At 14-3, the Chippewas own the best overall record in the MAC. CMU is 3rd in the nation in scoring at 83.9 points per game, 8th in the nation in Field Goal Percentage at 49.5% and 22nd in the nation with 16 assists per game.
Guard Chris Fowler is the leading scorer at 14.2 points per game. He is shooting 52% from the field. 6'8 junior John Simmons is right behind Fowler at 11.3 points per game. Simmons is 44 of 90 (48%) from three point land this season. Simmons is also the team's leading rebounder. 6'4 freshman Josh Kozinski also loves to shoot the three. He is 48-106 for 45% on the year.
Home court advantage could be a key in this one. Central Michigan is 11-0 at home. But Tuesday they will be in the MAC Center playing against one of the league's top defensive teams. It will be interesting to see who gets the assignment of guarding John Simmons. Also DJ vs. Chris Fowler should be worth the price of admission.
The schedule gets a bit harder from here out with CMU and a bunch of MAC road games coming up...a 6-6 record over the remaining regular season would not be surprising. We have three games coming up - CMU, at Buffalo, at Western which will all be hard to win.
(01-26-2015 07:19 AM)Slinkin Street Flash Wrote: [ -> ]The schedule gets a bit harder from here out with CMU and a bunch of MAC road games coming up...a 6-6 record over the remaining regular season would not be surprising. We have three games coming up - CMU, at Buffalo, at Western which will all be hard to win.
I can assure you Central Michigan fans are as concerned about playing Kent State on Tuesday as you appear to be about playing Central Michigan. I guess we can call it mutual respect. It's nice to be in this situation again. We have been down for a LONG time.
I'm looking forward to a great game. I can't find any odds on this one but Kent State has to be favored - slightly. It should be close and if we can get our three point game going I like our chances. But even without three point shooting we have been able to find a way to win. We'll see what happens.
Hi. Not trying to nitpick, but our forward is John Simons. We also have a guard named Rayshawn Simmons. Just to minimize any confusion.
We are looking forward to this matchup as well. From what I can see, your defense is almost as good as EMU's, while your offense is clearly better. And you are correct about us playing better at home, but we're not too shabby on the road so far.
I put two m's in his name to intimidate him.
EMU having the best defense is a bit of a myth. Not only does KSU give up fewer PPG than EMU, KSU also is ahead of them in def. points per possession, which is a more meaningful stat anyway. BG has a better defense by both measures, too.
KSU's def pts per possession is .92 and EMU is .97.
KSU also leads the league in differential between OPPP and DPPP (1.03/.92=+.11). CMU is second (1.14/1.06=+.08) BG is +.05 and nobody else is really close.
#1 offense vs #1 defense. Tuesday should be classic unstoppable force meets immovable object. Should be fun.
(01-26-2015 01:27 PM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]EMU having the best defense is a bit of a myth. Not only does KSU give up fewer PPG than EMU, KSU also is ahead of them in def. points per possession, which is a more meaningful stat anyway. BG has a better defense by both measures, too.
KSU's def pts per possession is .92 and EMU is .97.
KSU also leads the league in differential between OPPP and DPPP (1.03/.92=+.11). CMU is second (1.14/1.06=+.08) BG is +.05 and nobody else is really close.
#1 offense vs #1 defense. Tuesday should be classic unstoppable force meets immovable object. Should be fun.
Interesting! And yes, it should be.
It appears the saying "You either live by the three or die by the three" will ever be so true for CMU on Tuesday.
Based on what the Flashes have done defensively all year, I have to believe the Flashes will have an impact to CMU's 3-point production. But that is why they play the game. Should be a good one.
Can CMU win if they only score in the 60's. I believe that is where the game will be played. Chances are that either KSU or CMU or both will be off offensively. KSU is certain to be on defensively.
Kent State favored by three sounds about right to me. And you guys are making way too much out of the three point shooting. We have more game than that and have had to use it in the past. It's just that when the threes are falling, and we have five to six players that can shoot the three, we don't need much of anything else. And a game in the 60s does concern me. That would tell me the threes are not falling. We like to see the scoring a little higher than that. But we just have to wait and see what happens.
My big concern now is whether or not the game will be free on the Kent State web site. That was the case with Akron and it looks like it's the same deal at Kent State. I sure hope so because ESPN3 is not carrying it.
However, since you mentioned the three point shooting I can make a few comments on that and other parts of our game that may interest you. With regard to the three point shot, look for Simons 6'8" to be the one doing a lot of damage mainly from the corners. Also, Kozinski is what I call a three point hit man - will come in for one reason and that's to shoot threes from anywhere. But the three point shot can come from others as well including Hibbitts from the corners or Fowler, Keel, Rayson and Simmons mostly from the top of the key. And don't be surprised if Luke Meyer, 6'11" freshmen steps out at the top of the key and trys a couple threes. When we are on I think we are just about unstoppable. When we are off .........well, let's hope that doesn't happen. We went through that at Ball State and I don't want to see that again.
But it all starts with Fowler who I think is the best point guard in the conference this season. He runs the show. He will try to dribble penetrate over and over again and score with a layup or draw the foul and hit free throws. If the lane is blocked on his drive he will kick it out to one of the outside shooters or stop halfway in for a little jumper. After Fowler, our other two guards, Rayson and Simmons, will do the same thing. It's dribble drive, shoot and score, get fouled and score or kick it out and score.
On defense we will use different versions of the zone going from the standard 2-3 to the 2-3 matchup to the 3-2 and the 1-2-2. We don't use man often. And we will use a soft full court press the entire game. At times we will try to trap the inbound pass in a corner or trap at mid court. It all depends on the flow of the game.
Let's get it on.
(01-26-2015 07:30 PM)midlandchip Wrote: [ -> ]Kent State favored by three sounds about right to me. And you guys are making way too much out of the three point shooting. We have more game than that and have had to use it in the past. It's just that when the threes are falling, and we have five to six players that can shoot the three, we don't need much of anything else. And a game in the 60s does concern me. That would tell me the threes are not falling. We like to see the scoring a little higher than that. But we just have to wait and see what happens.
My big concern now is whether or not the game will be free on the Kent State web site. That was the case with Akron and it looks like it's the same deal at Kent State. I sure hope so because ESPN3 is not carrying it.
However, since you mentioned the three point shooting I can make a few comments on that and other parts of our game that may interest you. With regard to the three point shot, look for Simons 6'8" to be the one doing a lot of damage mainly from the corners. Also, Kozinski is what I call a three point hit man - will come in for one reason and that's to shoot threes from anywhere. But the three point shot can come from others as well including Hibbitts from the corners or Fowler, Keel, Rayson and Simmons mostly from the top of the key. And don't be surprised if Luke Meyer, 6'11" freshmen steps out at the top of the key and trys a couple threes. When we are on I think we are just about unstoppable. When we are off .........well, let's hope that doesn't happen. We went through that at Ball State and I don't want to see that again.
But it all starts with Fowler who I think is the best point guard in the conference this season. He runs the show. He will try to dribble penetrate over and over again and score with a layup or draw the foul and hit free throws. If the lane is blocked on his drive he will kick it out to one of the outside shooters or stop halfway in for a little jumper. After Fowler, our other two guards, Rayson and Simmons, will do the same thing. It's dribble drive, shoot and score, get fouled and score or kick it out and score.
On defense we will use different versions of the zone going from the standard 2-3 to the 2-3 matchup to the 3-2 and the 1-2-2. We don't use man often. And we will use a soft full court press the entire game. At times we will try to trap the inbound pass in a corner or trap at mid court. It all depends on the flow of the game.
Let's get it on.
Video feed is gratis. Quality is not the best. And you have to endure a lot of goofey static graphics during play.
http://j.mp/ksu_cmu_mbb
You can always go old school and listen to the radio feed. Kent State's flagship is 640 WHLO. Ty Linder and Dave Carducci call an exciting game.
(01-26-2015 08:44 PM)fallsdog Wrote: [ -> ]You can always go old school and listen to the radio feed. Kent State's flagship is 640 WHLO. Ty Linder and Dave Carducci call an exciting game.
If you aren't a KSU fan, I believe most would find Ty's broadcast pretty annoying. He does a great job of transferring his energy to the broadcast, however, if not a KSU fan, that would probably get on your nerves pretty quick.
exactly why they should listen!!
Just an FYI - the last couple of games I think WHLO's transmission dropped from 5,000 watts to 500 watts at about 8:45PM, so just about when the game gets exciting.
I'll be at tonight's game, so it won't affect me today.
(01-26-2015 07:30 PM)midlandchip Wrote: [ -> ]But it all starts with Fowler who I think is the best point guard in the conference this season. He runs the show. He will try to dribble penetrate over and over again and score with a layup or draw the foul and hit free throws. If the lane is blocked on his drive he will kick it out to one of the outside shooters or stop halfway in for a little jumper.
Let's get it on.
And DJ is going to SHUT him down tonight.
I have to be very honest with you guys. I'm not feeling real confident about our chances tonight. Our track record at Kent State is pretty bad. I know we have not won there in more than 10 years. Winning on the road in the MAC is just tough and I think the conference champ could have as many as five losses before this is over. The thing that gives me some hope is the fact that this is probably the best team we have had in 10 years. If we win the game tonight it would be a great win for our program but if we were to lose it's not the end of the season or the world. The thing that really disappoints me about these crossover games this year is we only get to play Akron and Kent State on the road, no return visit to Mt. Pleasant. We should get those visits next season. And for most of us next season can't come fast enough. We not only have all our starters back but a number of them will be seniors and our 6'11" freshman center will have a year of experience under his belt. But we not only return our starting five but 11 of the 12 players you will see on the floor tonight. We only lose Keel, a very solid sub at the No. 2 spot. This year is nice but next year will be ours. Our next big problem will be hanging on to Keno Davis. I'm ready, give us your best shot.
Looking forward to tonight's game. I think this will be a good test on how we handle a pressure matchup. Come on guys, show us what you can do. Go Flashes.