Hans8891

28 of our 49 shots were behind the arc at a 25% clip against a smaller team….

First of all, St. Thomas is very good. They are very well coached - offensively and defensively. There is a reason that they were one point away from taking down Marquette with a minute left when they were #5 in the country. Hats off to them. They earned their win tonight. As for us, we didn’t compete. The coaches failed to make any adjustments, but the players don’t get a pass on this one either. St. Thomas simply outworked, outhustled, outdefended, and outrebounded us. If there was a loose ball, they got it. We didn’t. That is on the players. As for the coaching staff, we apparently don’t recognize when we have a serious mismatch. When our 6’4 guards are being taken one on one by a 5’11 defender, why are we not attacking the basket. St. Thomas is very good at help side, double teaming to prevent penetration. Unfortunately, our guys stay 5 feet away from the penetrating player so there is no space to move and no place to kick. Makes it incredibly easy to jump back and not get caught. Contrast that with our complete inability to figure out what to do with ball screen at the top of the key. There is a virtual certainty someone will be wide open. Our bigs are not fast enough to cover, don’t know where to go, and we lack communication. This has been the story all year long - and we are still doing it. Our defenders continually turn their backs to the ball and don’t know what is happening with the ball resulting in wide open layups or getting caught in switches. Our offense got pushed further out on the perimeter by a much smaller team and couldn’t attack the rim because they are constantly in each other’s way. Eri King was our only competitor tonight with a few glimpses of Tyree. Other than that, nobody showed up. I believe we are a better team than we showed tonight, but if that is the effort we give and the lack of any coaching adjustments whatsoever, its going to be a long year.

Nice to see ball movement tonight. Everything is just happening quicker on offense which is nice to see. Quicker movement with better looks as a result.

Man, is it nice to have Tyree back. Explosive and great vision.

I get it and have been right with you. Just telling you what I have heard and hoping for a turnaround. Coaching staff isn’t going anywhere, so hoping a shakeup in mentality is there. Without a mass exodus, the players apparently have much less discontent than Most of this blog does. I am Glad to see we don’t have too many key players going into the portal. Now we need to pick up some instant help in multiple positions on d and an o lineman or 2 and see if the message was actually received and efforts being made. I still struggle in evaluating whether the individual talent on d was that bad or our schemes were atrocious. I don’t think individual talent can explain our third and long results over and over again…

Rumor has it that Bubba addressed the team last week with more fire than anything seen in the past. Maybe the message is finally resonating that the “Mr. Roger’s” approach to firing up the team is not really working. Also hearing that our younger quarterbacks are making real efforts to take on leadership roles. While it can be hard to expect significant changes based on history, I remain hopeful that we will see moves forward again next year. This team can be frustrating, but I’m hoping for improvement and will be right back tailgating and in my seats next year. I am, however, hoping we see real changes on defense and get some of the old Sioux linebacker and secondary hitting back into the system. Our coverage schemes on third down clearly have to be scrapped as well. We have a whole year to work on that….

And he scored at the same time. It was incredible - and effortless for TJ….

Kacie didn’t play. Some occasional glimpses of individual talent and athleticism but team offense and defense is seriously lacking…. Need major improvement there or the Dakota school games are going to be ugly…

It’s hard to tell if it is really personnel issues on defense or just horrible scheming. Bad tackling is on the players but after watching us give up nearly every third and long we put them in for weeks you have to wonder about the scheme at some point. Ideally make an adjustment but that has not been our forte…

Frustrating end to the season when we were hoping the bison win was a turning point for the program. Big thanks to the seniors for putting heart and soul into the program as they move to the next stage of their lives. Only wish we could have seen them play a few more games yet.

We scored 35 points. Offense wasn’t the problem. Questionable play at times but we put 35 on the board. D was clearly the issue today. Porous d with no edge contain, a secondary that watches rather than participates in the game, and no fire whatsoever - for a playoff game.

Can somebody please cover the edge???

We need a drive for 7 here or this thing is over. Our d is like a sieve. Entire line backing corps on their heels waiting for the play 5 yards down field and secondary waiting for the catch and then pursue. What do they need to do to get this d to want to play…

We really need to set the edge. Outside is like a valley to go through for them…

It’s what we do. Gotta keep that 70 percent completion percentage…. We have at least taken 2 passes more than 5 yards. One that should have been caught and one not even close to Wes…. At least keep them honest a little…. At least better than the northern Iowa game…

Tommy has been a good solid qb with great stats but it needs to be Trey or Jerry next year. Need a qb that can win a game, not just control it….

Great throw to Bo with a drop followed by a wide open Wes missed by 8 yards for a td…

And it’s not like we are good at adjustments at half…. We have a game plan and continue it regardless of success…. If the d doesn’t decide to show up it doesn’t matter what the offense will do. They look like they had a hell of a Thanksgiving party….

What do we need receivers for? We need running backs that can catch behind the line of scrimmage…

The fact we can’t get off the field on 3rd and long is not an accident. Soft coverage everywhere and we tackle by grabbing the pads rather than hitting anyone…

Our secondary is so ridiculously bad. Stand around in zone and wait to tackle the wide open receiver all day long…

And our lack of balls gives us a behind the line of scrimmage pass on 3rd and 9. Seriously??? Let’s at least pretend we want to win this thing….

Is this really the same defense that beat the bison???? The names seem to be the same but the desire is gone…

Can we let them get to 3rd and 3 so we don’t have to defend 3rd and long. We don’t seem to have an answer to that one….

Awesome. Not one tunnel or bubble screen in the first possession and a march for 7. Keep rolling Danny and Tommy!!!!