Where to begin?

I'll never criticize a team when it plays hard. That being said, we played like dogs out there tonight. Absolutely no effort from several key starters in the first half, which is why those in question spent most of the second half on the bench.

******* it. I hate that we lost two games to that sorry ass CMU outfit. How did we get killed on the boards? Harris and Riley, my keys to the game, played like scrubs and ought to be ashamed. No effort, no intensity, and outhustled by a team that had packed it in before tonight.

Simply put, Lamps, Riley, and Harris mailed it in, and we won't beat anyone when that happens.

One other observation: Harper is a terrible basketball player. He can't do a damn thing out there. Poor dribbler, passer, and shooter, and he single-handedly let McBroom beat us. Hopefully he'll be the 12th man next year.

Oh, and free Derek Thompson.

Sadly I agree with pretty much everything. It's the 2nd time this year we've mailed it in like that, the first being at Akron. We rarely get beat like that on the glass, and central embarassed us in that facet.

Murphy got out coached as well. His lineup choices were maddening. If you're down by 10 with 8:00 to go, why do you play Harper-Sims-Strickland-Harris-Balkema? That's arguably the worst offensive lineup we can play. Lampley and Green, our two best scorers this year, rode pine basically the entire 2nd half. I understand Murphy wants to prove a "no nonsense" point, but we actually have something to play for. You have to give your best guys a chance to overcome mistakes, and that cost us tonight.

And yes, Thompson needs to play more. A lot more. And plays need to be run through him. He can create off the dribble and hit spot up shots. By far our most gifted offensive player. Hopefully he gets 30 mpg the rest of the way.

Agree Derek Thompson could average 20 points per game in this conference if he were on a better team. This kid should be starting....PERIOD!!!! Is he not starting because ................fill in the blank. If DT were on a team that could pass and not turn over the ball and had talent that could play up tempo, he would average 20 ppg. He is the best player and finally getting some minutes. DT has also earned the right to stay on the floor if he makes a mistake because he will make 2 or 3 good plays for every mistake.

I am losing hope for Riley.....he may be a bust. When Riley wants to plays the sky is the limit but he seems disinterested 90% of the time.

this was the knock against Riley in HS - plays without any enthusiasm. he has a ton of potential. hopefully Murphy and Mondro can get through to him.

i never thought Thompson was that great of an offensive threat until the last few games. it seems like he's turned a corner. i agree that you have to keep going to him for the rest of the season.

Sam, i disagree about playing the starters in the second half. i'd rather Murphy send a message if he thinks it's appropriate. we're still in first place in the west. of course, i've never coached, so i also have no clue how effective it is to bench players when they're being lackadaisical.

all in all we're still doing much better than i anticipated. still, it sucks to lose to CMU. they have a miserable lineup.

(02-14-2012 09:03 PM)holybovine Wrote:  Where to begin?

I'll never criticize a team when it plays hard. That being said, we played like dogs out there tonight. Absolutely no effort from several key starters in the first half, which is why those in question spent most of the second half on the bench.

******* it. I hate that we lost two games to that sorry ass CMU outfit. How did we get killed on the boards? Harris and Riley, my keys to the game, played like scrubs and ought to be ashamed. No effort, no intensity, and outhustled by a team that had packed it in before tonight.

Simply put, Lamps, Riley, and Harris mailed it in, and we won't beat anyone when that happens.

One other observation: Harper is a terrible basketball player. He can't do a damn thing out there. Poor dribbler, passer, and shooter, and he single-handedly let McBroom beat us. Hopefully he'll be the 12th man next year.

Oh, and free Derek Thompson.

1. Da'Shonte Riley CANNOT PLAY. When has he not played like a scrub? Look at all his stat lines this season. Last night: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 3 turnovers. He is a stiff. I've talked to someone close to the program who told me he was happy at Syracuse (not playing), his mom wanted him to come back to Michigan, he thinks EMU is beneath his talent, and he doesn't mix with the other players. Is that true? I don't know, but he's playing like he doesn't want to be here.

2. The team is 11-15. This is a bad team and the MAC is horrible, way down this year. I'm just praying that we don't somehow win the MAC tournament and have to play in the NCAA play-in game with a losing record.

3. At least Austin Harper tries and hustles. I can live with that.

Dear Friends,
Just another bit of statistical information. If, Eastern made four more free throws of the twenty-five they got, and the game is played out the way it was, Eastern wins by a point. That means they would have had to make twenty out of twenty-five, that's 80% shooting for free throws. Is that a difficult percentage? What do good teams make as a free throw percentage?

(02-15-2012 08:46 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
Just another bit of statistical information. If, Eastern made four more free throws of the twenty-five they got, and the game is played out the way it was, Eastern wins by a point. That means they would have had to make twenty out of twenty-five, that's 80% shooting for free throws. Is that a difficult percentage? What do good teams make as a free throw percentage?

averaging 80% as a team is hard. maybe Duke has done that in the past? i'm not sure. i would guess the average FT% for a mac team is mid to high 60s.

(02-15-2012 08:46 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
Just another bit of statistical information. If, Eastern made four more free throws of the twenty-five they got, and the game is played out the way it was, Eastern wins by a point. That means they would have had to make twenty out of twenty-five, that's 80% shooting for free throws. Is that a difficult percentage? What do good teams make as a free throw percentage?

Ken! Flawed logic. You'd have to do the same for CMU, they were only 3-10, give them another 5 points at the line--80% and they still win. I believe Lampley is the only EMU player shooting above 80% from the ft line. I hate the if, if, if game. If my aunt had ba*** she'd be my uncle.

(02-15-2012 08:46 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
Just another bit of statistical information. If, Eastern made four more free throws of the twenty-five they got, and the game is played out the way it was, Eastern wins by a point. That means they would have had to make twenty out of twenty-five, that's 80% shooting for free throws. Is that a difficult percentage? What do good teams make as a free throw percentage?

The problem is that we where out played on the boards by a smaller team. Being outrebounded by a CMU team is terrible.

(02-15-2012 11:21 AM)emussuperfan Wrote:  

(02-15-2012 08:46 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
Just another bit of statistical information. If, Eastern made four more free throws of the twenty-five they got, and the game is played out the way it was, Eastern wins by a point. That means they would have had to make twenty out of twenty-five, that's 80% shooting for free throws. Is that a difficult percentage? What do good teams make as a free throw percentage?

The problem is that we where out played on the boards by a smaller team. Being outrebounded by a CMU team is terrible.

Our big guys didn't play big! Beginning to lose faith in Riley, he doesn't look like he wants to be involved. His Offense is terrible, can only dunk, can'y initiate any moves w/o traveling etc.

(02-15-2012 09:25 AM)EMUAARON Wrote:  

(02-15-2012 08:46 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
Just another bit of statistical information. If, Eastern made four more free throws of the twenty-five they got, and the game is played out the way it was, Eastern wins by a point. That means they would have had to make twenty out of twenty-five, that's 80% shooting for free throws. Is that a difficult percentage? What do good teams make as a free throw percentage?

averaging 80% as a team is hard. maybe Duke has done that in the past? i'm not sure. i would guess the average FT% for a mac team is mid to high 60s.

For the season, just one Division I team is averaging over 80%: Weber State. Wisconsin and Harvard finished last year over 80%. Before that...none going back to at least 2000-01, which is as far as I looked. An entire decade in which no team averaged 80% free throw shooting.

Yeah, it's hard.

Of course, for a single game, it happens -- heck, teams occasionally will shoot 100% for a game (usually with single-digit attempts). But it doesn't happen that often, and it's certainly not something you can or should count on.

While I think Murphy has overachieved with this team this year it still is the ugly basketball team we all thought it was at the beginning of the season. Poor shooting yep, turnovers yep, lack of rebounding yep. Inconsistent yep.

The only overall pleasant surprise has been the defensive improvement.

I'm glad Thompson is showing some life the past two games. He needs to show he wants to be here next season. Ditto Sims and Harper and Riley.

(02-15-2012 05:54 PM)emu79 Wrote:  While I think Murphy has overachieved with this team this year it still is the ugly basketball team we all thought it was at the beginning of the season. Poor shooting yep, turnovers yep, lack of rebounding yep. Inconsistent yep.

The only overall pleasant surprise has been the defensive improvement.

I'm glad Thompson is showing some life the past two games. He needs to show he wants to be here next season. Ditto Sims and Harper and Riley.

Agree that some of these guys need to step up. Next year may be a totally differen team with a number of new players including some new recruits in April.