James Thompson IV, Nathan Boothe, Thomas Wilder, Chris Fowler, Jimmy Hall????

FOY: JT4

POY: Boothe (?)

I would take that starting 5.

I didn't care for the way Thompson IV carried himself with all of the head shaking and shoulder drooping but man he is good.

Pretty solid choices. A couple guys who impressed in person don't appear to be consistent so hard to add them but I really liked NIU's point. Boothe is top 15 in 11pf 23 MACstat categories. No doubt for me he's POYand Thompson has an equally strong case for FOY.

No way Thompson is better than Isaiah (Big Dog) Johnson of Akron.

(02-03-2016 03:35 PM)hilltopper Wrote:  No way Thompson is better than Isaiah (Big Dog) Johnson of Akron.

In a one-on-one matchup? No. Johnson was way too big for him. But he's having a better overall statistical season. Big Dog is a beast, but he suffers from playing behind another giant and on a very talented team with great balance. All-conference teams are usually stat-based, as unfair as that may be sometimes.

Thompson is averaging 34 minutes a game vs Johnsons 24 so that accounts for quite a bit of the statistical differences.

(02-03-2016 06:39 PM)hilltopper Wrote:  Thompson is averaging 34 minutes a game vs Johnsons 24 so that accounts for quite a bit of the statistical differences.

Which begs the question.....why is Johnson only playing 24? Haven't seen Thompson except briefly against BSU. Johnson is a load but Thompson has a bigger upside. EMU would be a mess without him.

Antonio Campbell is as good as any big man in the MAC.

(02-04-2016 09:48 AM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Antonio Campbell is as good as any big man in the MAC.

Surprisingly a LOT of good big men: JT4 (biggest upside), Boothe (putting up very nice numbers), Big Dog (tough to handle), Pat F (Akron's other big man), Campbell (Ohio's big man), Maric (NIU's big man).

BTW, other than Boothe, who can argue with JT4:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...hompson-iv

Circle these numbers: 15.5 ppg 11 rebounds /game 70% FG and FT%. 1.5 blocks /game

Gee, on those metrics, they are hard to top and no one in the conference beats JT4 in say 3 or more of those...

BTW, JT4 did not have a big day vs. Akron but they are a big team which can double the hell out of JT4.

I'm waiting for the game for some team to double JT4 and have Lee go off for 30 or more...

A little O/T, but is it fair to say, of say the top 10 players in the MAC this year, only two are seniors? (Boothe and Fowler)

Some day disagree with my 'Top 10' (though).

Which impact players are sitting out injured? Tava. Anyone else?

(02-04-2016 01:09 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 09:48 AM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Antonio Campbell is as good as any big man in the MAC.

Surprisingly a LOT of good big men: JT4 (biggest upside), Boothe (putting up very nice numbers), Big Dog (tough to handle), Pat F (Akron's other big man), Campbell (Ohio's big man), Maric (NIU's big man).

BTW, other than Boothe, who can argue with JT4:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...hompson-iv

Circle these numbers: 15.5 ppg 11 rebounds /game 70% FG and FT%. 1.5 blocks /game

Gee, on those metrics, they are hard to top and no one in the conference beats JT4 in say 3 or more of those...

BTW, JT4 did not have a big day vs. Akron but they are a big team which can double the hell out of JT4.

I'm waiting for the game for some team to double JT4 and have Lee go off for 30 or more...

They doubled Boothe for about two minutes at which point a severely overmatched Forsythe had two fouls. Johnson played well but Boothe ended p with 25 and 9. His major advantage is that he can step outside (as can Campbell) and he can pass out of the double (which Campbell doesn't ). Thompson may not play four for EMU, though. I think he's much more advanced as a freshman than Akron's ballyhooed Zeke Marshall from a couple years back.

(02-04-2016 01:09 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 09:48 AM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Antonio Campbell is as good as any big man in the MAC.

Surprisingly a LOT of good big men: JT4 (biggest upside), Boothe (putting up very nice numbers), Big Dog (tough to handle), Pat F (Akron's other big man), Campbell (Ohio's big man), Maric (NIU's big man).

BTW, other than Boothe, who can argue with JT4:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...hompson-iv

Circle these numbers: 15.5 ppg 11 rebounds /game 70% FG and FT%. 1.5 blocks /game

Gee, on those metrics, they are hard to top and no one in the conference beats JT4 in say 3 or more of those...

BTW, JT4 did not have a big day vs. Akron but they are a big team which can double the hell out of JT4.

I'm waiting for the game for some team to double JT4 and have Lee go off for 30 or more...

per game stat comparison:

Thompson: 30.9min, 15.5pts, .699 2ptFG%, N/A 3ptFG%, .705FT%, 10.9reb, 0.7ast, 1.5blk
ACampbell: 25.8min, 16.3pts, .645 2ptFG%, .386 3ptFG%. .784FT%, 9.3reb, 0.5ast, 1.8blk

Campbell has more points and blocks than Thompson while averaging 5 minutes less per game in playing time. Campbell shoots aw similarly high percentage inside the arc, but unlike Thompson, has the ability to step out and hit 3s, and do so with a high %. Campbell's FT% is also much higher.


Here's how they compare vs common opponents in pts, boards and blocks-

@Kent State
JT- 33min, 14pts, 10reb, 1blk
AC- 31min, 21pts, 9reb, 1blk

vBGSU
JT- 38min, 21pts, 14reb, 0blk
AC- 16min, 13pts, 3reb, 2blk

vBall State
JT- 39min, 23pts, 14reb, 1blk
AC- 34min, 27pts, 13reb, 1blk

@CMU
JT- 37min, 23pts, 8reb, 1blk
AC- 28min, 17pts, 12reb, 0blk

(02-04-2016 08:29 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Thompson: 30.9min, 15.5pts, .699 2ptFG%, N/A 3ptFG%, .705FT%, 10.9reb, 0.7ast, 1.5blk
ACampbell: 25.8min, 16.3pts, .645 2ptFG%, .386 3ptFG%. .784FT%, 9.3reb, 0.5ast, 1.8blk

i didn't realize Campbell is having such a solid season. well done.

(02-05-2016 12:21 AM)EMUAARON Wrote:  

(02-04-2016 08:29 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Thompson: 30.9min, 15.5pts, .699 2ptFG%, N/A 3ptFG%, .705FT%, 10.9reb, 0.7ast, 1.5blk
ACampbell: 25.8min, 16.3pts, .645 2ptFG%, .386 3ptFG%. .784FT%, 9.3reb, 0.5ast, 1.8blk

i didn't realize Campbell is having such a solid season. well done.

Bobcat fans, buy those tickets now for the epic battle: Campbell vs. Thompson...

Dumb (?) but isn't Campbell really a forward, not a center?

Or not germane to this discussion?

(02-05-2016 05:46 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Dumb (?) but isn't Campbell really a forward, not a center?

I'd classify him as a center. He can step out and hit the three but he plays the majority of the game with his back to the basket.

boothe is a center who can shoot and pass from outside. sort of a point center type. has developed into an excellent defensive rebounder and outlet passer.

campbell plays mac center and knows his spots outside. he's also a good defender and rebounder. still has a year to get better.

thompson is a high level finisher and good all around interior player. productive now with great potential. can he energize an emu fan base? will emu always have too many gunners to become a great team that maximizes it's best player?

i love isaiah johnson's game. dambrot always plays a lot of guys so no one has huge numbers. but big dog is efficient and a presence against any opponent. has a year to get better.

(02-06-2016 01:59 AM)pono Wrote:  boothe is a center who can shoot and pass from outside. sort of a point center type. has developed into an excellent defensive rebounder and outlet passer.

campbell plays mac center and knows his spots outside. he's also a good defender and rebounder. still has a year to get better.

thompson is a high level finisher and good all around interior player. productive now with great potential. can he energize an emu fan base? will emu always have too many gunners to become a great team that maximizes it's best player?

i love isaiah johnson's game. dambrot always plays a lot of guys so no one has huge numbers. but big dog is efficient and a presence against any opponent. has a year to get better.

This is definitely a great year for MAC big men. Granted, I've seen Johnson more than the others, and am a bit biased, but I think he is no. 2 this year behind Boothe. And his potential is higher than any current big in the league.

His numbers are lower due to Dambrot's 10 deep philosophy, and having Forsythe taking up minutes. But Johnson is the best player on what looks like the best team in the league. His ultimate advantage (for NBA potential) over any of the other bigs in the MAC is that he is a massive human being who has great basketball skill. At 6-10, 305 nobody can stop him one-on-one when he gets paint position. Then, you can't double him because he reads it so well and is great at kicking to the open man out of the double. If he can continue to be a 70 percent FT shooter (which he has been the last month after a horrendous Start), there are very few big men in college basketball (let alone the MAC) who can handle him.

You're starting to see it this year, but next year for sure, he is going to put up MAC POY type numbers. Nobody at Akron under Dambrot has averaged more than 14 points per game. Johnson could get close to that this year. But next year, when this offense absolutely runs through him, he will easily shatter that. I think he could be around 18-10-3 when he is a 30 MPG player who is even more of the man the offense revolves around,

Btw, time to start talking about Akron's Josh Williams for all frosh team. Like everybody at Akron under Dambrot, his numbers are suppressed due to the 10 deep rotation. But he's a guy who was first team, big school All Ohio as a sophomore at a very good Barberton program. He then transferred to Akron SVSM (one of the programs in the country, who had 5-6 D1 players both years he was there, and he was arguably their best player both his junior and senior year).

He's been up and down, but after back-to-back 20 and 21 point games, he is playing up to his potential. He's somebody that if he didn't commit to Akron as a sophomore and never waivered, would've been a guy the recruiting services loved. He's like another Northeast Ohio prospect Frankie Hughes. Both are great HS players on loaded teams. The difference is Williams committed as a sophomore and Hughes as a senior. Wiliams is at Akron, while Hughes signed with Louisville. But people who saw them both in HS would objectively say they are similar in terms of potential.