I was only able to catch the second half, thanks to crappy Charleston internet, but some good signs...and bad. Win is obviously good. What's with these new "fouls"? I'm not sure what the record is for free throw attempts in a year is, but it may be challenged this year by many teams. And if everyone not name Jeff White doesn't start making more of them, it's going to be a long year with these type of calls and opportunities.

AMEN ,PAL !!!

See my report --I say the same thing.-- It may get ridiculous !! These new rules are FOUL !

BTW, my reception here in Akron was choppy as well. BUT we still got to see the game. I really like our bench !!

The video was also choppy out here in the "Boonies," but I was sure glad to get it! The refs are going to have to make some adjustments on the new foul rules. Some of their calls were ridiculous! The final fouls called on Turk and O'Leary were hard to believe.

Just back from the game. Sat with ahunte1 (thanks for the great tix!) and met some new Loyola fans. Saw Classless, BoRambler, 25yearstreak, and others during the game. BigJoe played a crucial role as the replay operator on press row, and supplied the video proving that UWM's buzzer three at hafltime was after time expired. After the game, talked with B, swellafelon, and many others. It was my first time at a home Loyola game since January 2010 (a one-point loss to Butler where former AD John Planek unloaded all of his supressed hatred all over me, shocking several people within earshot).

Thoughts--

1. There is no bad seat in the Gentile Arena, and it's a wonderful and comfortable place to see a game.
2. I was surprised that Milton Doyle was playing. I was even more surprised at how great he was. Easy prediction for Freshman of the Year in the MVC if he stays healthy. Great basketball IQ, great leaping ability, and a great temprament. He will be a real star in this league if he stays healthy.
3. Cody Johnson and Jeremy King provided some important minutes with Nick Osborne out with a concussion. They both scored their first points as college players, and did some good things that many people didn't think they were capable of.
4. Jeff White had a career game, and really impressed me. He was cool, focused, and savvy. He split complicated zone defenses in drives to the basket, and hit his free throws like he was infused with icewater. I think he has a chance to be an MVC 2nd team player as a sophomore-- very impressive.
5. UW-Milwaukee was picked for last in the HL, but there's no way that can happen with Matt Tiby on their team. He's a freaking five-tool monster. He almost singlehandedly won the game for UWM. I want to look up HOW he could possibly slip to JUCO status.
6. Loyola is going to have some real problems in MVC play if they continue to miss free throws and can't keep enough forwards healthy.
7. Christian Thomas seems like a very solid MVC player. But he's simply not heavy, strong, or tall enough to accomplish what he did tonight against teams like UNI, Wichita State, and Missouri State. He's listed at 6'5", but he's probably more like 6'4". Extremely talented, tough, and hard working, but he shouldn't be expected to defend against 6'8" and 6'10" guys.
8. FREE THROWS. We're especially going to need to hit free throws. We sucked against Lewis, we missed 7 free throws that I counted in the first half, and we improved but didn't totally recover in the second half.

We're 1-0. If we can win at Tennessee Tech, we're off to a very good start.

Some thoughts:

Love the Jeff White/Milton Doyle, and yes....even Devon Turk mentality. They get the ball and WANT to score. So many players on this team get the ball and only looking for the pass. Somebody's gotta want to get buckets. Awesome to see Jeff getting some penetration and that Milton jumper is going to be a thing of beauty this year.

7/14 from three point land? I'm about that. This could be huge for us, especially with Cody Johnson and Matt O'Leary both hitting some.

Thanks to whoever noted that Osbourne was out with a concussion, I was wondering where he was. Cody looked alright and Jeremy King was fine for his five minutes but we're gonna need a big presence, I hope he can get back in soon.

Everyone's said it already, but this season goes nowhere is our free throw % doesn't improve. I was ripping my hair out by the end of the game.

Was actually pretty happy with student attendance at the game. Hopefully that will be a constant throughout the year.

All in all, fun game that got me real excited for the year.

_________________
Founder and Chairman, Swaggy T Fan Club*

*Swaggy T Fan Club is not associated with Loyola University Chicago or Devon "Swaggy T" Turk; it is not owned or operated by employees or representatives of the entities mentioned.

I would imagine that all of the students had a good time last night. It was an entertaining game to watch, which bodes well for the students to want to come back for the next game....

A bit late on my reply, but a fun game Friday night. Actually what impressed me the most was playing with poise down the stretch in a pretty tight game. Milwaukee's guards are terrible and LU did a good job of exploiting that.

I'd love to see more transition, I think playing in the open floor is the best part of both White's and Doyle's game. Hopefully they start to push it! In half court offense, have to do a better job of catching the ball in spots where you can be a threat. Catching a wing entry 25 feet from the basket does no good.

Get used to ticky tack fouls. It'll be tough to watch early (I thought O'leary's in particular were tough) but calling it tighter will be better for the college game in the long run. Defenses have developed a huge advantage over the last 8-10 years and I think it's wise to give some advantage back to the offense.

Good to see Jeter still can't coach in-game. He can recruit, though. Why is Tiby not in maroon and gold? 1st team all Horizon, I bet.

Agree on both counts. I didn't have a good angle on O'Leary's first half fouls, but they didn't seem like much.



Taking Tiby out with 5 minutes and change left when he got his fourth foul might have seemed like a good idea at the time (get him back in at the 4:00 MTO), but it totally backfired and, I think, cost him a chance to win the game.

Milwaukee ended up playing a crucial two and a half minute stretch with Tiby sitting at the scorer's table, and Loyola extended the lead to 9.

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart

LU gets the ball with 1:05 left after a deal ball, up 5. Milwaukee brings the heat with....a soft half court zone?

Speaking of zone offense LU did a good job in the second half of getting the ball to the free throw area and making a play from there.

I like what White said about this in the post-game interview - Moser has told the team that possessions off of turnovers by the other team are basically free possessions - we get a steal and he has given the team the green light to push the ball. This adds incentives to playing tough defense (as long as we don't just start gambling for steals and get out of position all the time), and also plays to our strengths.