01-30-2013, 09:45 PM
01-31-2013, 08:55 AM
Got to cut down on our turnovers. 23 against Buffalo will spell defeat. Also interested to see who matches up with McCrea. He is a beast!
01-31-2013, 11:53 AM
The skinny...
First and foremost...Javon McCrea is a beast. Likely will be on the short list of 5 players that are consider MAC POY. I remember two seasons ago when Buffalo came to UA in the regular season and beat us...then again in the CIT tournament and beat us by 1 point. Both were tough losses in the midst of a 20+ win campaign. McCrea in particular stood out in my mind when we lost the second time around. Why? Because he was a frosh that pulled down 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 steels. I didn't think I would see a frosh play that well against our front court. He took it to us and was the difference in the game (4 offensive rebounds). McCrea is active and tough to handle down low. The good news is that he doesn't venture outside to shoot the ball.
McCrea's front court mate is Will Regan. He's a 6'8" forward that transferred to Buffalo from Virginia. He's not a "banger" type. He likes to shoot a few 3's from time to time...and he can be very very good at making them. He checks in at 47% on the year from deep.
These two are kind of a nasty matchup for us. Shayne will likely get the assignment on McCrea when he is in the game. Darius is going to have to guard Regan and might find himself out of the paint. WMU's new offense is pretty similar, if not identical, to what Buffalo runs. So don't be shocked to see our bigs guarding guys at the elbow and perimeter.
Cameron Downing is a 6'9" center that averages 13.5 mins per game. Although, he has slid in and out of the starting lineup. He went off on CMU last night for 21 points, mostly because he could...not necessarily because he's that good. He's a typical MAC center in that he is very serviceable in clogging the lane. Although, it is very very likely he gets into foul trouble against us. He's committed 3 or 4 fouls in EVERY one of the last 13 games. Think about that...he only averages 13.5 mins per game. Which means he commits a foul every 3 or so defensive possessions he is in the game.
Buffalo took it on the chin when they lost Oldham for the season. He was their starting PG and pretty darn solid. Witherspoon has a history of developing good PG's....not necessarily great, but top 4 in the MAC at their position. Jarryn Skeete is the frosh that has taken over for Oldham. He's logged 30+ minutes in each of their last 6 MAC games. He hasn't committed more than 3 turnovers in those games either. And he logs anywhere from 2-5 assists per game. In short, he's been running the show for Buffalo and doing a good job at it. We should get familiar with him because he's got 3 more years of eligibility left. He's not a great 3 point shooter, despite getting semi hot in the last two games. He averages 5.8 PPG. However, that number has gone up since he's taken over the starting duties.
Tony Watson II is their SG. He's gonna play almost the entire game. In MAC play, he hasn't logged less than 34 minutes in the last 5 games. He's a good 3 point shooter and he likes to distribute a little bit too. He scored 7 assists against Ball St.
If Buffalo is going to beat us in Kalamazoo this year, one or multiple of those players is going to have to go off on us. I'm not convinced the remaining players on their roster are talented enough to really beat us at our place.
Buffalo did get off to a slow start this year. 2-7 start to the season. After losing a very talented senior class, this was somewhat expected. Right now they are a middle of the pack MAC team. They have enough talent to avoid the bottom of the league...but not enough talent to consistently beat teams with less talent. This is pretty much the storyline for the 9 teams under WMU in the MAC standings.
Witherspoon is a good coach. I expect he will have his players ready for Saturday night. I'm curious to see how Buffalo does on defense because of how familiar they are with our offense.
Broncos keep on truckin'...
Dub City 76
Buffalo 64
First and foremost...Javon McCrea is a beast. Likely will be on the short list of 5 players that are consider MAC POY. I remember two seasons ago when Buffalo came to UA in the regular season and beat us...then again in the CIT tournament and beat us by 1 point. Both were tough losses in the midst of a 20+ win campaign. McCrea in particular stood out in my mind when we lost the second time around. Why? Because he was a frosh that pulled down 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 steels. I didn't think I would see a frosh play that well against our front court. He took it to us and was the difference in the game (4 offensive rebounds). McCrea is active and tough to handle down low. The good news is that he doesn't venture outside to shoot the ball.
McCrea's front court mate is Will Regan. He's a 6'8" forward that transferred to Buffalo from Virginia. He's not a "banger" type. He likes to shoot a few 3's from time to time...and he can be very very good at making them. He checks in at 47% on the year from deep.
These two are kind of a nasty matchup for us. Shayne will likely get the assignment on McCrea when he is in the game. Darius is going to have to guard Regan and might find himself out of the paint. WMU's new offense is pretty similar, if not identical, to what Buffalo runs. So don't be shocked to see our bigs guarding guys at the elbow and perimeter.
Cameron Downing is a 6'9" center that averages 13.5 mins per game. Although, he has slid in and out of the starting lineup. He went off on CMU last night for 21 points, mostly because he could...not necessarily because he's that good. He's a typical MAC center in that he is very serviceable in clogging the lane. Although, it is very very likely he gets into foul trouble against us. He's committed 3 or 4 fouls in EVERY one of the last 13 games. Think about that...he only averages 13.5 mins per game. Which means he commits a foul every 3 or so defensive possessions he is in the game.
Buffalo took it on the chin when they lost Oldham for the season. He was their starting PG and pretty darn solid. Witherspoon has a history of developing good PG's....not necessarily great, but top 4 in the MAC at their position. Jarryn Skeete is the frosh that has taken over for Oldham. He's logged 30+ minutes in each of their last 6 MAC games. He hasn't committed more than 3 turnovers in those games either. And he logs anywhere from 2-5 assists per game. In short, he's been running the show for Buffalo and doing a good job at it. We should get familiar with him because he's got 3 more years of eligibility left. He's not a great 3 point shooter, despite getting semi hot in the last two games. He averages 5.8 PPG. However, that number has gone up since he's taken over the starting duties.
Tony Watson II is their SG. He's gonna play almost the entire game. In MAC play, he hasn't logged less than 34 minutes in the last 5 games. He's a good 3 point shooter and he likes to distribute a little bit too. He scored 7 assists against Ball St.
If Buffalo is going to beat us in Kalamazoo this year, one or multiple of those players is going to have to go off on us. I'm not convinced the remaining players on their roster are talented enough to really beat us at our place.
Buffalo did get off to a slow start this year. 2-7 start to the season. After losing a very talented senior class, this was somewhat expected. Right now they are a middle of the pack MAC team. They have enough talent to avoid the bottom of the league...but not enough talent to consistently beat teams with less talent. This is pretty much the storyline for the 9 teams under WMU in the MAC standings.
Witherspoon is a good coach. I expect he will have his players ready for Saturday night. I'm curious to see how Buffalo does on defense because of how familiar they are with our offense.
Broncos keep on truckin'...
Dub City 76
Buffalo 64
01-31-2013, 12:12 PM
UB scored 91 points on Central yesterday. Bronco's defense is a lot better than that, but still something to look at. They certainly have some weapons.
01-31-2013, 12:40 PM
They beat CMU by 1 more point than we did....could be a nailbiter!
02-01-2013, 08:54 AM
Does the Mac West winner get the 2 seed automatically in the tourney? I guess either way we would play akron or ohio in the semis, the way things look right now. It would be nice to at least play in the championship this year.
02-01-2013, 09:40 AM
No. The West winner gets nothing but a banner in their arena.
MAC tournament seeding is done strictly by overall conference record.
MAC tournament seeding is done strictly by overall conference record.
02-01-2013, 11:02 AM
(02-01-2013 09:40 AM)EA3 Wrote: [ -> ]No. The West winner gets nothing but a banner in their arena.
MAC tournament seeding is done strictly by overall conference record.
Which is completely stupid. But I digress.
Biggest thing to me is stopping McCrae. He's one of the most talented big men the MAC has seen in recent years. He absolutely abused Stainbrook to the point where we could barely play him. Hopefully Shayne and Darius' athleticism will be enough to slow McCrae down.
02-01-2013, 11:15 AM
(02-01-2013 11:02 AM)dunkface Wrote: [ -> ](02-01-2013 09:40 AM)EA3 Wrote: [ -> ]No. The West winner gets nothing but a banner in their arena.
MAC tournament seeding is done strictly by overall conference record.
Which is completely stupid. But I digress.
Biggest thing to me is stopping McCrae. He's one of the most talented big men the MAC has seen in recent years. He absolutely abused Stainbrook to the point where we could barely play him. Hopefully Shayne and Darius' athleticism will be enough to slow McCrae down.
He's not someone that is going to back you down and post you up with move after move. He gets A LOT of his points off offensive rebounds and others dishing to him. He's also deceptively long. Also likes to drive to hole once in a while.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdBeRi_T14Y
Some of his highlights from last year. He's very very efficient within 10 feet of the hoop.
02-01-2013, 11:18 AM
I like the tournament format actually.
It actually gives us an advantage in the West considering our division has been the weaker of the two.
Look at it this way...let's say Ohio loses to Akron twice and blows another game down the road. Our Broncos win out. We nab the #2 seed...all while playing an easier league schedule.
It actually gives us an advantage in the West considering our division has been the weaker of the two.
Look at it this way...let's say Ohio loses to Akron twice and blows another game down the road. Our Broncos win out. We nab the #2 seed...all while playing an easier league schedule.
02-01-2013, 11:49 AM
EA3, thank you for the update on Buffalo's team.
Those are the posts I appreciate from posters: informative and with substance.
Those are the posts I appreciate from posters: informative and with substance.
02-01-2013, 11:51 AM
(02-01-2013 11:49 AM)bostonbronco Wrote: [ -> ]EA3, thank you for the update on Buffalo's team.
Those are the posts I appreciate from posters: informative and with substance.
No problem. I appreciate the compliment.
02-01-2013, 06:21 PM
What do we got, 5 wins in a row? Pretty good. If the roads are okay I hope we get a few more fannies in the seats. Regardless, let's keep winning. 2 straight home games, both against the MAC East, and we have 7 in a row and something to crow about. Especially beating East teams. We cannot let up, even for a second, play hard til the buzzer. We need to beat the East.
Go Broncos
Go Broncos
02-02-2013, 08:04 AM
From Buffalo website.
Quote:Bulls Play at Western Michigan on Saturday
Buffalo is back on the road for two straight
beginning at Western Michigan on Saturday
night.
The Bulls are 8-13 overall and 3-4 in the
MAC after beating Central Michigan, 91-73,
on Wednesday night. Cameron Downing led
the Bulls with a career-high 21 points. Auraum
Nuiriankh also scored a career-high 18 points
and added 10 rebounds for his second doubledouble
of the year.
Western Michigan is 13-7 overall and 5-2 in
the MAC. The Broncos are coming off a 72-68
win at Miami (OH) on Wednesday night. Western
Michigan is led by Shay Whittington who
is averaging 11.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per
game.
Western Michigan leads the all-time series,
10-8. Buffalo won the last meeting, 59-57, at
Alumni Arena last season.
Quote:No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Ppg. Rpg. Notehttp://www.buffalobulls.com/sports/mbkb/...unotes.pdf
0 Raphell Thomas-Edwards F 6-6 240 So. 1.4 2.8.. Has played in all 21 games and started once
1 Tony Watson II G 6-2 180 Sr. 8.4 2.3.. Has made 3 3-pointers in 2 straight games
2 Will Regan F 6-8 230 So. 10.3 4.7.. Leads the MAC in 3-pt shooting % (.474)
3 Jarod Oldham G 6-3 185 Jr. 10.1 5.3.. Out with a wrist injury
4 Richie Sebuharara G 6-1 160 Jr. 1.4 0.4.. Has started 4 games this season
5 Corey Raley-Ross G 6-3 195 Jr. 1.8 1.3.. Played 12 minutes at Ball State
10 Jarryn Skeete G 6-3 175 Fr. 5.8 2.8.. Averaging 10.7 points in MAC play
12 Javon McCrea F 6-7 250 Jr. 17.0 7.4.. Has 6 double-doubles on the season
22 Auraum Nuiriankh G 6-6 200 Jr. 6.3 4.9.. Averaging career highs in both pts and rebs
24 Stan Wier G 6-3 210 Fr. - - 2012.. Western New York Player of the Year
33 Cameron Downing C 6-9 260 Jr. 5.8 2.6.. Shooting a team-best 70% from the field
34 Andre McPhail F 6-7 240 Fr. 1.2 0.7 .. Has played in 6 games
35 Xavier Ford F 6-7 210 So. 4.2 2.7 .. Has scored in 10 of last 11 games
02-02-2013, 09:13 AM
Looking at the schedule, we should be favored in every remaining game we have left (not counting the bracketbuster opponent which will be known on monday).
23-7!!!!
23-7!!!!
02-02-2013, 09:26 AM
There is approximately a 4% chance WMU goes undefeated the remained of the year. Which, in reality, is probably one of the highest in the country to go undefeated the rest of the year.
02-02-2013, 09:29 AM
u.m., for example has a 3% chance.
02-02-2013, 11:13 AM
.......So you're telling me there's a chance!!!!
02-02-2013, 06:22 PM
First bball game for me this year. Didn't miss a game for 7 years. I am intrigued by how they have been winning so my season Tix r getting used for the first time this year. Used to love it here, hopefully this brings me back for more.
02-02-2013, 06:50 PM
Looks like the attempt to get more students here by having a 7 pm start is an epic fail. The pinwheel is back though at least.