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Post by redbirdman on Jan 30, 2016 14:11:45 GMT -6
Sellers shot well and should get more playing time next week. Two problems that are not got going away this season turnovers and not enough size to play with Kent and Akron. I will still be very happy to go 9-9 in the MAC and feel the coach has done much better job than I thought he would if they finish with that mark. If they can get there and win a MAC tourney game this would be a very successful year to me.
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Post by cardfan on Jan 30, 2016 14:28:12 GMT -6
Sellers shot well and should get more playing time next week. Two problems that are not got going away this season turnovers and not enough size to play with Kent and Akron. I will still be very happy to go 9-9 in the MAC and feel the coach has done much better job than I thought he would if they finish with that mark. If they can get there and win a MAC tourney game this would be a very successful year to me. Yes. And it's not unrealistic. The problem right now is we're playing like we did last year and that's not winning basketball. The guys have to get back to what was working.
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Post by williamtsherman on Jan 30, 2016 14:31:20 GMT -6
Anyone who was unclear about the type and quality of players you need to recruit to win the MAC shouldn't be unclear after that game. But of course some people will remain unclear because they've been given similar lessons every year and are still unclear. They will remain unclear because the want to remain unclear.
By the way, what big players do we have coming in the 2016 class?
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Post by rmcalhoun on Jan 30, 2016 14:32:51 GMT -6
Clearly
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Post by 00hmh on Jan 30, 2016 14:40:23 GMT -6
Akron is a pretty good team. Especially good on defense on the perimeter. We hit the basket well enough, but turned it over against their man pressure and overplay.
I am not happy about our defense, it just wasn't good. We played not very well on defense, by comparison, and lost the game more because of that. We can only win if we play very hard on defense. We ended up fouling too often creating a deficit there.
On offense, we were competitive, but those turnovers gave Akron a few too many possessions, and cost us too opportunities. I'll give Akron credit for pressure outside and on the ball,and getting to the loose ball, but we threw it away a few times, too. Weber was pressured as he should expect, probably tried too hard and made too many errors.
Akron has good personnel. No player was really a weak link. Good size. That means we really have to defend very hard. Several of their key players are the kind of kids we have, 6-6 or 6-7 and can shoot, a good slight athletic guard who could shoot. We got a dose of how hard it is too defend outside. Their bulky big guy from off the bench also hurt us by bull rushing the basket and we did not defend him very well. When we tried go inside Moses and House did get some good shots, but they did a better job defending inside than we did.
Akron is the best team in the MAC, they have all good players (even if maybe not great or particularly athletic). They win because they play well together. 7 turnovers. That is a formula for success, and I can see us matching their talent and playing at their level as we continue to improve this year and next.
On the positive side, Sellers shot well, Tyler looked awfully good at times, a spectacular dunk on a give and go. Moses had a couple of stretches where he looked good at both ends. He can be a very good offensive player, I could not believe his dribble drive and no look pass for a basket, solid shooting mid range. These are good young players who will only get better. I also have to say Wells was a capable reserve, and Davis played well in limited minutes, not exhibiting the things that so often drive me nuts when he is in the game.
Akron beats us 3 of 4 on a neutral court, I don't want to draw them in the tourney. Only the kid will think we have a good chance to beat them.
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Post by rmcalhoun on Jan 30, 2016 14:43:25 GMT -6
We are better but Im sitting here asking myself are we good enough that the wheels are not going to completely fall off again. It seems as if the other coaches are starting to get a sense of how not to let us beat them. I don't think we see a repeat of last year with a long losing streak but Im not sure we are out of the woods yet
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Post by cardfan on Jan 30, 2016 14:45:19 GMT -6
To put it in a nutshell, I want us to get where Akron is.
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Post by 00hmh on Jan 30, 2016 14:46:37 GMT -6
Too many defensive lapses and turnovers. Akron and Kent both have superior athleticism...we don't. We have to start wining some recruiting battles soon. With that said, the future looks pretty bright to me. Get a legit PG and we can start competing for a championship. I saw superior size, not so much greatly superior athleticism. Tyler made the most athletic plays on the court today. I am also not at all sure they have a big advantage with a real blue ribbon player, but I know they have a load of good players who all played consistently and solidly. The reason the future looks bright is in a way because we can be very much like Akron, good shooting, hard defense. No defense today, and right now we turn the ball over. Probably need some more size, sure, but I like Moses up front as a freshman, and think by the time he is a senior he will be as good as any Akron player we saw today.
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Post by cardfan on Jan 30, 2016 14:47:46 GMT -6
We are better but Im sitting here asking myself are we good enough that the wheels are not going to completely fall off again. It seems as if the other coaches are starting to get a sense of how not to let us beat them. I don't think we see a repeat of last year with a long losing streak but Im not sure we are out of the woods yet Or are we watching the wheels come off again right now? I hope not, but our play right now looks eerily similar to last year.
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Post by 00hmh on Jan 30, 2016 14:57:56 GMT -6
Sellers shot well and should get more playing time next week. Two problems that are not got going away this season turnovers and not enough size to play with Kent and Akron. I will still be very happy to go 9-9 in the MAC and feel the coach has done much better job than I thought he would if they finish with that mark. If they can get there and win a MAC tourney game this would be a very successful year to me. Yes. And it's not unrealistic. The problem right now is we're playing like we did last year and that's not winning basketball. The guys have to get back to what was working. I agree we have to get back to playing better defense, but disagree in comparing to last year. This is not last year. We are much better on offense. Last year Akron could have killed us if played our best. Today Akron played hard defense and we shot 50%. And we had an outside chance to win this game in the second half. But, I agree today, we didn't play good defense, so that is like last year in result. Effort last year may have been BETTER in some games than today. Last year we lacked the depth and had much less size and athleticism on defense. We can do better this year, last year I am not sure we could. At least give us some credit, we are much better offensively.
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Post by 00hmh on Jan 30, 2016 14:58:24 GMT -6
To put it in a nutshell, I want us to get where Akron is. +1. We can do that.
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Post by cardfan on Jan 30, 2016 15:00:27 GMT -6
A million turnovers that costs us games, and fading late. That IS how we played last year.
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Post by williamtsherman on Jan 30, 2016 17:39:48 GMT -6
The turnover issue IS frustrating, and IS costing us, and IS going to limit how high we end up finishing this season and IS the result of inexcusable recruiting failure in that area. But....it's not my main concern because I think there is a good chance the problem will largely go away next year. I think Persons will help and will relegate certain players to the bench, plus all our guards return and will have another year of development and playing together. I'm not saying we are going to be a good ball-handling team next year, but I'm pretty sure the problem won't be killing us....like it is this year.
Our more concerning problem is the one that will always separate us from the contenders until we finally fix it through recruiting - having a high-quality frontline that no MAC opponent can overpower. Teams like Akron and Kent will always have an enormous advantage over us. Even OU and EMU had players we really couldn't handle. You can occasionally win against these teams, like we did EMU, but look what that took: two overtimes, a dozen made threes, their big guy fouling out, and the worst officiating lapse in recent memory. Beating teams that can beat you up inside is like drawing an inside straight...it happens occasionally but if you are banking on doing that consistently, you're the mark at the table.
And, unlike the turnover problem, it is not at all clear that the frontline will be any better, or even as good, next year. Who replaces Calhoun? If you think our frontline is going to be able to compete on an even basis with the likes of Akron and Kent in the foreseeable future, then you must be counting very heavily on Moses and Teague. It was obvious to me a year ago that these two were the key to our future, and it is even more clear now. I suppose there is always the chance of signing an impact big in the spring...and I hope for it every day...but that possibility is the Great Pumpkin of mid-major recruiting.
Moses is better than I thought he would be and our frontline as a whole is better than I thought it would be. That's the main reason we have a better record than I thought we would. I thought they would hold us back so that we would be worse than average. Turns out that they are not bad. So they are only holding us back from being a contender, but allowing us to be a bit better than average.
Absolute worst case scenario is that Whitford cobbles together front lines over the next three seasons using Moses, and possibly Teague, and one or two ham sandwiches, that are just good enough to keep us a bit above average, and thereby has teams just good enough for him to keep his job, but never good enough to really contend. The Buckley/Taylor plan.
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Akron game
Jan 30, 2016 17:58:12 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by reevo on Jan 30, 2016 17:58:12 GMT -6
Akron committed 15 turnovers to our 18. Not 7 that was quoted above. They are more athletic than we are because they can pressure our guards without getting beat to the basket which happens to us every ballgame. Yes, Tyler is very athletic but is not physical. I keep harping on this because it is so true but some of you just don't get it.' If you want to be a consistent winner as a Mid Major, you have to be physical inside and be physical guarding the perimeter. There is a reason why we were so successful from 88-95. We out toughed our opponents and did enough on offense to win consistently. Go back and look at our best teams and they all had similar atributes; we controlled the defensive glass, we were very good offensive rebounding teams and we shut people down. We need to start recruiting the intercity kids who don't mind kicking someone's ass for the ball. I think House & Calhoun are nice players as well as Moses but we need to find big, mean nasty inside players who will control the paint and these guys are not that. Can you imagine how many good open looks our perimeter guys would get if we had a Kidd, McCurdy, Payne or Gillis roaming around lane? The key for this program to move back to elite status is by getting tougher and recruiting junk yard dogs. If not, our program will continue to be a roller coaster ride with the Kents and Akrons continuing to battle for the top.
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Post by thebsukid on Jan 30, 2016 18:01:16 GMT -6
I strongly disagree that we will be just above average next season...we're basically by most accounts in the middle of DIV I rankings now...I do agree that Akron is very good but why do several underestimate Moses...he has played quite well for a true Freshman...time will tell but with Moses continued growth added with a bigger Teague will add a lot next year, along with Persons will help take us up another notch.
Several said we would be lucky to win 9-12 total games this year, and that Whit might be on the hot seat....wrong!! Now thats its clear we will eclipse 15 and will more likely win 17-20 its still not good enough for many albeit a giant stride forward. I would say we are in the top six teams in the MAC and next year we should be able to put more than 20 wins up...
Words will not decide on this board who is right and who is wrong only results will...
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