It was slightly comical to see Anderson going from playing in the Big 10 to playing with 4 walk-ons. Against an NAIA school

I don’t think any of us, other than maybe a few who rarely post, really have any actual knowledge. It’s all just guesswork, sometimes based on previous seasons and reasons players didn’t play. But mostly just blind guesswork.

The best thing I saw about Anderson out there was that he didn’t try to show Porter what was up.... he passed up at least 2 shots for the pass and the better look. SMART plays by him if he’s looking to get into games.

NAIA - granted. But I like what our new guys did.

Also - someone in the Horizon needs to pick up that Ting kid next year. That little fella balls! They list him at 5’10” but I doubt it. Fearlessly took it to the rim, and beat Norris more than once.

Glad to see Welch and Hutson play well! It makes you feel a little better for when Krutwig is gone. Welch also went 5-6 from the line today, which is good to see.

Tate Hall is shooting about 28% from the free throw line this year. He’s made 4 in 6 games.

How he somehow got worse from the line boggles my mind. He may finish with the lowest FT % in the nation among qualified players.

Five in double figures win by over 30 pts and on and on !!! Good practice--nothing more nothing less PORTER KNOWS BEST

In the post game interview, Porter said Frank is a ways away from playing again, but just started practicing. Hopefully we can see him play in a month or so. I was hoping to hear him make a remark about Anderson, but he didn't.

Any word on Hutson getting more playing time? I think he is a more natural backup for Krut than Welch. Would LOVE to see Welch get some time out there in more of a SF type role. He can do a lot of good things for us.

This game was a weird one because it created some questions.

1) Hutson looked good. In terms of development, I thought he looked better than Frank did his freshmen year ... but it’s a game against an NAIA team where he has 3 more inches than everyone else out there against him. It’s tough to tell whether he can be a suitable backup for 6-8 minutes at center against Valley teams. I’m 60/40 sold that he can, based on his play.

2) Welch looked great... again though - NAIA team with no height. I still want to see him play along side krutwig, and if Porter gained any faith in Hutson tonight, there’s a greater likelihood that we could see it happen.

3) Anderson - The only questioning I made with Porter’s coaching in the game. Once we went up 20, I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t put him out there with Hutson, Norris (or Hebb) Hall, and Williamson, to see how he looks? Instead, Uguak had 23 minutes in the game. The only thing I can think of is that Porter is sticking with Uguak as his guy and wanted to give him an opportunity to get his confidence up offensively. To Uguak’s credit, he scored 11, went 5 of 6, hit a three, and dished out 3 assists.


It’s going to sound cocky, but I legit feel that we are deep enough with the addition of Hutson and Anderson for our bench, alone, to beat Evansville. You could start Clemons, Hebb, Kennedy, Welch, and Frank, with Kaifes and Wojcik subbing in at guard and Hutson and Anderson subbing in at forward. I think we would have enough to win against them with that, even with Krutwig, Williamson, Norris, Hall and Uguak sitting back and watching.

I predict we win by 12 or so against ISU on Sunday, and 20+ on Monday.


With Non-Con games over, I can say 3 things:

1) I wish we could have gotten 1 or 2 more games against decent competition to prepare for the Valley (Toledo, Bowling Green, Ball State, NIU, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Detroit, IUPUI, Cleveland State or Oakland).

2) I understand, but HATE, the bench being moved out of the TV sight line. Part of the fun of watching games for me is watching the coaches interact with their players and the refs during the course of the game. I also like seeing when specific substitutions are being decided while play is still going on. It sucks we lose that now, but I get it.

3) Just a pet peeve, but I’d like our coaches to be in suits for games. Nothing drives me nuts in my own job than seeing opposing counsel show up on Zoom hearings with the judge wearing a Hawaiian shirt. I know it’s a pandemic, but we all still have jobs to do and it’s important to look like we are taking them seriously. It needs to be business as usual this year for our team, no exceptions. Wouldn’t hate for Porter to set that example for our guys. Also... the jacket toss is just a fun tradition to watch for....