Yesterday, at the Convocation Center, I believe I saw the future of EMU basketball. All of the starters were new to the program and are a level of talent I haven't seen at Eastern since Braun left. After a listless 1st half Eastern threw a withering defense at Eastern Illinois that only allowed the Panthers 9 pts in the first 15 min of the 2nd half. The offense worked all day, with excellent ball movement delivering open shot after open shot. Even the listless 1st half would have been more productive if Dumes hadn't been cold today. He missed 5 open treys (4 in the 1st half), he starts hitting those, and I believe he will, it's going to be hard to play a zone defense against the Eagles! Axon was a warrior, for all of the game. Everyone played hard-nosed defense and harried EIU for all of the game.

The bottom line is that Ramsey's recruiting is paying off, early. The game I saw yesterday was better played and more enjoyable than most I've seen over the last seven years. I know EIU is no world beater but they do have 5 wins, including a win over UWGB. As this team jells I think they are going to give some MAC opponents a bad night and long ride home.

Come see for yourself.

DexterEagle Wrote:Yesterday, at the Convocation Center, I believe I saw the future of EMU basketball. All of the starters were new to the program and are a level of talent I haven't seen at Eastern since Braun left. After a listless 1st half Eastern threw a withering defense at Eastern Illinois that only allowed the Panthers 9 pts in the first 15 min of the 2nd half. The offense worked all day, with excellent ball movement delivering open shot after open shot. Even the listless 1st half would have been more productive if Dumes hadn't been cold today. He missed 5 open treys (4 in the 1st half), he starts hitting those, and I believe he will, it's going to be hard to play a zone defense against the Eagles! Axon was a warrior, for all of the game. Everyone played hard-nosed defense and harried EIU for all of the game.

The bottom line is that Ramsey's recruiting is paying off, early. The game I saw yesterday was better played and more enjoyable than most I've seen over the last seven years. I know EIU is no world beater but they do have 5 wins, including a win over UWGB. As this team jells I think they are going to give some MAC opponents a bad night and long ride home.

Come see for yourself.

Not trying to rain on your parade, as you would know better than i would about EMU basketball, but EIU is a bad team. Even more worse than NIU. The only team worse than EIU in the state of Illinois would be Western Illinois. NIU would rank 3rd from the bottom in the state of Illinois, with EIU and WIU under us. Eastern is the worst team in the Ohio Valley Conference.

How much are tickets for NIU basketball? I might be doing the EMU/NIU game since I live in Chi-town.

EMUTRACK1574 Wrote:How much are tickets for NIU basketball? I might be doing the EMU/NIU game since I live in Chi-town.

$5, but should be free. ;-)

EMUTRACK1574 Wrote:How much are tickets for NIU basketball? I might be doing the EMU/NIU game since I live in Chi-town.

Like HMM said, they are $5. I would recommend coming out though. We have a nice arena even though we can't fill it. Plus, if you've never been to DeKalb it gives you a chance to visit another MAC school. Chicago is a short drive from DeKalb.

I would agree with your observations. The new guys are very athletic but inexperienced and so turnovers will be a constant problem this year as well as the tendency for some players in some games to disappear. Anything over 7-20 last year would be an achievement when you consider that Danny and John left. True, our wins have been over independents and lower conferences so the real test of the team's improvement should be measured in the MAC wins. I'm excited about Skipper and Frazier next year especially Skipper-need a guy who does the dirty work cleaning the glass!

huroncowboy Wrote:I would agree with your observations. The new guys are very athletic but inexperienced and so turnovers will be a constant problem this year as well as the tendency for some players in some games to disappear. Anything over 7-20 last year would be an achievement when you consider that Danny and John left. True, our wins have been over independents and lower conferences so the real test of the team's improvement should be measured in the MAC wins. I'm excited about Skipper and Frazier next year especially Skipper-need a guy who does the dirty work cleaning the glass!

Let's not forget the win over NDSU a team that holds a victory over Marquette. Marquette destroyed EMU earlier this season a beat UConn in CT this week. If my math is correct, Eastern stands at 6 wins this season. A better record than last season appears assured.