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MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketball t
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KSUowl0003 Offline
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MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketball t
Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketball team.

Sure, it sounds funny saying that just hours after the Owls lost, 80-55, at the hands of Georgia Tech, but there were some promising signs in what appeared to be a lopsided outcome.

In the first half, Kennesaw State shot 19 percent from the floor (5-for-26), 11 percent (1-for-9) from beyond the 3-point line, missed four alley-oops and was outrebounded, 22-17.

Yet, as miserable as those numbers sound, the Owls trailed only 27-16 at the half.

Kennesaw State couldn't have played much worse, trailing a team that had spent all season in the polls before losing Sunday - in its own building, no less - by only 11 points.

Sure, it might be finding the silver lining, or seeing the glass half full, but it's what Owls coach Tony Ingle has to work with.

"We couldn't make shots to begin with," Ingle said. And we need to make a shot to keep our confidence up."

Or, in Kennesaw State's case, develop some on the road. Three of the Owls' four wins this season have come at home, the other coming on a neutral court in Chicago.

This is what happens when the core of the team is young. The nucleus of the team going forward starts with two redshirt freshmen: leading scorer Markeith Cummings, who is averaging 16.6 points per game, and LaDaris Green, who is putting up nearly seven points and eight rebounds a night.

Add to them a pair of sophomores in Spencer Dixon and Kurtis Woods, and it all points to improvement in the not so distant future.

Of course, that didn't help Kennesaw State in the second half Tuesday.

After struggling with its shooting the last two games, including an overtime loss to Florida State on Sunday, Georgia Tech found the range over the final 20 minutes. As a team, the Yellow Jackets, in the second half, shot 65 percent from the floor and 70 percent from behind the arc.

Lost in Georgia Tech's point barrage, was an improved performance by the Owls. Kennesaw State shot 45 percent in the half and made eight of their 16 3-point attempts.

The Owls will now have to sit and wait for a week before coming back home to host Fordham with a chance to get back in the win column.

"We're young," Ingle said, "so we play better at home."

The question will then be, can the Owls learn how to win on the road in the A-Sun? If they can, this group has a chance to be better sooner than later and possibly make a little noise in their first conference tournament.

One thing is for sure. There is no A-Sun team as good as Georgia Tech. And, if the players have any crisis in confidence, just follow Ingle, because he has an idea of where his team is going.

"Our strategy was to stay as close as we (could), and as long as we (could), and make a good showing," Ingle said of playing the Yellow Jackets. "I really thought we would play better, but I told the guys we won't play another team as tough as that until the NCAA tournament."
12-23-2009 10:37 AM
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Corn_3024 Offline
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RE: MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketball t
Thanks for posting. Good read. Lets hope we continue to make strides.
12-23-2009 02:13 PM
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leanmachine909 Offline
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RE: MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketba
I couldn't agree more about how much better gt is than Belmont and ETSU. If either of those teams were to play gt 100 times they would likely be blown out 80 times, stay within 10, 15 times and win a close game 5 times. I'm new to watching A-Sun basketball as I'm a lifelong UGA fan and I can't help but notice the HUGE difference in the talent levels. Given where UGA falls in the pecking order, I couldn't even imagine how embarassed even the top teams in the A-Sun would get vs UNC, Duke, Texas, Kansas, etc. I hope this doesn't come off as disrespectful because I do intend to support the Owls now that I'm a student there. It has just been an eye opening experience seeing how unbelieveable our team looks against D-2 teams and yet I'
watching the D2 guys and seeing that any of them would dominate the pick up games at the wellness center. It's amazing to see all the different levels of competition that exist.
12-23-2009 02:27 PM
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Bruin2002 Offline
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RE: MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketba
(12-23-2009 02:27 PM)leanmachine909 Wrote:  I couldn't agree more about how much better gt is than Belmont and ETSU. If either of those teams were to play gt 100 times they would likely be blown out 80 times, stay within 10, 15 times and win a close game 5 times. I'm new to watching A-Sun basketball as I'm a lifelong UGA fan and I can't help but notice the HUGE difference in the talent levels. Given where UGA falls in the pecking order, I couldn't even imagine how embarassed even the top teams in the A-Sun would get vs UNC, Duke, Texas, Kansas, etc. I hope this doesn't come off as disrespectful because I do intend to support the Owls now that I'm a student there. It has just been an eye opening experience seeing how unbelieveable our team looks against D-2 teams and yet I'
watching the D2 guys and seeing that any of them would dominate the pick up games at the wellness center. It's amazing to see all the different levels of competition that exist.

I agree about the top teams in the ASun being blown out most of the time against the Dukes, NCs, and Texas', however, we do hold our own sometimes. There have been some good wins over solid D-1 programs. Mercer, ETSU, and Belmont have had some successes in recent years. And Belmont was one shot short of beating Duke in the tournament a couple of years ago.
12-23-2009 05:01 PM
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KennesawBasketball Offline
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RE: MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketball t
Excellent honest assessment by the MDJ. That is a good sign to get that kind of coverage. They didn't sugarcoat the fact that we simply aren't a great team yet, but they recognize that our future is bright, and that we are improving. Excellent article, and I am glad to see it.

LeanMachine - don't feel bad being honest. The truth sometimes hurts. We do the best we can with what we have. John Wooden always said (and I have heard Coach Ingle quote this often) 'Don't let what you don't have effect what you can do'. Take a look at these numbers and you will understand why there is a talent gap between the high majors and low majors:

Overall Athletic Revenue:
- Georgia: $84 million
- Kennesaw: $7.6 million

Overall Athletic Expenses:
- Georgia: $70.5 million
- Kennesaw: $7.6 million

Men's Basketball Expenses:
- Georgia: $3.5 million
- Kennesaw: $900,000

Men's Basketball Recruiting Expenses:
- Georgia: $850,000
- Kennesaw: $50,00

Georgia spends almost as much on recruiting alone as our basketball program spends total. The astounding part is that these numbers accumulate over the years...think about that. Georgia spends $800,000 more than Kennesaw every year. That means that every 13 years Georgia has a $10 million advantage over Kennesaw in recruiting alone. This fact doesn't even address the facilities and media advantage.

When you are approached with these kind of numbers you realize the difficult job our program has ahead of them. I think we can get our program to a point where we can consistently compete, but it is by no means an easy task...in fact many would say the task is impossible. I would disagree, but it is our job as a loyal fanbase to educate people who don't understand the incredible fight we have on our hands to be competitive in Division 1 basketball.
12-23-2009 06:37 PM
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Corn_3024 Offline
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RE: MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketball t
Those are some interesting numbers. Really puts things in perspective.. sheds some major light on the uphill battle we have ahead of us. All we can do is get the most "bang for our buck" or get the most out of what we have. We have to hope to get some local talent or some hidden gyms with great work ethic.. I'd be interested to see how our spending compares with others in the ASun.
12-30-2009 01:38 PM
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KennesawBasketball Offline
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RE: MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketball t
Corn, we are in the middle of the pack. Just below the halfway point I believe. I think as time moves on we will move up to the top of the class (at least in spending) in the ASun. The athletic department and administration up to this point in time has been very supportive of our men's basketball program, which is key to its success.
(This post was last modified: 12-30-2009 01:51 PM by KennesawBasketball.)
12-30-2009 01:47 PM
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Corn_3024 Offline
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RE: MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketball t
Thanks for the info. At least we are on par with our direct competition (being the ASun).
12-30-2009 02:39 PM
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KennesawBasketball Offline
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RE: MDJ article - Thoughts - Kennesaw State isn't that far from being a good basketball t
We are on par financially so to speak, but this being our first year Division 1, we still have a lot of catchup work to do in the other areas of building a program.
12-30-2009 02:52 PM
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