There was an extra addition to the bulletin board in the NAU men's basketball team's locker room this week.
With the Lumberjacks set to face Northern Colorado today in Greeley, NAU coach Mike Adras dug up an article from the last time the two team's played and highlighted one part in particular. The section of the article Adras wanted his team to see, specifically his post players, was comments Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle made after his team's 75-66 win over the Jacks.
"We definitely felt like we had an advantage down low," Boyle said after the game on Dec. 30. "We felt like we were deeper than they were down there and I think us outscoring them 26-12 in the paint for the game reflects that."
Adras wanted to make sure Boyle's comments weren't lost on his players and it appears they weren't.
"We definitely took that to heart," said junior forward Shane Johannsen, who had five points and five rebounds in 26 minutes in the loss to the Bears. "After their coach said his bigs were better than ours, we want to prove him wrong. Obviously, we want to be smart about it and just show that our bigs can compete with any of the bigs in the Big Sky."
In the 11-point loss to Northern Colorado on the Walkup Skydome court, Johannsen and center Josh Lepley combined for seven points and eight rebounds in 38 minutes and attempted just five shots.
Northern Colorado's starting post players weren't spectacular, but were good enough with starters Mike Proctor and Taylor Montgomery combining for 12 points and 12 rebounds with reserve big man Neal Kingman, who's expected to start today, chipped in with seven more points.
"They definitely try to play physical," Johannsen said. "When we played them the first time, it was our first Big Sky game and to be honest, Lep and I just didn't show up to play. We had been playing a bunch of schools with smaller post players in non-conference and we just didn't play the way we are capable of.
"I think since that game, we've shown that we can play better than that and we can compete with the other bigs in this league."
It's hard to argue Johannsen's claim.
Since that loss, Johannsen and Lepley's production has been on an uptick. In the seven games since the Northern Colorado setback, Johannsen and Lepley are averaging a combined 18.3 points per game and grabbing 8.7 rebounds per contest.
After the loss to the Northern Colorado, the duo was averaging just a combined 14.2 points per game in the 11 games they appeared in together. Johannsen missed two games with an ankle injury in November.
"We'll see what Shane and Josh come up with to earn some respect from their coach," Adras said. "I like the production we've been getting from those two guys and hopefully it continues (today).
"We put that right up on the wall again this week and just asked them, 'Are you going to be disrespected again?' In every game since they've played us, they've tried to get something out of their bigs to start the game and go them early. We need our guys to step up down there."
Lepley has started over Johannsen the past five games, but there's a chance that could change today. Adras hinted he might insert Johannsen back into the starting lineup, but wouldn't commit to it.
No matter who starts down low, today's game is a critical one for the Jacks.
At 5-5 in the Big Sky, NAU can pull to within a game of the Bears with a win and can stay in the mix for a top four seed for the conference tournament at the end of the season.
Today's game also marks the first of three straight road games for the Jacks, who won't play another home game until Feb. 18.
"This game is very important because we want to start this road trip off right," freshman guard Gabe Rogers said. "I think we have to win at least two of the next three so we can control our own destiny for the conference tournament and not have to worry about other teams controlling our destiny."
With the Lumberjacks set to face Northern Colorado today in Greeley, NAU coach Mike Adras dug up an article from the last time the two team's played and highlighted one part in particular. The section of the article Adras wanted his team to see, specifically his post players, was comments Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle made after his team's 75-66 win over the Jacks.
"We definitely felt like we had an advantage down low," Boyle said after the game on Dec. 30. "We felt like we were deeper than they were down there and I think us outscoring them 26-12 in the paint for the game reflects that."
Adras wanted to make sure Boyle's comments weren't lost on his players and it appears they weren't.
"We definitely took that to heart," said junior forward Shane Johannsen, who had five points and five rebounds in 26 minutes in the loss to the Bears. "After their coach said his bigs were better than ours, we want to prove him wrong. Obviously, we want to be smart about it and just show that our bigs can compete with any of the bigs in the Big Sky."
In the 11-point loss to Northern Colorado on the Walkup Skydome court, Johannsen and center Josh Lepley combined for seven points and eight rebounds in 38 minutes and attempted just five shots.
Northern Colorado's starting post players weren't spectacular, but were good enough with starters Mike Proctor and Taylor Montgomery combining for 12 points and 12 rebounds with reserve big man Neal Kingman, who's expected to start today, chipped in with seven more points.
"They definitely try to play physical," Johannsen said. "When we played them the first time, it was our first Big Sky game and to be honest, Lep and I just didn't show up to play. We had been playing a bunch of schools with smaller post players in non-conference and we just didn't play the way we are capable of.
"I think since that game, we've shown that we can play better than that and we can compete with the other bigs in this league."
It's hard to argue Johannsen's claim.
Since that loss, Johannsen and Lepley's production has been on an uptick. In the seven games since the Northern Colorado setback, Johannsen and Lepley are averaging a combined 18.3 points per game and grabbing 8.7 rebounds per contest.
After the loss to the Northern Colorado, the duo was averaging just a combined 14.2 points per game in the 11 games they appeared in together. Johannsen missed two games with an ankle injury in November.
"We'll see what Shane and Josh come up with to earn some respect from their coach," Adras said. "I like the production we've been getting from those two guys and hopefully it continues (today).
"We put that right up on the wall again this week and just asked them, 'Are you going to be disrespected again?' In every game since they've played us, they've tried to get something out of their bigs to start the game and go them early. We need our guys to step up down there."
Lepley has started over Johannsen the past five games, but there's a chance that could change today. Adras hinted he might insert Johannsen back into the starting lineup, but wouldn't commit to it.
No matter who starts down low, today's game is a critical one for the Jacks.
At 5-5 in the Big Sky, NAU can pull to within a game of the Bears with a win and can stay in the mix for a top four seed for the conference tournament at the end of the season.
Today's game also marks the first of three straight road games for the Jacks, who won't play another home game until Feb. 18.
"This game is very important because we want to start this road trip off right," freshman guard Gabe Rogers said. "I think we have to win at least two of the next three so we can control our own destiny for the conference tournament and not have to worry about other teams controlling our destiny."
