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

Anyone have a review like that on St. Mary's Team? Im interested in what they got going on.

I'm sure JC has a Kent issued Blackberry. Kent throws money around like crazy and I know a lot of the AD staff have them.

OMG, that scouting report posted by Kballard122 is dead-on! scary...

some good info on st mary's here:

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketb...YCA@PEPPER

66% from charity stripe... interesting.


mike
'86

mmucha Wrote:"Patrick Mills scored 18 points, Todd Golden added 15 and 10 assists, and No. 23 Saint Mary’s hit a school record 17 3-pointers in a 100-64 win over Pepperdine on Monday night.

The Gaels (23-3, 10-1) went 17-for-29 from beyond the arc."

i know we'll come out & contest the 3-pt shot. will be great credit to the team if we can shut-down this high-flying st mary's offense.

We have to hope they don't get in a good rhythm shooting because we've had a hard time defending the longball all season. It seems every game somebody is lighting us up from outside.

I've watched them twice this year so Im no expert, but they seem to be a very good perimeter game but only average in the paint. I think Their star is Patrick Mills a Freshman from Australia I believe. Hes good, very smooth, but doesnt overwhelm people with talent, just plays smart and very fluid. Golden is their 3 pt shooter, if he gets an open look he will knock it down. We will have to be on him all day. I'm sure they have some other shooters as well. They have a big guy around 6'9" but I dont think he will be a probem for Q, Q should be able to stop him and score on him. Other than that Im not sure what their depth is like, they are a very good team and especially good at home. We will need our best game to win. Lets Go Flashes!!!!!

I like to compare this game to golf as in an uphill 3 foot put...on the 18th...to win the Masters. Very makable, but everything has to fall into place. As long as they don't lose themselves in the moment, and concentrate on the task at hand we will be fine. If we play our game we have all the tools to win, just don't let that uphill 3 footer look like a 15 foot downhill double-breaker. One of the biggest regular season games I can remember. I will be taking a nap (yes I said nap) Saturday afternoon just to stay up and watch this game...I will also be DVR'ing on 2 tv's just in case.

I think a large key to winning this game is to start fast. Sure you have to maintain and finish, but I sure don't want to think about getting down 10 early and having to make it up in that environment.

well we've been starting out quickly lately. In our last two games the first shot taken was a three and both times it sank and put us on at least a 7-0 run.

I agree with the lighting. In the game I saw, it appeared to be a lot darker than a gym should be. Even darker than Miami! It also seemed to have a bunch of light from one side of the court, almost like ESPN brought in temporary lighting for the game.

This is from a St. Mary's board on the lighting and a potential promo for the Kent State game.

http://godisagael.yuku.com/topic/1470/t/...Scoop.html

ESPN - Kent St. - Promo Scoop

So, I am missing one of the bigger games this Saturday night (daughter's b-day and no I am not going to suggest that we celebrate it in Moraga to my wife and little girl) but was reading the press release concerning Mechanic's Bank's give away of 2000 sunglasses. Now, I thought this is nice but since have discovered there's more to it.
Background on the promotion for Saturday. Against Gonzaga, ESPN TV producers asked the SMC athletic department to shut off half our TV lights for the broadcast, which caused McKeon to be a bit dark on TV. Then during the telecast, the ESPN TV announcer (dumb and dumber) proceeded to bag on us for how dark our gym was.

So the SMC athletic department is having a little fun with it. Therefore, The Mechanics Bank is providing 2000 pairs of sunglasses for our fans to wear, suggesting that McKeon is so bright, you gotta wear shades!
Thought you would want to know… and maybe someone will even make a sign!

"McKeon is so bright, We gotta wear shades!"

So we're now being referred to by a couple people on their board as the "Hot Flashes." Kinda cleaver...lol. Although, I'll be the first one to say I don't like dealing with people who have hot flashes. They can be irritable and go off at the drop of a switch. Maybe we can do just that!

Go [Hot] Flashes!!!

something just occurred to me: jet lag could be a problem. playing midnight till 2AM would freak-out my body & my time-clock for sure.

mike
'86

from BracketBusters preview on ESPN.com:

Quote:• KENT STATE (22-5, 11-2 MAC) at No. 20 SAINT MARY'S (23-3, 10-1 WCC), ESPN2, ESPN360.com, 11:59 p.m. ET
What it means: Perhaps the BracketBusters contest with the most on the line. With an RPI in the 40s and a five-game winning streak, Kent State could pick up a gigantic road win over a team with an RPI of 26, which would put Kent squarely on the bubble and perhaps lead to the MAC's first at-large bid since 1999. SMC has won six in a row, but a loss at home could put a serious dent in the résumé of a team that's attempting to shore up at-large status. It's a distant replay of the championship from Saint Mary's holiday tournament in December 2005, a last-minute 61-59 Gael win.

Key player: Patrick Mills, Saint Mary's. The Gaels' freshman phenom has a world of experience -- he's played and excelled for Australia's national team -- that your average prep newcomer can't match. The lightning-fast Mills made his initial splash in America with a 37-point explosion in a December upset of Oregon, and he currently leads the team with 15.2 ppg and 3.6 apg.

Key stat: Saint Mary's has better rebounding and defense, and Kent State offers better overall shooting. However, the winner of this game will likely come down to tempo. The Gaels love to get out and run, using very little clock, and Kent will try to keep things slow. If you're watching the game, keep a scratch pad and count Saint Mary's possessions. When the Gaels are held to below 64, they're 1-2.

Does anyone know when the team leaves for Moraga? If they left today, I don't see jet lag being much of a problem, but leaving tommorrow afternoon/tomorrow night could have them a little flat.

I believe the team left today (Thursday) for California. They will at least have a few days to get accustomed to the time change. Hopefully they will not have too much of a problem.

It's 3:13 p.m. right now here on the east coast, which means the team should be landing out west in about two hours.

I think they'll be fine by Saturday night.

As a beat writer, it's killing me I won't be there... only I think the fourth regular season game I've missed in the last four years, and it could be such an important game for both the team and the league. Unfortunately, with the midnight start, there's no way of making deadline (unless I convince both teams and ESPN to play with a running clock ... probably not likely), so it makes more sense to save the money for covering what will hopefully be a good, long run in March.

guess you'll just have to kick it on the message board with the rest of us. I heard Ray's Place should be pretty good that night!

Actually, I probably will swing by the message board that night. That's a good idea

Don't worry about jet lag. These are 18-22 year olds. They don't wake up until Noon.

All I know is that the first time I flew to the Left Coast I was 26 years old and the jet lag that first day wiped me out. Of course, by the second day I adjusted OK. Plus, the players are in a lot better shape than I was then.

Try not sleeping on a flight to Europe, talk about rough, no sleep for nearly 36 hours! But, I was excited to be there, so it didn't affect me.