Toledo lost Jackson and Littleson who averaged a combined 33.5 ppg. Both were high volume terrific three point shooters. Can’t see Toledo being a 83 ppg scoring team again. More likely a 75 ppg team. Don’t see Toledo finishing as high in the MAC.

They also lost shot-blocker Edu due to injury and he’s out for the season. He played but 2-games last season.

Toledo also lost 6’7” Acunzo, a very good shooter, and one of their best defenders. Can see Toledo opponents scoring 72 ppg or more points this season.

Incoming freshman 6’5 freshman Elijah Wilson is strong and shoots well off his dribble. Presently a decent three-point shooter. Can get to the hoop. See him getting playing time.

We disagree on transfer Dennis as I don’t think he’s a good guard.

Yes, Ryan Rollins is good. But he shot but 27 percent on two-point jump shots, and shot 3’s slightly sub-par at 33 percent. His poor shooting on 2-point jump shots undermines his good scoring at the rim which is 64 percent, but his scoring at the rim is inflated by Toledo fast-breaking a lot.

If Rollins is forced to play more in half-court sets believe his shooting well at the rim will significantly decline.

He’s not quick and his handles questionable as turns the ball over excessively.

Kent State lost a combined 37.8 ppg in scoring by the departure of it’s leading scorer 6’9 Pippin at 19.8 ppg in conference play, and SG Nuga, a 17.9 ppg player who shot both 2’s 3’s very well. He took 7 3’s per game. Don’t see those points being replaced.

Don’t see Kent State averaging 76 ppg as they did last season in conference play, and see it’s number of wins declining as well. .

KSU Jacob’s, a slightly sub-par PG shooting wise is returning.

KSU replaced Nuga with Georgia transfer SG Garcia who doesn’t shoot three’s. KSU appears weaker in the backcourt, unless some new players step-up.

Do believe that KSU does’t match in the backcourt EMU’s quality nor depth of players.

KSU does have a very good front court.

Miami of Ohio does have a good but undersized backcourt returning, but lacks EMU’s depth. It’s BC transfer is not that good.

(09-01-2021 02:47 PM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(09-01-2021 01:20 PM)pono Wrote:  

(09-01-2021 12:03 PM)RamyEMU Wrote:  That EMU outscored opponents with Ballard on the floor last year is a very interesting stat to me. It certainly was not his 2.5 ppg or 40% shooting. He does not seem to fit the norms of basketball roles, but somehow is very effective. I love having him on the team.

That said, I think Miggy is being too optimistic and ‘79 too pessimistic.

The Backcourt indeed looks great with McBride and Monty proven output. And I am absolutely giddy about the prospects of Luka and Farrakhan given their videos. (Not to overlook Spottsville and Rice either). Miggy is right to be optimistic and might be best backcourt situation in the MAC.

The Frontcourt is a total unknown. While the freshman/sophomore prospects are impressive, I can’t imagine they will be fully productive this year. I like both Ballard and Binelli a lot, but truthfully I don’t think they are starters on a team competing for the MAC. I share ‘79s pessimism on this side.

BG, Toledo, Kent, Buffalo and Miami all have more proven backcourts than EMU. BG has 5 guys w D1 starting experience and a 6th who was on the all-MAC freshman team. Toledo has the MAC freshman of the year, a transfer who started at a top MWC team and one of the top MAC reserves, Kent has a 2nd team A10 transfer pg, the MAC defensive POY, and last years starting pg, Miami has everyone back from a solid perimeter oriented team plus a BC transfer swingman, Buffalo has their starting pg and 2 A10 transfer starters. So, plenty of good backcourts to compare and compete with right there and I'd bet Akron, CMU, Ohio, and Ball St feel pretty good about the potential of their units too. NIU like EMU has some young talent but lots to prove, although EMU has a good veteran transfer unlike NIU.

Pono, thanks for raining on my parade. To point out, I was emphasizing the word “might” in my post. Nonetheless, I am not jealous of any other MAC backcourt- EMU will at the least compete there. Frontcourt is a different story. How do you think EMU compares with other Frontcourts?

Pono isn't raining on a parade just the endless hype. Opinions and scenarios presented as though they are facts with little evidence to back them up. Words like might and if are used often. I have commented on the front court at EMU and my concerns. Thank you Pono for the back court analysis based on actual facts to back your opinion. And no we are not likely to beat IU MSU or even Depaul. And if you look at oor 2022 offers its more out of state than in state. I love to see Pono do a front court analysis.

Buffalo is a high scoring team that averaged 83 ppg and gave up but 71 ppg in conference play.

Buffalo running a lot is evidenced by Buffalo averaging 66 FGA’s per game.

Buffalo won by a large margin by winning the all-important turnover and offensive rebound battle. Couple that with Buffalo shooting higher shooting percentages than opponents. As such, one can see why Buffalo why will be difficult to beat.

Buffalo also led the MAC in steals and blocked shots. It’s defense is big inside.

Buffalo lost Graves, a guard, who was Buffalo’s third leading scorer, who took a lot of fga’s, but was a poor three-point shooter.

Buffalo returns guards Williamson and Segu. Both shot well on three’s and at the rim, but not on 2-point jump shots.

Joining the fold, is highly-touted freshman Kintrell Booker, a deadly shooting guard, who averaged 22 ppg last season in HS, and guard Curtis Jones, a JUCO transfer. Booker may well replace Graves scoring..

Buffalo’s lost a good front court player in Nickelberry, who shot well last season, but do return a very strong front court in 6’7” Mballa, a terrific 2-point scorer at the rim, but a poor two and three-point jump shooter. Also returning is 6’8” Hardnett, an excellent offensive player, who does his scoring at the rim.

6’8” Fagan, 6’11 Bertram, and rising sophomore 6’10 Skogman, didn’t play as much last season, but were terrific scorers both at the rim and shooting the 3-ball when they did play.

Will be interesting to see if EMU’s front -court players- Njie, Okongo, Golson, and N.Scott can hold their own against Buffalo’s bigs.

Buffalo also added two freshman PF’s named Williamson and Mading, both are considered to be very good players.

Game with Buffalo may well turn on whether EMU can keep Buffalo from winning the turnover and offensive rebounding battle.

I'll help Pono out with the other teams. Akron does four freshmen guards but they also have KJ Walton a grad transfer out of Ball State who played 40 games with Ball State and 63 with Missouri before transferring to Ball St. They have Greg Tribble who sat out last year played 31 games for Akron in 2019-2020. They have transfer Bryon Trimble Jr who sat out last year after transferring from St John's where he played in 64 games. Akron also has Xaver Castaneda who transferred from South Florida where he played in 69 games.
So none of the frosh really have to pressed into service this year.

Ohio U has Mark Sears who has 23 games under his belt and averaged 8.5 pts, Miles Brown with 24 games averaging 4.5 and Lunden McDay who averaged 10 points a game with 56 games. Michael Brown Jr and John Tenerowicz are bit players with limited experience and transfer Tommmy Schmock has over 90 games of experience at the D2 level.

CMU roster hasn't been posted yet.

Ball St is a real mixed bag. Luke Bumbalough averaged 7 points a game and played in 31 games for Ball St as a frosh. Teemu Suukas is a foreign player from Finlands National Team. Josh Bryan is a D2 transfer. Chris Robinson is a NAIA transfer. Jaylin Sellers is a true frosh. Jalen Windham is a transfer from Creighton where he played in 16 games. Tyler Cochran played 2 seasons at NIU and played in 12 games last year where he averaged 15.5. Transfer Demarius Jacobs comes from St Louis where he played 68 games.

NIU has transfer Keshawn Williams from Tulsa where he played in 19 games, Trendon Hankerson played in all of NIU games last year and averaged 13.9 per game and has played in 52 games. Kaleb Thorton played 17 games at NIU last year and averaged 5.4 points. D Hunter is a transfer from Weber St who played in 7 games last year and averaged 2.9 points. NIU has two frosh guards and one JUCO who have no D1 playing experience.

WMU's backcourt is lead by B. Artis White who averaged 14.3 points per game last year and played in 19 games. Adrian Martin has played in 39 games at WMU and averaged 3.7 per game last year. Lamar Norman a Duquense transfer played in 61 games there before transferring this year to WMU. Grad transfer Mack Smith played 107 games at Eastern Illinois and averaged 12.5 points per game in his career there. WMU have three frosh guards with no D1 experience.

So yes there are a few teams where EMU back court is similar in some respects experience wise. As Pono said it all depends on how the various players mix and match and develop. Hence the unknown for the upcoming season.

(09-01-2021 06:01 PM)Miggy Wrote:  I’m not impressed overall by Akron’s backcourt. Akron will rely on 4 guards, three are transfers.

In evaluating a player, it’s best not to look at how many games the player played in, but instead look at his shooting percentages on 2’s and 3’s. Unfortunately some posters ignore those stats in telling us who’s good and who’s not.

New Akron transfer Walton shot well on two point shooter, but did shoot three’s high turnover rate.

Akron’s returnee Bryan Trimble averaged 28 mpg and 13 ppg last season. He’s a good guard. He shot 2’s poorly at 38 percent but shot three’s well at 39 percent.

Transfer guard Greg Trimble from St. John averaged 18 mpg 2.7 ppg at St.John’s in conference games. He hardly ever shot two’s, but is a good three-point shooter.

Transfer guard Castaneda from South Florida, averaged 25 mpg and 5.5 ppg in conference play. He’s is a good three point shooter but is an awful shooting 2-point shooter at 35 percent . He shot as many two’s as he did three’s. As such, overall he’s not a good shooter.

Maybe one of Akron’s new PG’s will contribute.

But here's the point many MAC teams back courts have extensive D1 playing experience. I discounted players on the roster without that experience.

(09-01-2021 06:32 PM)emu79 Wrote:  

(09-01-2021 06:01 PM)Miggy Wrote:  I’m not impressed overall by Akron’s backcourt. Akron will rely on 4 guards, three are transfers.

In evaluating a player, it’s best not to look at how many games the player played in, but instead look at his shooting percentages on 2’s and 3’s.

New Akron transfer Walton shot well on two-pointers, but did shoot three’s well, and had a high turnover rate.

Akron’s returnee Bryan Trimble averaged 28 mpg and 13 ppg last season. He’s a good guard. He shot 2’s poorly at 38 percent but shot three’s well at 39 percent.

Transfer guard Greg Trimble from St. John averaged 18 mpg 2.7 ppg at St.John’s in conference games. He hardly ever shot two’s, but is a good three-point shooter.

Transfer guard Castaneda from South Florida, averaged 25 mpg and 5.5 ppg in conference play. He’s is a good three point shooter but is an awful shooting 2-point shooter at 35 percent. He shot as many two’s as he did three’s. As such, overall he’s not a good shooter.

Do think EMU’s guards can do more things than Akron’s guards. EMU has better three-point shooters, and it’s man to man defense will handle Akron’s good three point shooters.

Maybe one of Akron’s new PG’s will contribute.

But here's the point many MAC teams back courts have extensive D1 playing experience. I discounted players on the roster without that experience.

How is experience going to help those Akron players that can’t shoot two’s well?

There are plenty of experienced college players who turn the ball over excessively their entries college careers, while there are college freshman who don’t there entire college careers.

Experience is a factor, and EMU has guards with plenty of experience. Most have played hundreds of HS and AAU games prior to playing college ball.

N. Farrakhan has played one year of college ball. In HS, he was the starting PG that beat the best HS teams in the nation, including opponents who had players selected in the NBA draft.

Ohio’s mens bb is a well-balanced team that gets scoring from all it’s starters. Ohio averaged 78.6 ppg in conference play.

It’s defense was sub-par as opponents averaged 2.7 less ppg at 76 ppg.
That’s a small positive scoring margin.

Has added Xavier transfer 6’8” Jason Carter who’s had an erratic college career. Carter’s performed very well in the MAC early in his career, but shot terrible at Xavier. Some pick him to be MACs’s POY. May be 6th player for Ohio. Want to see if he helps Ohio reduce opponents scoring. Front court also returns two 6’8” forwards. Also added a freshman transfer. We’d just have to see how good Ohio’s freshmen are.

Ohio lost Preston to the pro’s. He not only shot well but averaged 7 assists per game. Although Sears will replace him and is very good, he’ll probably make half as many assists. The question who will replace Sears offensive production from last season? Looks like Senior transferTommy Schmock will. Is terrific making steals.,

Ohio is rated 56th in the nation by Bart Torvik, followed by Buffalo rated 82. I can’t see Ohio as being as good as Buffalo.

Ohio has also added two 6’8 freshman who may come off the bench to strengthen their interior defense.

It’s two leading returning front-court scorers are 6’8 freshman Wilson who averaged 14.9 ppg. He shoots 2’s extremely well, but isn’t a 3-point shooter. 6’8 Plas also returns. He averaged 12.9 ppg. Plas shoots a good number of three’s and shoots them well.

Ohio’s three good backcourt returnees 6’5” Roderick averaged 13.1 ppg in conference play, 6’1 “ rising sophomore Sears who averaged 11.1 ppg, and 6’3” guard McDay who averaged 10.5 ppg, in All are good shooters.

So, one can see that Ohio will be able to maintain their good scoring. But one has to see if it’s defense has improved from
last season.

Believe Buffalo is a better team.

EMU plays Ohio twice, the first being their first MAC conference game, and it’s played on Ohio’s home court on on December 28th. That game is followed by EMU playing Buffalo at home on January 1st. We’ll get to see early on how EMU stacks up against two of the MAC’s best teams.

I’m very high on EMU’s backcourt, in part, because EMU guard Bryce McBride in his last his last five games, shot 48 (14-29) percent on three’s. It’s impressive when a player finishes the season on such a high note.

And with backcourt transfer Monty Scott, N.Farrakhan and Rice providing further firepower, along with some new front court players (Njie, Golson, N.Scott, and Binelli). do think that EMU will be very competitive with other MAC team.

EMU’s interior defense will be far stronger than last season.

Key is how well EMU meshes together, and does not excessively commit turnovers and fouls. Counting on Heath’s terrific offensive and defensive pro system to mitigate those potential problems.

I comment from 500 miles or 30,000 feet. Pick your metaphor.

This team is COMPLETELY different than last year's in talent, coaching, etc. etc.

Most anything statistics, etc. from last season may not carry over to this year. Someone who hated the zone and didn't put out the effort, may thrive in man to man. OTOH someone who, where is Super, wouldn't be a good man to man defender might have gotten hidden in the zone.

As folks have said ad infinitum, the offense will be much, much different this year. Some who struggled in a struggling offense might do better this year.

BOTTOM LINE: If someone asks me who will be most imroved? IDK. Who might regress? IDK.

This isn't like a NBA team where a team substracted one player, and replaced him with another player at his position with say 80% of the scoring returning.

BTW, the basketball season starts in 2+ months and Indiana has no clue as to what to expect. Neither do I.

(09-03-2021 10:15 AM)emu steve Wrote:  I comment from 500 miles or 30,000 feet. Pick your metaphor.

This team is COMPLETELY different than last year's in talent, coaching, etc. etc.

Most anything statistics, etc. from last season may not carry over to this year. Someone who hated the zone and didn't put out the effort, may thrive in man to man. OTOH someone who, where is Super, wouldn't be a good man to man defender might have gotten hidden in the zone.

As folks have said ad infinitum, the offense will be much, much different this year. Some who struggled in a struggling offense might do better this year.

BOTTOM LINE: If someone asks me who will be most imroved? IDK. Who might regress? IDK.

This isn't like a NBA team where a team substracted one player, and replaced him with another player at his position with say 80% of the scoring returning.

BTW, the basketball season starts in 2+ months and Indiana has no clue as to what to expect. Neither do I.

Agree that EMU’s team stats from last season are irrelevant as team make-up is so different this up-coming season. But individual shooting stats of returning players are very relevant, as are non-shooting stats.

There’s also enough stats and videos on most new EMU players to get handle on their skill sets and potential for growth.

As Led Zeppelin once said Ramble On.
Again assumptions projections and if this then that
That sums up the entire MAC this mens hoop season.
Every team added pieces differing in talent and experience. Some coaches rebuild is immediate. Others take a longer view.

It will change from last year. That is the only certainity.
Now back to football.

RamyEMU: Revised:

I believed NI’s transfer N. Scott has a shot at starting at PF if the competition is between him and Binelli. . But now hearing that Colin Golson is tearing it up in team practices.

At NIU last season, N.Scott shot 56 percent at the rim which is very good. His overall 2-point shooting was 43 percent as his 2-point jump shooting was on only 23 percent. He needs to shoot fewer two point jump shots and go to rim more this season. He’s very good on the offensive boards and put-backs. Can hit the three-ball but not at a high rate.

N.Scott has a high bb IQ, is a good ball-handler who puts the ball on the floor and rarely turns the ball over. He’s also a good rebounder.

N.Scott can also play some at the SF position. Such provides HC Heath with her option of playing a big line-up if he so chooses, that includes 6’8 N.Scott at SF, 6’10” Binell at PF, and 6’11” Njie at the enter position.

Binelli’s playing is dependent on whether he’s hitting his three’s which is what he mostly shoots.

Two years ago, he shot too often (once every three minutes) and shot woefully poor on both two’s (29.6 percent), and on three’s (29.9 percent) in conference play. Hard to understand given his height why he struggles to finish at the rim.

Binelli’s capable of shooting 6-10 on three’s in a game. But Binelli shot three’s well in only 9 of the 25 games he played in two years ago. Too often in games he wound-up shooting 1-8 or 1-6 on three’s. He has to be police himself and when off shooting, should not be playing many minutes. Otherwise, he’ll shoot EMU out of the game.

N.Scott, Binelli, and Ballard, rarely turn the ball over and that should play dividends for EMU.

Binelli’s rebounding is ok but not as good as Ballards. His defense is also wanting.

EMU will have to get most of it’s front court points from Golson, N. Scott, Binelli and NJie. Can see HC Heath run timing plays at the rim in order to get his front court players easy hoop at the rim.

The addition of both Golson, N.Scott and Binelli should result in more front court scoring than EMU received last season when Groce was EMU’s only significant front court scorer. EMU should hold it’s own with opponents getting scoring from it’s front court.

The PF and Center position accounts for a total of 80 minutes in a game. season, EMU averaged 32 mpg with no real big in the front court. As such, can readily see why opponents averaged 80 ppg in conference play, and shot 58 percent on two’s in conference play. That won’t happen this season. As bigs will fill up the 80 minutes of playing time in the front court.

Hopefully, conference opponents this season will average between only 68-73 ppg, especially since HC Heath is an excellent defensive coach.

Njie’s offensive game is deadly in the low-post, and look for him to average 15 ppg. but he does have a low-post game. Will need to see if he’s a good passer and whether as a freshman he can avoid excessive turnovers and fouls.

Okompo, an excellent defensive player, not so in offense, will be Njie’s back-up. playing time..

Njie and Okompo’s defense may well determine EMU’s success this season. Both Okpomo and Njie are shot-blockers. Njie was an excellent defender in HS. Had reputation for playing smartly inside and was a good shot-blocker. But now he’s playing at a higher level. Whether he can defend the rim and keep out of foul trouble so he can stay on the floor may well determine EMU’s defensive fate.

Will be interesting to see if EMU gets balanced scoring from it’s back and front court players.

N Scott is not being awarded the starting PF spot.

You can’t evaluate Binelli’s shooting based on the previous coach’s system. Murphy was a good defensive coach, while he admitted to literally ignoring offense. Players were forced into situations where they had to force things. Binelli entered the transfer pool and got an offer from Texas Tech, but was wooed to return to EMU. I think he is the primary candidate for starting PF.

Ballard is uniquely productive. Golson is very intriguing. Jihad can probably play the spot given his range. N Scott is in the mix too. We’ll see how it pans out.

One thing I can say for certain. I think Miggy and I both REALLY, REALLY need basketball season to start.

Waiting for Blue Ribbon. Back to football.

(09-07-2021 05:09 PM)RamyEMU Wrote:  N Scott is not being awarded the starting PF spot.

You can’t evaluate Binelli’s shooting based on the previous coach’s system. Murphy was a good defensive coach, while he admitted to literally ignoring offense. Players were forced into situations where they had to force things. Binelli entered the transfer pool and got an offer from Texas Tech, but was wooed to return to EMU. I think he is the primary candidate for starting PF.

Ballard is uniquely productive. Golson is very intriguing. Jihad can probably play the spot given his range. N Scott is in the mix too. We’ll see how it pans out.

Hearing that 6’7” Golson has been playing very well in practices, and is killing his two-point mid-range shot and is a force on defense. He’s EMU’s likely starter at PF as he’s athletic, strong and quick. He rarely turns the ball over. Nor excessively fouls.

Both N.Scott’s and Binelli’s shooting percentage is 45 percent. Expect N. Scott’s to rise playing in HC Heath’s pro system.

Since N.Scott is quicker and his non-shooting stats are superior to Binelli’s can see him getting more playing time than Binelli. As N.Scott garners far more offensive rebounds and assists than Binelli does and is a better shot-blocker. He also makes slightly more defensive rebounds than Binelli does. Both commit few turnovers nor do they excessively foul.

The ball will be distributed more among EMU players and result in more EMU points via assists when N.Scott is playing compared to Binelli who mostly just shoots the three-ball.

If Binelli’s is shooting three’s at a good clip he can stay on the court. If not, he should sub-out. EMU can’t afford for him to shoot 1-7 on three’s. On the other hand his three-point shooting percentage would greatly rise if he doesn’t keep jacking up three’s when he’s off. If Binelli is on shooting three’s he should play significant minutes.

Do see Nate Scott getting some playing time at SF.

Njie shot 68-percent from the floor in HS. Not only dunks the ball well, but can put ball on floor, has some nice low-post moves, and finishes well at the rim.

He’s aggressive on both the offensive and defensive glass. Also, blocks shots. On defense, communicates well with fellow players. Seems to play with high bb IQ.

Not known is whether he excessively turns the ball over or fouls excessively. Sense he doesn’t.

In only four months, EMU’s HC Stan Heath has put together a quality deep roster with real strengths and few weaknesses. His transfer and returning players fit his up-tempo style of play on both sides of the ball. The new transfer players have been craving to play in such a system as it bring out they’re strengths as players.

EMU’s theme song at home games should be “ Who Let The Dogs Out.”

As a newly re-constituted team, with a few young players, EMU won’t get the respect from national polls and prognosticators until the season starts and EMU starts wins games.

Presently, Bart Torvik’s EMU’s bb rankings is all messed up. Doesn’t have Luka S, Njie, and Randle on EMU’s roster, but does list Lowder who’s departed. Lists two probably subs among EMU’s best scorers, while listing a potential starter as barely playing.

CMU s roster is up and I can confirm they have 5 players 6'10 or taller with various levels of D1 experience. But let's look at the backcourt. Kevin Miller 6'0 and Jack Webb 6'4 are true frosh. They have Ann Arbors Ryan Wade 6'2 who played in 48 games at Holy Cross Jermaine Jackson Jr. 6'0 who has 79 games of D1 experience and averaged 15 points per game for LIU last year Cameron Heaney 6'3 who played 70 games for Albany NY little used Dylan Huber 6'0 and Oscar Lopez 6'4 who played 25 games for DePaul.