I told you, Connor frickin Onion! At one point he praised Uguaks three point shooting ability?!??

Immediately after the game I was too frustrated to give Mullins the credit he deserves but its pretty damn impressive what he's doing with this team considering it's basically a 6-man rotation and they're without a senior leader in Aaron Cook.

This team continues to be frustratingly similar to the 16-17 team.

-Only one Senior
-Flash potential against a middling P5 (NC State vs. Vandy)
-Giving up weird circus shots on a semi-regular basis
-Unable to close out close games (9 losses by single digits vs. 6 this year)

It’s a group that knows how to compete, but hasn’t mastered closing out yet. We also had the same problem we’ve had all year in losses. That being we can’t shoot. It’s easy to want Krutwig to do more but at 15-7-5 he had a really nice game. Major props to Marquise for playing so well on the road as well. Great to see him step up on a really big stage. I agree it’s a cusp year. I’m also of the belief that we haven’t peaked yet.

Man though... If we had Cooper.

Good post, Blers. I agree that our lack of experience is showing, especially in these road games.

It was great to see Marquise play well on the road. He did a much better job of going into the body of the shot-blockers. But he also had a couple of key turnovers late. Just freshman mistakes. Given the rest and experience factors, I really thought Bruno would get some minutes last night. He's not spectacular, but he has been contributing in limited time.

More importantly, I don't know what was going on with our defense. McGill was beating us off the dribble time and time again, and we didn't have any help. Not sure if it's the scheme or the execution or what, but we've given a lot of easy baskets these past two games.

Anyway, can't get too low. We're in the middle of the toughest four game stretch of the season. If we can recover Saturday night with some home cooking, I'll take our chances in Terre Haute next week.

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Didn't see this posted on the thread yet so here's part of Porter's press conference from last night. He takes the majority of blame for last night's lack luster performance.

https://twitter.com/THefferman/status/1222759332728713217

Thanks for posting that ....Coach continues to impress me as a rep of our University. I think Tate Hall will always be at a disadvantage when he has to guard players like that,,,He hustles and gives a 100% but has a relatively slow first step on defense....just cuz it is so long......These last two games have gotten me thinking about next year....everyone but Bruno back with the addition of Cooper back,,,the sit out point guard and two incoming frosh....gonna be interesting to see how that works.....I dont know if Coach is mixing and matching trying to find the best matc up or still trying new lineups for something that works. or playing the hot hand.....but my anxiety would like to see a more consistent rotation by this time in the season.....also made me think about a year when you bring in 7 players at once...

my realistic hopes at the start of this season were:

1) Krut being player of the year and getting 3 straight of that award;
2) Getting 20 wins
3) Beating Vandy
4) finishing regular season in the top 3;
5) Having one of our 3 recruits have a big year to give us hope for the future.
6) going back to the NIT

My outside hopes were:
1) Winning the regular season;
2) Winning the conference tourney (going back to the Dance);

All those things are still viable, if not already accomplished, at the start of February. 7 newcomers curbed my expectations, and I feel like we are still ahead of schedule despite losses like this. We are gonna be fine. I’m trying to just enjoy the ride this year, watching these kids get better. I hope got the best this year, and I expect to see the best next year.

I watched the PM press conference. Nice that he took the heat and didn't dump on his players.
He said he has to work on things, but in reality, gotta make shots. The open three has become much more routine and our guys need to just make them at a higher clip. The better we shoot the three, the better Krutwig will become. Seems simple. This team has solid, well prepared defense, but hot and cold on shooting the three and on finishing under the basket.
I am, as others, optimistic about this team. PM seems, more than in the past, to be putting more players in the games, and being patient with their development. It will pay dividends sooner than later. Clearly Paxson can shoot it. Same with Hall and Pipkins. Paxton shows the expected hesitancy, and passes away on good looks, but that is to be expected. Welsh is showing he can be a face the basket guy, and Kennedy has speed to burn, just needs to feel out what is required to be consistent and not dribble out of control into a crowd without a plan. Even Aher is putting up and making some shots and free throws. I'd like to see him finish quicker and stronger under the basket as he can get there, but doesn't complete the play. Those would be valuable points, especially as he gets a lot of transition opportunities.
I'll stay the course with this bunch, nowhere to go but up, time is on our side.
In my dreams, I'd love to see some designated players stay in for offensive rebounds, those could be EZ buckets, but we are going in the opposite direction as soon as the shots go up. Always have, but doesn't mean we always should. Whaddya you guys think?

I think it is fair for Porter to accept responsibility. From my couch, there are times when I would substitute a player, but I don't think he can hear me. Seriously, this roster is very talented. He has learned a lot about his players. I would like him to use the entire roster, but I think winning conference games sometimes prevents us from learning more about the new players in game situations.

I would like to see us change our offensive rebounds strategy slightly. Uguak has the ability to disrupt the other team's offensive before it starts and we should give him the green light to go for an offensive rebound from time to time.

Yeah, at least in late game situations when we have to score. I think it was in the final minute vs. SIU there was a golden opportunity for an offensive rebound where the ball bounced out by the free throw line, and we had four guys going back on defense. I know it helps our transition defense, but offensive rebounding is by far our biggest weakness.

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