The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Left several points at the line late and had one inbounding turnover, but we did a better job of closing it out tonight. Hopefully we're finally learning how to win in close games. We've certainly had enough practice.

So against the four teams ahead of us in the standings we're 3-2 this year. I doubt many other MAC teams hold a winning record against those 4. Let's make it 4-2 with 3 straight over the top 3 teams on Saturday.

Happy and impressed. We are playing more like a team. At times we look like the team that I expected us to be earlier. Maybe we are figuring it out.

I know we're pretty hard on him from time to time on here but there's no way we win these last two without Jaylin Walker.

Anyone know why Pippin did not play? I don't believe I saw him on the bench either.

I was wondering the same thing re Pippen. J Walker is playing better by passing and moving without the ball. He maybe finally learning the game. He has tremendous talent.

Come to think of it, I didn't see Pippen or Hurley? Maybe sick?

(02-21-2017 10:19 PM)JimJoyce Wrote:  Come to think of it, I didn't see Pippen or Hurley? Maybe sick?

Didn't Pippen turn an ankle in the Miami game?

I've been following basketball since the 1950's, but this team has me completely stumped. How does a team play so lousy so often, then beat Akron and Buffalo back to back, on the road? Can a team really gel that quickly? I did say yesterday that they were capable of beating anyone in the conference, but also capable of losing to anyone. My best guess is that this conference is so mediocre from top to bottom that even the "best" teams are way more vulnerable than their records would indicate.

Well the team with the best record lost again as BG beat Akron in BG.

With three games to go we are 3-4 at home and 5-3 on the road. That can't have happened too often. A lot of birdies and bogies fallsdog.

I recall that one of Jim McDonald's best teams, 86-87 I think, had a better road record in conference than home record. I agree, it doesn't happen very often.

I think we can have 100% agreement after last night that the MAC is again only a one-bid conference.

(02-22-2017 04:28 AM)Muskrat Wrote:  I've been following basketball since the 1950's, but this team has me completely stumped. How does a team play so lousy so often, then beat Akron and Buffalo back to back, on the road? Can a team really gel that quickly? I did say yesterday that they were capable of beating anyone in the conference, but also capable of losing to anyone. My best guess is that this conference is so mediocre from top to bottom that even the "best" teams are way more vulnerable than their records would indicate.

I kind of expected this year to be rough at first - with just 4 returning players, it was going to take time to bring it all together. A bunch of the losses were close games lost in the last minutes.

I am worried about the minutes the starters are putting in - yesterday, the bench just played 36 minutes, getting 4 points. Against Akron, it was 7 points in 27 minutes. I know the rotation shortens up in the MAC season, but a little depth would be good in case of injuries or foul trouble

Slinkin', I agree. Very few non-starters have played well enough consistently enough to warrant many minutes. Pippen, I assume is still injured, or he would have played.

As for having a better road record in conference, I would assume that it most often happens with teams at or near the top, e.g. 9-1 on the road, 8-2 at home, or with teams at or near the bottom, e.g. 2-7 on the road, 1-8 at home. For a team like this year's KSU team with a record around .500 to have so far won more road conference games I would assume it's VERY rare.

(02-22-2017 07:52 AM)Muskrat Wrote:  I recall that one of Jim McDonald's best teams, 86-87 I think, had a better road record in conference than home record. I agree, it doesn't happen very often.

I think we can have 100% agreement after last night that the MAC is again only a one-bid conference.

Yes it's a one bid leagu. Akron was a long shot before their losses to Kent and BG. They have no shot now.

(02-21-2017 10:03 PM)JimJoyce Wrote:  I know we're pretty hard on him from time to time on here but there's no way we win these last two without Jaylin Walker.

You are right. I for one have been very hard on this kid. He is playing a little more under control than he was earlier in the season. A few times last night it looked like he was going to "jack one up" but did not. Maturing it seems!

Yes, big props to JW! Very impressed with how he is more in the flow of the offense. He is incredibly talented and can be a major force in this league. And I can't really fault him for trying to pick up too much of the load earlier in the season when others were not stepping up. The talent on this team can match anyone in the MAC; it was a question of learning to play together better, and they are doing that so much better this past week.

Can't beat the timing. The beauty of the season is that it goes forward, not backward. We popped Akron's and Buffalo's balloons. Their winning streaks lose all meaning once the losing starts. You don't have to be the best team for 3 months. You need to be the best team in the league for the next two and a half weeks. I volunteer the Flashes for that!

Hope we have some big time crowd support on Saturday. We will need it.

GFlash68, one would think that if they were able to beat Akron and Buffalo on the road, they should certainly be able to come off that momentum and beat OU at home, but given this season, I don't know what to expect.

How can Akronu lose two with a NBA PF? I will miss the game on Saturday but have given my tickets to loyal KSU fans. Maybe we can parlay a bad home record into showing Warren that we need a new AD since the crowd is so sparse?

The ESPN announcers are terrible. Sound like high schoolers.