vs. Buffalo (2/6)

[fanatic13]

Sabol for buffalo is lights out tonight

Seems like buffalo can't dribble the ball at all

[mbenecke]

Anthony McComb is out there.

[hammb]

Sabol for buffalo is lights out tonight

Seems like buffalo can't dribble the ball at all

Yeah that kids shooting the lights out but this team is awful. Never in question after Hills hot stretch to start the second.

[fanatic13]

Solid win we did exactly what we needed to do tonight

[mbenecke]

That’s a win, 87-73.

Good stuff. Quick non-conference trip to Louisiana is next, then back to MAC play.

[Falconfreak90]

Another dub against a team we should beat. 16-7, 7-4 MAC. Nice going, fellas.

[fanatic13]

Ball st and eastern failed in close games against Ohio and toledo. Would have been helpful in the standings. I'm sure we'll get stuck with Kent in the first round

[hammb]

Postgame autograph session was fun chatting with the players too. Several of them recognized and remembered my kid from the summer camp. Seem like a good group of guys.

[guest44]

Hill was great to start the 2nd half, Greer and Humphrey both were key in the run that put the game away. Outside shooting will be what makes or breaks this season. I don’t understand why defensively we so often let the best shooter on the opposing team get so many open looks. It’s happened several times with players who are no threat off the dribble.

One more thing. Buffalo is terrible, and the coach for Buffalo is terrible. I’ll complain about the two extensions for Michael Huger forever. Nobody has destroyed a basketball program set for success like the Buffalo AD. What a colossal disaster that is.

[hammb]

Hill was great to start the 2nd half, Greer and Humphrey both were key in the run that put the game away. Outside shooting will be what makes or breaks this season. I don’t understand why defensively we so often let the best shooter on the opposing team get so many open looks. It’s happened several times with players who are no threat off the dribble.

One more thing. Buffalo is terrible, and the coach for Buffalo is terrible. I’ll complain about the two extensions for Michael Huger forever. Nobody has destroyed a basketball program set for success like the Buffalo AD. What a colossal disaster that is.

I don't think I've ever seen a worse zone defense in my life than what UB played for 40 mins last night. It was "zone" defined by they had 5 players on the floor standing somewhere so that must be their zone. BG was able to get where ever they wanted on the court at any "zone". UB didn't take away the arc, we just didn't rely on it as much (probably smart since we suck at shooting). They didn't take away the rim, BG may have set the record for most dunks in a MAC game. They didn't take away the mid area, Hill hit like 4 straight 5' jumpers to push the lead out and take control of the game.

I have absolutely NO idea what their defensive concept was.

I will say that the way this team attacks zones has been refreshing for me. We sure as hell don't have the ability to "shoot a team out of zone", but when teams have gone to zone defense against us we've been consistently able to dissect it and get the ball inside. The teams that flip back and forth we've sometimes struggled for a few possessions, but we've always been able to figure it out.

As for our defensive philosophy it is concerning. We clearly want to be super aggressive with doubles/traps. That's fine, but we do not do a great job rotating behind it. Any team that is a) able to get it out of the double without turning it over, and b) willing to make the extra pass(es) can pretty much get whatever they want. Some of this is probably due to the fact that we spend a lot of time with 2 bigs on the floor and I don't think it's ideal for either of them to be closing out on shooters. This defensive philosophy would likely be more effective with a more athletic guy to rotate the backside, but we Agee & Spurgin are 2 of our top 3 players so we're not taking them off. Also, it's interesting that our DRating is actually one of the best in the MAC (not sure how much of that is from OOC play).

[guest44]

It felt some of the struggles offensively in the first half was almost being surprised at how open the middle of the zone was. Buffalo is one of the worst MAC teams I've seen in some time. And that includes alot of directional Michigans. Hill had all those mid range shots in first half. Clearly, an adjustment was made at halftime to just have him attack. We are at our best when we create turnovers defensively and I agree playing two rim protectors does slow our ability to get out and run the way Simon probably really wants to. I think long term we will see just one center and more position less basketball on the wing once Agee and Spurgin are gone, You kind of see it when Edwards comes in. Unfortunately, his shot is just broken at this point.

[hammb]

It felt some of the struggles offensively in the first half was almost being surprised at how open the middle of the zone was. Buffalo is one of the worst MAC teams I've seen in some time. And that includes alot of directional Michigans. Hill had all those mid range shots in first half. Clearly, an adjustment was made at halftime to just have him attack. We are at our best when we create turnovers defensively and I agree playing two rim protectors does slow our ability to get out and run the way Simon probably really wants to. I think long term we will see just one center and more position less basketball on the wing once Agee and Spurgin are gone, You kind of see it when Edwards comes in. Unfortunately, his shot is just broken at this point.

Yeah, at no point in that ugly first half did I think we were struggling to get whatever we wanted offensively. UB is HORRID. Other than that kid making 7 three pointers I don't know what they hang their hat on. One of the players (maybe younger Spurgin) told me after the game they probably should have won by 100. I couldn't argue with him, I have a hunch coach Simon let his opinion of how close the game was at halftime be widely known.

[Flipper]

Edwards shot is in need of some serious work...but I like him. He brings and element of size and physicality to the guard rotation.

[Falcon Fryed]

Edwards could turn into that lock down defender we need on the perimeter. He shows flashes of it when he is in. He is also really good at getting to the rim. He is strong enough to finish through contact.

If he figures out his shot he could be really really good. His form doesn't look that bad they just never go in.

[fanatic13]

Humphrey has 5 steals in the last two games and has had very active hands while in. Few other plays he caused a jump ball and problems for the offense. He's not perfect but the effort has been there. Our 4 bench players all have potential they just need a spark