Western Illinois at Macomb

[minnesotarabbit]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

These losses hurt, but the main thing is just get into the tournament; whether it's a 5 seed or 8 seed.

That being said, these last few losses have been crazy....is it just bad luck or choking? Probably a little of both.

[bub94]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

Some thoughts on this and other posts on this topic.

Overall, do you believe?

1. The players are still playing hard, for a goal.
2. Jacks are not even close to having to play football players - and thank goodness they stepped up when they did - to fill a roster and finish out a season and get to the next one.
3. This remains a young team and the strength is in players that will be here one, two, and three years.
4. Strong players, including some of the state's top players, are coming into the program.
5. Jacks have been competitive in virtually every game except for two or three.
6. It is still possible to call this season a success.
7. The coach has not given up on the players, and the players on the coach.
8. There have been moments, good moments, that hint of even brighter things to come.


If you answer affirmatively to all eight posts - and it is possible to do so - it kind of puts things into perspective.

I do agree with your post and with Mrs. C's post. I have felt like we could win every game going into it. The last couple of weeks have given some really heart-breaking losses but the Jacks have been in the games until the end.

[zooropa]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

Or another question:

Do you think the Jacks are going to keep losing games in the final minute forever?

Exactly.

And so goes my expectations for the rest of this season and the next.

[rabbit_boy]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

Or another question:

Do you think the Jacks are going to keep losing games in the final minute forever?

Exactly.

And so goes my expectations for the rest of this season and the next.

As long as Nagy is coaching we will. Oh, but I forgot, its always the players fault.

[zooropa]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

As long as Nagy is coaching we will. Oh, but I forgot, its always the players fault.

:snort:

Yeah. Because the Jacks lost all those games last season in the last minute too.

If there's been one hallmark of Nagy's career, it's that his teams always lose in the last minute.

Why I remember back when Nagy was hired, that first season, SDSU lost 15 games in the final minute. Twelve of them were on freak midcourt shots.

Yep. That's the thing about Nagy. His teams always always always lose in the final minute. Except when they win, which isn't often. Heck, you can tell from his record as a coach.... guy's a total loser. Only reason why he stayed around during the D-2 years was because he had compromising photos of Oien.

:snort:




Oh yeah, and the BEST players on the team all left last year. What with Garrett Callahan transfering up to UND because he can't stand Nagy, Kai Williams quitting, and AC transferring to NDSU------yep no doubt about it. Nagy's a terrible coach.

[Nidaros]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

If our mods went out to buy some more paddle locks, they should be back soon and when they do return, I suggest that they lock this one. Lets move on.

[JackrabbitGuy]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

As long as Nagy is coaching we will. Oh, but I forgot, its always the players fault.

I don't think I'm in the minority in saying that we don't to paint a sign and tape it someones back to label it "their fault". If you've read much of this post you find the stats put together by Chains and see that our Juniors and sophmores are among the leaders in their class year in the conference. This is largely a senior driven league.

Our Junior/Sophmore driven team is progressing and learning. The season isn't over, we don't yet know where they'll end up. Next year our Senior/Junior led team will be in a position to have a good season.

[SUPERBUNNY]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

Coach Nagy will return as the Jacks coach next year and into our future. It will be interesting when our new athletic director comes on board and his or her thoughts.

Are we getting better? Absolutely! These late loses do however bother me. Would rather lose by double digits than last second scores. I believe we will make the summit league tournament as well. But we won't go far because of our seating. Lets circle than wagons and support the men as they are clearly playing their hearts out. If you look at the summit league stats you can see our young players are excelling. As of last week stats that might interest all of us.

Which JR in the Summit league leads all other JR's in scoring? If you guessed Garret you are correct.

Which SO in the Summit league leads all other SO's in scoring? If you guessed Clint your again correct. AC is the 3rd leading scorer in the SO class.

Which JR leads the Summit League in rebounds? If you guessed Kai you are correct. AC is second among the SO class and the 5th leading rebounder in the league.

Garret and AC are amoung the leaders in FG%. Garret and Clint are amoung the leaders in FT%. Garret in amoung the leaders for 3 pt FG%. Clint and Garret are #3 & #4 for 3 pt FG's made

Kai and AC are amoung the leaders for both offensive and deffensive rebounds. I could go on.

The Summit Tournament is a real possiblity this year. But, our young Jacks will be amoung the conference favorites next year. Hang in their Jacks.

GBGBGJ

Great post Chains!

Yeah, our recruiting sucks doesn't it! Anyone that can't recognize that this team has made giant strides this year just doesn't know what they are talking about!

There are still big hurdles and they have to figure a way over them in the last five games. This loss hurt! There is no way to overstate it but the goal of making the tournament is still very much attainable. We will learn more about these young men in the last five games then we have all season long.

We all feel the same frustration. Let's channel that energy into support for the team at the next two home games. They need it!

GB, GB, GJ!

SUPERBUNNY

[Nidaros]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

When I was less than 10 years of age, I all the sudden became a Pittsburgh Pirate fan, maybe because Ralph Kiner lead NL in home runs and his team was in 8th place when the NL had only 8 teams, and 8th place was the basement. Plus I got a Ralph Kiner glove for my birthday. That too had something to do with it.

It was Ralph and a bunch of kids like Friend and Law the pitchers. Bill Mazorski and a few other kids that were struggling to get of the basement of national all through the rest of 1950's decade. Fast forward to 1960, and who won the World Series? You got it was the Pittsburgh Pirates. They took the Yankess 4 out of 7. Ralph got traded to the Cubs along the way, but the rest of the kids plus some trades made it a great team. The day that Maz hit the winning homer is one of the happiest days of my life. I often wished the camera had been focused on Yogi Berra when the homer went over the fence. I doubt he was lost for words.

I have this same feeling about our Jacks men bb. There never will be instant success, but rather success built on hard work. So there is no reason whatsover to give up on Coach Nagy or his players. I think our guys take responsiblity for what they do wrong and they probably are very modest when they can claim fame. The future is bright and I look for the day to see Zach Horstman team up with Griff Callahan and whoever else on the current roster that still has eligibilty. Its going to be an great day or days. Take your pick.

[State_fan]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

Coach Nagy will return as the Jacks coach next year and into our future. It will be interesting when our new athletic director comes on board and his or her thoughts.

Are we getting better? Absolutely! These late loses do however bother me. Would rather lose by double digits than last second scores. I believe we will make the summit league tournament as well. But we won't go far because of our seating. Lets circle than wagons and support the men as they are clearly playing their hearts out. If you look at the summit league stats you can see our young players are excelling. As of last week stats that might interest all of us.

Which JR in the Summit league leads all other JR's in scoring? If you guessed Garret you are correct.

Which SO in the Summit league leads all other SO's in scoring? If you guessed Clint your again correct. AC is the 3rd leading scorer in the SO class.

Which JR leads the Summit League in rebounds? If you guessed Kai you are correct. AC is second among the SO class and the 5th leading rebounder in the league.

Garret and AC are amoung the leaders in FG%. Garret and Clint are amoung the leaders in FT%. Garret in amoung the leaders for 3 pt FG%. Clint and Garret are #3 & #4 for 3 pt FG's made

Kai and AC are amoung the leaders for both offensive and deffensive rebounds. I could go on.

The Summit Tournament is a real possiblity this year. But, our young Jacks will be amoung the conference favorites next year. Hang in their Jacks.

GBGBGJ

I like the perspective here, rep points for this.

We are on the brink of being very successful, no question about it. Our team is lacking one thing (and its not a new head coach). It's senior leadership. And next year we will have that. I like Mac, I think he works his tail off and tries to deliver a spark, but its just not quite enough.

[minnesotarabbit]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

The weird thing is, if they make the tournament, they actually have a chance to win it. It's being played in Sioux Falls (huge advantage) and there's no one team that is unbeatable.

[jack power]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

The weird thing is, if they make the tournament, they actually have a chance to win it. It's being played in Sioux Falls (huge advantage) and there's no one team that is unbeatable.

Agreed. Also, i'm guessing the Bison are secretly cheering the Jacks on, so they don't catch us in the first round.

[rabbit_boy]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

Lets say we finish 2-3, that makes a 10-18 season against Div I teams. Yup, thats real progress. I am tired of excuses. This has been our fifth terrible season in a row with no end in sight. That is our sad reality no matter how anyone spins it by blaming youth, bad luck etc. Someone has to be held accountable.

[rabidrabbit]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

Lets say we finish 2-3, that makes a 10-18 season against Div I teams. Yup, thats real progress. I am tired of excuses. This has been our fifth terrible season in a row with no end in sight. That is our sad reality no matter how anyone spins it by blaming youth, bad luck etc. Someone has to be held accountable.

I disagree that there is no end in sight. This team returns virtually the entire team and brings in some tall talent starting next fall. The number of games that are less than 5 points losses this year is astounding. They will pick up more wins, I think they may even beat that road monkey in the Summit before the tourney.

Believe that they will make the tourney, but that's about it.

[MontanaRabbit]

Re: Western Illinois at Macomb

Lets say we finish 2-3, that makes a 10-18 season against Div I teams. Yup, thats real progress. I am tired of excuses. This has been our fifth terrible season in a row with no end in sight. That is our sad reality no matter how anyone spins it by blaming youth, bad luck etc. Someone has to be held accountable.

Rome wasn't built in a day pal.

This year's team is much better than last year's, and I am sorry you can't see that. Let me point out some improvements.

They have been in virtually every game this year which you can't say about last year. They beat a major conference team on the road (granted Iowa State isn't a juggernaut right now) which likely never would have happened last year. They have won all but two Summit League home games and probably should have won the NDSU game which did not happen last year. They have been right there in three of the last four road games and just played tentative down the stretch, which I think you can attibute to being a young team. We don't have a senior on this team that contributes significantly. I challege you to show me one mid-major team that is doing better than SDSU without a senior. If there are any it's definately the exception to the rule.

I say give these kids next year. I think things will be markedly different next year too. The improvement from last year to this year is great considering we lost two seniors that logged significant minutes and only added Griffan.

One more question for you. If they did fire Nagy who are they going to get that is going to be better for the program at this point? I personally believe if they fired Nagy we would take another step backward.