Louisiana Monroe (1/14/12)

Gotta love the early count resulting in a 3 being drained

NT 66

ULM 53

3:19 to go

uhhhh... ok let's put this one away already

NT 68

ULM 55

Final

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Outscored by ULM 37 to 31 in second half, not good but I guess to be expected given the nature of the game. Good game by Walton and Franklin. Mitchell had a hoo hum game for him, would have be great for most players.

I was very unhappy with our second half performance... everyone around here seemed giddy about the win.... JJ is very unhappy, even mad, about the 2nd half in post-game interview. I have to agree. Very happy with the win, but not how it was won.

Looks like we just wanted to get the game over with in the second half. Can't blame them for wanting to get out of Monroe as fast as possible.

If I had one gripe with JJ's teams, which really isn't much (and I know some have MANY JJ gripes), it's that he rarely puts the dagger in after an early start.

We always seem to have 3 - 5 opportunities each season for 25+ point wins, and they rarely follow through. This be it by choice or whatever, I don't know; they just don't seem to be in JJ's repertoire. I wish we could see more of them.

I was only able to hear part of the game. Does anyone know if the zone defense was used today?

If so, under what circumstances was it used? Was it effective? What type of zone was it?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Good win! The Denver game should be a good test for us.

Before we can say we're good by Sunbelt standards, we need to be able to beat Denver at home. If we lose against Denver, I am not sure how much progress this team has really made. Put them to the real test, and let's how these guys respond. Heck, we should beat MTSU when we play them at the Pit...this team needs to keep proving that it's getting better through hard work while exploiting its talent and athleticism. Great things can happen in the future if this team is coached well and works hard to improve, things that are supposedly happening. But at the moment, beating ULM the way we did, losing to ASU, and to UALR at home, shows that this team doesn't yet know how to beat teams it should be beating without much of a hassle. We should be getting to MTSU's level rather soon in my opinion.

I am not expecting us to beat Denver next Saturday. Given the way we've both played so far, I'd rate it a tossup only because we have it at home. Denver has been the more consistent team, by far, this season.

I hope Denver takes it on the chin this week...maybe lessen their confidence somewhat.

I'm expecting a win. The Hallam's should be straight up scared of Tony Mitchell.

How can we NOT expect to win against the top teams in the belt?? How??? When we have such a talented team with Tony Mitchell in the mix, you have to expect the team to dominate the belt! I know it takes time, but this team has been playing together for months now and Tony Mitchell already has a solid month or so of play by the time we play Denver. I fully expect a win at home. This team needs to start proving it knows how to win and finish off games. We should be 6-0 in Sunbelt play this season, and it's okay, the team was still "developing chemistry," but we're at the point where that chemistry is showing and now the team needs to play with a sense of hunger and intensity to win. The talent is there...

Edited January 14, 2012 by bleedgreen4ever

What makes me think that? We've never dominated the Belt, so there's no basis to expect a young team to do so, no matter how talented. I kinda expected us to dominate the league last year, but that was a team with a boatload of seniors, most of whom had been key in the Title the year before.

Do I think we can win the West? Sure. To expect it seems ridiculous to me.

No one ever called John Coltrane "talented".

No one ever said "Damn, MJ is talented."

"Talent" is a label put on those who haven't done anything.

Let me remind you that last year we started losing our conference games just as our team started suffering from injuries. And this new team has more depth and talent. Talent is what you call people with certain unusual abilities and ones who work hard to exploit those abilities. This team is trying to do the latter, but is not transfere yet there. Never in the history of our program have we had a player like Tony Mitchell and he has a good supporting cast...yes, I expect us to start dominating. You don't achieve much in life without holding high expectations. And btw, I don't think expecting us to beat Denver and start consistently winning in conference play is an unreasonable and unrealistic expectation because I know this team has that potential. Like I said, we could have easily been sitting at 6-0 at this point. Anyway, I do except us to beat Denver and continue winning, period.

Edited January 15, 2012 by bleedgreen4ever

And what happens if this team loses starters? I guess I have learned from my lifetime of following sports to try and enjoy what my team gives me, without anticipating too much. Should the JJ and staff have high expectations? If they feel they should, then yes.

But as a fan, high expectations has always lead to way more disappointment more than happiness. I came to realize when I started hating losses more than I enjoyed winning that it was better to keep my own expectations as low as possible. If I dreaded losses more than being satisfied with wins (as I did in my younger days), it was time for me to get a new perspective, or Transfer following sports altogether. I decided to change my point of view (sometime in my college years), and have actually enjoyed sports much more since.

I realize other people never reach that level, but I did.

Edited January 15, 2012 by CMJ

I fully enjoy sports and love the Mean Green. All the more reason to have high expectations. I don't have unrealistic or unreasonable expectations. This team has the talent and ability to win and if they suffer from injuries, then of course those expectations should change. But as the team is currently set, I expect it to start winning more consistently. If you don't, that's fine, but I do and that doesn't ruin the fun of following sports on my end.

Edited January 15, 2012 by bleedgreen4ever

I wish I expected things from this team.

I'm going to wait until the holiday weekend is over before making any assumptions/predictions about who we can or can't beat, or how the rest of the season might shake out.

Louisiana sucks. Monroe is particularly terrible. Fun trip, though. Almost entirely because of the company.

I know we are talented, and i would love to expect us to win the league this year, but we are so young you have to almost expect us to be a little inconsistent. Next year we will be a good team and have a good shot to go to the tourney, but if Tony is still here in 13-14, we are going to be scary good. We could have the best squad in school history and not only go to the tourney, but have a chance to win a game or two. We all know Tony is a great talent, but Chris Jones and Jordan Williams will be so much better with 2 years of D1 experience.

It's not like we've been blown out by a Sunbelt team. So far, we should be 6-0. We should have beaten UALR and ASU. I get it that when a team is finding its way, it'll let a few games slip away, but this team is capable of developing faster than what some of you think. I don't see why this team doesn't have a chance to win the conference tourney...this year. Believe.

I'm going to wait until the holiday weekend is over before making any assumptions/predictions about who we can or can't beat, or how the rest of the season might shake out.

Louisiana sucks. Monroe is particularly terrible. Fun trip, though. Almost entirely because of the company.

Positives from the trip :

Didn't blow out a tire

Got there just before the massive crowd & got both good seats & parking

Got a win

Nobody had gas

The stinch that comes with being in monroe easily comes off after only 2 showers

Not sure on the stats... but I agree our 3 shooting is much, improved as of late.... it looked we are rushing our shots... whether 2 or 3...

Yea, Walton has been getting hot and Tony is taking more 3's when he's on the perimeter. Defender takes a step forward he puts it on the floor and blows past you if you don't have help, and if you don't step up, he's just about automatic.

Tough guy to defend.

It's not like we've been blown out by a Sunbelt team. So far, we should be 6-0. We should have beaten UALR and ASU. I get it that when a team is finding its way, it'll let a few games slip away, but this team is capable of developing faster than what some of you think. I don't see why this team doesn't have a chance to win the conference tourney...this year. Believe.

I agree with our 2 losses. Those games REALLY got under my skin.

I'm also going to wait until the new semester starts and the guys find their class+practice+game flow until I start setting expectations for the rest of the season. With Denver on the schedule, these next couple of weeks will tell us a lot of what we have this year and whether I think we have a chance against Middle coming up on Feb 2.