36 points off the bench, people. I love how much playing time everyone gets, I really believed that contributed to our win. Green bay started to looked tired towards the end and we didn't.

(11-17-2015 09:46 AM)Bucster Wrote:  36 points off the bench, people. I love how much playing time everyone gets, I really believed that contributed to our win. Green bay started to looked tired towards the end and we didn't.

They were sucking wind slumped over. We wore them down.

Love the fact that even though we got beat statistically in offensive rebounds, steals, and turnovers; were still able to pull out the Win. Such an awesome game!

Also, we had 9 blocks WOW

I came home and watched some of the game again on my DVR. I just wanted to hear some of the commentary and see some of those amazing dunks again. We just got a new 4k UHD TV and WOW did the Bucs look good playing on it. Also loved seeing the E logo at the start of the commercial breaks. We need to be on ESPN more.

I was ready for the crowd to start throwing rotten eggs and tomatoes at the refs on some of those calls. Sheesh!

The ESPN commentators were discussing the conditioning coach and how he had been hired to exclusively work with men's and women's basketball. They seemed quite impressed with how that stamina helped through the game.

Yeah the officiating was driving me crazy towards the end. Green Bay shot 38 free throws! But you want to hear another good stat? We were 90.5% on our free throw attempts while Green Bay was only 63%. Gotta love that.

My favorite stat of the day:

1.

The number of silent bus trips to the Tri-Cities Airport that the Phoenix had to take this morning.

Attendance was almost 4000. I think that's pretty impressive for a 6am game.

Most Awesome Game Ever!! Atmosphere was amazing with fans louder than I have ever heard in Freedom Hall (especially for 6:00 in the morning) Our team is really FUN to watch!! "It's GREAT To Be A Buccaneer" Go Bucs!! ETSUTough

Best win since Stephen F. Austin. Bucs are definitely fun to watch this year.

What a difference in style: by 4:30 into the game, Forbes had already played 10 guys!!!!!!!!!!

And unlike Bartow who would cling like grim death to a favored player, and yank a guy as soon as he made a mistake, Forbes was unafraid to pull players who were playing well at the time, and give somebody else a chance to do well. Do this, and by the end of the game your players are still fresh and the other guys are exhausted (especially if they've just flown to the West Coast and played an overtime game versus Stanford).

Giving guys a chance inspires confidence. I've never seen Isaac Banks and Desonta Bradford play with such confidence. I would have bet that they would be eclipsed on this team. It is so easy for a new coach to play "his" guys and push the others out. Instead Desonta got 22 minutes, 9 points on 4-8, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 0 turnovers. Banks got 29 minutes, 12 points on 5-6, 5 rebounds, 1 assist 1 t.o., 2 blocks and the best defense he's ever played - from a guy who, until this year, has been a defensive liability.

The Bucs started slow, getting outscored 15-4, and then went on a 15-4 run of their own to tie it at 19 all at 10:12. Then they pressed ahead at half by 48-41, led by Benny Lufile with 10 points on 4-6, 6 rebounds, 2 assists to 1 t.o., 1 steal and 2 blocks in just 11 minutes. That's one hell of a first half. It's also almost his entire production for the game. But this team can afford to have guys taking turns.

A.J. and Petey struggled with foul trouble the first half, Guyn battled (5 rebounds, 5 pts on 2-6, 2 assists, 2 t.o.'s) but was not efficient. Cromer had a quiet 9 points on 4-11. Peter Jurkin had some good moments in only 6 minutes - 2 rebounds, 4 points on 2-3 (one really nice high bank) and 2 blocks. But overall we struggled some against a good, physical, aggressive team that first half, shooting 48% and 23% from 3, with 9 t.o.'s.

Second half was a much better story for the Bucs, as they shot 56.3% from the field 53.8% from 3 and 92.3% from the line and only 4 t.o.'s, led by 21 from Ge'lawn, and 8 apiece from A.J., Banks and Cromer. They pulled away from a tiring but game Green Bay. Lester Wilson is still deadly from 3 (2-3 in only 7 minutes). Bello got 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 t.o. and 1 block in 21 minutes. Guyn was ferocious, but really needs to look to distribute a little more and shoot a little less (4 assists and 5 t.o.'s on the day). I remember once in particular when he had T.J. Cromer, who had just hit a 3, open on the perimeter, and instead of passing he drove it into 3 guys and got stripped. Still, you've got to love his intense, non stop, competitive play.

On the day it was 51.4% from the field (to 41.3%) 38.5% from the arc (to 26.7%) from 3 and a stunning 90.5% (19-21) from the free throw line, compared to 63.2% (a whopping 38 free throws awarded, but only 24 makes). The Bucs only got 2 steals to 11 for Green Bay, and made 17 assists and 13 t.o.'s to Green Bay's 11 and 9. We got outrebounded 45 to 44 and occasionally outhustled on the boards and occasionally outhustled getting back on defense. Definitely some things to improve here.

But a pretty fine start in our first action against a D1 team. Hard not to be impressed overall. The upside for this team is tremendous.

I was out of town . Hated to miss the game but it was a special treat to be able to watch it on ESPN 2 .

Great comeback after a slow start.

Nice to see the Bucs beat somebody on a bigger stage again.

I really enjoyed the sound, too. Such a pleasure to go to Freedom Hall and actually hear what is being said.

What a different feeling leaving FH today versus the feeling I had leaving Asheville 8 months ago.

(11-17-2015 11:41 AM)Bucfaithful Wrote:  What a different feeling feeling leaving FH today versus the feeling I had leaving Asheville 8 months ago.

The all around differences now are night and day from what we have had to endure in seasons past.

It's a complete turnaround...I couldn't even bear to watch the last 4 games last year because I knew what the result would be. Now I can't stop thinking about the next game.

(11-17-2015 10:29 AM)Bucfan4life Wrote:  Most Awesome Game Ever!! Atmosphere was amazing with fans louder than I have ever heard in Freedom Hall (especially for 6:00 in the morning) Our team is really FUN to watch!! "It's GREAT To Be A Buccaneer" Go Bucs!! ETSUTough

I know who was making the most noise Bucfan4life....it was you! I thought the glory years was all I was gonna get....but these guys have me thinking it's possible ETSU has another run of national prominence....another run at slaying giant nationally ranked teams.... Wow. Thank you Jesus for letting me watch this game...I am encouraged. Way to go Coach Forbes and staff. Thanks team! In March I will travel to watch wherever you go.

Coach Forbes is going to be on the Tony Basilio Show out of Knoxville in a few minutes.

TB Show

Pretty much sums it up.

I'm blown away. I was a huge Pro-Morrell guy during the search, but was ecstatic when we hired Forbes. Forbes has exceeded my expectations in recruiting already and is showing that he is going to do what it takes to win big and win big now. He gets it. I just hope we can hold onto him for several years because we've got the seeds in place now to make some noise.

The next two games will be fun to watch. I really like our matchup against Georgia Tech, but that Friday-Sunday Philly to Atlanta turnaround will be tough. It's going to be a fun year.

Proud of everyone back home that showed up this morning. The crowd came across well on TV... as did those terrible 1970's orange seats in Freedom Hall (but that's another topic for another day). Go Bucs!

ESPN recap with Guyn-to-Merriweather 'oop:
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...=400827778

It was only one game, but that's the best group of ETSU players I've seen in a long while. Very deep cast of top notch playmakers.

Can't wait to see them again.

This is certainly the most athletic ETSU team in quite some time, probably the deepest in terms of number of guys who can sub with little drop off. Forbes said in his introductory press conference that he recruits offense and teaches defense which showed today. The scoring once the players actually woke up with contagious. There isn't much in terms of low post scoring but that will come with time/recruiting. The depth and talent on the wing is ungodly. Eventually we're going to have to stop some people but for now, shoot away!