Northern Iowa Preview and Game Thread -- 2-13-2022

[Dansen]

The last two games he's played in he has had a couple glaring mistakes, but there are so many things to like about TY. Man, he is a twitchy and fast athlete. The on ball defense is already clearly there. There is so much upside, some future lineups with him and Marquise could be scary for other teams

[Jbuchholz]

I'm wondering if Clemons injury is flaring up a bit. I thought he was starting to look better the past few games--even grabbing some nice rebounds against Bradley. But only got a few minutes yesterday with TY seemingly our new backup PG.

Still concerned about our defense down low. I think if Phyfe was healthy, he would have put on a clinic. Seemed to have no trouble getting points when he wanted / when he was able.

I think we have a good chance to win out the regular season. Although I am fully expecting a triple OT slugfest @Valpo on Wednesday...

Coach Drew reiterated on the MVC Coach’s call that Clemons is 100% healthy. He also said that he think Marquise can return “this week”. He said “since it’s his hammy, that it’s completely up to the medical staff when it’s ok for him to return”.

[goramblers2011]

I'm wondering if Clemons injury is flaring up a bit. I thought he was starting to look better the past few games--even grabbing some nice rebounds against Bradley. But only got a few minutes yesterday with TY seemingly our new backup PG.

Still concerned about our defense down low. I think if Phyfe was healthy, he would have put on a clinic. Seemed to have no trouble getting points when he wanted / when he was able.

I think we have a good chance to win out the regular season. Although I am fully expecting a triple OT slugfest @Valpo on Wednesday...

Coach Drew reiterated on the MVC Coach’s call that Clemons is 100% healthy. He also said that he think Marquise can return “this week”. He said “since it’s his hammy, that it’s completely up to the medical staff when it’s ok for him to return”.

Interesting. Wonder if the thinking was TY's size might be a bit more bothersome on UNI than Keith.

[natetheskate]

so Phyfe...had 8 pts in 9 minutes....He started the season with 20 pts in 32 minutes....since then..he has missed a couple games , the Panthers had a couple games Covid cancelled..(do not know if it was them or their opponents...since back to back I will assume it was them) he has rarely played more than 10 minutes.....which after watching him bend over, ga.ssed in the huddle, and reading Ahunte's comment it seems like he is , like a couple of our guys .playing at less than full strength. tough one for them. I remember him from the game in 19 that we won in OT....he had 17 rebounds

[RamblinTank22]

Drew might've been making a calculated risk with Ty. In the 1st half, he came in when we had the lead, so if things looked bad Drew could've subbed out quickly without anything getting away. Then by the 2nd half, we were up by over 20 when he came in. I'm guessing with Keith just struggling with nagging injuries in the past, Drew realized we might need Ty at some point later in the season and wanted to get him some good minutes just in case we absolutely need him in a spot.

Also, there's a shot that Drew is trying to give him some confidence and experience knowing he can be a big part of next year. I know it's looking ahead a little too much, but we'll probably lose over 60% of our minutes from this year to next year. If we can win and get some of the younger guys time (mostly Ty and Saint) it can only help come next year.

[goramblers2011]

Drew might've been making a calculated risk with Ty. In the 1st half, he came in when we had the lead, so if things looked bad Drew could've subbed out quickly without anything getting away. Then by the 2nd half, we were up by over 20 when he came in. I'm guessing with Keith just struggling with nagging injuries in the past, Drew realized we might need Ty at some point later in the season and wanted to get him some good minutes just in case we absolutely need him in a spot.

Also, there's a shot that Drew is trying to give him some confidence and experience knowing he can be a big part of next year. I know it's looking ahead a little too much, but we'll probably lose over 60% of our minutes from this year to next year. If we can win and get some of the younger guys time (mostly Ty and Saint) it can only help come next year.

Great points. I agree. It's also why I wish we'd get Saint more minutes. I think there's a pretty decent chance he is a starter next year so the confidence and experience would be great to have. Maybe we can build decent leads vs ISUr or Evansville and get him some minutes.

Might be fun to start a "looking ahead" thread to start gathering thoughts on next year's team, including lineups, scheduling, etc. Like, do we know what MTE we are in next year? Got to start vacation planning.

[GoRamblers]

I get the feeling that TY has been learning from Lucas much like Lucas learned from Ben.

It'd be amazing to continue the line of lock down defenders