Bucknell

[jamminjamarsmiley]

What's horribly sad to me is that the Birds win . . . and most of the posts on here are complaining about us winning. So f*****g sad.

Higher expectations than you apparently. I don’t think we should field a b-ball program just to have a fun time and beat the bottom feeders. Jankovich teams played a lot of bucknells but at least he’d win these games by 20. Sad how far we have fallen. I can’t understand how anyone had a perspective that this was a good win.

 

[jwa123]

Higher expectations than you apparently. I don’t think we should field a b-ball program just to have a fun time and beat the bottom feeders. Jankovich teams played a lot of bucknells but at least he’d win these games by 20. Sad how far we have fallen. I can’t understand how anyone had a perspective that this was a good win.

Any win is a good win sourpuss.

 

[Birdfriend72]

Any win is a good win sourpuss.

That wasn’t a good win- but a win none the less and I will take it. That was a bad team we played...and our defense was awful. Hence- why we gave up 100 points to them. Thank god their defense was worse.

 

[TIMMY]

Coming back as they did is a good win. Sorry, it just is. They scored over 100 with Reeves scoring 12 on 3 of 16 shooting. Chatman grew up and is playing to his potential. Freeman broke out. Every game he and Reexes play together is a big step in the right direction. Lewis and Fleming are getting close. Fun game to watch. I think they might win more than 6 games.
I'm keeping an eye on Schmidt. Laugh at me if you want but I know the difference between a strength and conditioning program at a JC and at D1. His body type takes a while to transform. But when it does there's some skill there and I hear he's busting his ass. Go State!

 

[SgtHulka]

Didn't we win? Oh, yeah, you want us to lose every game. My condolences.

Thoughts and prayers seems more appropriate

 

[SgtHulka]

I did see a number of positives - Freeman scoring on pullup jumpers around the lane - I want more of that. I saw more energy on defense. When it was 84-79 with 32 seconds - the team showed a lot of character to may a comeback. How often has that happened in the past 4 years??? There is still a LOT of room for improvement on rebounding, defense, and offensive shot selection for a number of players - however, this game did show improvement and gave a little bit of hope for the rest of the season.

Yep. Defense was more intense, at least in waves.

Funk and their FT shooting kept it a game the whole way. Our FT shooting was solid till the last 3 trips in regulation.

We have 3 guys capable not scoring at will. Good thing the other 2 pulled up Reeves bootstraps. He has struggled to find his outside shot the last 2 games

Ulcer medicine purchases are on the rise

 

[Phantom]

A win is a win. Don't know how the hell we pulled that off being down 5 with :30 to go. I figured we were toast. Props to the guys for finding a way to get it done.

Playing in tight games down to the wire will help - definitely some learning there. But a bigger concern is the D. Even with two of the last three games going to OT, it's been pretty sloppy. Right about where most of us figured we'd be at 2-2, though we could easily be 3-1 or 0-4. But the guys play hard, so that will help going forward.

 

[Scipio]

I’ve been a critic of this program and this coach. I still think Mueller needs to go; this year if possible. I walked out last night with 30 sec remaining; believing (not without reason) that ISU Mens Basketball had lost another game they should have won. That said I’ll give the guys their due-they fought back! Granted, Bucknell is not UCLA or Gonzaga. It was frustrating watching Bucknell run a efficient offense against us (why did we not press them the whole game). But in the end the team showed some character. Freeman; we’ve finally got a legit point guard. I’ll eat my plate of crow and give the guys a ‘we’ll done’ today. Let’s see if they can build something from here.

 

[Bird Friend]

Higher expectations than you apparently. I don’t think we should field a b-ball program just to have a fun time and beat the bottom feeders. Jankovich teams played a lot of bucknells but at least he’d win these games by 20. Sad how far we have fallen. I can’t understand how anyone had a perspective that this was a good win.

Jammin after a win

 

[Bird Friend]

A win is a win. Don't know how the hell we pulled that off being down 5 with :30 to go. I figured we were toast. Props to the guys for finding a way to get it done.

Playing in tight games down to the wire will help - definitely some learning there. But a bigger concern is the D. Even with two of the last three games going to OT, it's been pretty sloppy. Right about where most of us figured we'd be at 2-2, though we could easily be 3-1 or 0-4. But the guys play hard, so that will help going forward.

Sorry . . . the narrative is that we didn’t “pull it off”. Bucknell gifted it to us. Which I guess means that time Kenneth Pierson scored 10 points in less than 60 seconds, he didn’t score any ‘cuz the oppenent gave them to him.

I’ve got to remember to align with narrative.

 

[Bird Friend]

Other than 2 bad turnovers, Mr. Me kicked ass!

Yes, he did. And Reeves was too much of a ‘Mr. Me‘ in this game.

 

[gobirds85]

A gritty win is still a win. They didn't fold and got the job done.

GO BIRDS!!

 

[DWRedbird]

I'll take the win, it wasn't pretty and it should have been better, but I'll take the win.

The Good:

--Mark Freeman showed up big time in this game, and I like what I saw from him. He is very quick, and I love the pull up jumper. He keeps bring this it will be a fun year watching him and Reeves.
--Sy Chatman keeps impressing me both rebounding and scoring wise. I was skeptical, but I like what he is doing
--I liked what I saw from Schmidt today. Got in the game, moved well and helped us keep their big guy under control for a while.
--Bench came to play today, which was really nice.
--Our overall offense looked better as it was going towards the basket most of the game. Still didn't look great, but even with overtime I like scoring over 100.

The Bad:

--Our defense is awful. It's weird that a coach who was so good at defense as a player could be so bad at coaching it. We have talent and I would be curious to see what a different coach could do with it.
--We still don't box out well at all. We attack the hoop better for rebounds but we don't box out.
--Too many mistakes. If we had played any other team yesterday, there is a good chance we take a thumping.

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

I’ve been a critic of this program and this coach. I still think Mueller needs to go; this year if possible. I walked out last night with 30 sec remaining; believing (not without reason) that ISU Mens Basketball had lost another game they should have won. That said I’ll give the guys their due-they fought back! Granted, Bucknell is not UCLA or Gonzaga. It was frustrating watching Bucknell run a efficient offense against us (why did we not press them the whole game). But in the end the team showed some character. Freeman; we’ve finally got a legit point guard. I’ll eat my plate of crow and give the guys a ‘we’ll done’ today. Let’s see if they can build something from here.

I thought Mueller did go!

 

[Baltimore Bird]

I loved the grit and staying after it. However, our D is just awful. There is lots of criticism on this board, but the O is not bad. Sometimes there is too much dribbling, but we have now had 3 different players score 29 points or more in the 1st 4 games. Has that ever happened at ISU?
I still think the team lacks an identity. Donewald was known for his D. Stallings for his x's and o's. Muller ??
We do have quite a few athletes. Why not press for all 40 minutes? Let's get an identity and make things happen. Now is the time to work on this!
FYI...I don't see it happening. I believe we will continue to try and beat teams with traditional basketball and while I think we are better than the last 2 years, I don't think we have the coaches or players to do it consistently.

 

[BirdGrad2011]

I will give credit where it’s due. This team has no quit and continues to fight. Can’t really complain about the offense when they put up 100+. Defensively they did nothing to slow down Funk and got abused in the post for a majority of the game. The only time I truly thought they D’d up consistently was the last minute and overtime.

This was my first game in person since NYE 2019. I attended my first game as the home opener in the 07-08 season. This was by far the worst crowd and game experience I’ve ever seen. Students on break is one thing, but there was no life outside of OT. I yelled “Fire Dan Muller” when game seemed lost just before end of regulation and got quite a few chuckles. If Brennan can’t see how bad it is then he’s blind.

The best thing I saw. Freeman deserves his kudos and plenty have given it. My favorite thing was Howard Fleming taking and making a 3. He missed another good look, but pulled the trigger on a good shot. He’s always gotten boards, gotten teammates involved, and played decent defense. Now I’m glad to see the turnovers falling and getting more confidence. His steal and breakaway dunk was just perfection. He’s absolutely going to stuff the stat sheet when he puts it all together consistently.

 

[Redbirdfan06]

I will give credit where it’s due. This team has no quit and continues to fight. Can’t really complain about the offense when they put up 100+. Defensively they did nothing to slow down Funk and got abused in the post for a majority of the game. The only time I truly thought they D’d up consistently was the last minute and overtime.

This was my first game in person since NYE 2019. I attended my first game as the home opener in the 07-08 season. This was by far the worst crowd and game experience I’ve ever seen. Students on break is one thing, but there was no life outside of OT. I yelled “Fire Dan Muller” when game seemed lost just before end of regulation and got quite a few chuckles. If Brennan can’t see how bad it is then he’s blind.

The best thing I saw. Freeman deserves his kudos and plenty have given it. My favorite thing was Howard Fleming taking and making a 3. He missed another good look, but pulled the trigger on a good shot. He’s always gotten boards, gotten teammates involved, and played decent defense. Now I’m glad to see the turnovers falling and getting more confidence. His steal and breakaway dunk was just perfection. He’s absolutely going to stuff the stat sheet when he puts it all together consistently.

I like Freeman a lot. Opposing teams actually have to respect his game at the point guard position which is something we haven’t had since Paris Lee.

 

[MadBird]

Bucknell:

First place in the Patriot League 8 of the last 10 years.

4 NCAA tournaments in the last 10 years

3 NIT's in the last 10 years.

25+ wins 6 times in the last 10 years.

Not Gonzaga, but they are a winning program.

 

[CB2K]

I was at the game and it was quite exciting. Like others have said I thought it was over at 30 seconds but this team never gives up and fought back and really they won it with defense in OT. Lewis caused a couple of key turnovers, got a slam out of one and got hacked and went to the line. If he can reduce the fouling he's going to make a difference with his length. They should have won it in regulation but they put 2 guys on Funk and he missed a long 3 attempt that bounced right into the hands of Edmonds standing to the left of the rim and he easily put it back up with no time remaining -- a little bit of luck for sure.

As stated they need to do better on defense especially with missed assignments. DM has proved he can teach defense but not sure why it doesn't transfer for all of his teams -- I mean look at the 2014-15 and 2016-17 teams, they were quite good. I like Lewis and Fleming and even Tone on defense for the most part. Sy is a legit big man who can score, make free throws and isn't pushed around but he does miss assignments on switches sometimes.

At any rate, I think the team has more offensive options than in previous years and I am looking forward to them all clicking at the same time. What I like the most is that this team is driving to the rim a lot more than previous years. Tone, Mark and Emon all can drive -- Mark is so smooth and he can get his shot almost anytime he wants. He was on fire and we definitely needed it. I like how Emon was aggressive to the basket and got hacked each time and went to the line.

Overall, it was a good win. Defense has got to improve and it showed when they played Murray State. The first few games they have shown they can block and steal -- just need to communicate better and handle the switches and not breaking down when the opponent drives to the basket. I think the offense has potential each game but the defense is where the money is going to be -- gotta keep improving to win in the Valley.

 

[isuquinndog]

Stop feeding the trolls.