Tuesday night's nationally-televised game was what I refer to as an "Ass-Kicking Buffet." The Jays took all they wanted, came back for more, and after filling up on points and assists, emptied the bench. That's the Old Country Buffet of basketball games, right there. An ass-kicking buffet.
21-7 out of the gates. 33-18 at the half. A high-water mark of 32 points ahead in the second half. You get the picture.
Northern Iowa wasn't a bad team, or at least, I didn't think they were. The game in Cedar Falls was competitive, and they had the same record as the Jays coming in. But this game was as uncompetitive as you'll see, and quite honestly, by the second half the Panthers were phoning it in.
Of particular disappointment was Eric Coleman, a feisty player I've enjoyed watching compete the last four years. The player I saw Tuesday was a shell of his former self, a frustrated player taken completely out of his game by an athletic defense and a superior scheme to minimize his effectiveness. How's this line for the only player in America to lead his team in points, assists, rebounds, steals and minutes? 2 points, 1 assist, 6 boards.
His most amazing stat might have been this one: 17 minutes. For your best player who wasn't hurt and wasn't in foul trouble to play just 17 minutes is astounding. Maybe there was something else going on there, a disciplinary scenario or a coaches' decision based on effort. But it looked to me like this was just the way things played out, and that's very odd.
***
Dana Altman challenged his players to rebound better against UNI than they had against Wichita State. He even dangled the carrot of a starting spot in front of his two post players, telling Kenny Lawson and Kenton Walker that whoever grabbed the most boards in practice leading up to the UNI game would get the start.
And that's how the true freshman from San Diego, Walker, got the start. Lawson wound up with more minutes and a better line, but you can see the progress that Walker is making. Its not showing up in the box score yet, but he's playing better defense and playing with more confidence. The numbers will come for the big guy.
***
P'Allen Stinnett could have scored 40 if he wanted to; his 24 points came in just 21 minutes, and he never saw the court after the 12 minute mark. UNI made the curious strategic decision to play a straight zone, and didn't put their best on-ball defender on him. Consequently, he ran roughshod over and around them. At one point in the first half, he had 15 of the team's 29 points.
How's this for a first-half line: 7-10 shooting, 3-5 from three-point, 5 rebounds and 1 assist in 14 minutes! Good lord.
And here's the damning thing for UNI -- they did nothing at halftime to change their approach. The results were what you'd expect: 3-5 from the floor, 1-2 from three-point, 1 rebound and 1 assist in just 7 minutes, by which time the game was all but over.
The difference in this game began and ended with P'Allen combining a hot shooting night with a team playing bad defense against him. During the portion of the night when the outcome was in doubt, he scored almost at will.
***
Did you see the email to the World-Herald's Tom Shatel which said, in essence, that Altman is overrated as a coach and pads his record by playing weak teams? I'll get into this more tomorrow, but its interesting in one respect to me: the expectations for this team are far greater than they were even five years ago. A big part of taking the next step as a program is raising expectations, and then delivering. Looks like the first part of that equation is beginning to happen.
***
POLYFRO LOBSTER COLA PLAYER OF THE GAME: Tonight's player of the game is brought to you by the refreshing taste of Lobster Cola: combining the delicacy of lobster with the refreshing taste of cola, its Lobster Cola!
Is there any doubt? I mean, seriously? You bet.
Leave a comment