...this is why we don't have many fans.

I'll try not to overreact, but UGH. What a choke job. This almost erases all the goodwill Murphy built up over the year - it certainly erases any progress in terms of public perception.

Harper shouldn't have his scholarship renewed, so keep recruiting Rob.

(03-05-2012 09:45 PM)holybovine Wrote:  ...this is why we don't have many fans.

I'll try not to overreact, but UGH. What a choke job. This almost erases all the goodwill Murphy built up over the year - it certainly erases any progress in terms of public perception.

Harper shouldn't have his scholarship renewed, so keep recruiting Rob.

Derek looked lost out there as well. To lose to as bad a team as NIU at home is bad enough but this game was as ugly as they come.

I think NIU is a terrible matchup for us, hence the reason all the games have been nailbiters. They defend the crap out of the ball. We've gotten away with some wins against teams that didn't play too hard defensively, but we just aren't a good enough offensive team to run away from NIU. Plus they made their 3's.

I'm mad about the loss, but I never thought this was a gimme for us. I still think this was a great season when put into context with expectations, and I look forward to next year with Bryant, Harrison, Still, and Lee coming into the fold. Should be an exciting bunch. As for right now, I will drown my sorrows and hope it was all a bad dream when I wake up hungover tomorrow.

(03-05-2012 09:54 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  I think NIU is a terrible matchup for us, hence the reason all the games have been nailbiters. They defend the crap out of the ball. We've gotten away with some wins against teams that didn't play too hard defensively, but we just aren't a good enough offensive team to run away from NIU. Plus they made their 3's.

I'm mad about the loss, but I never thought this was a gimme for us. I still think this was a great season when put into context with expectations, and I look forward to next year with Bryant, Harrison, Still, and Lee coming into the fold. Should be an exciting bunch. As for right now, I will drown my sorrows and hope it was all a bad dream when I wake up hungover tomorrow.

The defense let us down in the second half, NIU 6-9 from under the arc, 6 of 13 from beyond the arc. We all knew that the offense was terrible but it was the defense that kept us in the game but not tonight, not to night.

Really? I thought they did fine. When the taller Norwegian kid is hitting 27 footers, defense isn't really part of the equation. Murphy was smart to go small in the 2nd half, and JR and Green did a very good job. NIU didn't get many points in the paint at all. I'd much rather have them chuck 3s than take it inside...they just made most of them, unfortunately. That's the risk of living and dying by the 2-3 zone.

I've been harsh on this team when I thought the defensive effort was lacking, but that wasn't the case tonight. They played their asses off, especially Jamell. He had a good all around game. We should have gone to him in the post more, rather than forcing up 3s every possession. Oh well.

Way to many air balls on offense I counted ten at least.

IS EMU STILL RECRUITING - CLASS OF 2012? THEY SHOULD BE, WE NEED SOME FORWARDS THAT CAN SHOOT/SCORE

OFFENSE NEEDS HELP! IMMEDIATE HELP.

i think public perception will still be improved next season. this season will be considered a success and reason for optimism by some passing fans. but, it's still going to take a long time to get more interest in games at the convo.

i was shocked at the attendance today (not including the students). it seemed like there were bigger crowds for a few games this year. i guess people need more than an occasional home playoff 5-seed before they decide to come out to games.

(03-05-2012 10:06 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  Really? I thought they did fine. When the taller Norwegian kid is hitting 27 footers, defense isn't really part of the equation. Murphy was smart to go small in the 2nd half, and JR and Green did a very good job. NIU didn't get many points in the paint at all. I'd much rather have them chuck 3s than take it inside...they just made most of them, unfortunately. That's the risk of living and dying by the 2-3 zone.

I've been harsh on this team when I thought the defensive effort was lacking, but that wasn't the case tonight. They played their asses off, especially Jamell. He had a good all around game. We should have gone to him in the post more, rather than forcing up 3s every possession. Oh well.

I agree w. Sam here.

Isn't the theory of the zone, as Sam indicates, that the downside RISK is that a team will get hot from behind the arc. Zone busting?

Pardon the expression, but we got 'busted' last night.

But we WON a lot of games this year we would not have without that 2 - 3 zone.

(03-06-2012 07:06 AM)emu steve Wrote:  I agree w. Sam here.

Isn't the theory of the zone, as Sam indicates, that the downside RISK is that a team will get hot from behind the arc. Zone busting?

Pardon the expression, but we got 'busted' last night.

But we WON a lot of games this year we would not have without that 2 - 3 zone.

exactly. they busted the zone a few times. there were a few long 3's that you can't expect another team to hit.

plus, there were a lot of instances of the outside guys in the '3' part of the 2-3 that overcommitted at the top of the key, leaving a guy too wide open behind the arc. small things like that make a huge difference when you're playing a zone.

Dear EMUAARON,
Not being at the game, I would be critical of the fact that the three point shooters seemed to be undefended. Once a team hits two or three of those in a row, you have to defend, otherwise they just keep shooting and making threes.
The announcers didn't say much about how well, or not, we defended against the three pointer so, it was hard to tell what was going on.

(03-06-2012 08:54 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear EMUAARON,
Not being at the game, I would be critical of the fact that the three point shooters seemed to be undefended. Once a team hits two or three of those in a row, you have to defend, otherwise they just keep shooting and making threes.
The announcers didn't say much about how well, or not, we defended against the three pointer so, it was hard to tell what was going on.

oh, i agree. that's when the zone broke down.

i thought the defense was good overall, but there were a few times where the forwards playing the baseline of the zone were overeager at the top of the key which resulted in a guy being too open.

in my opinion, the defense wasn't the problem at all. we scored 11pts in the first half. the team looked horribly nervous with the ball. as Superfan pointed out, there were more airballs than a lot of high school games.

(03-05-2012 09:58 PM)emussuperfan Wrote:  The defense let us down in the second half, NIU 6-9 from under the arc, 6 of 13 from beyond the arc. We all knew that the offense was terrible but it was the defense that kept us in the game but not tonight, not to night.

You run the zone that's the risk you take.

Its wrong to blame a zone defense for the other team shooting lights out from three, that's the weakness. A lot of those shots were actually pretty well contested.

Murphy needs to implement some serious m2m next season. Even if its not your signature defense you need something to change gears to when a team gets as hot as the huskies were last night.

Everyone was pissed when Witherspoon started using zone in Buffalo because early in the season it hurt us a bit. But in conference play the ability to go smoothly between zone and m2m was a huge asset.