Well the UCLA and CMU games went a long way in restoring confidence that BU will be competitive in the ASUN this season. De
Vault looked good with 14/6 against CMU. At 6'10" you would like to see him be a rim protector, but it doesn't seem to be in him. Hopf has gotten a baptism of fire and looks like he will be making big contributions for 4 seasons.
I like Scotty's flexibility in letting the offense run through Penn. Could we start listing him as a center?

(11-24-2021 09:08 AM)knightmoves Wrote:  Well the UCLA and CMU games went a long way in restoring confidence that BU will be competitive in the ASUN this season. De
Vault looked good with 14/6 against CMU. At 6'10" you would like to see him be a rim protector, but it doesn't seem to be in him. Hopf has gotten a baptism of fire and looks like he will be making big contributions for 4 seasons.
I like Scotty's flexibility in letting the offense run through Penn. Could we start listing him as a center?

If Dylan Penn can score the way he has against major DI powers like he has, then he should clean up against ASUN defenses. DeVault is playing better, but he is obviously never going to be a low post player. With regard to playing Asbury in the YUM center, if we can't get any more than 1,200 people in Freedom Hall for a DII team where admission is FREE, do we really expect to pack the stands in the Christmas break for a DIII team? I would have loved to play Asbury at Knights Hall. I've been to many U of L games downtown, and between the parking downtown and the overpriced concessions I find no thrill connected to the Yum center.

I'm loving Hopf. Given the asinine new open season for transferring, at what point do we worry about some "bigger fish" swiping him? (Of course, if Penn was not a senior, I'd express this concern about him.)

Yes, Knights Hall would've been a great place for one or more of the four home games before LMU.

https://www.wdrb.com/sports/crawford-bel...d8d4f.html

(11-24-2021 05:28 PM)BellarmineGrad Wrote:  I'm loving Hopf. Given the asinine new open season for transferring, at what point do we worry about some "bigger fish" swiping him? (Of course, if Penn was not a senior, I'd express this concern about him.)

Yes, Knights Hall would've been a great place for one or more of the four home games before LMU.

Hey I was having the same concern with Hopf. If Ben Johnson starts getting to play and turns out to be really good at the collegiate level, then I have the same concern with the transfer situation with him. This new transfer rule is turning the college basketball game upside down. If a smaller school finds a "sleeper" out of high school that the big schools overlook, you have to worry about him being poached if he starts putting up impressive numbers.

(11-25-2021 06:47 AM)BGrad1971 Wrote:  

(11-24-2021 05:28 PM)BellarmineGrad Wrote:  I'm loving Hopf. Given the asinine new open season for transferring, at what point do we worry about some "bigger fish" swiping him? (Of course, if Penn was not a senior, I'd express this concern about him.)

Yes, Knights Hall would've been a great place for one or more of the four home games before LMU.

Hey I was having the same concern with Hopf. If Ben Johnson starts getting to play and turns out to be really good at the collegiate level, then I have the same concern with the transfer situation with him. This new transfer rule is turning the college basketball game upside down. If a smaller school finds a "sleeper" out of high school that the big schools overlook, you have to worry about him being poached if he starts putting up impressive numbers.

Amen. That new rule is an atrocity.

I am looking forward to seeing what Johnson can do.

Gotta tell you guys, I respectfully disagree with you. I think the new transfer rule is good, because it is much fairer to the student athlete. Any student may transfer to any school that will take them, there is zero reason to apply a different rule to athletes. If Hopf wants to transfer that would be his right.

(11-26-2021 08:35 PM)knightmoves Wrote:  Gotta tell you guys, I respectfully disagree with you. I think the new transfer rule is good, because it is much fairer to the student athlete. Any student may transfer to any school that will take them, there is zero reason to apply a different rule to athletes. If Hopf wants to transfer that would be his right.

The situations of non-athletes and athletes are the proverbial apples and oranges.

Hope I'm wrong, but I can see BU and other "low-to-mid" majors getting screwed big-time.

(11-27-2021 01:25 AM)BellarmineGrad Wrote:  

(11-26-2021 08:35 PM)knightmoves Wrote:  Gotta tell you guys, I respectfully disagree with you. I think the new transfer rule is good, because it is much fairer to the student athlete. Any student may transfer to any school that will take them, there is zero reason to apply a different rule to athletes. If Hopf wants to transfer that would be his right.

The situations of non-athletes and athletes are the proverbial apples and oranges.

Hope I'm wrong, but I can see BU and other "low-to-mid" majors getting screwed big-time.

Well if you're looking at it from the student athlete's point of view, I can agree with you. My comments are as if I'm a coach or AD trying to build a team and competing with the bigger schools. It will make the job more difficult for a "mid major" coach. However I have a grandson playing football at an FCS school and I can see things from his prospective too. Some of his friends on his team have entered the transfer portal. I was talking to him about it at our TDay family get together Thursday and I can see the player's point of view.

Not much to say about the Franklin game. Any D1 team should look good playing D3 and NAIA schools. Scotty's post game comments on the radio were unpleasant with regard to his quips about the disappointing crowd size. He didn't mention the fact that there were basically close to zero students in the student section. As far as I know there are no plans in the works (I hope I'm wrong on this one) to find a way to transport students to Freedom Hall for home games. When the student section was full at Knights Hall it really added to the frenzied atmosphere of home games. The radio guys (Doug and Mark) were really impressed by the crowd at Gonzaga and their enthusiasm. The Gonzaga arena is on campus and only holds around 6,000. Obviously when your team is highly ranked nationally you're gonna fill up an arena that size, but it helps if the entire student body can walk to home games. There were a great number of regulars at Knights Hall that were "older" alumni, many of whom lived in the Highlands area or not far from there. Although I see some of them at Freedom Hall a good number of them are missing. I really don't know the answer but playing D3 and NAIA teams is not going to excite anyone.

The basic problem with attendance is the competition. You are right that D3 teams ain't going to do it. If you recall, BU has never drawn well against bad preconference foe. And frankly the bad D2 teams were better than most of the current non con schedule. BU is not alone in this. It looks like most major non con schedules. BTW the students have never turned out for weekend afternoon games. It will be interesting to see how many fans turnout for Loyola Marymount and for EKU, which might be the biggest draw we will have.

(11-29-2021 11:21 AM)knightmoves Wrote:  The basic problem with attendance is the competition. You are right that D3 teams ain't going to do it. If you recall, BU has never drawn well against bad preconference foe. And frankly the bad D2 teams were better than most of the current non con schedule. BU is not alone in this. It looks like most major non con schedules. BTW the students have never turned out for weekend afternoon games. It will be interesting to see how many fans turnout for Loyola Marymount and for EKU, which might be the biggest draw we will have.

The Loyola Marymount game is during XMAS break so no students on campus and the EKU game is 8:00 on the first Saturday after Spring Semester begins. I hope those two games get good crowds especially the EKU game. We'll see.

Among other things, tonight it will be interesting to see the Knights take on Sean McNeil:
https://wvsportsnow.com/mcneil-was-close...ellarmine/

Interesting matchup of the leading scorers for WVU and BU. On paper you would expect them to match up against each other on both ends. If that happens, the best way to defend Sherman may be by making him defend Penn in the post. Mcniels 3 point shooting could be huge. If BU can limit TOs it should be competitive. They especially have to avoid live ball TOs.

I may have missed something, but is Ben Johnson redshirting this season? He hasn't played at all this year, and I can't imagine any other reason (especially with the opportunity against Franklin). Definitely frustrating to not see him play with the pre-season hype the program built up about recruiting the KY Mr Basketball

In a word: ugh. That three-point shooting and rebounding (actually, the lack thereof).

I'd like to know the status on Johnson too. I remember hearing/reading that he was ill, but some time has passed.

(12-01-2021 05:24 AM)BellarmineGrad Wrote:  In a word: ugh. That three-point shooting and rebounding (actually, the lack thereof).

I'd like to know the status on Johnson too. I remember hearing/reading that he was ill, but some time has passed.

In Davenport's postgame comments he talked about redshirting all the Freshmen (?). I think it was after the Franklin game as I think it was while they were saying "everyone" got to see some action in that game. Obviously Hopf is not redshirting. So I have the same question about Johnson.

My comment on the WVU game is that the Knights were overwhelmingly outmatched physically. The WVU defense where they get up in everyone's face with hands on defense completely took away the pass first motion offense. Given the extremely poor 3 pt. shooting by the Knights and the fact we get very few transition buckets make for a very difficult night offensively.

I'd almost forgotten that redshirting is "a thing."

Given the "fair" transfer rules where anything goes, we'll probably get screwed by Johnson leaving if he doesn't desire to reshirt. Maybe he's already in the dreaded portal.

"Some conversations that were had [in] his office that I definitely remembered going into tonight,” McNeil said.
https://wvsportsnow.com/mcneil-marked-ga...ellarmine/