One of the games I watched he was really hitting his shots. I think he'll be fine - and the least of our concerns.

(01-22-2020 01:42 PM)Big Red Wrote:  I find it confusing the "must win x out of the next x games" or "have to go x for x over this home stand" comments. Do they really have to? Sure, it'd definitely be nice to win the division or get a top spot in the tournament, but it isn't a must. Personally, I look at this season as a full season of learning and if things come together, they can make a run in the tournament like they did last year. There are just so many new parts to the rotation plus a number of parts that have been in and out or inconsistent (like Henry-Hayes and Lee to name a couple).

If they can get everyone healthy and improve as the season continues, they're going to be a ***** of a team to face in the MAC tournament.

Now, what do they need to continue improving on?

1. Find a consistent source of secondary scoring. And, it doesn't even need to be the same guy every night, they just need someone else, other than German, to score a bucket load of points each night. They got it last night, but that needs to be an every night thing. If German is putting up his normal 20 points, they should be averaging 75+ every night.

2. Continue improving at free throws. Specifically, McCarty and Cochrane. Those two are going to see the stripe a lot the rest of the season and are absolutely dreadful. If they can both can get their percentages in the high 60s, I'd be fine with it (I'd like it better but they're both basically 50% shooters from the line so getting north of 67% is a vast improvement).

3. And this is a really big one because now there is a blueprint, they have to handle late game pressure and, specifically, a press defense. Everything changed last night when Kent St started to press and I have no idea why they backed off when they did. I also don't understand the notion that you can only press off of a made basket. Yeah, it's definitely easier, but if players are disciplined and work hard, you can still pull it off and make the other team make mistakes (which this team is prone to do). Anyway, this is something that can't really be replicated in practice so the fact that it happens every single game is a blessing and I have seen improvement, so that's a positive.

Anyway, to sum up, yeah, I'd love to have a nice shiny record, but I don't think any game (sans EMU and whatnot) are must-win games. I predict this team is going to lose some games that everyone tabs as must-win and will win some that everyone thinks is a sure-fire loss. It happens every year with this team. They just need to keep getting better (even in losses), keep playing competitive games (that's where the real experience is gained) and get guys healthy for the stretch run.

Thanks for your update on recruiting. Also agree with your summation as it is evident from looking at stats that all MAC teams have wide swings in their FG%, 3pt% and FT%, including the Huskies. That's why we have already seen a lot of supposed upsets.

GO HUSKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(01-22-2020 01:42 PM)Big Red Wrote:  I find it confusing the "must win x out of the next x games" or "have to go x for x over this home stand" comments. Do they really have to? Sure, it'd definitely be nice to win the division or get a top spot in the tournament, but it isn't a must. Personally, I look at this season as a full season of learning and if things come together, they can make a run in the tournament like they did last year. There are just so many new parts to the rotation plus a number of parts that have been in and out or inconsistent (like Henry-Hayes and Lee to name a couple).

If they can get everyone healthy and improve as the season continues, they're going to be a ***** of a team to face in the MAC tournament.

Now, what do they need to continue improving on?

1. Find a consistent source of secondary scoring. And, it doesn't even need to be the same guy every night, they just need someone else, other than German, to score a bucket load of points each night. They got it last night, but that needs to be an every night thing. If German is putting up his normal 20 points, they should be averaging 75+ every night.

2. Continue improving at free throws. Specifically, McCarty and Cochrane. Those two are going to see the stripe a lot the rest of the season and are absolutely dreadful. If they can both can get their percentages in the high 60s, I'd be fine with it (I'd like it better but they're both basically 50% shooters from the line so getting north of 67% is a vast improvement).

3. And this is a really big one because now there is a blueprint, they have to handle late game pressure and, specifically, a press defense. Everything changed last night when Kent St started to press and I have no idea why they backed off when they did. I also don't understand the notion that you can only press off of a made basket. Yeah, it's definitely easier, but if players are disciplined and work hard, you can still pull it off and make the other team make mistakes (which this team is prone to do). Anyway, this is something that can't really be replicated in practice so the fact that it happens every single game is a blessing and I have seen improvement, so that's a positive.

Anyway, to sum up, yeah, I'd love to have a nice shiny record, but I don't think any game (sans EMU and whatnot) are must-win games. I predict this team is going to lose some games that everyone tabs as must-win and will win some that everyone thinks is a sure-fire loss. It happens every year with this team. They just need to keep getting better (even in losses), keep playing competitive games (that's where the real experience is gained) and get guys healthy for the stretch run.

I'm mainly just thinking of at minimum a 5 to 8 seed. A team like NIU with such little margin error wont be dangerous as a road first round seed to get deep in tourney. I see this year with a sense of urgency. German is a unique talent and this is it for him. NIU will be in tough rebuild next few seasons

(01-22-2020 03:40 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(01-22-2020 01:42 PM)Big Red Wrote:  I find it confusing the "must win x out of the next x games" or "have to go x for x over this home stand" comments. Do they really have to? Sure, it'd definitely be nice to win the division or get a top spot in the tournament, but it isn't a must. Personally, I look at this season as a full season of learning and if things come together, they can make a run in the tournament like they did last year. There are just so many new parts to the rotation plus a number of parts that have been in and out or inconsistent (like Henry-Hayes and Lee to name a couple).

If they can get everyone healthy and improve as the season continues, they're going to be a ***** of a team to face in the MAC tournament.

Now, what do they need to continue improving on?

1. Find a consistent source of secondary scoring. And, it doesn't even need to be the same guy every night, they just need someone else, other than German, to score a bucket load of points each night. They got it last night, but that needs to be an every night thing. If German is putting up his normal 20 points, they should be averaging 75+ every night.

2. Continue improving at free throws. Specifically, McCarty and Cochrane. Those two are going to see the stripe a lot the rest of the season and are absolutely dreadful. If they can both can get their percentages in the high 60s, I'd be fine with it (I'd like it better but they're both basically 50% shooters from the line so getting north of 67% is a vast improvement).

3. And this is a really big one because now there is a blueprint, they have to handle late game pressure and, specifically, a press defense. Everything changed last night when Kent St started to press and I have no idea why they backed off when they did. I also don't understand the notion that you can only press off of a made basket. Yeah, it's definitely easier, but if players are disciplined and work hard, you can still pull it off and make the other team make mistakes (which this team is prone to do). Anyway, this is something that can't really be replicated in practice so the fact that it happens every single game is a blessing and I have seen improvement, so that's a positive.

Anyway, to sum up, yeah, I'd love to have a nice shiny record, but I don't think any game (sans EMU and whatnot) are must-win games. I predict this team is going to lose some games that everyone tabs as must-win and will win some that everyone thinks is a sure-fire loss. It happens every year with this team. They just need to keep getting better (even in losses), keep playing competitive games (that's where the real experience is gained) and get guys healthy for the stretch run.

I'm mainly just thinking of at minimum a 5 to 8 seed. A team like NIU with such little margin error wont be dangerous as a road first round seed to get deep in tourney. I see this year with a sense of urgency. German is a unique talent and this is it for him. NIU will be in tough rebuild next few seasons

I don’t see them falling below 8. They’ve been competitive in all but what, one game? The question is can they win enough to get a bye.

German definitely was shooting better last year but last years team had Bradley&Thorpe two legit scorers themselves. This years team could really use those two or even just one of them and I think they could win a MACC.

(01-22-2020 04:43 PM)7 Wrote:  

(01-22-2020 03:40 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(01-22-2020 01:42 PM)Big Red Wrote:  I find it confusing the "must win x out of the next x games" or "have to go x for x over this home stand" comments. Do they really have to? Sure, it'd definitely be nice to win the division or get a top spot in the tournament, but it isn't a must. Personally, I look at this season as a full season of learning and if things come together, they can make a run in the tournament like they did last year. There are just so many new parts to the rotation plus a number of parts that have been in and out or inconsistent (like Henry-Hayes and Lee to name a couple).

If they can get everyone healthy and improve as the season continues, they're going to be a ***** of a team to face in the MAC tournament.

Now, what do they need to continue improving on?

1. Find a consistent source of secondary scoring. And, it doesn't even need to be the same guy every night, they just need someone else, other than German, to score a bucket load of points each night. They got it last night, but that needs to be an every night thing. If German is putting up his normal 20 points, they should be averaging 75+ every night.

2. Continue improving at free throws. Specifically, McCarty and Cochrane. Those two are going to see the stripe a lot the rest of the season and are absolutely dreadful. If they can both can get their percentages in the high 60s, I'd be fine with it (I'd like it better but they're both basically 50% shooters from the line so getting north of 67% is a vast improvement).

3. And this is a really big one because now there is a blueprint, they have to handle late game pressure and, specifically, a press defense. Everything changed last night when Kent St started to press and I have no idea why they backed off when they did. I also don't understand the notion that you can only press off of a made basket. Yeah, it's definitely easier, but if players are disciplined and work hard, you can still pull it off and make the other team make mistakes (which this team is prone to do). Anyway, this is something that can't really be replicated in practice so the fact that it happens every single game is a blessing and I have seen improvement, so that's a positive.

Anyway, to sum up, yeah, I'd love to have a nice shiny record, but I don't think any game (sans EMU and whatnot) are must-win games. I predict this team is going to lose some games that everyone tabs as must-win and will win some that everyone thinks is a sure-fire loss. It happens every year with this team. They just need to keep getting better (even in losses), keep playing competitive games (that's where the real experience is gained) and get guys healthy for the stretch run.

I'm mainly just thinking of at minimum a 5 to 8 seed. A team like NIU with such little margin error wont be dangerous as a road first round seed to get deep in tourney. I see this year with a sense of urgency. German is a unique talent and this is it for him. NIU will be in tough rebuild next few seasons

I don’t see them falling below 8. They’ve been competitive in all but what, one game? The question is can they win enough to get a bye.

Agree with you on the whole "not falling below 8/good enough for a bye" thing. Obviously, getting a bye is ideal. But in this league, every team is beatable by almost every other team (EMU and Miami look like the dogs in this league but you honestly never know) so, NIU going on a roll and beating anyone is entirely possible, even right now. Like you said, their record, right now, could easily be 5-1 (or it could be 1-5 or 0-6). The games have been all close (last night's was and it wasn't). So, they just have to focus on getting better as the season grinds on. Wins are great, but just get better and continue to play hard for 40 minutes.

As I understand the MACT format, the top four seeds get byes. Not falling below 8 means NIU would have a first-round home game before the tournament moved to Cleveland. Home court -- if NIU could get some attendance -- might be an advantage in Round 1. Please correct if in error on MACT format.

(01-22-2020 08:12 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  As I understand the MACT format, the top four seeds get byes. Not falling below 8 means NIU would have a first-round home game before the tournament moved to Cleveland. Home court -- if NIU could get some attendance -- might be an advantage in Round 1. Please correct if in error on MACT format.

That is correct on the format.

(01-22-2020 04:43 PM)7 Wrote:  

(01-22-2020 03:40 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(01-22-2020 01:42 PM)Big Red Wrote:  I find it confusing the "must win x out of the next x games" or "have to go x for x over this home stand" comments. Do they really have to? Sure, it'd definitely be nice to win the division or get a top spot in the tournament, but it isn't a must. Personally, I look at this season as a full season of learning and if things come together, they can make a run in the tournament like they did last year. There are just so many new parts to the rotation plus a number of parts that have been in and out or inconsistent (like Henry-Hayes and Lee to name a couple).

If they can get everyone healthy and improve as the season continues, they're going to be a ***** of a team to face in the MAC tournament.

Now, what do they need to continue improving on?

1. Find a consistent source of secondary scoring. And, it doesn't even need to be the same guy every night, they just need someone else, other than German, to score a bucket load of points each night. They got it last night, but that needs to be an every night thing. If German is putting up his normal 20 points, they should be averaging 75+ every night.

2. Continue improving at free throws. Specifically, McCarty and Cochrane. Those two are going to see the stripe a lot the rest of the season and are absolutely dreadful. If they can both can get their percentages in the high 60s, I'd be fine with it (I'd like it better but they're both basically 50% shooters from the line so getting north of 67% is a vast improvement).

3. And this is a really big one because now there is a blueprint, they have to handle late game pressure and, specifically, a press defense. Everything changed last night when Kent St started to press and I have no idea why they backed off when they did. I also don't understand the notion that you can only press off of a made basket. Yeah, it's definitely easier, but if players are disciplined and work hard, you can still pull it off and make the other team make mistakes (which this team is prone to do). Anyway, this is something that can't really be replicated in practice so the fact that it happens every single game is a blessing and I have seen improvement, so that's a positive.

Anyway, to sum up, yeah, I'd love to have a nice shiny record, but I don't think any game (sans EMU and whatnot) are must-win games. I predict this team is going to lose some games that everyone tabs as must-win and will win some that everyone thinks is a sure-fire loss. It happens every year with this team. They just need to keep getting better (even in losses), keep playing competitive games (that's where the real experience is gained) and get guys healthy for the stretch run.

I'm mainly just thinking of at minimum a 5 to 8 seed. A team like NIU with such little margin error wont be dangerous as a road first round seed to get deep in tourney. I see this year with a sense of urgency. German is a unique talent and this is it for him. NIU will be in tough rebuild next few seasons

I don’t see them falling below 8. They’ve been competitive in all but what, one game? The question is can they win enough to get a bye.

I think its possible , but only like you say, if NIU wins 4 of its next 5. This is the softest spot on the schedule upcoming and NIU must make some ground up. Historically it looks like the average number of wins it takes for a 4 seed is 10, on rare occassions 9, or rare occasions 12, but most years 10 to 11. Right now i have NIU with a 38% chance of at least 10 wins and a 22% chance of at least 11 wins. So all in all I guess if I was to give a random guess on chance NIU can get a top 4 seed, Id put it at about 25-30%. If NIU does win 4 of its next 5, I think it goes up to right around a 50/50 shot. I already made hotel reservations, it darn well better happen that there is NIU basketball in Cleveland

Cleveland in March ... how could you beat that?!

(01-22-2020 09:05 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  Cleveland in March ... how could you beat that?!

The only way to beat that is Albany in March for some 1st round NCAA tournament action. #14 NIU vs #3 Illinois.

Kent State looks like a completely different team tonight @UB being more aggressive attacking the basket. If Kent brings this game toDeKalb, it could be an ugly one in a few weeks,

(01-24-2020 08:07 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Kent State looks like a completely different team tonight @UB being more aggressive attacking the basket. If Kent brings this game toDeKalb, it could be an ugly one in a few weeks,

How about the CBS announcers pointing out that Senderoff (win leader among KSU coaches) called Tuesday's performance (the loss to NIU) the worst in school history. Benched the usual five starters who averaged a combined 64 ppg and went with five new starters whose combined average was 14. Granted the usual starters entered fairly early and did start second half. KSU ended a three-game skid to move to 4-3 by winning at Buffalo. Bet the Flashes didn't have much fun at practice following the NIU loss.

(01-24-2020 08:46 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(01-24-2020 08:07 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Kent State looks like a completely different team tonight @UB being more aggressive attacking the basket. If Kent brings this game toDeKalb, it could be an ugly one in a few weeks,

How about the CBS announcers pointing out that Senderoff (win leader among KSU coaches) called Tuesday's performance (the loss to NIU) the worst in school history. Benched the usual five starters who averaged a combined 64 ppg and went with five new starters whose combined average was 14. Granted the usual starters entered fairly early and did start second half. KSU ended a three-game skid to move to 4-3 by winning at Buffalo. Bet the Flashes didn't have much fun at practice following the NIU loss.

I did notice that, they took the same perspective about it as the KSU announcers did during the ESPN telecast. To them losing to NIU made it feel the same as if the Golden Flashes were diagnosed with a fatal illness and had a few weeks to live. It would be so cool to see NIU somehow crash the top 4 seed party and silence these elitists. Every game is obviously huge and NIU needs to have a great homestand, but the game that I think really is the unlocker and opens the realistic door for NIU higher seed possibilities is the home game vs Kent State. That is a big big game. The tiebreaker scenarios could become huge if NIU sweeps Kent and NIU already has that UB win under their belt.

NIU beat KENT State with bad Eugene German! Huskies can and will beat them in Dekalb. Huskies should be 5-1 or 4-2 instead of 3-3 right now.