[NU Sports] Cats fail again

[Beamsley, Jeff]

Many teams have a short bench.
 
UoM #7 guy averages 10 minutes a game.  The #8 guy averages 4 minutes a game.
Wisky #7 guy averages 12 minutes a game. The #8 guy averages 8 mintues a game.
 
I agree that NU's strength and weakness this year has been their small line-up.  We are asking a lot of Shurna on both ends of the court, but as with everything else about this team - it is what it is.
 
I share your hope that we are learning how to play on the road and also learning how to play late at night.
 
Jeff

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From: neonrye at aol.com [mailto:neonrye at aol.com]
Sent: Wed 3/14/2012 9:28 AM
To: Beamsley, Jeff; nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com; Dennis W. Brandt; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Cats fail again



One of the main reasons they are not THAT team is the fact that they only play 7--and Curletti doesn't seem to log that many minutes as the 7th man (with Freundt having a "cup of coffee last night as 8).  It takes a lot of energy to keep cutting and moving and to defend larger, stronger opponents.  Our guys often run out of gas.

Our inability to rebound is so damn frustrating.  The second and third shots and easy put-backs just kill us over the course of many games--against top adversaries especially.

And yet Jeff is so right.  Shurna's big smile spoke volumes, as he got one more, somewhat unexpected W at Welsh-Ryan.  He really wanted to walk off his home floor--likely for the last time--as a winner.

They started to learn to win on the road this year.  Let's see if they can apply those lessons out in the Great Northwest.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: "Beamsley, Jeff" <Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>
Sender: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:15:02
To: Dennis W. Brandt<tbng at comcast.net>; <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Cats fail again

to be the team that you want them to be.

Instead they again were the team that they are.

For all of their flaws and weaknesses, they found a way to win.

Even if that way included Akron missing some shots, they still came away with a win.

Even though they had critical turnovers, couldn't buy an offensive rebound (19-10), and had numerous defensive breakdowns; they still came away with a win.

Did you see the smile on Shurna's face at the end of the game?

That look of relief spoke volumes.

Here's a quick bulletin for those in the "they don't deserve it" camp.

This year's team is never going to be the team that you hoped they were going to be.

Their imperfections are going to be on display in virtually every game they play.  At this point in the season, it is part of who they are.

They are emotional.

They go through streaks where they can't miss and the offense looks like a thing of beauty.  Then they lose their focus, take some quick shots or try to beat somebody off the dribble and miss the easy layup.

They force turnovers (12-6) and rattle their opponent with stout defense, then give up a bunch of easy buckets around the rim because they fail to box out (points in the paint 40-22). 

The one thing that they consistently bring to the floor every night though is effort and commitment.  They never give up.  As frustrating as it is to watch sometimes, it is always great to see them out there battling.

I am happy that we are going to get to see this team play another game.  They deserve it.

Jeff

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From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com on behalf of Dennis W. Brandt
Sent: Tue 3/13/2012 11:15 PM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: [NU Sports] Cats fail again



To lose, that is, but not from a lack of effort to blow another game late.
They played horribly the last two minutes - Shurna loses the ball on a
drive, Sobolewski missing the front end of a one-and-one, unprepared to grab
a critical rebound at the end.  They gave Akron several chances to win that
game at the end.

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