(10-12-2021 12:31 AM)pono Wrote:  

(10-11-2021 01:48 PM)Miggy Wrote:  Three Man Weave ( TMW) has ranked Buffalo and Ohio finishing 1-2 in the top tier, in the 12-team MAC, and ranks in the following order Bowling Green, Toledo, Kent State, Akron, and Miami of Ohio, in the second tier.

It ranks Ball State at no.8 in the third tier, with EMU right behind finishing at number 9. They don’t say EMU will not finish in the top half of the MAC.

TMW also places three Buffalo players on the MAC’s first all-star team.

TMW has lost their mind listing Kent State’s newcomer 6’1” PG Sincere Carry to the MAC’s third All-Star team. He shot 25 percent on two’s and 27 percent on three’s in conference play at Duquesne last season. Enough said.

TMW loves the hiring of Stan Heath as EMU’s HC.

It also has high praise for EMU players McBride, M. Scott, Rice, Farrakhan. Golson, and Njie. Such is consistent with what observers have seen at EMU’s practices.

TMW says that transfer Monty Scott’s is EMU’s big addition, that he played well at other schools, and “he makes scoring effortless and easy.” They point-out that he has not played on winning teams. This season he will be playing with a plethora of good scorers that he hasn’t played with before, and that should make a difference. Monty Scott is listed as one of the MAC’s top 5 newcomers.

I believe that if EMU learns to play in sync it’s capable of finishing toward the top of the the second tier.

Do think Buffalo has the most talent, and is a running team. Scored 50 percent of it’s shots at the rim. Unanswered is whether EMU can get back in transition and whether EMU’s good interior defenders Nije and Okongo can deny Buffalo at the rim in half-court offensive sets.

TMW ranking Kent State 5th makes little sense as KSU lost both Pippin and Nuga who combined for 39 Of KSU’s 76 ppg. Doesn’t have enough returning players to match Nuga’s high volume excellent three point shooting.

KSU shot 32. 1 percent on three’s in conference play last season. See that going down having lost Nuga’s 41.7 percent shooting on three’s in conference play.

TMW 9th place rank of EMU is off as TMW has McBride starting at PG and Binelli and Ballard competing for starting as PF. Observers believe that Farrakhan will be starting at PG, and Golson at PF.

EMU probably rated 9th because Temple most players haven’t played together, and it’s likely EMU will have 4 or 5 new starters.

There’s also real competition as to whether McBride or Spottsville starts at one wing. Heath will have to chose between McBride’s offense or Spottsville’s defense.

Still looking forward to learning more about EMU’s open practice.

Gotta watch the guys play Miggy, can't just go by percentages with college kids. Spencer Littleson was an 11% 3 pt shooter as a Duquense freshman without a clear role. After a transfer and rs year at Toledo to gain confidence and tighten his shooting mechanics he became one of the best 3 pt shooters in college basketball. Sincere Carey was a borderline all A10 player at Duquense before a muddled partial final season. He's a really good defender and competitor. So, even though he's not a great shooter he can be a very solid MAC pg. Meanwhile, Danny Pippen had some monster games over the years for Kent. He also took a ton of shots and had no problem winning or losing games on his own. It became an issue at times and he's reported to have thrown punches at teammates, including an incident that had him kicked off the the team last year at tournament time. He also had 2 bum knees and didn't practice much. So, yeah, he put up numbers but Kent should have more chemistry without him. Garcia is a big versatile guy who has experience being a mid major go to player and SEC role player. He's a good fit for that team. In fact you could make a case for Kent being the sleeper pick to win the MAC as they could be the league's best defensive team and could start a unit with an average of over 4 years of college basketball experience. Their Vandy transfer C should be the most athletic true big in the MAC and he will probably come off the bench.

Pono: I do put a lot of weight in offensive stats, non-shooting stats, and advance stats. When stats speak, we should listen. It’s my opinion, the eye test plays a lesser role. For a player who one season shoots poorly, and next season shoots well, that will show up in his stats, and the eye test will also confirm his stats for each year.

On the other hand, sometimes both the player’s stats and the eye test deceive an observer, as the player is playing in a bad offensive and/or defensive system, that highlights the players weaknesses or hides his strengths.

Other times, a player looks like a bad shooter, when in fact, the player has gotten into a bad shooting habit that makes it look he can’t shoot well, when a simple adjustment will fix it.

Kent State may have more chemistry without Pippin, but they won’t replace his production. Kent State has no one who will replace Pippin’s 19 ppg, and his leading KSU with 9.3 rebounds conference game, including 2.9 offensive rebounds per game, 1.3 blocked shots per conference game, and 5.2 FTA’s per game. Those numbers not going to be replaced.

KSU will also miss sharp shooting SG Nuga, who shot two’s at an astounding 61 percent, and was an excellent high volume three point shooter at 41.7 percent He also averaged 17 ppg.

KSU will also turn the ball over more this season, and will not be able to score as well at the hoop, especially against a team like KSU’s.

KSU ‘s Georgia transfer Garcia is a decent player and is good on the offensive boards. He shoots but 27 percent on 2-point jumpers. He’s being but 6’6 “ and playing playing upfront leads me to believe he’s going to have trouble scoring against EMU’s front line. He didn’t shoot three’s last season.

KSU is not going to be able to rely on returning player SG Santiago and PG Jacob’s, filling the scoring void left by Nuga’s departure. Jacob’s is not a good three point shooter (28 percent).

KSU had one SG in Santiago. But Santiago is only an excellent 3-point shooter, as he shot only 40 percent at the rim, and a woeful 23 percent on 2-point jump shots. Stop his three-ball and he had no offense.

EMU will have a far stronger backcourt than KSU will have.

Nuga was a low turnover player, and KSU’s roster is now filled with both returning and in-coming players with high turnover rates. Returning backcourt players Santiago and Jacob’s both have high turnover rates, so do incoming transfers Carry and the Vanderbilt transfer.

Transfer PG Sincere Carry played in just 5 games at Duquesne last season and then transferred to KSU. Whether he shot poorly because he was leaving is not known. His stats from two years ago reflect he scored at the rim well and shot three’s at 33 percent. He a did make steals and assists at a decent rate, but committed turnovers at a high rate as well, and that’s somewhat concerning. He shot 2-point jumpers at only 27 percent.

When Carry played in the prior season, Duquesne scored 105 points and gave up 106 points per 100 possessions. Don’t see him as being a particularly good defender given the number of points scored by opponents when he played. If that happens this season, it would be hard to say he’s an all-star caliber player.

KSU does have some good returning bigs in Hamilton and Beck, but Beck also has a high turnover rate. Beck is a good three-point shooter, but shot few last season.

6’7” Rhode Island transfer D Johnson will help, and although a good three-point shooter, don’t see him playing nor shooting that much.

KSU is a good defensive team inside, but not on the perimeter, as conference opponents shot 35.3 percent on three’s.

Don’t see the in-coming transfer Vanderbilt center Odusipe as being good. Although a small sample, he shot just 40 percent on 2’s during the 46 minutes he played in 11 games last season. He also committed turnovers and fouls at a high rate. Defensively, he had a low-rating as opponent teams scored 112 points per 100 possessions when he played.

KSU will likely not have the firepower to again average 76 ppg in conference play, and even though they have a few decent shooters, I believe KSU’s propensity to turn the ball over will prevent them from challenging for the MAC title. I see them taking a step backwards this season. But we’ll get to see.