Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

[pantherfan]

Agreed, said the same thing leaving the SC Thursday night. I hate it for the guys that they can't pull those out. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the why. I don't think it's conditioning. Our guys don't look exceptionally spent after the games. Is it a lack of killer mindset at the end? I've thought that is something Cooper teams have lacked since he got here. They often times back down in the moment when they could absolutely step on the other team's throat.

I don't know that Cooper has a guy at this point that he can say "go win it for us" and expect to win. Maybe that's the issue. I'm glad we're competitive, but we've left 2 wins against ranked (or nearly ranked at least) teams at the rim. A win against Findlay today would certainly be a spirit lifter.

[kdubnation]

Great win today. I hate that I had to miss it but I was coaching my son's high school bowling team at a tournament in Louisville.

As to the "why" we seem to be unable to cap the close or overtime wins, I think you're pretty much on the right track with your thoughts. We've got a bunch of guys that can play, and honestly a bunch of guys that have the skills to take over a game. But we don't seem to have the mindset of when the game's on the line Player X is going to take charge and win it for us. I do think that's mostly on Cooper, not the players. Part of it is our entire philosophy is about team basketball instead of any one player getting the spotlight - which is great to a certain degree - but I think it becomes a detriment when nobody can step up and say "we're not losing this game on my watch". We'll see how it plays out through the season, though. Today proves we can beat just about anybody. It's just a matter of putting together the right game to actually DO it.

[Lawson]

[pantherfan]

A great win indeed. It was nice to see them step up at the end and finish. We had some offensive possessions where our passing and ball movement looked BEAUTIFUL!

On another note, I missed the radio show last night. Any update on Ben's status? Hoping we get him back soon.

[kdubnation]

Where in the hell are the rest of our players???

[kdubnation]

Walsh game was bad enough. Malone is making us look just idiotic in the first half. I'm about done with this...the Cooper experiment should be over.

[pantherfan]

That was an unfathomably disappointing road trip. Take Hillsdale to OT, beat Findlay, and then.....that. Embarrassing. With performances like that, conference tournament may be a stretch.

[kdubnation]

The oddball St. Louis Pharm team we play today ... at 11am (wth is that???) played Drury and lost 99-93 the other day. After our performance on this past road trip, I'm not feeling nearly as confident as I should be. On paper this looked like it should be about a 50 point win but now, who knows??

Where was Kaveon Mitchell on the road trip? Is he hurt now, too? What about Scotty Draud? Didn't see him on the bench. Maybe he's redshirting so they saved money by not taking him? I don't know, I went from very high on this team to OMG what the heck is going on REALLY quick.

[crazznewt]

No worries for Wesleyan, your guys will win big.. This Drury team is the worst I have seen in 30 years. To make matters worse, the Panther's head coach has been sick for a while and has not been on the bench the last three games or so including the game you're referencing.

[kdubnation]

Well we are up 51-5 at the half so I guess I was worried about nothing

[pantherfan]

Kaveon was on crutches, but he was off them at today's game so could be why he didn't travel. Scotty has yet to dress, so it could have been money or potentially school related with finals week. Ben was also out of his walking boot at the game today. I'm hoping Ben and Kaveon are both back after the Christmas break.

That team was not very good. Glad to see our boys pour it on a little bit. Keegan has a little bit of baller in him. He's a smaller guy, but I enjoy when he gets minutes. However, they had local schools in for "Youth Day" and it was LOUD in the SC. I'd guess 1500 kids were in there yelling KWC, KWC! It's unfortunate to have that atmosphere in that game. I'd love to see them bring in local schools for a conference game and get those kids yelling again!

[Lawson]

[kdubnation]

Good win Saturday; I know Ohio Dominican isn't exactly a force in the conference, but they can be a tough matchup at times and they did beat Findlay AT Findlay not long ago. Our shooting wasn't great, but our defense looked very good; I'd like to see that become a signature of this team - aggressive, active defense from tip to final horn.

Cedarville tonight will be interesting. They are very experienced, and very good overall. They also just got beat at Trevecca, which just blows my mind. Looking at the box score, it wasn't a case where Cedarville was missing a bunch of players or anything, so I'm really not sure how TNU beat them.

The G-MAC is becoming a conference where any team can beat any other team on any given night, regardless of the matchup on paper or where they are in the standings.

[pantherfan]

From what I read, Cedarville had their worst shooting percentage in school history against TNU which led to the loss. But, I think we should have beat Cedarville. They are undoubtedly a talented roster, but our boys gave the game away by not capitalizing. Missed too many free throws, too many awful passes and shot selection. I just can't wait for the day they finally step on the gas when they have the opportunity to take control of a game.

As a side note that I find interesting, they have reduced the year's of the players when announced. So Wyatt is now announced as a Junior again as opposed to a Senior like he was earlier in the year, Ben as a sophomore, etc. Not sure it amounts to much, but maybe the majority of our roster is planning to capitalize on the extra year of COVID eligibility? A really experienced starting 5 wouldn't be a bad thing, but it's the same 5 that can't close games now so who knows.

[kdubnation]

They've been announcing the years weird all season for some reason. One game they'll call Roland a freshman, the next a senior, when he's really a junior. I don't know, I think the athletic department is struggling administratively, to be honest. They don't seem like they have everything as organized as usual, which of course we don't have an actual athletic director right now which is probably a big part of the problem.