with the free throw shooting.

This is true, and it kills me to accept it. I don't know what the root of the problem is, but it's maddening that it has not been fixed.

Very few minutes for Marquise. Gotta be something up with him.

Really hopeful that when Frank is back, Welch will be able to slip into more of a forward role. He looks really good on offense--quicker, more confident and in sync. He just isn't built to guard big centers--especially a guy like Golden who is considered a premier mid-major center. Would love to see Welch get some run out there and take away Uguak minutes.

His defense has been reaaaaaaaaaally slow and his handles have been a bit all over the place these last two games. Curious if it’s fatigue or what. Kinda reminds me of his Cayman stretch last year.

Thoughts from the game after a bit to digest:

1.) We are overrated I don’t think Bradley is head and shoulders above us but they are should be ahead of Loyola at this point. I’m a bit worried how the team will react when they punch them in the mouth, and it will happen since they play physical Big Ten style. The past two games don’t give much hope.

2.) Norris willed us back into the game, he is clearly the lead point guard and should start over Clemons regardless of health/injury. The “comeback” doesn’t happen without him hitting shots tonight. Glad to see someone step up and is one of the few positives of this game.

3.) Our free throw shooting is inexcusable, Krut missing those two and them hitting a bucket was a 4 point swing and took us out of having a chance at the very end. This has been a common theme the past 2 years and at some point coaching has to factor in, there need to be a focus on it until it’s corrected. It’s sad a veteran led team has a true freshman in Hebb leading the team in free throws. Until that’s corrected, close games will be a toss up at best with us likely losing in the end as we can’t hit them.

4.) Stubbornness of the coaching staff. This topic has been beaten into the ground for years now, while loyalty is an admirable quality, continuing to trot uguak out there for “defense” is detriment to the team, they play 4 on 5 with him and the odd game he does show up with put backs is the exception and isnt worth the 4 games in between he lays an egg. I like the kid and think he brings a quality to the team but it shouldn’t be as a starter, Welch has outplayed him and should get his spot. Hell Paxton I think can play as good of defense and is least a threat to hit a jumper, the stubbornness of the coaching staff to keep sending him out is hurting the team. Someone else, Welch, Kennedy, or Wojcik would be better at this point and have Uguak as defensive sub/6th man is the best path forward.

5.) Porter is the best coach we’ve had since Ireland, don’t think anyone will debate that but his actual coaching leaves a lot to be desired. He’s a great recruiter, positive influence, and super ambassador for the program but actual coaching he is being out coached. We have lost quite a few games due to subs and poor coaching. The lineups and subs are not helping the team and it seems most of the guys are playing tight and scared to make a mistake as they will be pulled and not see the floor again. Ex: Kennedy tonight, he made mistakes early but he is the 3rd best player behind Krut and Williamson, he needs playing time and the fact he barely saw the floor is not great.

This week has been rough, they were blown out by Wisconsin but Richmond was a game they should have been prepared for. Likely they won’t see tougher teams in the valley but with what we’ve seen can anyone say with confidence they are better than Bradley or Drake? We don’t look like the cream of the Valley right low, hopefully the break will give the guys some space to reset and get into a better head space.

Go Blers, hope this gets figured out because there is so much talent. It just need to gel, it’s not there yet.

I agree with most of your critiques. Especially on the rotation, Uguak's playing time, etc. But I don't think I've seen anything to say that Bradley or Drake are better than us. Bradley barely got by a mediocre Toledo team and lost to a solid, but not great South Dakota State team. Drake has beaten up on no one of any consequence--we'd be 7-0 with their schedule too. Wisconsin is the defending Big Ten champion and returned everyone. Richmond is the favorite to win the A-10. Both squads are better than anything we will see in the Valley.

I do think Bradley will be our closest competition. Wardle (as much as I dislike him) is a really good coach. They play tough, physical brand of basketball (borderline dirty). We will need to put on our big boy pants to deal with them. After our 2 gamer with the Redbirds, we got Bradley, Drake and UNI. Buckle up.

We are better than Bradley and Drake, by a pretty good margin. We are also better than UNI, who I think are still better than Bradley and Drake--- even without Green.

We lost to a team that beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena a couple weeks ago and whose only loss was to top 10 West Virginia. In the process, I think we learned more information for later in the season. Winning this game might have locked an at large if we win the league and lose in StL. There's still a chance we can get a Tier 1 game later in the season when another bubble team needs to get a better non con game on their resume. We could still get an at large (I think) if we run the table in the MVC before a loss in the final.

Despite the loss, we had an electric final 12 minutes, that if we can replicate consistently, will ensure we play deep in postseason. Hope those hard bruises from this game (the banked three to beat the shot clock, the embarrassment of looking so clueless to close the 1st half, missing key free throws) linger for a while to deter this from happening again down the stretch.