Wow Fan1. You are much man. Make an incorrect statement to finish a thread, and then close it up.

The Bucs did not "almost EXCLUSIVELY" run a man offense against Belmont.

Regardless, the point Nuck made was quite valid. If you're coming off a game in which Belmont hit 12 threes in the first half, then its likely you don't want to play West Virginia in the first round of the NITs.

Don't you think?

Yeah vs Belmont they did run alot of zone, that is true. But ask any Buc fan...we ran mostly man the entire conference season.

We do suffer in the zone. Very true statement.

Thank you!

Now, considering the performance ETSU had against the best team in the A-Sun- Belmont- and the majority of the out of conference competition- doesn't it make sense for Nuck to say the Bucs probably wouldn't match up well against WVU?

Obviously we wouldnt want to play a team that shoots well from 3, but Belmont didnt shoot well against us from 3 our other two games. Hell we could play Oklahoma Panhandle State and they could hit 17 3's against us. It doesnt have to be WVU.

Forget the other two games- one of them a loss.

Belmont had shot the three all year long- their top four players had attempted more than 500 treys throughout the year. One of those players with more than 100 attempts had converted on 46% of his treys!

It was obvious the outside shot was a part of Belmont's game plan.

Whether Belmont didn't want to reveal this in their game plan in earlier meetings or just had a cold night(s) earlier- a simple read of the stat sheet could tell you this was coming.

And the Bucs couldn't stop it. When it counted.

That's the bottom line.

Yea according to the statistics, Belmont shot 785 three's to be exact, and they only made 282 of them. So, a team that shoots less than 36 percent from three point range we're to believe is going to go over 48 percent from behind the arc for the game, and in the first half (where the damage was basically done) they shot 63 percent from three point range.
Now by comparison, let's look. For the year, ETSU's opponents were only shooting 32.6 percent from three point range, and playing alot of man to man granted, but still, only 32.6 percent. I'd say that's one hell of a defensive adjustment from the previous two years.
I went a little bit further as to look at Belmont's four conference losses. In the two Lipscomb losses they had, the Bruins were a mighty 12-44 from three point range, somewhere around 27 percent combined.
Against Campbell, they went a whopping 9-30 for 30 percent from behind the arc. Wow... Lighting it up on possibly one of the WORST DEFENSIVE TEAM IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL (VMI being the worst, simply because they don't play any). In two regular season meetings with ETSU, in the win, they went a spectacular 5-17 from three point range, but beat us down low. Yes Nuck, Boomer Herndon owns you, he might as well be your pimp. In the second game, the mighty Bruins went a spectacular 5-22 from three point range for an astounding 20.8 percent, and that game was in Nashville, on their home floor.
So now tell me, if you're a coach, what do you prepare for, a team that goes 22-83 against Lipscomb and yourselves, AFTER getting beat down low in a loss previously to that team, or do you focus on three point shooting.
In short, Belmont is a low 30 percent range team from three point range, and is in the 20 percent range against the regular season conference champion and Belmont's main rival. I think even a spectacular basketball coach like Marty Street at Crockett can figure out what you focus on there. I would think any coach that is playing a team that has consistently beaten you down low but for the year and in two previous meetings hasn't shot the ball well against you from three point range, then yea, try to find a way to stop the beatdown in the paint.

I quit reading through that about halfway through- but let's address something-

A- 36.2 % is not a bad three point success rate.

46% certainly isn't.

To pick up on a snarky comment made by our esteemed moderator, this is why you SHOULDN'T go to games.

Prior to the ESPN2 telecast Belmont was lauded as being a three-point shooting team.

So ESPN can figure this out, but ETSU can't?

B- Stats are going to look bad if you only count a team's losses. That's a given.

It's also why your point halfway through is irrelevant.

I'm sick of this excuse making. Let's simply realize what every other person who has ever watched, played, or coached basketball realizes- and that's a zone defense generally is not the most effect defense against outside shooting and ETSU has often struggled to defend the three this year.

And if that's not true- then why is ETSU not going to the NCAAs?

ESPN doesn't do its' homework for these games. See Colin Cowherd's comments on mid-major teams. He had no idea who 27-4 Davidson was, or the fact that a RANKED Winthrop played in the Big South. Look at the stats marky, I'll dumb it down for you. 22-83 combined against ETSU and Lipscomb in the regular season.
So no, a team shooting over 60 percent in a half against you after a combined 10-39 in two previous meetings that year, it's a little unexpected and on that day, they could have beaten anybody.

ESPN doesn't do its homework.

Fan1- You really think that a comparison of the MVC and the Southern Conference from a historical perspective is more ludicrous than that statement?

I don't even have to comment on the rest of the selective stat keeping of the remainder of the post.

Belmont shoots the three well. ETSU doesn't defend it well.

End of discussion.

Okay, 282-785 , a 35.9 percent three point shooting team against what you've said ALL YEAR is lesser competition. I pulled the statistics against the two best teams other than Belmont in the conference, and what do you know, they were in the mid 20 range.
Against the big boys Belmont can't shoot the three, Josh Goodwin is too slow and they can double Hare early and frustrate him.
I hope they get Kansas or Florida in the first round.

So therefore you are saying ETSU isn't a big boy- and therefore will fold like paper dolls in the NIT?

Three teams in the A-Sun, the two Nashville and us. Belmont shot the ball HORRIBLY against both.
I can't dumb it down for you anymore, so go start a new thread about how there's not alot of difference between Pitt Panther football and Penn State, or how App State really could beat Michigan in Ann Arbor this year.
And for the record I believe all children should be sent to golf camp at an early age.

Typical- but I guess by avoiding the question- in reality you really do answer it.

I guess we'll have to hope the Lady Bucs provide some sort of postseason success.

Pitt,

Again, I think your general problems with ETSU are clouding your judgement of the Bucs play in the championship game. If Belmont had taken the same shots in the same order -- WITHOUT THE BUCS ON THE FLOOR -- I don't think they hit 10 of 12 before the half. It was just one of those games, and no matter zone, man-to-man, 1-3-1, Belmont had the game of its life and won. End of story ...

You cannot argue with the stats and the improvement ETSU made it defending EVERYTHING this year. Case in point, this is taken directly from the game notes at ETSUBucs.com:

Bucs geting defensive
When looking back at the Bucs

I'm not really right, I just looked at the games and said here it is.

2002- OBVIOUSLY the Bucs didn't improve!

They lost by 27 points in the title game! At the end of the year they were struggling to beat North Florida!

ETSU was a very mediocre team and will continue to be as long as they stay in the A-Sun.

I can't make it any clearer than that.

Duke lost to a team barely above .500 and so did Uva. The precious Appalachian State LOST to Elon, AT HOME, a ranked Butler team barely beat Division II Florida Gulf Coast...
ETSU struggling with North Florida has nothing to do with Belmont being a poor shooting team against ETSU and Lipscomb, only to come out and shoot 63 percent in the first half. Their defense got the job done to the effect of winning a conference championship.
Truth be told marky, and all personal attacks aside, I feel sorry for you. If you would just get over your bitterness towards Dave Mullins and Mike White, and just use some common sense, you could have a decent career in a small market writing for a paper, but instead, you choose to make idiotic statements like the SoCon isn't that much worse than the Missouri Valley. Damn man, just GET OVER YOURSELF!

The So Con is NOT that much worse than the MVC. I stand by that statement wholeheartedly- as 14-16 clearly shows.

I am a firm believer that the So Con could, in the future, enjoy a run like the MVC has enjoyed this season.

I feel sorry for you. You'll never be able to make it in the sports media.

In fact, you'll never be able to build off poems like this-

PUT THE HUNTER S. THOMPSON PICTURE UP IN THE BACKGROUND!

DO WE HAVE ANY BONGOS?

THANK YOU!!!!

Words with venom, words that bind.
Words used like weapons to cloud my mind.
I'm a person. I'm a man.
But I live with a fear that makes me visibly twitch,
People just say "Hey! Andy Large is PittsburghBucs' b1tch!"

Everywhere I go, it's always the same.
I'll never achieve PittsburghBucs' fame!
"Hey VolLover! Hey VolLover! Hey VolLover!"
STOP!

I know.
Call me VolLover! Make me the focus of your hate!
I'm insulting and dumb
Oop Up- Cloud you with lies
But no one takes the bait.
But even if I stopped being a shill-
Even if I were to strike it rich
I'll never be thought of as more... than just "PittsburghBucs' b1tch."

I would now like to apologize to Jesse Jackson.

I'm not suprised. You're romanticism of a league that has NEVER had two bids in the NCAA tournament (atleast not in the modern era), a conference that even Appalachian fans will tell you is turning into the small private Christian Asssociation of the Carolinas, and are actively seeking a way out, doesn't comare to them, nor will they. Name me four teams in there who can consistenly contend for NCAA tournament bids in five years, and be realistic, keeping in mind App State has had their first winning season in years. I'll give you Davidson and Charleston, simply because of the Cremins name and Bob McKillop is a good coach. Who will it be? UT-C and Shulman, can the tennis player lead the basketball team to greatness? We all know what happens when people involved with ETSU tennis get involved with other sports. Furman? Elon? I know, I got it, President Bush will get a peace resolution in the Middle East, and all of a sudden EVERYONE will want to go to The Citadel. There just aren't four teams that will be that competitive there, not year in, year out, but you go ahead and try to justify that lying legacy.

As for sports media, who said I'm trying to work in it, or any media for that matter? Why work weekends for less money if you don't have to?