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Post by mjtcpa on Dec 2, 2023 15:51:37 GMT -6
Great game plan. Exceptional inside play. Rebounding, rim protection, crisp passing, good screens, great free throw percentage, getting to the 50/50 balls.
Thought that the loss of Bailey would be more noticeable. Lots of growth and development from the freshmen and holdovers. Hendrik's play is unbelievable.
Starting to see that this is a really talented team. Lack of experience is still and will be an issue all year. Over all this could be the deepest MBB team that we have seen in the past decade or more.
The first half could be one of the best played by a Ball State team in several years.
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Post by CallingBS on Dec 2, 2023 16:11:36 GMT -6
Great game plan. Exceptional inside play. Rebounding, rim protection, crisp passing, good screens, great free throw percentage, getting to the 50/50 balls. Thought that the loss of Bailey would be more noticeable. Lots of growth and development from the freshmen and holdovers. Hendrik's play is unbelievable. Starting to see that this is a really talented team. Lack of experience is still and will be an issue all year. Over all this could be the deepest MBB team that we have seen in the past decade or more. The first half could be one of the best played by a Ball State team in several years. Was able to make it to Muncie for this one. I agree on all counts except we aren't overly talented offensively. We have some pieces and show some signs, though. I think balanced scoring is a key to winning for us. If we have to rely on just 1-2 guys we are in trouble. I think we have some decent depth if Bailey and Brittain-Watts are healthy. We completely took them out of their game. That was a very physical and intense game. Our defense was really solid. We moved the ball so much better. Aggressive in all facets. Some individual stuff I really liked: - Anderson had a very solid floor game. Was a real leader. Made key plays down the stretch when they were pushing us.
- Big Ben...dang
- Jihad showed some high level moments
- Middleton was solid
- Mason Jones has to start shooting. I guess other teams will start forcing it, as they'll look at film and slack off him. He is still Mr. Intangible, though.
- Pearson had an off shooting day, but always brings the effort. Played 39 minutes and just got hammered a million times by Bellarmine.
- Joey Brown is a freak athlete, but is not a basketball player....yet. Got totally screwed by the ref right in front of the play on that strip/ block. Incredible play. I think the ref got caught thumbing his bag on that one.
Davenport is a great coach, but what a whiney bitch. I believe he was on the short list when we hired Whitford, but his questionable past (if I'm remembering right) kept Scholl from hiring him. I think the dude from USI was similar (Rick Herdes). We would get raped on our end of the floor and then Davenport would go ballistic the next possession wanting a phantom foul call.
Overall, though, the refs probably helped us by allowing extremely physical play - kept us out of foul trouble (except Jihad HAS to get smarter on D).
Only negative was we had a 5-7 minute lapse mid to late second half that almost cost us the game, which would've been a real shame had we lost after mostly dominating all game. Our offense got stagnant and they just keep grinding and pounding on offense. Their offense is frenetic and quick with good offensive skill - very tough to defend. We finally stopped the backcuts and defended the 3-pt line, which has been our achilles heel all season. We were also physical in the paint and on the boards.
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Post by zonebuster on Dec 2, 2023 16:26:44 GMT -6
Great game plan. Exceptional inside play. Rebounding, rim protection, crisp passing, good screens, great free throw percentage, getting to the 50/50 balls. Thought that the loss of Bailey would be more noticeable. Lots of growth and development from the freshmen and holdovers. Hendrik's play is unbelievable. Starting to see that this is a really talented team. Lack of experience is still and will be an issue all year. Over all this could be the deepest MBB team that we have seen in the past decade or more. The first half could be one of the best played by a Ball State team in several years. Was able to make it to Muncie for this one. I agree on all counts except we aren't overly talented offensively. We have some pieces and show some signs, though. I think balanced scoring is a key to winning for us. If we have to rely on just 1-2 guys we are in trouble. We completely took them out of their game. That was a very physical and intense game. Our defense was really solid. We moved the ball so much better. Aggressive in all facets. Some individual stuff really liked: - Anderson had a very solid floor game. Was a real leader. Made key plays down the stretch when they were pushing us.
- Big Ben...dang
- Jihad showed some high level moments
- Middleton was solid
- Mason Jones has to start shooting. I guess other teams will start forcing it, as they'll look at film and slack off him. He is still Mr. Intangible, though.
- Pearson had an off shooting day, but always brings the effort. Played 39 minutes and just got hammered a million times by Bellarmine.
- Joey Brown is a freak athlete, but is not a basketball player....yet. Got totally screwed by the ref right in front of the play on that strip/ block. Incredible play. I thinnk the ref got caught thumbing his bag on that one.
Davenport is a great coach, but what a whiney bitch. I believe he was on the short list when we hired Whitford, but his questionable past (if I'm remembering right) kept Scholl from hiring him. I think the dude from USI was similar (Rick Herdes). We would get raped on our end of the floor and then Davenport would go ballistic the next possession wanting a phantom foul call.
Overall, though, the refs probably helped us by allowing extremely physical play - kept us out of foul trouble (except Jihad HAS to get smarter on D).
Only negative was we had a 5-7 minute lapse mid to late second half that almost cost us the game, which would've been a real shame had we lost after mostly dominating all game. Our offense got stagnant and they just keep grinding and pounding on offense. Their offense is frenetic and quick with good offensive skill - very tough to defend. We finally stopped the backcuts and defended the 3-pt line, which has been our achilles heel all season. We were also physical in the paint and on the boards.
Anderson's two steals for break away layups late were huge. They came during that lull where we weren't running much of an offense and took some poor shots late in the shot clock. I thought Brown got screwed on that call as well. Ref who blew the whistle didn't appear to have a great angle. Davenport does constantly work the refs and whines a great deal. He was a finalist when we hired Whitford. Not sure about a questionable past. He ran a great high school program at Louisville Ballard H.S. Sent many players on to D-I schools. He went on to U of L. on Denny Crum's staff. Pitino retained him on his Louisville staff when Crum was forced to retire, but made him lose 20-30 lbs. Left Louisville for the Bellarmine job. I believe the biggest thing that hurt him for the BSU job was that he was already in his late 50's. He runs a really good program.
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Post by bsutrack on Dec 2, 2023 16:29:54 GMT -6
How did our injured players look on the sidelines? Any word on either? Played 2 of our 9 guards today... So far Mason Jones doing a surprisingly good job on D at that position, 4 assists, 1 TO. Passing and ball movement from everyone. Jones will really take off once he gets confidence and aggressiveness with scoring. So many times when he gets the ball there is a gap in the opposing defense. Scouting report must be he isn't a threat to shoot. He really needs to start taking those open opportunities.
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Post by cardfan on Dec 2, 2023 16:59:02 GMT -6
If bsu has a game and the local paper doesn’t cover it, does it make a sound?
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Post by comet on Dec 2, 2023 17:13:56 GMT -6
I told my buddy today that Jones is definitely my favorite BSU 2 point per game player of all time.
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Post by rmcalhoun on Dec 2, 2023 17:17:17 GMT -6
If bsu has a game and the local paper doesn’t cover it, does it make a sound? Martin on cacation again
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Post by CallingBS on Dec 2, 2023 17:19:54 GMT -6
If bsu has a game and the local paper doesn’t cover it, does it make a sound? Martin on cacation again And Calhoun is either typing on his phone or on the sauce again...or both
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Post by universityjim on Dec 2, 2023 17:22:42 GMT -6
We play like that constantly and we'll win a lot of games. That was a very pleasant performance.
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Post by cardfan on Dec 2, 2023 17:38:23 GMT -6
If bsu has a game and the local paper doesn’t cover it, does it make a sound? Martin on cacation again You’re right, it’s caca. he’s gone a lot. Gus, if you somehow happen to read this, when you DO cover bsu athletics and write about it you do a really nice job. You called out the football coaching more than once and it’s been deserved. You summarize our issues well. I for one would like to see more! We don’t need a cheerleader and you’re not, but we do need more coverage overall. Basketball has played games where there’s been zero write up. That makes no sense for a local university playing division one sports.
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Post by 00hmh on Dec 2, 2023 17:56:37 GMT -6
Maybe beyond his control.
Local HS coverage is clearly a priority. More readers interested.
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Post by Hoopsmith on Dec 2, 2023 20:13:11 GMT -6
Maybe beyond his control. Local HS coverage is clearly a priority. More readers interested. That HAS been TSP's stated priority, but a lot of high school fans would hotly contest this. Mainly a lot of fellow MC alumni who are butthurt the 'Cats aren't on the front of the sports page every Saturday morning (oh wait..)
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Post by prestonp on Dec 2, 2023 22:34:49 GMT -6
Great bounce back game. Loved the effort by all Cards. Jones is a good defender but does need to take some shots. Lets see if we can do this on the road soon!
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Post by 00hmh on Dec 3, 2023 5:10:02 GMT -6
We play like that constantly and we'll win a lot of games. That was a very pleasant performance. Constantly, and consistently, won't happen. Biggest problem will be inconsistency. A lot of that is we can't play 7 players into the MAC season without suffering as we did last year at the end. As we play more freshman more minutes it will be up and down. It's good to see a glimpse of the up side.
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Post by universityjim on Dec 3, 2023 12:02:34 GMT -6
Current KenPom Rankings of BSU & Opponents 12/3/2023
Akron (4-3) 116 Kent State (5-3) 117 Ohio (5-2) 124 Toledo (3-4) 126 Northern Illinois (5-2) 160 Bowling Green (5-3) 210 Miami (4-3) 248 Ball State (6-2) 254 Eastern Michigan (5-3) 290 Western Michigan (2-5) 292 Central Michigan (2-5) 308 Buffalo (1-7) 336
Indiana State (7-1) 68 Minnesota (5-2) 118 Evansville (7-1) 204 LOSS Old Dominion (3-4) 211 WIN Little Rock (4-4) 214 LOSS Bellarmine (2-7) 233 WIN Southern Illinois Edwardsville (5-4) 263 USC Upstate (4-5) 284 WIN Detroit Mercy (0-8) 328 Arkansas Pine Bluff (4-5) 346 WIN
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