Oakland Game Thread

[NoVaJack]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

Kai was indeed the Beast tonight, AC was again the Animal, Sargent was on Fire. All around great effort.

Very exiting night to be at Frost, one of the best games I've seen.

Callahan Bros. had 30 combined, both had clutch shots jus when team needed them.

[RowdyRabbit]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

but that board by Kai for the "and one" was unreal. In between three defenders and they tried to hack him when he was on the floor and he just muscled that ball into the hole. It was sheer will that it was his ball and his only. !

The look on one of the Oakland guys that was inside grabbing at the ball was unreal....when they played the replay from the camera right under the basket....he just couldn't believe Kai managed that ball into the hole!

[UWMandSDSU]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

The way Kai was rebounding was completely outstanding.

I feel sorry for the fans that left after the Women's game. They missed one of the best comebacks ever at Frost (that I have seen).

Coach Nagy jumped right out the Arena when Kai came down with that last rebound and putback. You could tell how proud he was of the players and the fans after the game. That showed during his postgame comments when he was talking about Kai making it to 1000 points.

[RowdyRabbit]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

The way Kai was rebounding was completely outstanding.

Dudes got ups....man he made them big 6-9, 6-10 Oakland players look small on some of those boards.

Callahans made some CLUTCH FT's, and 3's for that matter.

[RowdyRabbit]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

I think what makes Kai's big game tonight that much more sweet is how frustrated he looked in pre-game warmups....I watched him shoot around for 5 minutes and his warmup shots just weren't falling and he slammed the ball on the court once and threw it hard off the back wall once...and proceeded to nail his first shot of the game...a 3 btw....it was great to see him hit that first shot.

[sfjacksfan99]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

Dudes got ups....man he made them big 6-9, 6-10 Oakland players look small on some of those boards.

Callahans made some CLUTCH FT's, and 3's for that matter.

No doubt, he absolutely skied for the boards in there. Benson was very frustrating though, what did he have, 15 boards and 8 blocks? He was so stinkin' long and it didn't help some of the Jacks' lobs at the bucket were virtually volleyball sets for him. When he fouled out though and with Kangas being off, I was just the Jacks game for the taking.

Forgot one thing from before. Did anyone catch the Ryan Miller quote from Nagy describing Kangas' little streak? That was exactly was I was thinking during the game, uh oh, this guy's scary. Friggin' Ryan Miller.

At least one more beer before bed, I'm just loving this. Come on Jacks, get off this road drought and assert yourselves as a force to be reckoned with in this league!

[JackrabbitGuy]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

Just got back home after the game. What an incredible night for the Jackrabbits. It did look bleak in the first half. As the second half started I turned to my buddy and said, I'll be interested to see if they have the toughness to find a way to keep this from getting out of hand and get back into this thing.

They sure did that. Nice work. This would have been a big win, but especially so considering the other recent hearbreaking losses makes this an even bigger win. There have been some tough moments this season, but this team has shown the toughness to fight back after each dissapointment. That is something to build on.

[jackmd]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

Just got home, got the kids to bed, trying to wind down, not going to be easy.

Easily the best game/atmosphere for the men since making the transition to DI. Flat out willed themselves to a win. Those 5 guys played with more heart than I've seen from a Jackrabbit men's BB team in a good long while, maybe ever. Oakland is a talented and deep DI team. I'm not sure we had any business getting back into this game but those 5 guys with great support from Moss, Cassady and Palarca carried the team to a victory. I only wish I could go on the road with them to Indiana.

Hard to choose an MVP and that's exactly the strength of this team. Kai, AC, Clint, Griffen, Garrett, etc... everyone had a had in this victory. If you missed this game because you didn't make the effort to get there or you left early, I'm telling you that was a mistake.

I'm hoping we can continue to build momentum after each game, win or lose. Coach Nagy deserves a lot of credit for guiding these guys past a tough Oakland team that needed a win tonight. I'm just flat out ecstatic about the effort tonight and we get a win to top it off.

[bub94]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

Dudes got ups....man he made them big 6-9, 6-10 Oakland players look small on some of those boards.

Loved the fact that before the game, they would replay the blocked shot from Thursday 2 times in a row just because it was that nice. There have been a lot of rebounds Kai has grabbed which have amazed me. He gets so far up there I just drop my jaw. Impressive leaping ability. Just wants that board so much.

[JackJD]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

Just got home, got the kids to bed, trying to wind down, not going to be easy.

Easily the best game/atmosphere for the men since making the transition to DI. Flat out willed themselves to a win. Those 5 guys played with more heart than I've seen from a Jackrabbit men's BB team in a good long while, maybe ever. Oakland is a talented and deep DI team. I'm not sure we had any business getting back into this game but those 5 guys with great support from Moss, Cassady and Palarca carried the team to a victory. I only wish I could go on the road with them to Indiana....

Tonight, I was in a legendary place called Frost Arena. While I've been in that building many times in the past few years, I haven't been in FROST ARENA as we know it, for a long time. Kai Williams was an absolute monster tonight in the second half. He outjumped everyone and when he grabbed a rebound, he did it with authority and power and nobody was going to take the ball from him. And they were key rebounds, rebounds which affected the outcome of the game, kept us from having momentum shift to Oakland.

Kai was a powerful leader tonight. But they were all leaders, too. JackMD is right: these guys willed themselves to win. We've been taking little steps all season long but we haven't seen the will to win like we did tonight. If you weren't there, you missed magic.

I was in THE FROST ARENA tonight -- gawd it was great to be back. I don't always buy into the crowd being the sixth player but if that ever happens, it happened tonight in Frost.

I am SO looking forward to the Summit League tourney. If you have not picked up your tickets, you'd better do so quickly! We have to turn the Sioux Falls Arena into Frost-South. After watching tonight against an excellent Oakland team, one can only conclude that these Jackrabbits cannot be counted out of anything.

[joeboo22]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

great win.... I wasn't able to listen to the game but great job.... sounds like an exciting game and I hope that this will spring them to winning a bunch of games down the stretch...

[KUlawJack]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

Bump.

Some dude was posting on the NDSU thread. That is long gone. The next thread to discuss NDSU will be in smack or the next game thread.

Back to tonight. As a guy that doesn't get to go to games hardly ever and keeps track through text messages and watching online, I have never felt the pull to run back to Frost as I have after tonight. I miss that beautiful atmosphere. I can't wait until its like that on a nightly basis.

I recall watching the team celebrating at half court with a full crowd and Coach Nagy clapping and thanking the fans after a conference championship in a few days gone by and will relish the days when the guys stand at half court cheering back with the crowd as Coach Nagy takes a bow.

Those days are coming...and coming soon. Fear the Rabbit.

(Sorry for the emotional post, just love to see SDSU on the way back to where they belong.)

[KUlawJack]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

I am not a religious man in the common definition of the word, but the last quote by Coach Nagy gives me chills. Let's Go Rabbits!!!!

http://www.argusleader.com/article/2...20/1002/sports

[zooropa]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

Well I had fun at the game tonight. The folks that left early, somehow, I doubt had as much fun in their living rooms or cars on the way home.

----

But I have to say, the Jacks got themselves in pretty deep and I was really peeved with how lackadaisical they were on defense and offense the first half. Just shuffling up and down the court, not moving the ball around enough to get open looks---phoning it in, basically.

The comeback, on the other hand..... All the way through halftime, I'm saying to the guys I'm with.... "Just let them get within 5" and then blammo, AC, Sargent, Griffan, and Kai make it happen. Kai's 3 to take the lead down to 2 was mahhhhhvelous. I KNEW the Jacks had them then. They were moving the ball well enough to pull coverage way off catch and shoot players, and that's the only way the Jacks are going to beat good teams.

[SUPERBUNNY]

Re: Oakland Game Thread

Just got home, got the kids to bed, trying to wind down, not going to be easy.

Easily the best game/atmosphere for the men since making the transition to DI. Flat out willed themselves to a win. Those 5 guys played with more heart than I've seen from a Jackrabbit men's BB team in a good long while, maybe ever. Oakland is a talented and deep DI team. I'm not sure we had any business getting back into this game but those 5 guys with great support from Moss, Cassady and Palarca carried the team to a victory. I only wish I could go on the road with them to Indiana.

Hard to choose an MVP and that's exactly the strength of this team. Kai, AC, Clint, Griffen, Garrett, etc... everyone had a had in this victory. If you missed this game because you didn't make the effort to get there or you left early, I'm telling you that was a mistake.

I'm hoping we can continue to build momentum after each game, win or lose. Coach Nagy deserves a lot of credit for guiding these guys past a tough Oakland team that needed a win tonight. I'm just flat out ecstatic about the effort tonight and we get a win to top it off.

Jackmd, I mean this in the nicest possible way. Secretly, I have been thinking that I will know this team has turned the corner when Jackmd makes a possitive post about them. Please don't take offense to that statement. Your post was absolutely positive!

They had no business getting back into that game but they did. Let's be honest. The first half was ugly, uninspired basketball. The second half was pure Jackrabbit magic!

They played with emotion tonight! The players took ownership and refused to be beat. It is such a young team but they took a huge step.

How about Kai taking over in the second half? How about freshman Griffan Callahan hitting several huge shots down the stretch? How about AC taking it to their center? How about Clint taking over in the last ten minutes? HOW ABOUT THE FANS GETTING BEHIND THE TEAM AND MAKING FROST A TOUGH PLACE TO PLAY?????????

That game tonight embodied what we want this team to be! There's a lot of work to do yet but for one night, all is good in Jackrrabbit Nation!

We have a lot of good young talent, we have a good coaching staff, and we have a fan base that wants them to succeed in the worst way. There isn't anyone that wants to play us in the Summit League Championship!

What a night! We've all been waiting for it!

GB, GB, GJ!

SUPERBUNNY