So we are just about half way through the OOC portion of the schedule with an unblemished record, which most, if not all of us did not expect. With that being said, we have a little bit of a gauntlet coming up with some tough mid majors, a paycheck game, and a final non-D1 game before MAC play begins.

What is everyone expecting from these next 7 games? I’m personally hoping we go into MAC play at 10-3, but 9-4 would be acceptable as well. It’s hard to say how the rotation will look when Binelli returns, and who’s minutes will be cut into. I think Dillard will see a reduced role, but I’m hoping we find a way to play 10 guys meaningful minutes.

Murphy has made some better in-game adjustments that have been a pleasant surprise, but I still question lineup decisions in crunch time. Luckily, we are deep, and these kids play hard and together. This reminds me of Murphy’s first team here, but with more talent. That 2011/12 team battled for 40 minutes and won a ton of games that they shouldn’t have. This year’s team feels like it’ll do the same, and it already has.

(11-25-2019 05:47 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  So we are just about half way through the OOC portion of the schedule with an unblemished record, which most, if not all of us did not expect. With that being said, we have a little bit of a gauntlet coming up with some tough mid majors, a paycheck game, and a final non-D1 game before MAC play begins.

What is everyone expecting from these next 7 games? I’m personally hoping we go into MAC play at 10-3, but 9-4 would be acceptable as well. It’s hard to say how the rotation will look when Binelli returns, and who’s minutes will be cut into. I think Dillard will see a reduced role, but I’m hoping we find a way to play 10 guys meaningful minutes.

Murphy has made some better in-game adjustments that have been a pleasant surprise, but I still question lineup decisions in crunch time. Luckily, we are deep, and these kids play hard and together. This reminds me of Murphy’s first team here, but with more talent. That 2011/12 team battled for 40 minutes and won a ton of games that they shouldn’t have. This year’s team feels like it’ll do the same, and it already has.

Only at UNLV, at Michigan St are definite losses most likely! UC-Irvine, Northeastern, Detroit, Valparaiso won't be easy, but we should be able to compete! We just need the right people shooting the ball! James and Binelli should be the 1st two.......if not, it'll be shades of the past......

UNLV doesn’t appear to be great this year. They’re 2-5, with a home loss to Texas State. I think MSU is our only definite loss. All of the other games should be competitive.

(11-25-2019 05:47 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  So we are just about half way through the OOC portion of the schedule with an unblemished record, which most, if not all of us did not expect. With that being said, we have a little bit of a gauntlet coming up with some tough mid majors, a paycheck game, and a final non-D1 game before MAC play begins.

What is everyone expecting from these next 7 games? I’m personally hoping we go into MAC play at 10-3, but 9-4 would be acceptable as well. It’s hard to say how the rotation will look when Binelli returns, and who’s minutes will be cut into. I think Dillard will see a reduced role, but I’m hoping we find a way to play 10 guys meaningful minutes.

Murphy has made some better in-game adjustments that have been a pleasant surprise, but I still question lineup decisions in crunch time. Luckily, we are deep, and these kids play hard and together. This reminds me of Murphy’s first team here, but with more talent. That 2011/12 team battled for 40 minutes and won a ton of games that they shouldn’t have. This year’s team feels like it’ll do the same, and it already has.

Awfully solid analysis Sam, I heartily agree. Murphy has had two marquee recruits during his coaching tenure, Lee and Thompson. He handled neither very well, he over accommodated them and they did not develop much as well. His coaching wheelhouse seems to be with lesser talents such as he had in his debut and only division winning season.

(11-25-2019 06:42 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  UNLV doesn’t appear to be great this year. They’re 2-5, with a home loss to Texas State. I think MSU is our only definite loss. All of the other games should be competitive.

EagleSam, I agree we've a chance against UNLV as well! Just need consistent ball movement, and James need to play more then 15 minutes a game!

My first glimpse of this year's team will be at UofD. I will use this game and the MSU game as my barometer on predicting our MAC record. I am interested in watching us play because Sam says we got some talent. That's one thing I like about Murphy, he typically has talented players. I'm very happy about our record but I want to see how well we do against good coaches who know how to adjust their offense ogainst our zone. If we leave 3pt shooters wide open and make no adjustments then I'd predict an 8-9 win MAC record. If we play UofD +/- 5 points win or lose I will be encouraged. If we play MSU +/- 23 pts I will be encouraged. If MSU blows us out by 30+ points, then I will be skeptical about how well we'll do in MAC play. I don't mind losing but really looking for effort from the players, scheme on offense, and adjustments on defense.

Let's atleast have respectable losses to UofD and UofM but win the remaining OOC games.

Go Eagles!!

If things keep going as well as they have, I can see EMU easily finishing out of conference 10-3 (or 6-3). But if this start has just been a stroke of luck and they come back down to earth, I can see EMU easily finishing 8-5 (or 4-5). So I am going to go somewhere in the middle and predict:

9-4 (or 5-4)

We have only seen the appetizer I want to see how the team performs with a full menü of Binelli and Gibson.

(11-25-2019 10:24 PM)emu79 Wrote:  We have only seen the appetizer I want to see how the team performs with a full menü of Binelli and Gibson.

Is Gibson highly touted?
Is Gibson expected back this year?

(11-25-2019 10:43 PM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 10:24 PM)emu79 Wrote:  We have only seen the appetizer I want to see how the team performs with a full menü of Binelli and Gibson.

Is Gibson highly touted?
Is Gibson expected back this year?

I think the answer is yes to both, with the caveat that if the team continues to play well we could see him this season. MY speculation would be for the MAC schedule. He is a '3' and Murphy spoke highly of him in Blue Ribbon Yearbook.

What I find most interesting is that player personnel wise we picked up Barnes at the end when apparently Micah Thomas didn't qualify. Thomas didn't ditch EMU or the like.

I assume that is why the signing announcement was so late namely the roster wasn't set until late Summer.

Sounds like they held out hope for Thomas and then picked up Barnes instead. Barnes has been a handy player in the back court.

(11-25-2019 10:43 PM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(11-25-2019 10:24 PM)emu79 Wrote:  We have only seen the appetizer I want to see how the team performs with a full menü of Binelli and Gibson.

Is Gibson highly touted?
Is Gibson expected back this year?

We are playing small ball to some extent and winning, but yes having some front court depth would be helpful because Toure and King are foul prone in my opinion.

Apparently the men's team currently leads or did nationally in steals!

(11-26-2019 08:44 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Apparently the men's team currently leads or did nationally in steals!

We still do, both in total steals and steals per game. Oddly enough, CMU is 2nd. Not bad for the Michigan MAC.

Steals are one of the most important defensive metrics to me. You can play great defense for 29 seconds, but still give up a field goal or send a guy to the line. You can even block their shot, but they can get the rebound and score. However, if you steal the ball, their possession is over. We’ve been great at killing opposing possessions, with 3 guys (Montero, Toure, Groce) averaging more than 2 steals per game, and several others right behind them.

I wish they kept track of deflections, because we would be at the top of the country in that as well. We’ve done a great job having active hands, while keeping defensive fouls to a minimum. Toure has especially been great in the deflection department, keeping entry and baseline passes to a minimum. He’s starting to remind me of Riley, like Murphy said at the beginning of last season.

(11-26-2019 09:35 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(11-26-2019 08:44 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Apparently the men's team currently leads or did nationally in steals!

We still do, both in total steals and steals per game. Oddly enough, CMU is 2nd. Not bad for the Michigan MAC.

Steals are one of the most important defensive metrics to me. You can play great defense for 29 seconds, but still give up a field goal or send a guy to the line. You can even block their shot, but they can get the rebound and score. However, if you steal the ball, their possession is over. We’ve been great at killing opposing possessions, with 3 guys (Montero, Toure, Groce) averaging more than 2 steals per game, and several others right behind them.

I wish they kept track of deflections, because we would be at the top of the country in that as well. We’ve done a great job having active hands, while keeping defensive fouls to a minimum. Toure has especially been great in the deflection department, keeping entry and baseline passes to a minimum. He’s starting to remind me of Riley, like Murphy said at the beginning of last season.

The team definitely keeps track of deflections internally.
I got to sit on the bench as an honorary coach in 2015 and it was my assignment.

(11-26-2019 09:35 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(11-26-2019 08:44 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Apparently the men's team currently leads or did nationally in steals!

We still do, both in total steals and steals per game. Oddly enough, CMU is 2nd. Not bad for the Michigan MAC.

Steals are one of the most important defensive metrics to me. You can play great defense for 29 seconds, but still give up a field goal or send a guy to the line. You can even block their shot, but they can get the rebound and score. However, if you steal the ball, their possession is over. We’ve been great at killing opposing possessions, with 3 guys (Montero, Toure, Groce) averaging more than 2 steals per game, and several others right behind them.

I wish they kept track of deflections, because we would be at the top of the country in that as well. We’ve done a great job having active hands, while keeping defensive fouls to a minimum. Toure has especially been great in the deflection department, keeping entry and baseline passes to a minimum. He’s starting to remind me of Riley, like Murphy said at the beginning of last season.

Not sure he is quite a Riley caliber, but definitely a good analogy for a Toure. And with the exception of last game against NCA&T, he has Been playing solid defense without getting into foul trouble. Hopefully, Toure can keep this up.

(11-26-2019 01:59 PM)KPJ Wrote:  

(11-26-2019 09:35 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(11-26-2019 08:44 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Apparently the men's team currently leads or did nationally in steals!

We still do, both in total steals and steals per game. Oddly enough, CMU is 2nd. Not bad for the Michigan MAC.

Steals are one of the most important defensive metrics to me. You can play great defense for 29 seconds, but still give up a field goal or send a guy to the line. You can even block their shot, but they can get the rebound and score. However, if you steal the ball, their possession is over. We’ve been great at killing opposing possessions, with 3 guys (Montero, Toure, Groce) averaging more than 2 steals per game, and several others right behind them.

I wish they kept track of deflections, because we would be at the top of the country in that as well. We’ve done a great job having active hands, while keeping defensive fouls to a minimum. Toure has especially been great in the deflection department, keeping entry and baseline passes to a minimum. He’s starting to remind me of Riley, like Murphy said at the beginning of last season.

The team definitely keeps track of deflections internally.
I got to sit on the bench as an honorary coach in 2015 and it was my assignment.

Great info! That’s so cool. The NBA keeps track, but I’ve never been able to find info for college ball. I’m glad Murphy values that kind of metric.

This is a team that we can't really think past the next one IMO

Playing a 2019 NCAA Tournament team that lost 7 of its players and 2 starters from last season on their home turf should give us a strong barometer on where this team is headed.

It is really fun to see what so many people (Coach Murphy, Chad Bush, Ryan Wooley, Tom Helmer, etc.) have said publicly: this team enjoys one another. Trying to think back to last year when I actually enjoyed watching that iteration of the team play and the answer is... hardly ever.

Jamaica was a good time. Hope the boys got a chance to really enjoy it before getting back to work!

(11-26-2019 09:35 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(11-26-2019 08:44 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Apparently the men's team currently leads or did nationally in steals!

We still do, both in total steals and steals per game. Oddly enough, CMU is 2nd. Not bad for the Michigan MAC.

Steals are one of the most important defensive metrics to me. You can play great defense for 29 seconds, but still give up a field goal or send a guy to the line. You can even block their shot, but they can get the rebound and score. However, if you steal the ball, their possession is over. We’ve been great at killing opposing possessions, with 3 guys (Montero, Toure, Groce) averaging more than 2 steals per game, and several others right behind them.

I wish they kept track of deflections, because we would be at the top of the country in that as well. We’ve done a great job having active hands, while keeping defensive fouls to a minimum. Toure has especially been great in the deflection department, keeping entry and baseline passes to a minimum. He’s starting to remind me of Riley, like Murphy said at the beginning of last season.

Speaking of CMU, Keno suddenly looks like he decided that his 20+ year old coaching award might not keep him employed if he kept mailing it in. He's got Dileo, Montgomery and McKay back and he hit the JUCO's hard for some real athletic guys.

Murphy owned him in the past but Keno got us both times last year. The first half at the Convo we killed them on the offensive glass and inside but during halftime Keno attached himself to the refs and boom, we got two immediate 3 second violations in the second half. Toure and JT4 got tentative and CMU outscored us by 21 afterwards. Smart guy, now he might actually be working.