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Post by rmcalhoun on Jan 8, 2020 10:28:23 GMT -6
I think I am going to make the trip to Akron for the game.. hopefully some calhoun Magic will result in a big win
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Buffalo
Jan 8, 2020 10:31:17 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by thebsukid on Jan 8, 2020 10:31:17 GMT -6
RM, it worked last night so it should work at Akron!
I told you we had some magic this year
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Buffalo
Jan 8, 2020 10:35:16 GMT -6
Post by rmcalhoun on Jan 8, 2020 10:35:16 GMT -6
RM, it worked last night so it should work at Akron! I told you we had some magic this year Im not going to say your right yet but I like what I have seen.. it was nice chatting with you last night. Hopefully we can hang out again and have some drinks in cleveland
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Buffalo
Jan 8, 2020 11:28:18 GMT -6
Post by 00hmh on Jan 8, 2020 11:28:18 GMT -6
I’m not so much concerned about winning these tough road games as I am how we play. Play tough energetic basketball then I think I it bodes well win or lose. Revert back to crappy, sloppy, uninspired play and the red flag of same ol same ol goes up. Great post. Cannot easily survive a lackadaisical game. And Teague especially has been a poster boy in the past for lackadaisical. I doubt we see every game like these two, where almost everyone played well. Teague was good enough last night we win a lot of games with otherwise rather ordinary effort. Nice to have star level performance. Bonzi carried a team many nights back in the day. But what I like is we have a couple of kids who have potential to have really good games. Mallers, Ish and Teague have all had nights where they might be the difference even if we are not at our very best.
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Post by reevo on Jan 8, 2020 11:54:18 GMT -6
I ended up staying up late and watched the replay of last night's game. I must honestly say that from a coaching standpoint, we still have some serious warts. If you look at the stats, you would have thought we were a defensive juggernaut last night but the replay told a different story. The good: Our transition defense was outstanding. I don't recall a time when Buffalo scored easily in transition. We were balanced and got back to the paint when we turned it over so props to the staff for hammering that down. Our energy level was great. Probably as good of effort from everyone that we have witnessed from a Whitford coached team. We took care of the basketball. 7 turnovers in 40 minutes is near perfect especially when you consider the pace of the game. Teague played up to his ability level. He was active, stayed under control and played both ends of the floor. Played like an All Mac Performer last night. Coleman is adjusting to handling the ball. He is not a true point guard but his size and athletic ability along with a better than average handle is more than good enough to get through the year. Mallers looks much more confident in his stroke. Bumbalough is a gamer. He is tough, hard- nosed and is going to be a good player for us. He has his limitations but his grit will overcome a lot of deficiencies. Walton's role is perfect coming off the bench. He can give the team a spark and going against bench players will help him with his ability to get to the rim. El Amin has adjusted very well to playing off the ball and has made himself a good offensive player. He is shooting it well and is getting to the rim when he has to.
Concerns: Our on the ball defense is still not good. We got beat off the dribble consistently and Buffalo had a lot of open looks from 3 that they simply missed. Defensive rebounding. Other than Teague, we are not a good defensive rebounding team. As always, a good half court team that pounds the ball into the paint will give us fits. Physical strength. Our depth and physical strength is an issue. We played only 8 and our guys looked gassed. I just don't understand the mystery around Thomas & Acree. We look frail compared to Buffalo. For us to play at our best and to play at the pace of last night's game on a consistent basis, we need to be able to play 9 guys.
Overall. We will always take a win against a quality MAC opponent. I would warn anyone about getting too giddy over last nights win. We were all giddy after the win at Toledo last year to be let down. We have some ability but we also have some severe flaws that I guarantee will hurt us between now and the tournament. Let's enjoy the win but also understand we still have a long way to go.
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Post by cardfan on Jan 8, 2020 12:30:22 GMT -6
Excellent points Reevo. I’m never going to be truly impressed with Whitford because we still have many of the same “warts” as the day he took over. We are still not physically strong. We are still not “effectively” deep. We will still struggle in half court game’s vs physical teams who emphasize interior play. We still get beat off the dribble far too often and we don’t have a rim protector. We still fuzz out too often and coast. We have completely mind boggling losses at home to teams like WIU. We still struggle coming out of time outs, further calling the in game coaching into question. When we are having a bad game our coach sometimes looks lost and just stands there Playing with the hair on his forehead.
But, the last two games were very encouraging. Gutted one out vs UT and then ran a decent Buffalo team off the floor. (UB lost their top 3 scorers and their coach so they’re still finding their way)
If the guys can replicate these last two games enough times and whit is able to stay a step ahead during enough games I think we can contend. If we revert to bad habits, we’ll end up around .500 again.
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Buffalo
Jan 8, 2020 13:04:29 GMT -6
Post by 00hmh on Jan 8, 2020 13:04:29 GMT -6
Spot on, reevo.
Not quite as concerned about comparison to last year, and a downward trajectory after a good first game. I was more worried we would lose 2 or 3 games early and have a really tough time digging out of that hole.
There are some things different this year. Not just that we had a lot go wrong and did not have as much talent. We have seniors who are playing well, while Trey and Persons never quite matched our high expectations last year. We have more versatile offense and improved defense. Maybe more important. We lack a firebrand like Persons, but last year we generally did not have the grit that we have seen this year.
If we avoid injury to Mallers and Teague we should be OK. And I think we have upside this year we did not have. We actually have a chance those 4 under used newcomers improve and can contribute. And Coleman and Bumbalough are kids that are learning something every game. We had virtually no chance of improving that much a year ago.
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Buffalo
Jan 8, 2020 13:06:43 GMT -6
Post by redbirdman on Jan 8, 2020 13:06:43 GMT -6
I like cardfan appreciate the win BUT we have seen this type of game in the past & a week later it only showed we could shoot straight some games. I would love to see us play with Akron there this week. Will go so far as to say a win there would indicate we are better than I thought before MAC play started.
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Post by 00hmh on Jan 8, 2020 13:13:50 GMT -6
I like cardfan appreciate the win BUT we have seen this type of game in the past & a week later it only showed we could shoot straight some games. I would love to see us play with Akron there this week. Will go so far as to say a win there would indicate we are better than I thought before MAC play started. A win there would make me giddy with our possibilities, despite reevo's wise caution against trusting early results. That would be the best start to a MAC season I have seen in an awful lot of years.
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Post by thebsukid on Jan 8, 2020 15:02:53 GMT -6
Whit could not win with some of you even if he wins the MAC!
Respectfully, I agree with Reevo that our on ball defense is not spot on, but you can only Coach so much and then it’s up to the players to execute??!!
And, given how we’ve played the past two games the Coaches must be doing something well, right??
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Post by rmcalhoun on Jan 8, 2020 15:11:50 GMT -6
When we suck I am going to say we suck.. When we play well like we have the last couple games I am going to say we played well.. Im not going to bitch about anything right now. I had less expectations than most regarding this season so so far I am cautiously optimistic
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Post by cardfan on Jan 8, 2020 15:29:03 GMT -6
It’s pretty simple. Whit has to prove he can build and coach a championship caliber program that doesn’t have the wheels come off every year. The honest truth is he just has not done that. Win the MAC tourney and a lot of doubts will be removed. Maintain a program that at least contends almost every year and has a consistency in effort and play and all doubts will be removed. To this point he hasn’t demonstrated he can build that and recruit to that. I hope it finally happens this year. The mental/emotional make up of this team is much better than previous years.
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Post by rmcalhoun on Jan 8, 2020 15:35:56 GMT -6
It’s pretty simple. Whit has to prove he can build and coach a championship caliber program that doesn’t have the wheels come off every year. The honest truth is he just has not done that. Win the MAC tourney and a lot of doubts will be removed. Maintain a program that at least contends almost every year and has a consistency in effort and play and all doubts will be removed. To this point he hasn’t demonstrated he can build that and recruit to that. I hope it finally happens this year. The mental/emotional make up of this team is much better than previous years. Agreed its really hard to get all pumped up about any result because of how things have ended year after year.. That being said I am pumped enough to be loading up the fam and forcing them on another road trip lol
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Buffalo
Jan 8, 2020 18:46:52 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by rgmillikan on Jan 8, 2020 18:46:52 GMT -6
Whit could not win with some of you even if he wins the MAC! Respectfully, I agree with Reevo that our on ball defense is not spot on, but you can only Coach so much and then it’s up to the players to execute??!! And, given how we’ve played the past two games the Coaches must be doing something well, right?? If we won the MAC auto bif hed absolutely win me over and Id give him tons of praise. I just think odds of that happening are extremely small especially with 16 conference games left.
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Post by lmills72 on Jan 8, 2020 21:38:38 GMT -6
There's nobody in the MAC who can beat us. We are too pretty.
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