This will be a difficult game. Ohio has the best overall record in the MAC and one of the better players in the league in DJ Cooper. Even scarier (at least in the long run) is that they go 9 or 10 deep, and none of them are seniors. Very impressive.
On paper, their weaknesses appear to be erratic 3-point shooting (outside of Nick Kellogg, who is shooting an impressive 43%) and a lack of size in the middle, as no one in their rotation is taller than 6'8. While they've made the most 3s in the MAC, they also have 77 more attempts than the next closest team. Hopefully our zone forces Cooper into hoisting up long 3s (which he seems to do anyway...averaging nearly 6 attempts a game), because his strength is clearly going to the basket.
We need our bigs to have good games. Riley, Harris, and Balkema need to give us something offensively, as they have height advantages (especially Riley). Lampley had his way with Porrini in the Kent game, so much so that they switched defenders...hopefully his strong play carries over. Two of the best scoring PGs in the MAC will be going against each other. That should be fun to watch.
I think we have the tools to pull an upset. We came oh so close against Kent...If we maintain the same level of intensity and get better games from our post players (although Harris was terrific on Wednesday), we could absolutely win this game.
I'm a big DJ Cooper fan. Watch closely, he's exactly what we need on our team. Very reminiscent of our own Lorenzo Neely.
Looks like we are sticking with the same starting lineup we used wednesday:
Lampley
Green
Dailey
Harris
Riley
3-0 EMU at the first TV timeout. Yep, it's exactly how you'd picture it.
7-0 with 13ish left in the 1st half. We are active on the defensive perimeter and Cooper is 0-2 from 3.
Ohio finally gets on the board with less than 10 minutes left in the half after Janton blows a box-out. Murphy called time out and tore him a new one.
27-17 at half. Impressive defensive effort.
-Jamell Harris had a great sequence late in the half, where he hit a 3 as the shot clock expired (yes, Harris hit a 3) and blocked a shot on the other end that led to Thompson hitting a jumper.
-I hate to keep bagging on Janton, but Ohio got some buckets on 2nd chances where Kamil was burned on box outs.
-Antonio Green has 10 points on some pretty efficient shooting, missing only one shot, which was at the end of the half.
Honestly, we couldn't ask for a better half in terms of the score. We still have SOOOO many offensive issues, but we knew that already. Keep that defensive pressure up and we should be OK.
Up 10 with 8:00 left. Derek Thompson providing a spark off the bench with 10 points. Nice to see, because he can get hot at any time. Just hasn't got the minutes this year.
Up 9 with just under 4 to play, but Lampley has been hit with a technical.
I'm trying not to think of the Miami game, but cannot help it.
And the Eagles win!!! 68-55.
-Derek Thompson was the hero, pouring in 23 points off the bench.
(02-11-2012 06:41 PM)EagleSam Wrote: [ -> ]And the Eagles win!!! 68-55.
-Derek Thompson was the hero, pouring in 23 points off the bench.
That wasn't one of the top 10 reasons to attend today's game...
How weird that our most convincing MAC win is against the team with the best overall record in the league?
By the way, I think this is our first RPI top 100 win in quite a while.
What a great win! Congrats to everyone, particularly Derek Thompson. We're all happy you stayed around, sir! I'm just so impressed with his character - he stuck around through some difficult adjustments for himself personally, and now he's contributing in so many ways, even when his shot isn't falling. If he can be a consistent scoring threat going forward, EMU can make some serious noise in the MAC tourney.
I seriously couldn't have said it better about Thompson, 'bovine. I'm ecstatic he stuck with us and had such a good game today.
With WMU's loss at Buffalo, we are now officially up 2 games in the west with 5 to play.
Western needs to win out. Plain and simple!
Great Game this evening, EMU played smart and hard. Murphy is getting the best out of this team.
EMU HOOPS are fun again.
5 more games to go, 4 conference and the blockbuster game against Green Bay from the Horizon league.
We owe CMU one this coming Tuesday in Mt Pleasant. Anyone know if the game will be televised?
In addition to CMU and Green Bay, we also play WMU, Toledo and No Il, all winnable games.
I am hearing that some fans are becoming bored because the team focuses on defense "there isn't enough scoring" they whine. I say to them, dam the scoring just win!
(02-11-2012 10:10 PM)Dennis Hoopster Wrote: [ -> ]Great Game this evening, EMU played smart and hard. Murphy is getting the best out of this team.
EMU HOOPS are fun again.
5 more games to go, 4 conference and the blockbuster game against Green Bay from the Horizon league.
We owe CMU one this coming Tuesday in Mt Pleasant. Anyone know if the game will be televised?
In addition to CMU and Green Bay, we also play WMU, Toledo and No Il, all winnable games.
http://www.mac-sports.com/Sports/Basketb...sults.aspx
(02-11-2012 10:24 PM)emussuperfan Wrote: [ -> ]I am hearing that some fans are becoming bored because the team focuses on defense "there isn't enough scoring" they whine. I say to them, dam the scoring just win!
Agree! Defense can be very exciting as well! Murphy has the team playing well. I do believe that we wil see more scoring next season with the addition of some good players, transfers and recruits.
P.S. RECEIVED A REAL GOOD REPORT FROM ONE OF THE PLAYERS ON ROSS, OUR VERBAL COMMIT FROM GREENSBORO, NC. IT APPEARS THAT ROSS HAS A GOOD CHANCE TO RUN THE OFFENSE FOR MURPHY NEXT SEASON. WE'LL SEE. PERSONALLY I THINK MURPHY AND STAFF MIGHT BRING IN A SECOND PG TO COMPETE WITH ROSS.