I have seen some nice passing from Bond. I’d like to see him at the point more.

Dear Friends,
Eastern up by ten with six minutes to play.

Just a though, why doesn’t EMU try to feed Thompson at least half of possessions. Let him post up.

(01-16-2018 08:51 PM)RamyEMU Wrote:  Just a though, why doesn’t EMU try to feed Thompson at least half of possessions. Let him post up.

Been asking myself that all game. They are collapsing two guys onto him anytime he gets position in the post, but that's on Murphy to figure out better ways to get him the ball.

(01-16-2018 07:06 PM)emu steve Wrote:  Man, Vegas isn't listening to me. Line is now EMU -6.5.

After listening to the pre-game I'd make it -16.5. Lol.

Sunshine Steve was right on. Vegas, not too much...

Nice win. I miss defensive games like this where you just know the opponent isn't going to score on you. Big kudos to James Thompson, whom I've been tough on in the past in regards to defense. He was fantastic tonight. When he wasn't blocking shots, he was disrupting them. Minnie was better tonight too.

Offense was atrocious, but I can forgive it when we play well defensively. Hopefully we carry that to Saturday and beat a bad Ohio team.

WMU lost which was good.

I know Akron's had a slew of injuries, but it's remarkable how far they'll fallen.

0 road wins this season. 1-4 in conference play. Struggled to score 49 against us.

Speaking of falling off a cliff: Ohio is also winless on the road and 1-4 in the MAC.

Other than Buffalo, the MAC East has been turned on it's heda

(01-16-2018 09:09 PM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  Speaking of falling off a cliff: Ohio is also winless on the road and 1-4 in the MAC.

Other than Buffalo, the MAC East has been turned on it's heda

Losing Jason Carter was a killer for Ohio. It should be a game similar to this one tonight: an undersized team that will chuck up a lot of threes. If we bring the same defensive effort, we should smoke them. But I will believe in consistent performances when I see them.

MAC standings through 5 games*:

1. Buffalo - 5-0
2. Toledo - 4-1
T3. Ball State - 3-2
T3. Bowling Green - 3-2
T3. Western Michigan - 3-2
T3. Kent State - 3-2
T7. EMU - 2-3
T7. Miami - 2-3
T7. NIU - 2-3
T10. CMU - 1-4
T10. Akron - 1-4
T10. Ohio - 1-4

*Left teams tied by MAC record, but put them in order of overall record. Off the top of my head I'm not sure what the first criteria is for breaking ties in conference.

All right, EMU is right where they always are, middle of the pack.

If EMU can get a win Saturday against a struggling Ohio team, I hope that will re-energize the team. There is still time to turn around this season...

I am happy they came away with a solid win tonight, and held Akron to 49. A lot of good defense. But Akron did not look like a very good team either. So not sure what to expect goingbforward.

(01-16-2018 07:06 PM)emu steve Wrote:  Man, Vegas isn't listening to me. Line is now EMU -6.5.

After listening to the pre-game I'd make it -16.5. Lol.

Someone must have dropped some big, late money on Akron.

Was it you, BobW? Someone else? It had to come from this board.

http://gozips.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball

BTW, the Zips should be back next season. They have a bunch of transfer redshirts sitting out.

Things can't get much worse for the Zips than their misfortune this season.

One thing I know from watching college sports for decades is what can happen when coaches suddenly leave.

We went through a melt down when Verdi unexpectedly left and key players transferred. Last year was a total washout. They could have been good if he had stayed.

Akron lost at least 4 players to transfer after Dambrot unexpectedly left. (I just don't know why he left Akron after all those years). It remains to be seen how soon Akron can rebuild.

(01-17-2018 04:02 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(01-16-2018 07:06 PM)emu steve Wrote:  Man, Vegas isn't listening to me. Line is now EMU -6.5.

After listening to the pre-game I'd make it -16.5. Lol.

Someone must have dropped some big, late money on Akron.

Was it you, BobW? Someone else? It had to come from this board.

Not me. I think most people know that Akron is really bad this year. Major rebuild over there.

(01-17-2018 06:19 AM)emu steve Wrote:  http://gozips.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball


Akron lost at least 4 players to transfer after Dambrot unexpectedly left. (I just don't know why he left Akron after all those years). It remains to be seen how soon Akron can rebuild.

I read somewhere that he was frustrated with the MAC being a 1 bid league. Multiple times his team won the regular season and lost in the MAC tourney. Last seasons loss put him over.

(01-16-2018 08:56 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(01-16-2018 08:51 PM)RamyEMU Wrote:  Just a though, why doesn’t EMU try to feed Thompson at least half of possessions. Let him post up.

Been asking myself that all game. They are collapsing two guys onto him anytime he gets position in the post, but that's on Murphy to figure out better ways to get him the ball.

BTW, what I see (okay, think I see) is that they are clogging the middle (as indicated double or triple teaming JT4) which means that PJ driving the lane to the hoop is like driving in L.A. traffic - no room to move or change lanes.

So on offense we have the two killers:

1). Pass into a double or triple teamed JT4, and he turns the ball over because of the pressure on him.

2). Someone who gets the ball tries to drive into the lane which is already clogged which PJ does a fair amount of the time.

The bottom line then has to be the open perimeter shoots and we live or die by the trey.

(01-17-2018 10:38 AM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(01-17-2018 04:02 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(01-16-2018 07:06 PM)emu steve Wrote:  Man, Vegas isn't listening to me. Line is now EMU -6.5.

After listening to the pre-game I'd make it -16.5. Lol.

Someone must have dropped some big, late money on Akron.

Was it you, BobW? Someone else? It had to come from this board.

Not me. I think most people know that Akron is really bad this year. Major rebuild over there.

Good man, don't bet against EMU at home.

I believe we play UB once this year on the road...

We should theoretically have a good shot at winning each home game. Will we? No. But I don't which home games will be the losses.

(01-17-2018 11:19 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(01-17-2018 10:38 AM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(01-17-2018 04:02 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(01-16-2018 07:06 PM)emu steve Wrote:  Man, Vegas isn't listening to me. Line is now EMU -6.5.

After listening to the pre-game I'd make it -16.5. Lol.

Someone must have dropped some big, late money on Akron.

Was it you, BobW? Someone else? It had to come from this board.

Not me. I think most people know that Akron is really bad this year. Major rebuild over there.

Good man, don't bet against EMU at home.

I believe we play UB once this year on the road...

We should theoretically have a good shot at winning each home game. Will we? No. But I don't which home games will be the losses.

From a talent standpoint, EMU definitely should win every remaining home game.

The one knock Murphy does not have against him is bringing in talent. The development of that talent is questionable. How he could never get DaShonte Riley to become a competent MAC scorer, still boggles the mind. His roster this season is more than sufficient to make a run for the MAC title.