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

I forgot to mention that even Lester Lefton made an appearance last night.

good question Polish H....what's the deal with Henry-Ala.

I thought he was supposed to be an upper level CC player, who could
come in, with his old coach, and contribute right away.
And now, he never even takes off the sweats.
Is he in Geno's doghouse for some reason, related to the one game
suspension he had ??

Any idea Dave C. ??

Ford said it was simply because Henry-Ala hasn't picked up the system quickly enough. Ford also said it was probably the coaching staff's fault because they were trying to get him to learn the 3 and 4. It is taking him twice as long to figure both positions out.

The coaching staff is doing a great job, *however they have made one mistake*! we are playing competitive against team that have more man power then us, and could've won. i am kent all the way but against st Mary's our only advantage matchup was chris. every other position was advantage st Mary's(samhan,diamond,patty). looking at the game on paper i didn't see how we were going to keep up. i think bp played well and chris did a good job getting him involved setting him up getting him in the game, and bp played with a lot of hustle. *the mistake that the coaching staff made is obviously with scheduling. a new team like this need time to learn from every game early in the season. after each game most coaches makes a tape of all the things that they have done wrong, things they need to do better and watch them in the film room to learn from each game, and make corrections. then they go and work on them on the court. we haven't had enough time in between games to do these things so i know the coachng staff has had things that they want to touch on but cant because players need rest the mandatory day off etc. take today for instance instead of being able to watch film edits on the st Mary's game and really go over their mistakes in depth. they will be watching film on carolina and looking over scouting reports for tomorrow. the veteran guys can probably get away with that a little but not the new guys! Maybe as a result when tourney time come around we will be better for it

per my previous post ["I have yet to be impressed with Geno's leadership"]....make no mistake about it; this is all about the process. That is one of the qualities of basketball that draws me to the sport, particualrly at the college level. And how a team comes toegther [or not!] and the craftsmanship of the coach and his staff in that regard is fascinating to watch.
I have said and will say again...more than any team over the last 10-plus years, what this team will be will be defined by the end of the season. So many new pieces; a new head coach; significant changes in both staff and personnel; some first steps in trying to begin the process of taking the program forward another step or two; a history to live up to -- these are all new ingredients for us to bring together.
And the mix of this team -- JUCOs, inexperienced and experienced veterans, a lot of short-timers, a lot of guys who have not been together for very long, possibly the most depth of talent we have had since 2001, a mixed bag of senior leadership, the delay in getting a key comonent of our team eligible, ad infinitum...
This will make for a very emotional season -- but one with extraordinary possiblities.al years in advance, and with many decisions outside your real guidance. As Bill Parcell's was famous for saying, "It is what it is."

None of the losses are particularly bad. The teams they've lost to are a combined 21-4. The problem I see is that they lost all four. They should have won at least one, possibly two. The breaks weren't there. Speaking of breaks, this team has been partially hamstrung because of Sherman's injury and Evan's clearing issue. This has killed the depth at guard.

From an expectation's standpoint, I am pleased with Parks, and disappointed in McKee and Henry-Ala, whom I expected to play more significant roles.

The other thing I'm watching out for is how they use Sully. I think the other poster is right, he gives his all, but sometimes the matchups aren't there and the guy can't be on the court if he has a bad matchup. Again, here's where I'm looking at Henry-Ala and just plain out wondering why they are bothering to teach this kid the 3 when the problem was apparent to all of us that the 4 was going to be the issue.

oldflash Wrote:For what it's worth...
** This team does not play D...period. And for now, I put that at Geno's feet. It's a coach's job to sell the D message to his team and, thus far, these guys aren't buying in!
** As talented as Singletary is, and as dominant as he could be, he sleep walks through pats of the game and gets into individual battles with opponents. He has no mental discipline whatsoever!
** If Woods plays with that kind of passion every game, he could be a true force in the league.
** I know players make plays, but for me, one sign of a good coach is how good a team looks coming out of a timeout, and I have yet to be impressed with Geno's leadership there. Out-of-bound plays in general don't seem to exist except for the purpose of getting the ball inbounded.
Long way to go, and I think when Evans get's integrated into the offense, we'll see a better production there, but until this team plays D and makes foul shots, I don't care what else happens!

You are right. The defense has been horrible.
Geno is saying that, too.
The thing to remember is that there is plenty of reason to believe it will turn around as the new players begin to understand the system.
If all of you liked the defense Kent State played in Jim Christian's six seasons here, remember that defense was installed by Geno. He brought it from Ohio University. It is the exact same system Larry Hunter used there, in fact with the same exact terminology.
So hang in there. Sooner or later, Simpson is going to learn how to rotate. Other guys are going to do more than just understand what they are doing, but they will instinctively flow to where they need to be on defense and make plays.
The responsibilities are different. The bigs are different, too, which means perimeter defenders can't afford to gamble as much as they did in past years when they knew Q or Mike Scott would bail them out. Those guys haven't learned to stay strong.
It will get better.
Tyree may actually help more on defense than he will on offense. He's a heck of a defender.

To say the least, I am disappointed in the results at this time because pre season I was thinking that we would be better at this point. I am not totally down on our team. We can still be very good. Yes, the schedule is not built for a team at our stage of development, but I would rather see us where we are than to build a schedule like acron does. This schedule is more like MiaO and my guess is that it will serve us well down the road. Now for some random thoughts after SMC.
* SMC is really a good team. Not only do they have great talent, they are well coached and play well together.
* Geno may have some developing to do as expected, but I can not lay a finger on it. His time out plays were evident to me and one worked for a score as several others got the shot, even if not made. The others were well defended and the release was used. No problem.
* It looks to me as if this coaching staff will develop players with more detail than JC did. I truly believe that if JC were here, BP would still be at the end of the bench, or worst let, back in Indiana. BP is showing attitude and productivity that is a pleasant surprise to all of us. I will credit this coaching staff for that. Also, I see improvement in Alex Grimsley already. He will be a good player for us in the future.
* Geno must get control of Fisher. Al thinks of himself as a one man show that can be switched on and off at will. He is a marked man. He is good but by no means is he Patty Mills or even Trevor Huffman. Those players could start a move, and when the defense stops them, they were seeing the remainder of the court and could release to teammates. It appears to me that Al only senses the basket throughout his move and can not dish mid stream. This is Geno's challenge as he was a great guard in his day. Otherwise, the AF turnovers will kill us. Somewhat the same for Chris except he has vision and sets up others. Chris is still trying to be a point guard, which he is not.
* We are not as good of a perimeter shooting team as I had thought. This, we will have to live with. Since BP may be a pleasant surprise inside, we may be good enough anyway.
* Low foul shooting percentage is a major weakness. This must get better, or I will not enjoy this team, win or lose. Everyone needs to learn to accept a gift.

All in all, SMC was the best team to show at the MACC in recent years. It will be interesting to see how they progress this season. We are more so a work in progress. All is not lost. Have faith.

oldflash Wrote:per my previous post ["I have yet to be impressed with Geno's leadership"]....make no mistake about it; this is all about the process. That is one of the qualities of basketball that draws me to the sport, particualrly at the college level. And how a team comes toegther [or not!] and the craftsmanship of the coach and his staff in that regard is fascinating to watch.
I have said and will say again...more than any team over the last 10-plus years, what this team will be will be defined by the end of the season. So many new pieces; a new head coach; significant changes in both staff and personnel; some first steps in trying to begin the process of taking the program forward another step or two; a history to live up to -- these are all new ingredients for us to bring together.
And the mix of this team -- JUCOs, inexperienced and experienced veterans, a lot of short-timers, a lot of guys who have not been together for very long, possibly the most depth of talent we have had since 2001, a mixed bag of senior leadership, the delay in getting a key comonent of our team eligible, ad infinitum...

old flash,i respect where u comin from and i understand but, you have to give Geno a break u say he has the most talent since 01 that might be the opposite for this team i sorry the last three years team had more depth last year we had all the key guys from this year who were backed by the starters from this year. Q was our best passer and defender and scott a good scorer and defender the things that they do have not been replaced! when geno got the job he had a short amount of time to fill those huge vacancies and i think he did a decent job! we are pplaying at a high level and it will get better. the year before they had dre and youngblood back by omni armon mike scott kevin warz nate g julians best year jordan mncy outstanding freshmen year! we are not as deep as one might think tyree will make it better. i agree with someone above about al he was bailed out a lot last year by q jordan mike defense and the team firepower. he cnt be a loose cannon this year or start back turnin it over. i think geno can win with this team he has them playng at a great level competitively. i kno we lost 4 straight, but honestly on paper it was 4 games no one thought we should of been in! stay ehind geno this will be an intersting season

Successful coaches I have known in the past, in similar situations, have simply played their best defensive players. The MAC is a "defense first" league.

Honestly, we haven't been beaten by a team we are better than. Sure, we would beat any of them 3-4 times out of 10 (except Kansas), but those were better teams at this point in the season.
I think we have great potential to be a very tough team come March, and I think we'll get there. Parks was very impressive last night and not just because he threw a few shots in. His athleticism, his energy, and his hustle are exactly what we need and some of our frontcourt questions have now been answered. The MAC is short of big, physical centers and Parks will be very tough for some teams to deal with, especially given our strength in the backcourt.
This is going to be a very interesting season! (Especially if some guys who shall remain nameless for now learn their defensive rotations.)

Polish Hammer Wrote:Sucks for the record, sucks even more if the streak ends this year, but these past 4 games really will make us battle tested and better off in the long run. Add Evans to the mix and work on our inside game and we'll be OK.

When will Evans be able to play?

OSUFALCON,
Should be able to play after Western Carolina (12/15 Youngstown State)

I'm not holding my breath at this point. Grades come out then, does that mean that they'll expedite the clearing procedures to get him dressed for YSU? Afterall, guys that signed last spring took until the season started to get cleared. And that's just assuming he makes the grade this semester.

Evans won't make it for YSU...grades will not be "official" by then.

I had originally heard by YSU, but while the grades will be in, the registrar (or whoever handles it) doesn't sign off until after the YSU game.
So, have to be patient for another game.

I asked LK before the game when was TE gonna be able to play he told me 2 weeks.

Anyone going to the game tonight? Ill be front row like always

Yesterday, there was an real old guy walking his dog on campus. I am pretty sure Tyree Evans was walking past him when the old guy stopped to talked to him for a little bit. I was walking in the opposite direction, so I didn't catch the conversation to well. I am pretty sure the old guy was asking him when he would be back. I didn't quite catch what Tyree Evans said, but I think he said something like, "soon" or something like that.

thanksjim Wrote:Yesterday, there was an real old guy walking his dog on campus. I am pretty sure Tyree Evans was walking past him when the old guy stopped to talked to him for a little bit. I was walking in the opposite direction, so I didn't catch the conversation to well. I am pretty sure the old guy was asking him when he would be back. I didn't quite catch what Tyree Evans said, but I think he said something like, "soon" or something like that.

You are wrong about this, I am not the old man, but I am the dog that was out walking the old man, ..... and he said ........ not soon enough