(03-07-2018 11:13 AM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote: (03-07-2018 10:43 AM)FrankAnderson Wrote: Any chance Miami upsets Toledo tomorrow night? We dominated the RedHawks both times we played them. I think that's an even better match up for us if we beat Akron.
I had the same thought. I think that is a potential upset.
EMU needs to focus 100% on Akron first. We don't play well enough to take anyone for granted.
Amen. Murphy has done well in the past to get his boys ready for the tournament. Akron won't have a lot of time to prepare for the zone, either.
I hope I'm not jinxing us (as I knock profusely on my wooden desk), but this is a dream matchup. Akron starts 3 guards, a stocky 6'6 forward, and a 6'11 slow-footed center. They made their huge run against WMU with Daniel Utomi (the aforementioned 6'6 forward) as the tallest guy on the court, and quite often play with 4 guards.
Naturally, they jack up a ton of threes. Only CMU has attempted more in conference play. Generally, when that is your gameplan against us, it plays right into our hands. It's not easy to make threes when you have 6'1, 6'9, 6'7, and 6'9 sticking long arms in your face. They had some nice backdoor cuts against a non-existent WMU defense, but those won't work as often against us, and will be block-fodder if they do.
When we have the ball, I expect Thompson and Minnie to both get as many feeds as possible in the post. If they want to throw 4 guard lineups at us, bury them inside. Thompson should have no less than 12 shot attempts tomorrow night.
If we take care of the ball and get our post players touches around the rim, it should be an easy victory. But if we turn the ball over and Akron gets hot, it could be interesting. I just think our defense will be too much for them.
I have dark silver glasses.
