CSNbbs

Sweet 16 team from last year.

As mentioned by MHB on Akron game thread...

Ohio has not been good on the road. 0-4 on the year.

Here are the results...3 pointers are in parenthesis

loss at Robert Morris 84-76 (13/31)
loss at Memphis 84-58 (6/25)
loss at UMASS 85-76 (12/30)
loss at Oklahoma 74-63 (8/26)


In those 4 games, they've taken an average of 28 three pointers. This makes them VERY dangerous...and very vulnerable.

Very telling stat is that they can hit 12 or 13 three pointers, and still lose in a 3 possession game. Translation, they don't attack the basket. They prefer to jack from long range. I expect at least 4 NBA range attempts from Cooper.

Throw in the fact that they just blew out Buffalo in Athens, and our Broncos are likely ticked after their performance yesterday...and we have a decent recipe for an upset.

This is the same Ohio team that lost @ EMU and @ Toledo last year. It's also the same team that gave North Carolina a run for their money. I don't know which one is going to show up...but I like our chances much better than our previous game.

Biggest problem we will have is their guards and wings. Cooper, Offutt and Kellogg are really good.


Again...I'm looking forward to how our players respond.

Keep an eye out for Clark Kellogg Saturday. If he's not doing a game, he will likely be there.

Well we all know Hawk's willingness to let teams shoot from outside (witness several losses to CMU over the years), so this could get ugly. If we can dominate inside and hit the easy ones I'll trade two twos for a three any day.

Travis Wilkins has missed the last 3 games with a high ankle sprain, and is still listed as day-to-day for tomorrow's game. He's probably their 2nd guy off the bench. Good 3-point shooter, gives them depth, and provides solid minutes defensively. Not a huge blow for them, but noteworthy nonetheless.

Interesting note...

The Rivals guys did an interview with Keith Dambrot before the Akron game. Yesterday they posted an interview they did with one of Ohio's assistants.

What's the deal, is Jim Christian too busy to take the phone call?

I was told: "Coach Christian has requested not to do a ton of interviews this week..."

Kind of disappointed because I had some good questions for him specifically about returning to the MAC, D.J. Cooper, etc.

I'll have an interview with D.J. Cooper up tonight as well for those of you following along with our coverage.

(01-11-2013 11:46 AM)BrianPersky Wrote: [ -> ]I was told: "Coach Christian has requested not to do a ton of interviews this week..."

Kind of disappointed because I had some good questions for him specifically about returning to the MAC, D.J. Cooper, etc.

I'll have an interview with D.J. Cooper up tonight as well for those of you following along with our coverage.

So, he could be sick....or, he just doesn't give a rat's rear.

A few stats leading into the OU game

WMU RPI 79
OU RPI 183
Previous opponent (Zips) RPI 78

WMU SOS 112
OU SOS 296

Statsheet Experience Tracker (measures average years of players experience per minute of game time):

WMU 2.45 years experience
OU 3.48 years of experience (tops in the MAC)

and the MAC is a league where experience wins.

Ohio 78 WMU 74

We'll play them close at home, but in a close game they have players who can take over a game, we have none.

This Bronco team wins at home:

WMU 72 Ohio 68

It could happen. We have played OU pretty tightly over the past 5 years or so.

Live Stream for the lazy http://www.mac-sports.com/Schools/Wester...aming.aspx