I read that UofM starts tomorrow:

"This year's candidate entering the start of full fall practice on Friday makes sense, given the furious finish last season."

I assume all teams start approximately the same time as EMU and UofM both start the season Nov 13.

The Sporting News mag is out. They (Elton Alexander) picks EMU #5 in the MAC West (although in all honesty he says that teams #3 - #6 i.e., BSU, UT, EMU and NIU could be shuffled in any order).

What Elton does/doesn't know.

Lee is a star in the MAC.

Bond has big upside.

Thompson could be as good as any frosh in the conference.

Toney can be a solid PG.

Nazione will be Nazione. Blue collar player on a team which might have some stars.

My top three in the west are: CMU, WMU and EMU. Not sure why Elton gave BSU all of the love... Better, yes, but better than EMU???? Really.

This is a first year in a while that I am not that educated about our roster - looking forward to watching these newcomers play. Still - Fifth spot in the MAC West seems a little disrespectful.

(10-01-2015 12:10 PM)emu steve Wrote:  The Sporting News mag is out. They (Elton Alexander) picks EMU #5 in the MAC West (although in all honesty he says that teams #3 - #6 i.e., BSU, UT, EMU and NIU could be shuffled in any order).

What Elton does/doesn't know.

Lee is a star in the MAC.

Bond has big upside.

Thompson could be as good as any frosh in the conference.

Toney can be a solid PG.

Nazione will be Nazione. Blue collar player on a team which might have some stars.

My top three in the west are: CMU, WMU and EMU. Not sure why Elton gave BSU all of the love... Better, yes, but better than EMU???? Really.

I'm a fan of Blue Ribbon myself -- very comprehensive. TSN is pretty thin in its analyses.

(10-02-2015 01:01 AM)holybovine Wrote:  

(10-01-2015 12:10 PM)emu steve Wrote:  The Sporting News mag is out. They (Elton Alexander) picks EMU #5 in the MAC West (although in all honesty he says that teams #3 - #6 i.e., BSU, UT, EMU and NIU could be shuffled in any order).

What Elton does/doesn't know.

Lee is a star in the MAC.

Bond has big upside.

Thompson could be as good as any frosh in the conference.

Toney can be a solid PG.

Nazione will be Nazione. Blue collar player on a team which might have some stars.

My top three in the west are: CMU, WMU and EMU. Not sure why Elton gave BSU all of the love... Better, yes, but better than EMU???? Really.

I'm a fan of Blue Ribbon myself -- very comprehensive. TSN is pretty thin in its analyses.

Blue Ribbon should be available soon. It can be purchased online as a PDF file or big magazine or both.

I think we'll be a better scoring team but will the offensive upside offset what I expect will be a weaker defense, we no longer have 2-3 bigs in the middle to offset fouling problems at center. Price will really need to step in up this year don't know what to expect from Alvano, Perry and Noble but they will need to contribute. Losing LWH really hurts.

(10-02-2015 05:59 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I think we'll be a better scoring team but will the offensive upside offset what I expect will be a weaker defense, we no longer have 2-3 bigs in the middle to offset fouling problems at center. Price will really need to step in up this year don't know what to expect from Alvano, Perry and Noble but they will need to contribute. Losing LWH really hurts.

The four will be Brandon and Jordan. How good is Jordan. IDK (I don't know).

The big problem will be when Thompson needs to come out for a rest or foul problems.

Next year we'll be in heaven with Madray and LWH who can play the four and five along with Thompson.

Next year: Madray, Thompson and Bond will be a very exciting front line in the MAC. Very nice length, athleticism, etc. This will be fun!!

I just read the BR Yearbook (digital version). Couple of takeaways.

1). Yes, LWH is one class short and will redshirt this year. EDIT: suggestion is that he'll be a '5' man next year. I assume Madray will be pretty exclusively a '4'.

2). Nobles is up to 210 lbs. (must have had a great summer in the weight room).

3). Is Murphy planning on starting EA and bringing Toney off the bench. Haven't we seen this movie before (hint: last year about this time)?

And yes, the write up suggests that THIS year, with one senior, is the year before the BIG year, 2016/17.

I don't believe in the 'wait till next year' mantra in MLB. Why should team X be much, much improved over this year unless something happens which can't be predicted now (e.g., signing a bunch of superstars during the off season).

In college sports, esp. basketball, it is easy to see how a team might be much better (or worse) off in a year or two. UofM's Fab Five case in point. The team got much, much better because of the infusion of new talent.

Kentucky is the opposite. They lost enough players to stock a NBA team (almost, okay).

But, EMU is really lining up to have all of its ducks in order for 2016/17. Should be solid at every position, have depth, experience playing together as a team, mostly upperclassmen. Etc. etc.

(10-02-2015 03:28 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(10-02-2015 01:01 AM)holybovine Wrote:  

(10-01-2015 12:10 PM)emu steve Wrote:  The Sporting News mag is out. They (Elton Alexander) picks EMU #5 in the MAC West (although in all honesty he says that teams #3 - #6 i.e., BSU, UT, EMU and NIU could be shuffled in any order).

What Elton does/doesn't know.

Lee is a star in the MAC.

Bond has big upside.

Thompson could be as good as any frosh in the conference.

Toney can be a solid PG.

Nazione will be Nazione. Blue collar player on a team which might have some stars.

My top three in the west are: CMU, WMU and EMU. Not sure why Elton gave BSU all of the love... Better, yes, but better than EMU???? Really.

I'm a fan of Blue Ribbon myself -- very comprehensive. TSN is pretty thin in its analyses.

Blue Ribbon should be available soon. It can be purchased online as a PDF file or big magazine or both.

I preordered my Blue Ribbon magazine. However, they have not given an estimated date to ship which is frustrating.

(10-03-2015 05:14 PM)vannzee Wrote:  

(10-02-2015 03:28 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(10-02-2015 01:01 AM)holybovine Wrote:  

(10-01-2015 12:10 PM)emu steve Wrote:  The Sporting News mag is out. They (Elton Alexander) picks EMU #5 in the MAC West (although in all honesty he says that teams #3 - #6 i.e., BSU, UT, EMU and NIU could be shuffled in any order).

What Elton does/doesn't know.

Lee is a star in the MAC.

Bond has big upside.

Thompson could be as good as any frosh in the conference.

Toney can be a solid PG.

Nazione will be Nazione. Blue collar player on a team which might have some stars.

My top three in the west are: CMU, WMU and EMU. Not sure why Elton gave BSU all of the love... Better, yes, but better than EMU???? Really.

I'm a fan of Blue Ribbon myself -- very comprehensive. TSN is pretty thin in its analyses.

Blue Ribbon should be available soon. It can be purchased online as a PDF file or big magazine or both.

I preordered my Blue Ribbon magazine. However, they have not given an estimated date to ship which is frustrating.

You could have paid a few bucks more and got the PDF copy (also).

A big + about a PDF copy is being able to search a PDF from Acrobat Reader.

I searched for 'Lekan Ajayi' and found that he is now at Cal State-Northridge (in case anyone was curious).

(10-04-2015 03:46 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(10-03-2015 05:14 PM)vannzee Wrote:  

(10-02-2015 03:28 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(10-02-2015 01:01 AM)holybovine Wrote:  

(10-01-2015 12:10 PM)emu steve Wrote:  The Sporting News mag is out. They (Elton Alexander) picks EMU #5 in the MAC West (although in all honesty he says that teams #3 - #6 i.e., BSU, UT, EMU and NIU could be shuffled in any order).

What Elton does/doesn't know.

Lee is a star in the MAC.

Bond has big upside.

Thompson could be as good as any frosh in the conference.

Toney can be a solid PG.

Nazione will be Nazione. Blue collar player on a team which might have some stars.

My top three in the west are: CMU, WMU and EMU. Not sure why Elton gave BSU all of the love... Better, yes, but better than EMU???? Really.

I'm a fan of Blue Ribbon myself -- very comprehensive. TSN is pretty thin in its analyses.

Blue Ribbon should be available soon. It can be purchased online as a PDF file or big magazine or both.

I preordered my Blue Ribbon magazine. However, they have not given an estimated date to ship which is frustrating.

You could have paid a few bucks more and got the PDF copy (also).

A big + about a PDF copy is being able to search a PDF from Acrobat Reader.

I searched for 'Lekan Ajayi' and found that he is now at Cal State-Northridge (in case anyone was curious).

True but I am just not a big fan of E reading. I prefer a hard copy and enjoy saving that book for future nostalgic reasons.

Interesting about Ajayi, did they list any comments about him?

Can't wait to get my copy

(10-04-2015 04:16 AM)vannzee Wrote:  

(10-04-2015 03:46 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(10-03-2015 05:14 PM)vannzee Wrote:  

(10-02-2015 03:28 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(10-02-2015 01:01 AM)holybovine Wrote:  I'm a fan of Blue Ribbon myself -- very comprehensive. TSN is pretty thin in its analyses.

Blue Ribbon should be available soon. It can be purchased online as a PDF file or big magazine or both.

I preordered my Blue Ribbon magazine. However, they have not given an estimated date to ship which is frustrating.

You could have paid a few bucks more and got the PDF copy (also).

A big + about a PDF copy is being able to search a PDF from Acrobat Reader.

I searched for 'Lekan Ajayi' and found that he is now at Cal State-Northridge (in case anyone was curious).

True but I am just not a big fan of E reading. I prefer a hard copy and enjoy saving that book for future nostalgic reasons.

Interesting about Ajayi, did they list any comments about him?

Can't wait to get my copy

just a short paragraph or two that he is strong and will give some solid minutes around the basket...

We need Ajayi on our team this year...

Thanks for the info, Steve.

Interestung to know where Ajavi went. coincidently, I lived in LA for a while near north ridge. They were my adopted mid-major team while I lived there. Decent basketball actually. Wish Ajavi the best. But man he would've been a big plus this year especially with LWH out. Samuels same thing.

Great points about a year from now- I am excited. But to caution, the only proven stud/star on this team is Ray Lee. Some one else pointed out he is a prime candidate to be recruited as a graduate transfer. I do recognize the potential for other stars to emerge among this group though (Bond, Stone, Thompson, etc)

Can someone explain to me why Madray is listed on the EMU roster? I am pretty sure that other transfer students (Price, Talley) were NOT listed on the roster during their sit out year.

I am pretty sure that Jodan Price was listed his transfer year, not sure on Talley

(10-04-2015 04:26 PM)vannzee Wrote:  I am pretty sure that Jodan Price was listed his transfer year, not sure on Talley

You are right Price was listed, I remember now. Might have been wishful thinking on my part. Thanks for the reminder.

The news from Steve's BR recap about Nobles being up to 210 is really big.

Depending on how Toney pans out and Bonds develops, positions 1-3 has the potential to be as good as it has been the last two years. Should have solid second unit in EA, Magnum, and Price if they don't surprise us with a little more. I feel good about this.

Huge question marks in the front court though, with few potential answers. Nobles weight is an early good sign. We'll see.

I like Steve's idea about Price backing up at the 4 a little. He is physically very strong and could defend this position well. If his 3 shot finally lives up to expectations, he would be an ideal backup to Nazione as being a stretch 4 change up.

This would leave the two tallest players to fill the center position. 2 freshman. Yikes. What is the take on Thompson? I know he was a major conference recruit. That is all

(10-04-2015 05:09 PM)rayEMU Wrote:  The news from Steve's BR recap about Nobles being up to 210 is really big.

Depending on how Toney pans out and Bonds develops, positions 1-3 has the potential to be as good as it has been the last two years. Should have solid second unit in EA, Magnum, and Price if they don't surprise us with a little more. I feel good about this.

Huge question marks in the front court though, with few potential answers. Nobles weight is an early good sign. We'll see.

I like Steve's idea about Price backing up at the 4 a little. He is physically very strong and could defend this position well. If his 3 shot finally lives up to expectations, he would be an ideal backup to Nazione as being a stretch 4 change up.

This would leave the two tallest players to fill the center position. 2 freshman. Yikes. What is the take on Thompson? I know he was a major conference recruit. That is all

I have heard great early reviews on Thompson. He is a good finisher around the hoop and much more athletic than previous big centers we have had (Samuels, Ajayi, Riley). Post moves are still raw. In my opinion his offensive game will just be gravy as long as he can anchor the zone with his long body.

Reviewing the roster, a few ideas pop into my head:

-Stone was a HUGE freshman recruit for EMU. Is he too good to redshirt even with the logjam at guard?

-Toney has the height of a guard at 6'2" but the weight of a front court player at 225 lbs. I know he once stated he was not happy at Appalachia St because they played him as a PG. Wonder if we 'll see him in more of a SG/SF reserve role, rather than PG.

-Mangum averaged more assists at the JC ranks than Toney. Could be the more natural PG to compete with EA and Stone.

-Bonds is listed strictly as a guard, not a guard/forward. Does this say anything about his potential role as a SF?

(10-04-2015 06:05 PM)EAGLE KING Wrote:  I have heard great early reviews on Thompson. He is a good finisher around the hoop and much more athletic than previous big centers we have had (Samuels, Ajayi, Riley). Post moves are still raw. In my opinion his offensive game will just be gravy as long as he can anchor the zone with his long body.

That is reassuring thanks.