So Eastern finished off Central State, has finals to finish off before heading to So. Cal late in the week.

Don't know much about Long Beach State but we got plenty of time to study them.

Dear Friends,
After looking at their website, they are 5-7 overall with wins against Oregon State and Stanford. Their team is relatively tall with most players in the 6'4" to 6'8" range. I didn't look up the last time we played in Ypsilanti, but I believe we won that game. It could be a tough game.

Their record is a head scratcher. You see some of the teams they’ve beaten and some of the teams they’ve lost to and can’t get a good read on who they really are.

these guys are masochists. they've already played Stanford, Missouri, Oregon State, Fresno State, Nebraska, West Virginia and they're about to play Michigan State the game after us. that's the mid-major version of Tom Izzo scheduling.

they have two guys who put up a lot of threes and hit them at a good rate. Bryan Alberts shoots seven a game and hits 40%. Jordan Griffin shoots five a game and hits 48%. those are impressive numbers. Gabe Levin is their top scorer and rebounder, and he's 6-7/230. If he matches up with Thompson, i like JTIV's chances.

based on this cursory review, i'm going to say Eastern 95, Long Beach State 47.

(12-10-2017 11:53 AM)EMUAARON Wrote:  these guys are masochists. they've already played Stanford, Missouri, Oregon State, Fresno State, Nebraska, West Virginia and they're about to play Michigan State the game after us. that's the mid-major version of Tom Izzo scheduling.

they have two guys who put up a lot of threes and hit them at a good rate. Bryan Alberts shoots seven a game and hits 40%. Jordan Griffin shoots five a game and hits 48%. those are impressive numbers. Gabe Levin is their top scorer and rebounder, and he's 6-7/230. If he matches up with Thompson, i like JTIV's chances.

based on this cursory review, i'm going to say Eastern 95, Long Beach State 47.

I (vaguely) remember last year's game. They played a grueling schedule (like this year) and were on the road, and they were completely out of it.

We routed a team. Things like that happen.

The Washington Wizards recently went on the road and lost to Utah by 49 points and then won their next game, also on the road.

Teams need to be careful when scheduling not to induce losing streaks or weary games.

They're more accomplished than any of our mid-major foes to date, but that's not what worries me. What really worries me is that we are traveling to Long Beach State. A home game would be EMU by 10.

I also looked into the Stanford win - they did it with a three-guard look. I sincerely hope they attempt that against EMU.

(12-12-2017 10:02 AM)Block_E Wrote:  They're more accomplished than any of our mid-major foes to date, but that's not what worries me. What really worries me is that we are traveling to Long Beach State. A home game would be EMU by 10.

I also looked into the Stanford win - they did it with a three-guard look. I sincerely hope they attempt that against EMU.

Looking at the Sagarin rankings + home court for LBSU = pick em game.

Not sure whom will be the betting favorite, but it is likely to be by say 1 or max of 2 points.

As indicated above, travel is always an issue for any team traveling to or from the West Coast. I think EMU leaves Thursday. An extra day out of the cold and snow.

(12-13-2017 09:45 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Looking at the Sagarin rankings + home court for LBSU = pick em game.

Did you notice what their SOschedule did to warp their RPI rankings? I loled.

TL;DR since the conference season usually will be around 11 wins at most, a 20-win season requires wins at LBSU and Oakland.

So I'm looking at the magic 20-win number. Win sources are :

1. Non-conference play (currently 7 wins with 4 games to play)
2. Conference play (18 games to play, usually 8 to 9 wins; no MAC team topped 12 wins last year)
3. Tournament play (0 - 4 games, usually we win 2).

To hit 20 wins, we really need this one. And Oakland. If we won both (and did not upset Syracuse) we would be 10-3 going into conference play. Then if we went .500, Murphy's team would enter the tournament at 19.

My bigger point is that without wins at LBSU and Oakland, we likely enter conference play at 8-5. Then if we go .500, we're at 17 - 18 wins and need a very long MAC tournament run to get to 20.

O/T, but when we return to MI to play Oakland, we will face a team with injuries.

https://twitter.com/TonyPaul1984/status/...9733916673

BTW, it now looks like the LBSU game will be on Big West TV Saturday. Looks like conference webcasting, I think.

http://www.bigwest.org/sports/mbball/

(12-14-2017 02:44 PM)emu steve Wrote:  BTW, it now looks like the LBSU game will be on Big West TV Saturday. Looks like conference webcasting, I think.

http://www.bigwest.org/sports/mbball/

No ESPN3 broadcast?

(12-14-2017 02:50 PM)realistEagle Wrote:  

(12-14-2017 02:44 PM)emu steve Wrote:  BTW, it now looks like the LBSU game will be on Big West TV Saturday. Looks like conference webcasting, I think.

http://www.bigwest.org/sports/mbball/

No ESPN3 broadcast?

Nope. Schools' broadcasts follow their conference's media.

MAC is, obviously, an ESPN partner.

Some like Big West, Mountain West, etc. are not.