(02-23-2016 10:51 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
I attended tonight's game with my brother. My take on the game is how did we lose in Kalamazoo? Western looked slow and very unorganized. Yes they had some nice hook shots right under the basket, but overall, we must have really been bad at their place. I agree we sometimes try to get too fancy instead of just playing solid basketball, and yes, Lamonta was not on the bench.

We lost because Thomas Wilder seemingly hit every shot he took in K'Zoo. Quite the opposite tonight.

ESPN seems to be convinced Willie's last name is "Mangrum."

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...=400841947

Now that was a nice, drama-free, solid victory. Love our guard play right now. Keep Thompson out of foul trouble, and we've got a formula.

If we beat Ball State on Saturday, we will turn the whole season around. Can we do it?

(02-23-2016 10:51 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
I attended tonight's game with my brother. My take on the game is how did we lose in Kalamazoo? Western looked slow and very unorganized. Yes they had some nice hook shots right under the basket, but overall, we must have really been bad at their place. I agree we sometimes try to get too fancy instead of just playing solid basketball, and yes, Lamonta was not on the bench.

Ken, one thing which normally happens in sports, namely, as teams start losing they start going downhill like a snow ball (the opposite, of course, is also true: Good team build positive momentum).

I agree this was not a good WMU team we saw last night.

I did not see any fire in their belly last night.

BTW, one can say if 1) one of our backup PGs, EA or Stone, had stepped up OR 2). LWH had been eligible we could compete with the best in the MAC.

One could say our 'first 6 - starters + 6th man' line up with any in the MAC.

It is our bench which does not match up with the better MAC benches (Doesn't Akron have a strong bench?).

EDIT: Here are the Akron stats. They have 8 players averaging 7 or more points per game. We have 6.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...akron-zips

One thing which I think is obvious is that JT4 and Toney are being asked to play as many minutes as they can. There are not productive backups behind them. Brown plays a few minutes but, quite frankly, struggles against good MAC centers.

It would be nice if Toney could get 10 minutes of rest per game.

Good point, Steve. Although we are able to use Mangum and Lee at the same time and have Bond bring the ball up. With Thompson on the bench, we are at a huge disadvantage. There is no question in my mind that we would have another 2-3 wins (at least) if we had a competent back up center. LWH and Madray aren't exactly Mike Samuels or Lekan Ajayi in terms of size, but they are both wayyy bigger than Blake Brown, who is not a center in the slightest.

That's been, by and large, our biggest problem this year...our best player doesn't have a proper back up. It impacts his game when he can't defend or rebound aggressively because Murphy needs him to stay in the game at all costs. That changes next year. Even if neither of the new guys has much game at all (I've heard the contrary), at least they are big and they'll play hard. Already an upgrade.

I definitely agree with your points and could definitely see depth becoming an issue as we enter the MAC tournament. That said, I'm not 100% convinced that it will kill us. If Nobles continues to put in solid minutes, we have a good 7-man rotation. While neither Naz or Nobles can do the work down low that JTIV offers, together they are okay when they are not playing overly imposing big men. UT's big men are monsters and last night WMU played their 7-footer for most of the games. I love watching Nobles right now. If he puts on about 15 pounds in the off-season (not a trend we've seen with our guys) I'd be ecstatic. Good length, shoots the mid-range well, little more muscle to get those boards, he'd be dangerous. In terms of Toney's minutes, I'm not hugely concerned. He's averaging just north of 30 minutes a game (which I don't think is overly demanding) but there is a simple solution. Ray Lee is currently averaging 23.5.............. and he's the second leading scorer. Toney is clearly our true point but if we want him to sit more, play Ray more. Make the 3 guards a real rotation given that bond can bring the ball up the floor and Ty's primary role has not been dishing out assists (only averaging 3-4 per game).

Agree!!! Give Lee more minutes at PG.

good win in a sloppy, ugly game (particularly the first half). nice to put up points even when our offense looks disjointed. i think it's a result of having a higher level of talent on this team, particularly in the backcourt.

on a side note, has anyone ever bought courtside tickets? i've tried twice this season and both times the person at the window had no idea how to sell them, the manager was brought in and told us they're sold out, and then there were at least 15 empty courtside seats. what's the deal with that? i get it if they're earmarked for big donors who don't show up, but i never see them close to full (last night was the closest at a little over half full). i just want to feel like a big shot once in my life.

(02-24-2016 09:13 AM)EMUAARON Wrote:  good win in a sloppy, ugly game (particularly the first half). nice to put up points even when our offense looks disjointed. i think it's a result of having a higher level of talent on this team, particularly in the backcourt.

on a side note, has anyone ever bought courtside tickets? i've tried twice this season and both times the person at the window had no idea how to sell them, the manager was brought in and told us they're sold out, and then there were at least 15 empty courtside seats. what's the deal with that? i get it if they're earmarked for big donors who don't show up, but i never see them close to full (last night was the closest at a little over half full). i just want to feel like a big shot once in my life.

They are like reseve seating they can be bought and not used.

(02-24-2016 09:13 AM)EMUAARON Wrote:  good win in a sloppy, ugly game (particularly the first half). nice to put up points even when our offense looks disjointed. i think it's a result of having a higher level of talent on this team, particularly in the backcourt.

on a side note, has anyone ever bought courtside tickets? i've tried twice this season and both times the person at the window had no idea how to sell them, the manager was brought in and told us they're sold out, and then there were at least 15 empty courtside seats. what's the deal with that? i get it if they're earmarked for big donors who don't show up, but i never see them close to full (last night was the closest at a little over half full). i just want to feel like a big shot once in my life.

I bought them for a MAC home tourney game 2 years ago. Then used a groupon for them last year. The prices and way they use them changed for this season however.

(02-24-2016 08:21 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  Good point, Steve. Although we are able to use Mangum and Lee at the same time and have Bond bring the ball up. With Thompson on the bench, we are at a huge disadvantage. There is no question in my mind that we would have another 2-3 wins (at least) if we had a competent back up center. LWH and Madray aren't exactly Mike Samuels or Lekan Ajayi in terms of size, but they are both wayyy bigger than Blake Brown, who is not a center in the slightest.

That's been, by and large, our biggest problem this year...our best player doesn't have a proper back up. It impacts his game when he can't defend or rebound aggressively because Murphy needs him to stay in the game at all costs. That changes next year. Even if neither of the new guys has much game at all (I've heard the contrary), at least they are big and they'll play hard. Already an upgrade.

What I think us, as fans, need to understand is the PROCESS of how assembling a roster goes. I'm a PROCESS, PROCESS, PROCESS person.

1). Murphy got a good transfer, Madray, for next year. For the future.

2). Murphy then got LWH for this year.

3). Murphy then got JT4 for this year.

4). During the summer it became clear that LWH was say 50 - 50 of graduating and being eligible. That 50 - 50 coin flip did not go our way.

5). Blake Brown, as Sam indicates, is not a center. He apparently was added very late as a walk-on for the purpose of providing minutes up front, as needed. Teams do that: add walkons as practice players, emergency minutes, etc.

Some times team need to 'make do' with the best they can.

Some times the veil between a good team, a deep team and a team with depth problems and struggling is 'fate', e.g., academic issue, injury, etc. (insert comment on Tava and WMU here).

But college basketball is like that... Everyone plays with 13 scholarships. If fate shines upon a team, great. If not, that's life.

Someone once said: "I'd rather be lucky than good." (don't think he meant 'luckyone' from this board. Lol.).

I think Murphy deserves credit for playing 'long ball' or taking the long view. He could have used a scholarship (LWH's) in August and grabbed a JUCO reach. He did not. Murphy could have suited LWH up in January and blew a year's eligibility on a player who probably wouldn't have contributed much because he missed all of the practice, etc. from July 1 - Christmas.

Compare this to Bond last year. Bond was poised to start before he hurt his finger. He has practice from July - Oct. Bond, his family, and the staff decided NOT to redshirt him. But LWH's situation is VERY much different. To play him with one week of practice would have been foolish. It would have been a wasted season.

i completely forgot to mention this.....whoever was in the student section with the "Tucker, will you sign my poster?" sign is a damn genius. i loved it.

Whenever I'm talking to WMU folks on Hustle Belt or wherever, I love reminding them of that moment, Aaron! For those that didn't see what Aaron is talking about, here's the poster:

(02-24-2016 11:44 AM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  Whenever I'm talking to WMU folks on Hustle Belt or wherever, I love reminding them of that moment, Aaron! For those that didn't see what Aaron is talking about, here's the poster:

that was you??? well done. also, the link didn't work for me. not sure if it's my settings or the link itself.

Wasn't me! Was the students all on their own!

I'll see if I can get that picture to embed properly.

I know we have said this before but man would I love to see more folks in the student section. Stuff like this poster are cool but just flop without the whole section. Loved it though. On that note, I think athletics needs to do a better job of partnering with student orgs and other offices to draw students in. It's hard to believe the lack of support from the Greek community and residence halls.

Dear Time2fly,
Eastern's administration for the last couple of decades, has done nothing but discourage the Greek community. From eliminating the homecoming parade, to eliminating Greek Week, the Christmas Sing, to whatever. I have never understood the attitude of discouraging any organization that has made themselves part of the university community. So don't count on support from the Greeks.

(02-24-2016 01:33 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Time2fly,
Eastern's administration for the last couple of decades, has done nothing but discourage the Greek community. From eliminating the homecoming parade, to eliminating Greek Week, the Christmas Sing, to whatever. I have never understood the attitude of discouraging any organization that has made themselves part of the university community. So don't count on support from the Greeks.

They used to have a "Greek Game" every year for basketball when I was in school. There would be anywhere from 50 to a few hundred that this game would bring in just from Greek Life. They had contests during the timeouts and halftime. That appears to be long gone.

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Eastern Michigan Basketball
Predictions Update
Feb 24, 2016
• After beating W Michigan 73-62 yesterday, Eastern Michigan is now projected to finish the regular season 16-15 (8-10 MAC).
• The odds that the Eagles make the NCAA tournament are now up to 5%, an increase of 1% since yesterday.
• We now rank Eastern Michigan as the #148 team in the country, and the #5 team in the MAC.
• Next game: Sat, Feb 27 at #157 Ball State. Our power ratings give the Eagles a 37% chance to win.
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(if Selected)
5% 5% 14
• Eastern Michigan almost certainly won't get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, so they need to earn an automatic bid by winning the MAC tournament.
• As for that automatic bid ... Eastern Michigan has a 5% chance to win the conference tournament, which means they probably won't win, but there's an outside chance.
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Regular Season Record Projection
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Final Record
15-13
(7-8 MAC)
1-2
(1-2 MAC)
16-15
(8-10 MAC)
• The more precise final record expectation for Eastern Michigan is 16.3 wins and 14.7 losses, slightly better than the rounded projection above.
• Based on our projections, the Eagles will most likely finish the regular season with a record between 17-14 and 15-16.
• Eastern Michigan has a 7% chance to win the rest of their scheduled games.
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0% 9 5%
• The chance of Eastern Michigan winning the MAC tournament has increased by 1% since yesterday.
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Remaining Games & Win Odds
Feb 27
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@ #157 Ball State
36.6%
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Mar 1
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vs. #164 N Illinois
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Mar 4
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@ #112 Toledo
24.0%
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