Potter's New Blog: December 2009

My quick hit takes on the game:

We have to have all hands on deck when it comes to the defensive boards. They are going hard after the ball, and we have to get everyone with a body on their man to improve our board work.
You are not going to win on the road with 22 turnovers. That is just horrendous. If 22 turnovers is not bad enough, I thought the type of turnovers we had were awful. I felt like I was watching a tennis player beat themselves with silly, unforced turnovers.
The young guys have to get used to the speed of the game -- quick! These guys are coming at the ball fast and furious, and our guys are not ready for that type of pressure. It really cost us tonight.
It is tough to see everything from the futurecast, but from what I saw, that was just an awful miss by the refs with about two minutes to go. We made three attempts at the bucket with Iowa hacking away, and we couldn't get a call. They go to the other end and Carroll hits a three. That is a game changing miss that just can't happen. I saw who was refing the game, and they are a very good crew, but they can't swallow their whistles at that moment. It was essentially over from there.
We were outrebounded and it didn't have to be that way. If we can focus on all five guys putting a body on a person, we can eliminate that.
We have, to this point, been a pretty good free throw shooting team, but we missed some big ones at the end when we needed it.

The good news:

Despite an awful effort in terms of concern for the ball and turnovers, we were right there at the end with a chance to win.
I thought Lafayette did a nice job at the point, especially so if he will stop jumping in the air to pass. (Kids, you learn that in the fourth grade -- never jump to pass the ball).
Defensively, I thought we really solidified after a rough first quarter. We held them to 43% for the game, and I thought we still gave them too much. We are a much improved defensive team from years past.
Rob Kurz demonstrated for a second straight night what a good player he is. He has to better learn to play without fouling, because I think we win if he isn't sitting out 12 to 15 minutes in the second half.
Ron Howard had a nice, efficient game. Sean Sonderleiter had a nice game, but we can't have 6 turnovers from our center.

All in all, I feel like we missed an opportunity to win a game on the road. However, to win on the road, we can't have the mistakes we had tonight. With all that said, I am really encouraged by what I am seeing from the team. I think the issues we are looking at are easily fixed, and I know we have the right coach to get that done. Have a great night and thanks for reading! Tylenol PM, here I come!