From the edge. It is only one game, we lost, we shot terribly. We’ll never shoot that bad again. Less than 30% first half. Our guys got frustrated started jacking and jacking shots hoping to break the slump. UNC lost to Clemson last year. Arizona got blown out by Virginia early in the year. Gonzaga lost to freaking San Fransisco last year. Losses happen even to good teams. I’m not saying we are world beaters. However lets wait til loss #2 until we start calling up the guillotine.
I agree. Remember, last years national champs lost their opener to a lesser oponent.
And keep in mind that we lost AT HOME last year in our 2nd game against Rutgers. We were all disgusted after that loss, couldn’t believe we lost to an inferior team, were ripping Lutz and already talking about the NIT. We then went on to win 11 of our next 12 games (and should have beat Bama to be honest).
Last night sucked. Lutz coached very poorly and our guys failed to execute. It happens. We had no business losing and we’ll continue to struggle against teams that play that style of basketball. But after just two games, there’s no need to go into panic mode yet. Venting is fine…we all did it last night in chat. But tonight will be more telling of what kind of team we have. If we lose tonight, then I may be leading the way to the cliff.
I agree. i do remember Chapel Hill losing to Santa Clara last year and went on to become the best team in the nation. At first, i was thinking “here we go again” but you’re right. We should just step away from this ledge and just relax. Every season, we have “those” games that we lose and we all shake our heads like wtf?
We shot like crap, played like crap and when we start panicing, we start playing very dumb. 1 loss is not the end of the season. it just means we’ll have to keep an eye on things. Oh well, life goes on, we pick things up and get ready for our next game…
Go Niners…
Why is anybody surprised??? We always lose games we shouldn’t early in the year. I hate it, but I’m not a bit surprised.
I would personally have been surprised if we came back 3-0.
[QUOTE=hootie;139458]Why is anybody surprised??? We always lose games we shouldn’t early in the year. I hate it, but I’m not a bit surprised.
I would personally have been surprised if we came back 3-0.[/QUOTE]
We also lose games we shouldn’t in the middle of the year and late in the year.
Undisciplined basketball teams.
I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid or anything yet, but it’s games like this that make this team SO hard to pull for. You just never know when they’re gonna come out and lay an egg. It’s very frustrating.
NW is a pretty good team in a major conference. Certainly not as bad as losing to Rutgers at home. We have to bounce back tonight.
NW last year: 6-10; 15-16 http://northwestern.rivals.com/bschedule.asp?SID=901&TEAM=NORTHWSTRN&Year=2004
One game is only one game, I agree.
But, lets not compare these games. I mean, **** happens, and you can lose to any team on any given night, but this wasn’t a fluke. We were dominated in every facet of the game, and were never in contention in this game. The Nwestern coach hardly broke a sweat.
If we played them 10 times, do you think we would win more than 5? I sure as hell don’t. And they really only have one player who would start for us.
Good point. We played terrible in this one but on paper at the end of the season this one will not look as bad (ASSUMING we get on a roll like last year).
[QUOTE=LeftyNiner;139465]NW is a pretty good team in a major conference. Certainly not as bad as losing to Rutgers at home. We have to bounce back tonight.
NW last year: 6-10; 15-16 http://northwestern.rivals.com/bschedule.asp?SID=901&TEAM=NORTHWSTRN&Year=2004[/QUOTE]
I am not sure this was just a bad night. We simply do not have any pure shooters to knock down the jump shots.
NW is a pretty good team in a major conference. Certainly not as bad as losing to Rutgers at home.
I disagree with that one. Rutgers was coming off a NIT final appearance and it wound up not being that bad of a loss in the long run. Northwestern sucks, period. We had no business losing to them. We’re better than them on paper and we’re better than them on the court. We just got outplayed and outcoached last night.
A program like ours should be mopping the floor with teams like N’western. If we don’t, then we have no business clamoring for media attention, 2nd round NCAA games, better teams on the schedule, etc.
I agree that they have one player that MAY start for us. Tonight is a must-win game. We cannot drop two straight games to two inferior opponents. If we do, Lutz will have his work cut out for him.
You know Rutgers finished last in the Big East at 2-14; 10-19 last year, right? It was their first game and at our house.
You know Rutgers finished last in the Big East at 2-14; 10-19 last year, right? It was their first game and at our house.
Neither was a good loss but don’t try to put N’western on some pedestal to justify what happened last night. They are NOT a good team at all and had no business beating us. That game last night says far more about where we stand than it does where NW stands. As someone stated, Lehigh played them far better than we did because they were able to adjust to NW’s style of play. We lack the ability to adjust to a halfcourt game. There’s a reason why we ALWAYS struggle against Saint Louis. It’s not because of ice under their court or some silly jinx. It’s because we are a one-trick pony on offense and teams that force us into a halfcourt game know they have a shot to beat us. Same reason we lost in the first round of the NCAA last year. We just flat-out cannot play well against those types of teams and it’s gonna be a problem all year long unless we figure it out.
Northwestern is better than Rutgers. I’m not justifying anything. We were terrible last night and if we don’t adjust, we’re in for a long season. I agree with your assessment.
word of advice do not talk to curtis withers about any losses. He will flip out on you. He takes this stuff realllllllllllllllllllllly personally. I found out the hard way after the loss to rutgers last year.
The bottom line for me is that it’s better to have lost this game than to be rolling along and stumble in the middle of the season. At least this way, the hype train wasn’t rolling at full speed, and we can get it back moving again. If we had been steamrolling along and then dropped a game like this, everyone would have written us off.
Now, come home 1-2 and we have some problems for sure.
My main concern isn’t rebounding to win enough games to make the tournament. I think we will. I’m more concerned about the perception of our team to the public, who we need to be successful in the long run. I don’t want the casual fan to write us off because of this game.
i don’t think the “casual fan” will write us off because of this game. It is just one loss early in the season. They will see we played like crap compared to what we normally do. DA not playing tonight is going to be rough on our squad. But look forward to the boys playing lights out against the bulldogs here on the 23rd. There will be no contest at all.
Maybe EJ will show up for the next game, that wouldn’t hurt. Wasn’t he suppose
to be the best Juco player in the country a couple years ago??
[QUOTE=cutman49er;139456]I agree. i do remember Chapel Hill losing to Santa Clara last year and went on to become the best team in the nation.
[/QUOTE]
Raymond Felton didn’t play in that game. What future NBA lottery pick was Charlotte missing last night?