Don't get me wrong, Toledo has good athletes, but not the type that is needed to win a basketball championship. Most of the Toledo players are thick, stocky, muscular guys with good fundamental skills. The problem is that they are slow. It is/was like watching someone trying to win an auto race on a road coarse, while driving a stock car. While you might make some gains in the straightaways, you are too clunky, too rigid, and too slow to respond in tight corners. For Example: Boothe is a fundamentally strong player and very good shooter, but he is robotic and methodical when posting up. Central knew that, was ready for that, and stole the ball from him on identical plays to start the game. Williams, who was a great player off the bench last year, is unable to create/shake defenders on his own. I could go on, but the theme would be the same. I watched the end of the Buffalo/Akron game. I saw two teams, whose rosters were full of guys, who can get up and down the court at full speed, take a shot or slash to basket all in one fluid motion. They are full of guys who can run the offense, get back down the court and get themselves back in position defensively. Toledo doesn't/didn't have any guys like that, except for Mosley and Brown. This is a team that had a lot of hype going into the season, but in reality, did not have the right type of players to win it all. The graduation of Pierson hurt this group, because he was a dynamic player, whose quickness and ability freed up slower and less athletic peers.
I agree that we weren't as athletic as advertised, although thick and muscular we are NOT and need to be more so. Buffalo and Akron may have been full of fast guys but Buffalo and Akron were a combined 0-3 against Toledo. CMU has one heck of a coach (Boothe was not the only guy stripped by an off-ball defender from the backside). And they have Fowler. Quick guards gave us a lot of trouble and we need more of them to counter. We also need quicker adjustments from the bench. This team had huge potential, though and even with the weak bench should have been a 1 seed. The "spark" just wasn't there.
(03-14-2015 07:05 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote: [ -> ]I agree that we weren't as athletic as advertised, although thick and muscular we are NOT and need to be more so. Buffalo and Akron may have been full of fast guys but Buffalo and Akron were a combined 0-3 against Toledo. CMU has one heck of a coach (Boothe was not the only guy stripped by an off-ball defender from the backside). And they have Fowler. Quick guards gave us a lot of trouble and we need more of them to counter. We also need quicker adjustments from the bench. This team had huge potential, though and even with the weak bench should have been a 1 seed. The "spark" just wasn't there.
Turned off the game at the beginning of the second half when CMU went up 14 points. Rockets came out looking like deer in headlights. Knew they weren't mentally ready to win. Think the potential of the team was overblown. Not strong/athletic enough to be a dominant team.
I agree that the pre-season hype probably was not realistic. We returned almost everyone from the previous year, but the one guy we lost was huge, and we didn't get anyone knew who contributed significantly. No knock against the freshmen; after all, they're freshmen. But many people on this board thought that Applewhite would be a major contributor right away, which would have helped make up for the loss of Pearson. There's no guarantee that guys will get better between their junior and senior years, and I think in general our guys did not get better. So, without Pearson, we were a worse team.
I feel bad for the players because all of the preseason expectations probably made this season not much fun, once it became clear that we weren't living up to those expectations. Preseason predictions are fun but a very inexact science. It's interesting to compare the Rockets with Western Michigan. They also lost only one starter, and they actually brought in a couple of freshmen who played a lot, but the Broncos did even worse than we did this year. Go figure.
(03-14-2015 08:51 AM)Dwight Wrote: [ -> ]I agree that the pre-season hype probably was not realistic. We returned almost everyone from the previous year, but the one guy we lost was huge, and we didn't get anyone knew who contributed significantly. No knock against the freshmen; after all, they're freshmen. But many people on this board thought that Applewhite would be a major contributor right away, which would have helped make up for the loss of Pearson. There's no guarantee that guys will get better between their junior and senior years, and I think in general our guys did not get better. So, without Pearson, we were a worse team.
I feel bad for the players because all of the preseason expectations probably made this season not much fun, once it became clear that we weren't living up to those expectations. Preseason predictions are fun but a very inexact science. It's interesting to compare the Rockets with Western Michigan. They also lost only one starter, and they actually brought in a couple of freshmen who played a lot, but the Broncos did even worse than we did this year. Go figure.
At least western got to the ncaa last year. Wish we could say that.
Stokes committed but never came. There was another high scoring guard that was transferring but he changed his mind after a day. Applewhite never played a minute. Aparicio has never contributed. Aubrey is still a project with potential. Lots of reasons this team did not become league champ. Recruiting is big part of getting the job done.
This team played with swagger that was not deserved. You can't play casual with the ball when the other team is hungry. CMU deserved the win.
(03-14-2015 05:50 AM)falconplucker Wrote: [ -> ]Don't get me wrong, Toledo has good athletes, but not the type that is needed to win a basketball championship. Most of the Toledo players are thick, stocky, muscular guys with good fundamental skills. The problem is that they are slow. It is/was like watching someone trying to win an auto race on a road coarse, while driving a stock car. While you might make some gains in the straightaways, you are too clunky, too rigid, and too slow to respond in tight corners. For Example: Boothe is a fundamentally strong player and very good shooter, but he is robotic and methodical when posting up. Central knew that, was ready for that, and stole the ball from him on identical plays to start the game. Williams, who was a great player off the bench last year, is unable to create/shake defenders on his own. I could go on, but the theme would be the same. I watched the end of the Buffalo/Akron game. I saw two teams, whose rosters were full of guys, who can get up and down the court at full speed, take a shot or slash to basket all in one fluid motion. They are full of guys who can run the offense, get back down the court and get themselves back in position defensively. Toledo doesn't/didn't have any guys like that, except for Mosley and Brown. This is a team that had a lot of hype going into the season, but in reality, did not have the right type of players to win it all. The graduation of Pierson hurt this group, because he was a dynamic player, whose quickness and ability freed up slower and less athletic peers.
As H2O mentioned, the 2 teams you used to support your argument were 0-3 against UT this year and 0-5 against UT in the last 2 years.
(03-15-2015 12:34 PM)Rocket A Wrote: [ -> ] (03-14-2015 05:50 AM)falconplucker Wrote: [ -> ]Don't get me wrong, Toledo has good athletes, but not the type that is needed to win a basketball championship. Most of the Toledo players are thick, stocky, muscular guys with good fundamental skills. The problem is that they are slow. It is/was like watching someone trying to win an auto race on a road coarse, while driving a stock car. While you might make some gains in the straightaways, you are too clunky, too rigid, and too slow to respond in tight corners. For Example: Boothe is a fundamentally strong player and very good shooter, but he is robotic and methodical when posting up. Central knew that, was ready for that, and stole the ball from him on identical plays to start the game. Williams, who was a great player off the bench last year, is unable to create/shake defenders on his own. I could go on, but the theme would be the same. I watched the end of the Buffalo/Akron game. I saw two teams, whose rosters were full of guys, who can get up and down the court at full speed, take a shot or slash to basket all in one fluid motion. They are full of guys who can run the offense, get back down the court and get themselves back in position defensively. Toledo doesn't/didn't have any guys like that, except for Mosley and Brown. This is a team that had a lot of hype going into the season, but in reality, did not have the right type of players to win it all. The graduation of Pierson hurt this group, because he was a dynamic player, whose quickness and ability freed up slower and less athletic peers.
As H2O mentioned, the 2 teams you used to support your argument were 0-3 against UT this year and 0-5 against UT in the last 2 years.
And yet, despite that, Buffalo still managed to win when it matters and will be in the NCAA Tournament, as well as beat a team that Toledo lost to 3 times.
(03-15-2015 12:54 PM)falconplucker Wrote: [ -> ] (03-15-2015 12:34 PM)Rocket A Wrote: [ -> ] (03-14-2015 05:50 AM)falconplucker Wrote: [ -> ]Don't get me wrong, Toledo has good athletes, but not the type that is needed to win a basketball championship. Most of the Toledo players are thick, stocky, muscular guys with good fundamental skills. The problem is that they are slow. It is/was like watching someone trying to win an auto race on a road coarse, while driving a stock car. While you might make some gains in the straightaways, you are too clunky, too rigid, and too slow to respond in tight corners. For Example: Boothe is a fundamentally strong player and very good shooter, but he is robotic and methodical when posting up. Central knew that, was ready for that, and stole the ball from him on identical plays to start the game. Williams, who was a great player off the bench last year, is unable to create/shake defenders on his own. I could go on, but the theme would be the same. I watched the end of the Buffalo/Akron game. I saw two teams, whose rosters were full of guys, who can get up and down the court at full speed, take a shot or slash to basket all in one fluid motion. They are full of guys who can run the offense, get back down the court and get themselves back in position defensively. Toledo doesn't/didn't have any guys like that, except for Mosley and Brown. This is a team that had a lot of hype going into the season, but in reality, did not have the right type of players to win it all. The graduation of Pierson hurt this group, because he was a dynamic player, whose quickness and ability freed up slower and less athletic peers.
As H2O mentioned, the 2 teams you used to support your argument were 0-3 against UT this year and 0-5 against UT in the last 2 years.
And yet, despite that, Buffalo still managed to win when it matters and will be in the NCAA Tournament, as well as beat a team that Toledo lost to 3 times.
UB lost to CMU twice during the regular season, but beat them when it counted.
I would argue that Toledo struggled against teams that played defense, like Kent St & CMU, whom both completely took the Rockets out of their offensive flow. CMU's offense with Fowler's ability to drive and get to the hole, or dish to wide open shooters, when the defense collapsed on him, caused the Rockets nightmares.