I'm guessing the Chips would like to have a do-over vs the Fightin Fords of Bradley as it looks like they'll head into MAC play at 10-1 with a non-D1 opponent as the only game left on the schedule, unless there's a tournament I'm not aware of.

CMU's RPI will be around 130 to end the OOC portion of the season, which is good, but a non conf SOS of 329 will all but eliminate any hopes of an at large if they were to find themselves in that situation at the end of the season.

saw ou play george washington. not a good team. there are some players, but no chemistry. ou has the misfortune of having mediocre veteran players in key positions. stevie taylor has never quite learned how to harness his quickness and takes some really bad shots, but he's sorta earned the pg spot as a sr at ou but hurts the team at times and can't create offense like a good pg very often. bean willis played pretty well. taylor the freshmen is fun to watch. will be a good player for a while in the mac. ou doesn't have the guard play to get their big men the ball in the post. ndour and campbell are good finishers when they have low post position, but campbell doest see the ball enough and ndour usually gets it too far out. please find treg setty another sport. windsurfing, high jumping, rock climbing... he's a great athlete who gets beat moat of the time.

Kent State loses at Texas-El Paso, 78-75, with Devareaux Manley missing a 3-pointer with 1 second left. We got it close in the end.

Jimmy Hall for Kent State has 20 points and 10 rebounds. Derek Jackson 16 points, Dev Manley 13.

(12-22-2014 10:02 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(12-22-2014 09:54 PM)Okie Chippewa Wrote:  CMU goes to McNeese and throttles 'em. The 9-1 Chippewas should now be regarded as at least a darkhorse in the MAC West and the MACC.

I'd like to see them play someone good (the best team they've played is the worst team in the B1G), but yes they're vastly improved from last season.

I think it does say something that Northwestern beat one of the best MAC teams in WMU, while CMU throttled them.

Yes, our schedule has been weak but good teams beat bad ones, which we have. Conference play will be interesting.

I've been kinda underwhelmed by our season to date, even prior to NW, so it still remains to be seen if we live up to our billing this year. We've looked so-so against a rather pedestrian OOC lineup. Maybe we're missing Whittington more than we anticipated.

It could be like football. Chips beat Purdue, we lose to Purdue, but we beat the Chips.

CMU's out of conference schedule has been soft. I know it, you know it and all the people on the CMU message board know it. In fact it's been mentioned so many times it is getting old.

But there has been a reason for it. We are trying to work three new, young post players into an otherwise veteran lineup. They are a 6-11 freshman, a 6-8 freshman and and 7-0 redshirt freshman. It has been a work in progress and the schedule has helped this new group develop their skills and build confidence in their ability to execute at a pretty fast pace. All of us who are CMU fans are pretty happy with the results so far.

But no one has been fooled. We are all wondering what will happen when the MAC schedule rolls around and the competition increases. I for one have said we will be lucky if we win half our conference games. If we can do that we will still end up at 19-10 for the regular season. I have also said I like our chances in the MAC tournament on a neutral floor. What happens after that is anyone's guess and no one is even talking that far out right now. We understand the whole thing could come apart once conference play begins but I for one wouldn't bet on it.

Keno Davis is building a program and all of us are feeling pretty good about it. The big thing will be next year when ALL of our starters will return. We only lose one player who has been a steady sub for us this year. This season we take a significant step up, next season will be ours.

OSU hangs 93 on Miami, we lost by almost 40 last night. Aside from a few pay games and the second half against Dayton, we've looked awful all year long thanks to our combination of short guards who can't shoot and big men who can't defend. It's clear that this is a very bad team that'll stay close to the cellar once MAC play rolls around, I get the feeling Cooper's days are numbered.

(12-23-2014 04:58 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  OSU hangs 93 on Miami, we lost by almost 40 last night. Aside from a few pay games and the second half against Dayton, we've looked awful all year long thanks to our combination of short guards who can't shoot and big men who can't defend. It's clear that this is a very bad team that'll stay close to the cellar once MAC play rolls around, I get the feeling Cooper's days are numbered.

I never could see why MIA hired him.

(12-23-2014 05:33 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(12-23-2014 04:58 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  OSU hangs 93 on Miami, we lost by almost 40 last night. Aside from a few pay games and the second half against Dayton, we've looked awful all year long thanks to our combination of short guards who can't shoot and big men who can't defend. It's clear that this is a very bad team that'll stay close to the cellar once MAC play rolls around, I get the feeling Cooper's days are numbered.

I never could see why MIA hired him.

Our previous AD was incompetent and ran the worst coaching search that I have ever heard of. We were about to hire now-Ball State coach James Whitford (former Miami assistant), but we got cold feet and he naturally backed off. By that point it was mid-April and no decent candidate would take the job, so we figured that a coach who's biggest claim to fame was leading a bad program to a CBI bid was fitting for the best basketball program in MAC history.

(12-23-2014 04:16 AM)pono Wrote:  saw ou play george washington. not a good team. there are some players, but no chemistry. ou has the misfortune of having mediocre veteran players in key positions. stevie taylor has never quite learned how to harness his quickness and takes some really bad shots, but he's sorta earned the pg spot as a sr at ou but hurts the team at times and can't create offense like a good pg very often. bean willis played pretty well. taylor the freshmen is fun to watch. will be a good player for a while in the mac. ou doesn't have the guard play to get their big men the ball in the post. ndour and campbell are good finishers when they have low post position, but campbell doest see the ball enough and ndour usually gets it too far out. please find treg setty another sport. windsurfing, high jumping, rock climbing... he's a great athlete who gets beat moat of the time.

I'm assuming this was written before today's game!

EMU hammers Coppin State; now 10-2 on the season. The Michigan MAC triumvirate is thus far 26-7 for the season.

(12-23-2014 10:30 PM)Okie Chippewa Wrote:  EMU hammers Coppin State; now 10-2 on the season. The Michigan MAC triumvirate is thus far 26-7 for the season.

With the exception of EMU football, MAC basketball and football is really fun again in MI.

I have become a big fan of WMU's resurgence in football. Good to see real rivalries between CMU and WMU in football.

Likewise, there should be some real rivalry games in MAC hoops between CMU, EMU and WMU (and, I might add, Toledo).

Looking forward to a fun January - March 2015.

(12-23-2014 10:30 PM)Okie Chippewa Wrote:  EMU hammers Coppin State; now 10-2 on the season. The Michigan MAC triumvirate is thus far 26-7 for the season.

What has impressed me about this EMU team is how consistent they are.

They come to play every game regardless of the opponent.

So far they haven't had that 55 - 53 win over a bad team. They've beaten each team they beaten handily (except UofM).

MSU was the only disappointing game and it wasn't a blowout.

66-46 is not a blowout? Keep telling yourself that. If it isn't, what is the point threshold for a blowout? I think if you beat any decent team by 20 or more, you'll call it a blowout. You call single digit wins over so-so teams winning "handily" and a 20 point loss not getting blown out. OK.

(12-24-2014 07:57 AM)axeme Wrote:  66-46 is not a blowout? Keep telling yourself that. If it isn't, what is the point threshold for a blowout? I think if you beat any decent team by 20 or more, you'll call it a blowout. You call single digit wins over so-so teams winning "handily" and a 20 point loss not getting blown out. OK.

threshold for blowouts is more like 25 - 30 or more, IMHO, for a top 25 opponent.

In the last month, other than UofM (3 points) our closest win was 12 point on the road vs. Missouri State.

I believe we have 7 double digit wins so far this season.

Only 3 MAC teams, including EMU, have more than 7 wins, of any margin, so far this season (EMU, CMU, and Kent).

(12-24-2014 07:57 AM)axeme Wrote:  66-46 is not a blowout? Keep telling yourself that. If it isn't, what is the point threshold for a blowout? I think if you beat any decent team by 20 or more, you'll call it a blowout. You call single digit wins over so-so teams winning "handily" and a 20 point loss not getting blown out. OK.

I'd say it was a blowout. We had it down to an 11 point deficit with about 10 minutes left, but the wheels fell off again after that. Just a horrendous offensive game from us.

Context of the game is what is important. We were up 18 on UNCG with about 5 minutes left and put in our walk-ons. UNCG scored a few more points at the very end and it ended up being a 9 point win. YSU kept it close with some threes, but we had a comfortable lead in the last few minutes. But fair enough, we didn't beat them "handily". Does that count differently in the standings?

I guess the point of your post was to just argue semantics. Whatever. I'm happy with our record, just as Steve is.

Just pointing out that puffing up wins and diminishing losses is noticed.

Winning is enough of a statement in itself and losses are just losses. No shame in beating lesser teams by 1. Good teams find ways to win games in which they struggle.

The final score frequently doesn't reveal the nature of the game as the point swing in the last minute or so can swing 8-10 points and distort the closeness or lack of in a game. An 8 point win could have been a nail biter into the last minute and a 2-3 point win could have really never been in doubt. I remember a game I think last year where KSU was beating someone early in the season and had the game totally in hand, double digit lead for most of the second half, but the opponent hit a bunch of 3's in the last couple of minutes or so including one at the buzzer to make it a 3 or 4 point win that really was not close. And we all know games that are back and forth struggles all game long, but a turnover or two in the last minute plus FT's make the final score not seem close.

EMU is having an excellent pre-conference performance. No need to try and make it seem more than it is. What it is is plenty good enough. Enjoy.

Or else, EMU has played one bad game this season (MSU).

But as most D-I have played say 10 - 15 games, one bad loss is no big deal. Almost all teams have had at least one loss, typically a shocker. EDIT: ONLY 5 undefeated D-I teams.

Arizona had theirs last night. MSU last week. UofM had a couple. Etc. etc. Lot of bad, bad losses out there this season.

UM has had more than a couple of bad losses, i.e. they are not a good team. Four bad losses in a row, though in fairness, losing a close game to EMU is only a bad loss in the bloated perspective of a UM fan, not to anyone who sees the talent on the floor.

(12-24-2014 09:30 AM)axeme Wrote:  UM has had more than a couple of bad losses, i.e. they are not a good team. Four bad losses in a row, though in fairness, losing a close game to EMU is only a bad loss in the bloated perspective of a UM fan, not to anyone who sees the talent on the floor.

UofM is interesting.

They were a very good team until they ran into a brick wall, which started their 'downward spiral.'

Before that, they were easily top 25 with only a 5 point loss to a very good 'Nova team. They had beaten Oregon, Syracuse, etc.

Things happen where a team is flying high and then hit turbulence.