Yes, I'm an EMU fan.
Yes, I'm a huge Rob Murphy advocate.
Yes, I feel like taking a team from being projected to finish last in the conference to winning the MAC West deserves serious consideration for the Coach of the Year award.

But, I also realize that my EMU roots might blind me from seeing the entire picture clearly. So I want to get the input from others on the board...
Is Rob Murphy the Coach of the Year?

Maybe. If the voting is Sunday, I'd vote for Reggie W. if UB gets the 1 seed. Otherwise, I'd vote for Murphy.

I don't think there is any argument what Murphy has done at EMU is tremendous, but I think if UB wins Saturday Reggie needs to be strongly considered for it... The Bulls were picked to finish fifth in the East and very well can win a regular season mac title on Saturday.

I think Murphy and EMU is one year away from a truly breakout season and we can give it to him next year :)

Two things:

1. It's gonna be hard for voters to respect the job Murphy has done at EMU because of the East is better bias. Murphy may deserve more than anyone else, but whether or not he gets the votes remains to be seen. If EMU steals the 4 seed, that's still in play correct?, then he is much more likely.

2. Anyone picking Buffalo 5th this year was completely off their rocker. This was a veteran squad with a stud sophomore that didn't need to carry the load. I had Kent, Buffalo, Akron, Ohio, BGSU, and Miami as the order in the East. My reasoning was the Akron and Ohio were both employing more youth than Kent and Buffalo. The Bulls got the shaft in the preseason ranking IMO. Not sure Witherspoon deserves Coach of the Year because his squad did make a postseason tourney last year, won 20 games, and returned everyone but Rodney Pierce.

Murphy has done more with less, but the East bias is strong.

Pierce has been gone for two years. They lost Mulkey and Alston last year.

(03-01-2012 10:20 AM)KPJ Wrote:  Yes, I'm an EMU fan.
Yes, I'm a huge Rob Murphy advocate.
Yes, I feel like taking a team from being projected to finish last in the conference to winning the MAC West deserves serious consideration for the Coach of the Year award.

But, I also realize that my EMU roots might blind me from seeing the entire picture clearly. So I want to get the input from others on the board...
Is Rob Murphy the Coach of the Year?

YES Murphy... Nobody has done more with less this season than Murphy.

Smart coach who paces his team well, plays to their strengths, and can easily upset anyone in the conference.

Spoon has McCrea & Watt... UB has two forwards who could easily make a case for POY.

(03-01-2012 11:03 AM)BullBoy Wrote:  I don't think there is any argument what Murphy has done at EMU is tremendous, but I think if UB wins Saturday Reggie needs to be strongly considered for it... The Bulls were picked to finish fifth in the East and very well can win a regular season mac title on Saturday.

I think Murphy and EMU is one year away from a truly breakout season and we can give it to him next year :)

Or they could lose and finish 4th

EMU has a crack at a bye still, and maybe 10 conference wins... who saw that coming?

A coach that produces a good record in the East has a leg up on a West coach. Sub-.500 record against the East and getting swept by CMU (of all teams!) works against Murphy. Unfortunately this is probably his best opportunity to win it because next year EMU will start off with higher expectations.

(03-01-2012 11:13 AM)EA3 Wrote:  2. Anyone picking Buffalo 5th this year was completely off their rocker.

And yet if they had lost last night they very well could have finished 5th.

(03-01-2012 11:33 AM)OZoner Wrote:  Pierce has been gone for two years. They lost Mulkey and Alston last year.

Ah, totally remembered that one wrong. Good call.

The people who were off their rockers were the MANY who predicted that BSU and WMU be closely competitive with the East teams this year.

Picking the East was a crapshoot, as there was and is very little separating the top 5 teams. Actually, it would have been all 6 East teams had not Miami been decimated early in the season and forced to play several players who likely would have seen very little floor time this season otherwise.

(03-01-2012 12:01 PM)ouvan59 Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 11:13 AM)EA3 Wrote:  2. Anyone picking Buffalo 5th this year was completely off their rocker.

And yet if they had lost last night they very well could have finished 5th.

But they didn't...when picking preseason teams, I'm guessing there aren't a whole lot of people trying to figure out tiebreakers.

(03-01-2012 12:16 PM)axeme Wrote:  The people who were off their rockers were the MANY who predicted that BSU and WMU be closely competitive with the East teams this year.

Picking the East was a crapshoot, as there was and is very little separating the top 5 teams. Actually, it would have been all 6 East teams had not Miami been decimated early in the season and forced to play several players who likely would have seen very little floor time this season otherwise.

Hold on, WMU went 3-3 against the East last year during regular season play. Won 20 games, and got bounced from the quarters. They returned all starters and lost 2 guys off their bench. Anyone who didn't pick them coming out of the West was off their rocker.

That being said...they've played like complete dog poo poo at the end of games. Answer this question, who would you least like to play out of the West in the tourney?

OT losses to Akron, Kent, EMU...loss by 2 at Buffalo...loss by 1 against EMU, loss by 6 at Ohio. That's 5 losses that went the wrong way because we can't close out games.

We turn the ball over at alarming rates and still are in every single game (BGSU second half excluded).

Don't act like it was a crazy to think WMU was picked to contend this year. They haven't lived up to expectations. Plain and simple.

(03-01-2012 12:30 PM)EA3 Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 12:16 PM)axeme Wrote:  The people who were off their rockers were the MANY who predicted that BSU and WMU be closely competitive with the East teams this year.

Picking the East was a crapshoot, as there was and is very little separating the top 5 teams. Actually, it would have been all 6 East teams had not Miami been decimated early in the season and forced to play several players who likely would have seen very little floor time this season otherwise.

Answer this question, who would you least like to play out of the West in the tourney?

EMU?

(03-01-2012 12:17 PM)EA3 Wrote:  But they didn't...when picking preseason teams, I'm guessing there aren't a whole lot of people trying to figure out tiebreakers.

I understand that but the point is that people that picked them 5th weren't that far off their rockers. The post I replied to said that anybody who thought they would finish 5th were off their rockers. Since they may only finish one game ahead of the 5th place team it doesn't seem like it was that big of a miss. Let's not pretend that Buffalo ran away with the league.

(03-01-2012 12:30 PM)EA3 Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 12:16 PM)axeme Wrote:  The people who were off their rockers were the MANY who predicted that BSU and WMU be closely competitive with the East teams this year.

Picking the East was a crapshoot, as there was and is very little separating the top 5 teams. Actually, it would have been all 6 East teams had not Miami been decimated early in the season and forced to play several players who likely would have seen very little floor time this season otherwise.

Hold on, WMU went 3-3 against the East last year during regular season play. Won 20 games, and got bounced from the quarters. They returned all starters and lost 2 guys off their bench. Anyone who didn't pick them coming out of the West was off their rocker.

That being said...they've played like complete dog poo poo at the end of games. Answer this question, who would you least like to play out of the West in the tourney?

OT losses to Akron, Kent, EMU...loss by 2 at Buffalo...loss by 1 against EMU, loss by 6 at Ohio. That's 5 losses that went the wrong way because we can't close out games.

We turn the ball over at alarming rates and still are in every single game (BGSU second half excluded).

Don't act like it was a crazy to think WMU was picked to contend this year. They haven't lived up to expectations. Plain and simple.

Hey, I thought they would be better, too. They weren't. Everyone who thought they would be good was wrong. Very wrong.

The point is how silly it is to point to pre-season predictions to make a case for post-season awards.

To answer your other question, though, the West team most teams probably don't want to face is EMU. Their tempo is so disruptive to what most East teams want to do, it changes the game planning significantly.

(03-01-2012 12:45 PM)HuronDave Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 12:30 PM)EA3 Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 12:16 PM)axeme Wrote:  The people who were off their rockers were the MANY who predicted that BSU and WMU be closely competitive with the East teams this year.

Picking the East was a crapshoot, as there was and is very little separating the top 5 teams. Actually, it would have been all 6 East teams had not Miami been decimated early in the season and forced to play several players who likely would have seen very little floor time this season otherwise.

Answer this question, who would you least like to play out of the West in the tourney?

EMU?

WMU took Akron to overtime, lost to UB on two missed FT's with time running out and pushed Kent hard..

You coule make a case for them

(03-01-2012 01:00 PM)axeme Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 12:30 PM)EA3 Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 12:16 PM)axeme Wrote:  The people who were off their rockers were the MANY who predicted that BSU and WMU be closely competitive with the East teams this year.

Picking the East was a crapshoot, as there was and is very little separating the top 5 teams. Actually, it would have been all 6 East teams had not Miami been decimated early in the season and forced to play several players who likely would have seen very little floor time this season otherwise.

Hold on, WMU went 3-3 against the East last year during regular season play. Won 20 games, and got bounced from the quarters. They returned all starters and lost 2 guys off their bench. Anyone who didn't pick them coming out of the West was off their rocker.

That being said...they've played like complete dog poo poo at the end of games. Answer this question, who would you least like to play out of the West in the tourney?

OT losses to Akron, Kent, EMU...loss by 2 at Buffalo...loss by 1 against EMU, loss by 6 at Ohio. That's 5 losses that went the wrong way because we can't close out games.

We turn the ball over at alarming rates and still are in every single game (BGSU second half excluded).

Don't act like it was a crazy to think WMU was picked to contend this year. They haven't lived up to expectations. Plain and simple.

Hey, I thought they would be better, too. They weren't. Everyone who thought they would be good was wrong. Very wrong.

The point is how silly it is to point to pre-season predictions to make a case for post-season awards.

To answer your other question, though, the West team most teams probably don't want to face is EMU. Their tempo is so disruptive to what most East teams want to do, it changes the game planning significantly.

Here a few stats:

WMU average per loss: 6.7 ppg (4.6 if you remove BGSU) with 9 losses
WMU average per win: 14.1 ppg

EMU average per loss: 10.6 ppg (6.8 if you remove Akron) with 6 losses
EMU average per win: 5.4 ppg

Take them for what they are worth. EMU certainly has shown the ability to close out games and WMU has not.

(03-01-2012 12:58 PM)ouvan59 Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 12:17 PM)EA3 Wrote:  But they didn't...when picking preseason teams, I'm guessing there aren't a whole lot of people trying to figure out tiebreakers.

I understand that but the point is that people that picked them 5th weren't that far off their rockers. The post I replied to said that anybody who thought they would finish 5th were off their rockers. Since they may only finish one game ahead of the 5th place team it doesn't seem like it was that big of a miss. Let's not pretend that Buffalo ran away with the league.

Not pretending they ran away with anything. My only point was that with the East being so close in talent, my method to differentiate the Bulls from 5th place all the way up to 2nd was their experience. In a league like the MAC, I didn't understand how the voters wouldn't do the same thing. It also was a bit of bias on my part because of their respective results against WMU last year. Buffalo beat WMU in 2 close games during a year that we played very well. WMU beat Ohio.

I will say this, I didn't see Ohio being this good. With the losses of Freeman and Washington, I thought they would lose one or two more games. Their outide shooting has been very timely, I only question is if it can stay "hot" for 2 or 3 games in the tourney. Not sure who is gonna cut the nets down in Cleveland, the race is too close 9as you mentioned in the standings).

(03-01-2012 01:31 PM)EA3 Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 01:00 PM)axeme Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 12:30 PM)EA3 Wrote:  

(03-01-2012 12:16 PM)axeme Wrote:  The people who were off their rockers were the MANY who predicted that BSU and WMU be closely competitive with the East teams this year.

Picking the East was a crapshoot, as there was and is very little separating the top 5 teams. Actually, it would have been all 6 East teams had not Miami been decimated early in the season and forced to play several players who likely would have seen very little floor time this season otherwise.

Hold on, WMU went 3-3 against the East last year during regular season play. Won 20 games, and got bounced from the quarters. They returned all starters and lost 2 guys off their bench. Anyone who didn't pick them coming out of the West was off their rocker.

That being said...they've played like complete dog poo poo at the end of games. Answer this question, who would you least like to play out of the West in the tourney?

OT losses to Akron, Kent, EMU...loss by 2 at Buffalo...loss by 1 against EMU, loss by 6 at Ohio. That's 5 losses that went the wrong way because we can't close out games.

We turn the ball over at alarming rates and still are in every single game (BGSU second half excluded).

Don't act like it was a crazy to think WMU was picked to contend this year. They haven't lived up to expectations. Plain and simple.

Hey, I thought they would be better, too. They weren't. Everyone who thought they would be good was wrong. Very wrong.

The point is how silly it is to point to pre-season predictions to make a case for post-season awards.

To answer your other question, though, the West team most teams probably don't want to face is EMU. Their tempo is so disruptive to what most East teams want to do, it changes the game planning significantly.

Here a few stats:

WMU average per loss: 6.7 ppg (4.6 if you remove BGSU) with 9 losses
WMU average per win: 14.1 ppg

EMU average per loss: 10.6 ppg (6.8 if you remove Akron) with 6 losses
EMU average per win: 5.4 ppg

Take them for what they are worth. EMU certainly has shown the ability to close out games and WMU has not.

With the exception of the Miami game