Loss to Oakland U. - 66 - 53. I don't know about the rest of you guys but this could get real ugly real quick with the MAC regular season right around the corner. I know that OU is a decent team but if we can't beat the teams we have been playing then the MAC looks pretty dismal - a lot of good teams who will be vying to win the conference and make the NCAA Tourney.

(12-23-2008 06:30 AM)HuronRob Wrote:  Loss to Oakland U. - 66 - 53. I don't know about the rest of you guys but this could get real ugly real quick with the MAC regular season right around the corner. I know that OU is a decent team but if we can't beat the teams we have been playing then the MAC looks pretty dismal - a lot of good teams who will be vying to win the conference and make the NCAA Tourney.

Could be long season, no cohesiveness on the floor, players being shuttled in and out and in again etc. No leadership on the floor!

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300+ poor souls attended yesterday's Oakland game - sad! Where do we go from here?

Street ball will get us nowhere. The team just plays like they don't have a plan.

Last night's game was a train wreck. Bowdry looks like the only player who cares on the court. There isn't a ton of hustle from anyone else, except maybe Tyler Jones. And now with the loss of Gay things could get even worse. For those who don't know, Gay was in crutches on the sideline. Coach said in the post-game presser that he rolled it and it was too swollen to know the extent of the damage, but it was the most swollen he's ever seen an ankle.

I just found out last night that both the home and away coach's press conference is available on youtube. there is a link available on emueagles.com in the game recap.

Oakland really didn't impress me besides Kangas. I don't say that to disrespect them in any way, but they are a team that we should be capable of beating. Instead we were toast from pretty much the start of the game.

Our zone defense is just too ugly to keep trying. We have athletic guys, we should let them play man defense. Bowdry and Dobbins are big enough to guard any big guys 1-on-1 so that should not be an issue.

I did like how Cooper played last night. He played within himself and made some nice buckets.

Sorry about this stream of conscience recap of the game. i'm too tired to put together a coherent post.

It wasn't our defense that lost the game but our offense. We kept making big mistakes at key points in the game. They would play good defense get the spread down to 4 or 5 points and then turn the ball over on STUPID mistakes or miscues.

The attendance last night was 389. 389!!! That is embarrasing. I don't care what time of year it is, 389 is not acceptable. Apathy towards this program is obvious and the Ramsey honeymoon is over. There are many people, myself included, that question the Ramsey's ability to be a college HC. When Ramsey took over the program there was a lot of rah rah from people because of his Ypsi/EMU/Braun connections. I'll admit that I was on that boat. It's looking more and more like change is needed.

(12-23-2008 11:06 AM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  The attendance last night was 389. 389!!! That is embarrasing. I don't care what time of year it is, 389 is not acceptable. Apathy towards this program is obvious and the Ramsey honeymoon is over. There are many people, myself included, that question the Ramsey's ability to be a college HC. When Ramsey took over the program there was a lot of rah rah from people because of his Ypsi/EMU/Braun connections. I'll admit that I was on that boat. It's looking more and more like change is needed.

The Charles Ramsey era is over at EMU. This team is in utter disarray four years deep into his tenure. Although I take no pleasure in saying this, Gragg has another big hire very soon in his future. There better be another coach in place before next season or 389 is going to look like a big turn out very soon.

(12-23-2008 11:35 AM)DexterEagle Wrote:  

(12-23-2008 11:06 AM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote:  The attendance last night was 389. 389!!! That is embarrasing. I don't care what time of year it is, 389 is not acceptable. Apathy towards this program is obvious and the Ramsey honeymoon is over. There are many people, myself included, that question the Ramsey's ability to be a college HC. When Ramsey took over the program there was a lot of rah rah from people because of his Ypsi/EMU/Braun connections. I'll admit that I was on that boat. It's looking more and more like change is needed.

The Charles Ramsey era is over at EMU. This team is in utter disarray four years deep into his tenure. Although I take no pleasure in saying this, Gragg has another big hire very soon in his future. There better be another coach in place before next season or 389 is going to look like a big turn out very soon.

I have been a huge ramsey supporter since he arrived and i'm still going to reserve judgement on this season until the end of conference play (although obviously the team has been a mess so far). But, this team looks so disorganized. The defense is bunk and the offense is even worse. But, it's the lack of any sort of cohesion coupled with the lack of fire from every player except Bowdry and Jones that bothers me most.

Do you think Gragg would be willing to make two big moves within 6 months of each other? Does Rams only have one year left on his contract?

Also, someone on the Det. Titans board (http://www.detroittitanhoops.com) said that McDowell applied to be an assistant at UofD. I have no clue if this is true, but it could get ugly if he was visibly trying to leave and ended up staying.

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And....the attendance has to be the worst i've seen since i started going to games 8 years ago. It was pathetic. There have been bigger crowds (albeit only slightly) during blizzards during christmas break.

I really expected Ramsey to do better. This season has just been a train wreck. If they can put anything together at all this year I wouldn't be opposed to him coming back to coach next season with a healthy Medlock, and Bowdry. I'll give him a pass on this season to a large extent as long as we something...anything resembling improvment at some point.

I am waiting until halfway through the MAC season before I make any judgement about this season. We have played a really tough schedule (in the top 25) in the country. I still see promise of a good or better MAC season with at least winning the MAC West.

I think I'll just focus on EMU Football. Men's hoops has officially burned me out and I don't like the direction of the women's program as well.
At least with football there's a chance of nice weather.

This program is an enigma as am I on it.

Last year or two I was saying the record was deceptive good because the MAC West was very weak.

Now I'm taking a different slant.

two problems:

Without Carlos AND a brutal schedule this team is really struggling.

Surprisingly, I think this team could turn it around NEXT year with a healthy Carlos and a more reasonable schedule.

P.S. Why do posters turn on a coach because of 10 games in one season?

If he was a good coach last year has he lost it this year? (I could never figure out pro sports where a coach is coach of the year and fired two years later. That's crazy).

Is firing coaches every 4 years the way to build programs????

(12-24-2008 06:56 PM)emu steve Wrote:  This program is an enigma as am I on it.

Last year or two I was saying the record was deceptive good because the MAC West was very weak.

Now I'm taking a different slant.

two problems:

Without Carlos AND a brutal schedule this team is really struggling.

Surprisingly, I think this team could turn it around NEXT year with a healthy Carlos and a more reasonable schedule.

P.S. Why do posters turn on a coach because of 10 games in one season?

If he was a good coach last year has he lost it this year? (I could never figure out pro sports where a coach is coach of the year and fired two years later. That's crazy).

Is firing coaches every 4 years the way to build programs????

I do not advocate firing Ramsey. Far from it. I was just pointing out that we are having a rough year and it isn't likely that it will end on a positive note. I know that I pointed out the obvious but I thought we would at least be .500 by now. The MAC is a tough basketball conference and I doubt that, given our pre-conference record, we're going to do well in conference.

No Steve firing coaches every five years is not a way to build a program. This year while WMU, CMU and Ball State and Buffalo harvest good recruiting classes and weaker schools are still ahead of EMU even with the coaching changes (keep on eye on Toledo's new coach) we will fall behind in the talent pool this year. English may be a good recruiter but at EMU he will have to sell snow to the Eskimos unless some fundemental problems are addressed. He has West Coast connections I really can't see that many West Coast kids wanting to come to EMU.

(12-25-2008 08:44 PM)huroncowboy Wrote:  No Steve firing coaches every five years is not a way to build a program. This year while WMU, CMU and Ball State and Buffalo harvest good recruiting classes and weaker schools are still ahead of EMU even with the coaching changes (keep on eye on Toledo's new coach) we will fall behind in the talent pool this year. English may be a good recruiter but at EMU he will have to sell snow to the Eskimos unless some fundemental problems are addressed. He has West Coast connections I really can't see that many West Coast kids wanting to come to EMU.

Cowboy, this stuff happens everytime you change coachs'. English can catch up. One bad class is hardly a program killer.

In terms of instate recruiting, it depends upon who else he fills his staff with. If Loeffler or someother guy comes in, he'll be able to recruit just fine.

People around the state know ron english from his time at UM. I am not as concerned about that aspect as you seem to be.

(12-25-2008 09:14 PM)wolverineeagle Wrote:  

(12-25-2008 08:44 PM)huroncowboy Wrote:  No Steve firing coaches every five years is not a way to build a program. This year while WMU, CMU and Ball State and Buffalo harvest good recruiting classes and weaker schools are still ahead of EMU even with the coaching changes (keep on eye on Toledo's new coach) we will fall behind in the talent pool this year. English may be a good recruiter but at EMU he will have to sell snow to the Eskimos unless some fundemental problems are addressed. He has West Coast connections I really can't see that many West Coast kids wanting to come to EMU.

Cowboy, this stuff happens everytime you change coachs'. English can catch up. One bad class is hardly a program killer.

In terms of instate recruiting, it depends upon who else he fills his staff with. If Loeffler or someother guy comes in, he'll be able to recruit just fine.

People around the state know ron english from his time at UM. I am not as concerned about that aspect as you seem to be.

Agree.

And it might not be a bad class.

Maybe a couple of kids from MI, Ohio, etc and some JUCOs for the defense.

IF he goes hard for JUCOs on defense, the recruiting class might be a BETTER class then one with a large number of 'development players."

This class won't be a 'foundation class' but a patchwork class designed to fix need.

English will go for the really good class next year.

I'm trying to keep recruiting in perspective this year.

I'm hoping for a B-ball turn around similar to what the baseball team pulled off. MAC hoops seems down. WMU is struggling as well. Maybe we'll be o.k. once we get in the MAC schedule...

(12-26-2008 06:31 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(12-25-2008 09:14 PM)wolverineeagle Wrote:  

(12-25-2008 08:44 PM)huroncowboy Wrote:  No Steve firing coaches every five years is not a way to build a program. This year while WMU, CMU and Ball State and Buffalo harvest good recruiting classes and weaker schools are still ahead of EMU even with the coaching changes (keep on eye on Toledo's new coach) we will fall behind in the talent pool this year. English may be a good recruiter but at EMU he will have to sell snow to the Eskimos unless some fundemental problems are addressed. He has West Coast connections I really can't see that many West Coast kids wanting to come to EMU.

Cowboy, this stuff happens everytime you change coachs'. English can catch up. One bad class is hardly a program killer.

In terms of instate recruiting, it depends upon who else he fills his staff with. If Loeffler or someother guy comes in, he'll be able to recruit just fine.

People around the state know ron english from his time at UM. I am not as concerned about that aspect as you seem to be.

Agree.

And it might not be a bad class.

Maybe a couple of kids from MI, Ohio, etc and some JUCOs for the defense.

IF he goes hard for JUCOs on defense, the recruiting class might be a BETTER class then one with a large number of 'development players."

This class won't be a 'foundation class' but a patchwork class designed to fix need.

English will go for the really good class next year.

I'm trying to keep recruiting in perspective this year.

Ron English along with Loeffler and Fred Jackson, was one of UM's best recruiters. The guy got some hihly rated Cali players to come to UM-Donovan Warren, Jonas Mouton as well as a couple of others. A few didn't cut it(johnnny sears) but warren and mouton are going to be among the best players on UM's team next year.

Kids love him. Talent procurement won't be an issue as long as he is here IMO.

Wolve/Eagle:

There is a rumor on another thread about possibly Tyrone Wheatley being a RB coach.

If so, English, Eric Lewis, and Tyrone Wheatley would seem to be coaches who can walk into a high school and sell ice to an eskimo or EMU to a football player.

The thread titled "Mens BBall Team" has become a discussion about football recruiting. Kind of says all, doesn't it?