Umkc gdt

[JackrabbitGuy]

Re: Umkc gdt

Who would have thought that in January we'd be saying that our men's team has one more win than the women's team.

The women will be all right, but its nice to have the men in the mix as well.

[bub94]

Re: Umkc gdt

Made the comment regarding the men's free throw shooting a couple of games ago. Good job on working on those points guys. 80% for the night is great. And someone made the comment in regards to Kai's leadership. You can really tell he is working hard on being one the the leaders. Don't know if it was against ORU or Cent. where a guy came off the court and sat down. Kai gets up off the bench and goes over to him to hand slap. That is one thing I have always liked about the women's team. The player coming off the court goes down the entire bench for hand slaps. Team unity on and off the court. Nice win tonight guys and keep it rolling for Saturday.

[gojacksgo]

Re: Umkc gdt

Great win for the Jacks tonight against a UMKC that is better than many would have predicted at the beginning of the year.

Kai was a hustler tonight and also shot the ball very well. Nate got to the hole whenever he wanted and put his free throws in.

Overall, a very good win which makes us 2-1 on the road in Summit play this year.

As someone said earlier, if we could even split the next two road games, we could be 5-2 in Summit play with 7 of our 11 remaining games at home. With that said, I think we can win the next 2 road games.

Good win Jacks!

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Umkc gdt

First off......4-1 in conference, 2-1 on the road, 8-8 overall.....man that's sounds alot better! Corner turned? Let's get a win in Cedar City first...

* Way to battle back. UMKC comes out and drains 3 quick treys and turns a 7 point defecit into a 6 point lead. Last year these guys throw in the towel. SDSU answers w/ a 10-0 run and never really looks back.

* Horrible refs. They just seemed to back themselves in a corner. You call so many fouls and you have to call fouls on the other end to make up for it. Some of the calls were just awful and not even close.

* The bad: Man we had some very lazy passes. Drove me nuts! And what's with all the 3-point plays? Hope that stops soon.

* Where to start w/ the player accolades? 1.) Kai-really kept us in it in the first half while AC and Sarg (mainly Sarg I guess) were on the bench. 2.) Sarg-came out and was a sparkplug in the 2nd half. He and Kai and Garrett really helped free up Nate and opened up the lane for him...just imagine if we had a really good big to take advantage? 3.) Nate-12-12 free throws? You won't find many guys who do that in the country, let alone true frosh in their 16th game! Vice-versa, his penatration will set up our shooters. 4.) Garrett-hit a few big shots and, more importantly, he's Garrett, he gets respect and attention all 40 minutes b/c of his reputation, allowing others to get looks. 5.) Okay, AC making 2-4 free throws. It's not so much that but when I communicated w/ him this afteroon he was heading over to work on his FT's, so he knows it needs work. 2-4 helped and is better than 0-4!

* Nice to be in conference play where so many other teams are height challenged like us. Most of the 2nd half our lineup was Nate, Garrett, Sarg, Moss, Kai. Just imagine nest year when we have some more height...an athletic height at that!

* Hopefully the weather allows us a safe and comfy travel to Cedar City. I think they are maybe the worst league team right now. How nice would 5-1 be with 4 road games out of the way as well as already playing two of the top 3 league teams? Let's do it!

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Umkc gdt

zoh...and one more thing....I was so much appreciative to be able to watch the game on TV, and i'll take whatever I can get...but what lousy production and that high pitched play-by-play guy drove me nuts!

[NorCalJack]

Re: Umkc gdt

This has to be especially sweet for Kia. Last year at UMKC he missed a bunny shot at the buzzer and we lost. I'm sure that was on his mind before this game but he took care of that demon.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Umkc gdt

Our men's team is in second place in the Summit League right now. Great job guys, keep working hard.

[zooropa]

Re: Umkc gdt

Who would have thought that in January we'd be saying that our men's team has one more win than the women's team.

As far as the conference season goes, I hope the men's team -always- has one more win than the women's team. From Thursday night until Saturday afternoon.

I'm mentally preparing for the Jacks to have a setback next Saturday in Fargo.

Would be nice if the Jacks win the next two road games, but I don't think they're quite there yet.

Still it's nice to watch the team coming together. I think they'll be able to hold onto what they've got going right now.

[Nidaros]

Re: Umkc gdt

As far as the conference season goes, I hope the men's team -always- has one more win than the women's team. From Thursday night until Saturday afternoon.

I'm mentally preparing for the Jacks to have a setback next Saturday in Fargo.

Would be nice if the Jacks win the next two road games, but I don't think they're quite there yet.

Still it's nice to watch the team coming together. I think they'll be able to hold onto what they've got going right now.

After the UMKC game was over I tuned in WDAY and the Bison had SUU beaten in the first half only to let them back and to force an overtime and lose. The Bison got some great young guys coming on like Carlson, Aaberg and Zistrow? not sure of the name or spelling but I think this is our year where are chances in Fargo are good despite students and what have you. I am sure there will be a good crowd. The refrees in Cedar City called an intentional foul with 8 minutes to go and gave SUU the lead so we better be prepared for a game at SUU as well.

[JimmyJack]

Re: Umkc gdt

KC Star coverage:

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1670946.html

[jackrabit1]

Re: Umkc gdt

I sent Coach Nagy a congratulatory E-mail last night after the game. After the last few seasons, it's gotta feel good to be on a winning streak.

SDSU Men's Basketball winning streak... feels good to say that after so long!

Keep up the good work, guys!

[sfjacksfan99]

Re: Umkc gdt

First off......4-1 in conference, 2-1 on the road, 8-8 overall.....man that's sounds alot better! Corner turned? Let's get a win in Cedar City first...

* Way to battle back. UMKC comes out and drains 3 quick treys and turns a 7 point defecit into a 6 point lead. Last year these guys throw in the towel. SDSU answers w/ a 10-0 run and never really looks back.

* Horrible refs. They just seemed to back themselves in a corner. You call so many fouls and you have to call fouls on the other end to make up for it. Some of the calls were just awful and not even close.

* The bad: Man we had some very lazy passes. Drove me nuts! And what's with all the 3-point plays? Hope that stops soon.

* Where to start w/ the player accolades? 1.) Kai-really kept us in it in the first half while AC and Sarg (mainly Sarg I guess) were on the bench. 2.) Sarg-came out and was a sparkplug in the 2nd half. He and Kai and Garrett really helped free up Nate and opened up the lane for him...just imagine if we had a really good big to take advantage? 3.) Nate-12-12 free throws? You won't find many guys who do that in the country, let alone true frosh in their 16th game! Vice-versa, his penatration will set up our shooters. 4.) Garrett-hit a few big shots and, more importantly, he's Garrett, he gets respect and attention all 40 minutes b/c of his reputation, allowing others to get looks. 5.) Okay, AC making 2-4 free throws. It's not so much that but when I communicated w/ him this afteroon he was heading over to work on his FT's, so he knows it needs work. 2-4 helped and is better than 0-4!

* Nice to be in conference play where so many other teams are height challenged like us. Most of the 2nd half our lineup was Nate, Garrett, Sarg, Moss, Kai. Just imagine nest year when we have some more height...an athletic height at that!

* Hopefully the weather allows us a safe and comfy travel to Cedar City. I think they are maybe the worst league team right now. How nice would 5-1 be with 4 road games out of the way as well as already playing two of the top 3 league teams? Let's do it!

All very good points I would concur with.

A couple of additions. The lazy passes from AC in the second half found his rear end on the bench resulting in the "short" lineup. The TO's in the first half seemed to be all around and maddening to watch. The Wolters, Ga. Callahan, Kai, Moss, Sargent tandem was a very nice lineup to watch on the court, but probably something they can't get away with too often since UMKC appears to be the shortest team in the league. But if Kai rebounds like that game in and game out, he can rebound with anybody in the conference. His soaring for a couple boards reminded me of his unforgettable play against Oakland at Frost last year.

A little addition to the post talking about Kai talking to Wolters after his near save of the ball going out of bounds. Notice who the guy going down the court was that was going to get the ball? Ya, the guy named Moss that would have had the UMKC announcers raving about what was going to get thrown down. I was so ready for it and then the whistle blew! NOOOOOO!

Once again...very nice closeout to the game after giving up the lead for a short time with just under 10 min to go.

Gotta keep pace with the Grizzlies (what a disgusting name to have to type) for a big showdown in two weeks.

[SoDakJack]

Re: Umkc gdt

The play of the team lately has improved everything associated with it. The individual players, the coaches, and even the radio. Listening to Steve last night there was a change in the way he sounded as he called the game. This is the good kind of infection!

[gojacksgo]

Re: Umkc gdt

A couple of additions. The lazy passes from AC in the second half found his rear end on the bench resulting in the "short" lineup.

I completely agree. It wasn't just the pass from Cordova, but when he got a defensive rebound, outletted it to the other team and let the guy go in for an easy layup rather than step in and either foul or take the charge(he could have easily been set - he gave up on the play.), he didn't deserve to be on the court the rest of the game, and I hope that it carries over until he decides to bring the intensity he brought last year.

An undersized center will not help this team out unless he is going to bring energy and intensity.

[GopherHole]

Re: Umkc gdt

Didn't catch them all but:
1. Really proud of the guys for the way they played
2. could tell in practice that they are really starting to get it and the players are starting to coach each other. Makes it a lot easier on him, fun to coach when its like that.
3. Kai's best game all year, very active on the glass & aggressive but smart with shot selection.
4. Nate was clutch with his free throw shooting & they couldn't stop him on the drive to the bucket. Says Nate seems to play better in a tight game.
5. A little concerned about defense in the second half. First half very good, but even though we are now 4-1 in conference, we are last in the league in defensive FG%. That can't happen if we want to be a championship team.
6. Mentioned that Garrett is only player selected to pre-season conf team & is averaging just 7 pts in conf games. Garrett doesn't care as long as the team is doing well. Says we may not have any all-conference players, but are playing well as a team.
7. Team goal is to go 2-0 on the road trip, in he told the team to keep their nose to the grindstone. After Saturday at SUU & at NDSU we'll only have 4 more conf road games. We can put pressure on the rest of the conference if we play well & win.

After expressing some of my concerns about the team a couple of weeks ago, its nice to see some significant progress on these issues. Coach definitely hit on some of these in the post game.

• Kai's senior leadership is something that had been missing, but his ability to lead by example and through words is HUGE.
• Having people that know how to close out games when the pressure is on has improved. Several upperclassmen have stepped up, but Wolter's performance from the line and knowing how to get to the hoop even when he is not scoring from the field will be great to have for 4 years.
• Players are apparently buying into coach's system as they are starting to get it in practice and are helping to coach their team mates.
• Defense may still be an issue. In critical games or in games where other things are not working, defense can be the difference. Being last in FG% in the league will haunt us at some point.

While I commented on the Gophers' ability to play tough D as a reason why they are a good team, seeing what Purdue put down on them with their D is a reason why the Boilermakers have a legit goal of playing in the Final Four late in March. A total team commitment to defense is neccessary to being a legit championship contender.

Way to go Jacks! You are on the right path.