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UAB vs ODU Game 2
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bftb Offline
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Post: #21
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
We have wondered all year how good we really were, with our atrocious schedule. The last few weeks have given us a much better indication. I think all in all, we were very evenly matched with ODU. The total scores for the two games this weekend even ended up tied.

Both teams live by their defense, and neither team can really shoot. We got them into our style last night, in the second half, and won. They kept us in their game today, and lost. As Murry said in the postgame, they outscored us three of the four halves. But really, I think they are a pretty good measuring stick for us--and we are about where they are, on the top end of the middle of C-USA.

I still think we measure our success by NCAA tournament appearances, and we all knew going into this season that the only real chance we had to get there was to win our conference tournament--and that hasn't changed. Either way, 17-5 sure beats where we have been the past few years, and I think we are ahead of schedule. Give AK some time to recruit some shooters, and I like where we'll be.
02-20-2021 08:11 PM
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BlazerGreen Offline
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Post: #22
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
Not much to say beyond this post I pulled off the UAB Basketball Central page on FB (I am in complete agreement):

"No poor outside-shooting team can ever be a consistent winner."

UAB has dropped below 30% from 3pts as a team, 29.9%. No Blazer squad in the last 20 years has made less than 30% of their 3 point attempts.
(This post was last modified: 02-20-2021 08:53 PM by BlazerGreen.)
02-20-2021 08:34 PM
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BlazrDawg Offline
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Post: #23
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
(02-20-2021 06:36 PM)Motley Blazer Wrote:  
(02-20-2021 05:59 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  Worst officiated game I've seen this season!!!!!

Agree03-drunk

YES!!! There were so many times when ODU players on D were bunping our guys mercilessly and when they were on O, the dribblers would be pushing off with their off-hand time after time after time. Ive never seen anything like it in all the years that Ive been going to UAB games at the Bart and at the BJCC.
02-20-2021 08:43 PM
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BlazerGreen Offline
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Post: #24
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
How have we won 17 games with such awful perimeter shooting? By playing only 8 of 22 games against teams with above .500 records, winning 4 of those. Half of those 4 W's were against the mighty 12-10 Rice Owls.

I count TWO decent wins. At ETSU (12-10) and yesterday against ODU.

We have a long, long way to go and this roster really needs another major overhaul. We need a point guard that can shoot and create offense, we need wing shooters, and we need more depth inside.
(This post was last modified: 02-20-2021 09:44 PM by BlazerGreen.)
02-20-2021 09:31 PM
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blazers9911 Offline
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Post: #25
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
We do not have a long, long way to go. My god, we lose a couple of games and people lose their minds. The 3 point shooting has been an issue all year. Unfortunately that’s not something a coach can just teach in season.

I’m certain Kennedy is out there recruiting every shooter he can right now. That is the biggest issue on the roster right now. We could use another big body too, but I think we can get by there if we add a few shooters. Honestly, adding a few shooters helps the bigs out too, as they won’t have 2 defenders by them at all times if shots have to be respected.
02-21-2021 09:19 AM
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BlazerMatt Offline
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Post: #26
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
I dont know that people are losing their minds. People are just realizing the ceiling on this team is a lot lower than we could pretend it was when we were 16-2 but had not really played anybody. We all want the Blazers to dominate every game, or at least to win them, but thats not what this team is and thats ok... That's sports.

ODU is a good team, same with Tech. We have series left with UTSA and North Texas, both on the road. I think going 2-2 in those games would be a good achievement for this team (based on current form 1-3 is more realistic.) That would put us at 20-7, 12-6 in conference and that is a good year. A lot better than anything we saw under Eshan. It's just not a "Really special, lock for the NCAA tourney" year, which two weeks ago we could at least dream was the case.
(This post was last modified: 02-21-2021 09:48 AM by BlazerMatt.)
02-21-2021 09:46 AM
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VB Monarch Offline
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Post: #27
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
Mirror twin teams. Both in need of a couple consistent 3 point shooters. I like your chances of finding one over ours. Jones simply cannot or wiil,not recruit shooters. He values defense above all else. Kennedy obviously has the chops to get you guys where you want to be.
These two games, while not pretty offensively, were very enjoyable to watch. Close, rugged D, I like it. Would love to see a true rivalry start up.
I thought Ertels was pretty good. Nice quick release, slippery, true gym rat type 6th man.
Good luck rest of the way.
02-21-2021 09:55 AM
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The Answer UAB Offline
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Post: #28
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
I'm not losing my mind. I think AK has done a great job with a very thin roster with a bunch of 6'2" - 6'6" ish shooting guards who can't shoot to save their lives, but can play great defense and rebound. Winning this many games with a team that struggles to put up 55 points, which is a bare minimum of offensive adequacy, is an accomplishment in any league. I don't think we will win the conference outright, like I thought we had a really good chance to do a couple of weeks ago. We are still in the running for that, but I won't hold my breath. We could still win the CUSA tournament - all it would take would be for us to shoot even a DECENT percentage from three and from the free throw line and continue playing our great defense. If we do those things, we could beat a lot of teams on any given night.

We need ball handlers, shooters, and big men for next year. This team isn't far away from being really good, but we are super thin and most of our players are very redundant.
02-21-2021 09:55 AM
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The Answer UAB Offline
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Post: #29
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
(02-21-2021 09:55 AM)VB Monarch Wrote:  Mirror twin teams. Both in need of a couple consistent 3 point shooters. I like your chances of finding one over ours. Jones simply cannot or wiil,not recruit shooters. He values defense above all else. Kennedy obviously has the chops to get you guys where you want to be.
These two games, while not pretty offensively, were very enjoyable to watch. Close, rugged D, I like it. Would love to see a true rivalry start up.
I thought Ertels was pretty good. Nice quick release, slippery, true gym rat type 6th man.
Good luck rest of the way.

I agree. I thought these teams were very similar and evenly matched. Frustrating to watch the game yesterday bc we were so bad shooting and taking care of the ball, but it was definitely a good 2-game series.
02-21-2021 09:57 AM
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BlazerGreen Offline
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Post: #30
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
(02-21-2021 09:46 AM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  I dont know that people are losing their minds. People are just realizing the ceiling on this team is a lot lower than we could pretend it was when we were 16-2 but had not really played anybody. We all want the Blazers to dominate every game, or at least to win them, but thats not what this team is and thats ok... That's sports.

ODU is a good team, same with Tech. We have series left with UTSA and North Texas, both on the road. I think going 2-2 in those games would be a good achievement for this team (based on current form 1-3 is more realistic.) That would put us at 20-7, 12-6 in conference and that is a good year. A lot better than anything we saw under Eshan. It's just not a "Really special, lock for the NCAA tourney" year, which two weeks ago we could at least dream was the case.

Exactly, well said. I mean we have quite a ways to go before we are an actual NCAA bubble team. The top 6 teams right now in CUSA are UAB, North Texas, La Tech, WKU, Marshall, and ODU. We've played 4 games against the other 5 and lost 3. UTSA has gotten back in the mix with an 8-6 conference record and we still have to play them in San Antonio.

I said last weekend that it sucked to not find out what you have as a team until mid-February. I don't blame AK at all. I feel for him. He did the best job he could under difficult circumstances and he will improve the program going forward. But even within weak CUSA he has a lot of work to do before we can challenge for the top of the league. Ehsan's scheduling had hidden just how far we had fallen with "20 Win Season!" type of bull****.
(This post was last modified: 02-21-2021 11:25 AM by BlazerGreen.)
02-21-2021 11:19 AM
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blazers9911 Offline
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Post: #31
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
Who ever thought this was a really special, lock for the tournament team? We never had the schedule to do that. It was never happening. If we snuck our way in as a bubble team, it was going to because we won a ton of games, and finished first in the conference. Even losing in the final with just 2 losses was not a lock. I’m just not sure what some where looking at and expecting with this team.

We can become an ncaa bubble team with just a couple of additions. We have a team that plays defense, and that goes a long way in winning games consistently. You can’t always shoot 50%, but you can always put a hand in an opponents face when he is shooting.

We knew what we were before mid February. Some people didn’t want to accept it I guess. What I don’t want people to lose sight of is just a year ago we were beating Troy by 1 and lamar by 9, and Alabama state, una, and Montevallo by close to 10 each. We didn’t do that this year. We beat those teams like we were supposed to by a lot. We got our butts handed to us by la tech once, and lost two close games to good teams recently. It happens. Do I want to win every game we ever play? Sure. Was it realistic at any point this year? Nope. Our one chance of getting in the tournament this year has been winning the conference tournament. Nothing has changed. This team is still capable of doing so, along with about five other teams in the conference. It’s a weird season followed by a weird off-season. If you told me this team would be 17-5, 10-4 the day AK was hired, I would have been thrilled based off the past few seasons. We are trending in the right direction in my mind.
02-21-2021 12:00 PM
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WesternBlazer Offline
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Post: #32
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
(02-21-2021 12:00 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Who ever thought this was a really special, lock for the tournament team? We never had the schedule to do that. It was never happening. If we snuck our way in as a bubble team, it was going to because we won a ton of games, and finished first in the conference. Even losing in the final with just 2 losses was not a lock. I’m just not sure what some where looking at and expecting with this team.

We can become an ncaa bubble team with just a couple of additions. We have a team that plays defense, and that goes a long way in winning games consistently. You can’t always shoot 50%, but you can always put a hand in an opponents face when he is shooting.

We knew what we were before mid February. Some people didn’t want to accept it I guess. What I don’t want people to lose sight of is just a year ago we were beating Troy by 1 and lamar by 9, and Alabama state, una, and Montevallo by close to 10 each. We didn’t do that this year. We beat those teams like we were supposed to by a lot. We got our butts handed to us by la tech once, and lost two close games to good teams recently. It happens. Do I want to win every game we ever play? Sure. Was it realistic at any point this year? Nope. Our one chance of getting in the tournament this year has been winning the conference tournament. Nothing has changed. This team is still capable of doing so, along with about five other teams in the conference. It’s a weird season followed by a weird off-season. If you told me this team would be 17-5, 10-4 the day AK was hired, I would have been thrilled based off the past few seasons. We are trending in the right direction in my mind.

The concern is that if we don't right the ship and continue to play the way we have recently we may not make the conference tourney if they take the top 6 teams - 3 top teams from each division(or even the top 8/4+4).
(This post was last modified: 02-21-2021 01:38 PM by WesternBlazer.)
02-21-2021 01:37 PM
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blazers9911 Offline
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Post: #33
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
I guess that’s where my opinion may differ from most here? I don’t think this team is playing much differently than it has all season, we are just playing good teams all at once. We haven’t been battle tested often, and it shows. The schedule was correct given the circumstances, but it’s biting us in the butt now. Ertel hasn’t been what we needed him to be this year, and we have limited depth. If we miss the tournament, that’s on us. We have four games left against decent teams, we need to find a way to split those at the least.
02-21-2021 01:49 PM
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BlazerGreen Offline
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Post: #34
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
(02-21-2021 12:00 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Who ever thought this was a really special, lock for the tournament team? We never had the schedule to do that. It was never happening. If we snuck our way in as a bubble team, it was going to because we won a ton of games, and finished first in the conference. Even losing in the final with just 2 losses was not a lock. I’m just not sure what some where looking at and expecting with this team.

We can become an ncaa bubble team with just a couple of additions. We have a team that plays defense, and that goes a long way in winning games consistently. You can’t always shoot 50%, but you can always put a hand in an opponents face when he is shooting.

We knew what we were before mid February. Some people didn’t want to accept it I guess. What I don’t want people to lose sight of is just a year ago we were beating Troy by 1 and lamar by 9, and Alabama state, una, and Montevallo by close to 10 each. We didn’t do that this year. We beat those teams like we were supposed to by a lot. We got our butts handed to us by la tech once, and lost two close games to good teams recently. It happens. Do I want to win every game we ever play? Sure. Was it realistic at any point this year? Nope. Our one chance of getting in the tournament this year has been winning the conference tournament. Nothing has changed. This team is still capable of doing so, along with about five other teams in the conference. It’s a weird season followed by a weird off-season. If you told me this team would be 17-5, 10-4 the day AK was hired, I would have been thrilled based off the past few seasons. We are trending in the right direction in my mind.

Forget the record. It's meaningless with our schedule. Look at who we have played and who we have beaten. We have TWO decent (not good) wins, ETSU and ODU, out of 17. We are in danger of finishing at or below where we finished last year (3 way tie for 6th) in CSUK.

We need more than just a couple of additions to get this team on the bubble. We have no point guard, our only consistent perimeter shooter (TSG) is likely not returning, and we have next to no post game offensively. We do have some good slasher/mid range players returning in Quan, Lovan, and Ertel. Jemison is an adequate inside defender. We need to bring in several guys which means some current ones may need to go. I would say Benjamin, Jeffries, Toney, and Rotegaard are the most likely to move on. If you are a guard or perimeter player and you can't get on the floor with this group, you probably never will.
(This post was last modified: 02-21-2021 02:10 PM by BlazerGreen.)
02-21-2021 02:02 PM
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The Answer UAB Offline
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Post: #35
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
Benjamin may be playing his way off the team. He’s been awful on the floor and cost us the 2nd game at la tech
02-21-2021 02:05 PM
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Post: #36
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
(02-21-2021 01:49 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  I guess that’s where my opinion may differ from most here? I don’t think this team is playing much differently than it has all season, we are just playing good teams all at once. We haven’t been battle tested often, and it shows. The schedule was correct given the circumstances, but it’s biting us in the butt now. Ertel hasn’t been what we needed him to be this year, and we have limited depth. If we miss the tournament, that’s on us. We have four games left against decent teams, we need to find a way to split those at the least.

This is it in a nutshell. Nothing else really needs to be said.
02-21-2021 02:52 PM
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UABFRENCHY Offline
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Post: #37
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
the coach put this together at the last minutes without seeing those players live for most of it
we play great defense and we will improve in offense next year with some shooter
i think the freshman will be back next year ,,,,,
02-21-2021 08:24 PM
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BlazerGreen Offline
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Post: #38
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
(02-21-2021 01:49 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  I guess that’s where my opinion may differ from most here? I don’t think this team is playing much differently than it has all season, we are just playing good teams all at once. We haven’t been battle tested often, and it shows. The schedule was correct given the circumstances, but it’s biting us in the butt now. Ertel hasn’t been what we needed him to be this year, and we have limited depth. If we miss the tournament, that’s on us. We have four games left against decent teams, we need to find a way to split those at the least.

It's a team game so I hate to pick on just certain players but Benjamin and Ertel's bad shooting has pretty much killed us. Those two guys are 1 and 2 in 3 pointers attempted by UAB and they are shooting 27.8% and 20.8% in CUSA games respectively. Very tough for us to beat decent teams with that kind of perimeter shooting. Neither are really that good at creating offense for their teammates either, more "shoot first" point guards. In conference games, Tavin Lovan is leading us in assists. That's why I say we really need to sign a quality point guard in this class. One that's capable of coming in and starting next season.
(This post was last modified: 02-21-2021 09:11 PM by BlazerGreen.)
02-21-2021 09:05 PM
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WesternBlazer Offline
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Post: #39
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
We also need a another big guard that can shoot(and defend). The opposition shot right over Ertel and Benjamin... If TSG returns he could be in for a big year, but we need additions. Also, Kassim's defense and rebounding cannot be undervalued, buit we need some bigger frontcourt depth and offfensive ability. Of course, with the NCAA COVID eligibility ruing, Jemison probably has 2 more years if he wants it.
(This post was last modified: 02-21-2021 09:18 PM by WesternBlazer.)
02-21-2021 09:11 PM
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Post: #40
RE: UAB vs ODU Game 2
(02-21-2021 09:11 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  We also need a another big guard that can shoot(and defend). The opposition shot right over Ertel and Benjamin... If TSG returns he could be in for a big year, but we need additions. Also, Kassim's defense and rebounding cannot be undervalued, buit we need some bigger frontcourt depth and offfensive ability.

Completely agree. That's why I say we need more than a couple of new faces. The needs list is long, pretty much every position:

Point guards that can shoot and defend (starter and back up)

Big guards/wings that can shoot and defend, need at least 3 good ones on the roster. We have one for sure next year, Quan.

Taller bigs with some offensive game, inside and out. Rongie has potential but we need to add depth.
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02-21-2021 09:57 PM
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