vs. Akron (1/20)

[kdog27]

I don’t follow the basketball team nearly as much as you all, but is it just a coincidence that we haven’t looked nearly as good since Anthony Stacy left?

[Hammer]

In a vacuum Elsasser is probably on par with many of the other walk-ons that we typically keep around.

But this isn't a vacuum and I'll never be able to see it as a "coincidence" that the best walk-on we could find also happened to be the son of an AD higher up. Him getting PT is also bizarre, although I suppose COVID has thrown curveballs all over the place.

At the end of the day his presence and play has almost no bearing on the actual state of this team. But it does seem like a data point worth mentioning when you're trying to figure out what we're actually trying to accomplish as a D1 basketball program. Because as somebody who watches nearly every minute of every game we sure as hell don't seem like winning is a high priority. The fact that this program got injected with $600-800k/yr in additional funding and the needle has not moved one bit is insane.

He was the best player on the local high school team. He is 6-4

Averaged 21.0 points and 6.0 rebounds as a senior
Averaged 19.0 points and 5.0 rebounds as a junior
Posted averages of 15.0 points and 4.0 rebounds as a sophomore

If he wasn't Elsassers kid he would make perfect sense to be a walk on.

It may be more of a knock on Huger than a praise for Elsasser but the kid has looked like he belongs with our other players out there. He hussles and plays well for a walk on. His biggest issue is hesitancy to take a shot.

[Hammer]

I don’t follow the basketball team nearly as much as you all, but is it just a coincidence that we haven’t looked nearly as good since Anthony Stacy left?

I talked with someone who worked in the program not too long ago and I think the exit of Anthony Stacey and Mike Summey has really hurt. Huger is a very laid back players coach without much passion or coaching abilities. Those two guys were holding things together. I think Huger can recruit some good players because of his reputation of being laid back but that’s about all he has going for him. Players take little to no instruction from him during a game. They ignore him almost completely.

[factman]

I Think Hammer “nailed” it!

[hammb]

I think Huger's recruiting success is a combination of both his laid back persona and an opportunity for anybody to become a ball dominant player. What star HS player DOESN'T want to go play somewhere that he knows he will have a chance to become the primary ball handler every possession? If that player turns out to be as good as Justin Turner? Cool, it's a good relationship that works well. But when it's THIS cast of dudes? There isn't a single player on this team capable of having the ball in his hands every possession night in night out and making things look good. Hell, I'd argue playing this style put a hard ceiling on Turner that shouldn't have been there.

If you can get yourself to accept those 2 premises I laid out on the recruiting is it that far off to also say what looks like successful recruiting (bringing obviously talented players to campus) is also not necessarily bringing the RIGHT players to campus? I mean right now we have 6 guards that love to play ISO ball, but we don't have any that can actually man up and play consistent defense. We LOVE dumping the ball to Reece or O'Neal, or hell even Plowden & Matiss in the post, but do we ever run any sort of Pick 'n' Roll plays to find them open shots while moving towards the rim?

No doubt we've brought talented individual players to the team in Huger's tenure, but outside of the one fluke year and run to the MAC finals, I'd argue this team was NEVER as good as the sum of its parts. And it is very easy (and largely correct) to blame that on just a total lack of Xs & Os coaching, but at the same time I think it's fair to question if we've ever brought in the proper role players to build a TEAM in the first place. Diggs, while limited, at least has a definable role in a team construct. Plowden the same, and he's shown a willingness to be that team role guy. But the rest of this roster? We don't see much team basketball, and have almost nobody willing to show up every night and compete their asses off on defense.

[OSUFALCON]

He was the best player on the local high school team. He is 6-4

Averaged 21.0 points and 6.0 rebounds as a senior
Averaged 19.0 points and 5.0 rebounds as a junior
Posted averages of 15.0 points and 4.0 rebounds as a sophomore

If he wasn't Elsassers kid he would make perfect sense to be a walk on.

Keep in mind I think his HS team had a losing record every year. Keep in mind he played in the NLL which produces maybe 1-2 D1 players every other year. He’s a nice kid from a good family. He’s a perfect walk on but shouldn’t be on the court much. He could have played a larger role at Defiance or Wittenberg. The issue is coaching and using the talent they have recruited.

[guest44]

His HS teams weren't good. The NLL produces a D1 player about once every 5 years. He wouldn't be on the roster if his dad wasn't working in the BG athletic department. Less favors, more winning.

[threestooges]

I wanted to wait before posting anything on here about the Akron game. Thursday's game was brutal, and it's easy to say burn it all down or fire everyone when such a horrible loss is so fresh in your mind. Having said that, it's now been 36 hours & I'm still very bothered by that loss. A couple of years ago we had two losses in early December where I wondered if we were gonna be a good team or not. We lost at Hartford and Cleveland State, falling by 18-20 points to CSU, and I was close to calling it a season. But, our team surprised and impressed me, winning (I think) the final four games of the non-conference schedule, before going to Kent State and crushing them from start to finish in the MAC opener. We wound up winning like 10 games in a row.

I'm not expecting 10 wins in a row (although it would be nice), but I definitely need to see something from our team at WMU today. And I need to see it by 3:30, because that's when I'll start watching the women's game no matter what is happening in Kalamazoo.

[fanatic13]

I don’t follow the basketball team nearly as much as you all, but is it just a coincidence that we haven’t looked nearly as good since Anthony Stacy left?

I talked with someone who worked in the program not too long ago and I think the exit of Anthony Stacey and Mike Summey has really hurt. Huger is a very laid back players coach without much passion or coaching abilities. Those two guys were holding things together. I think Huger can recruit some good players because of his reputation of being laid back but that’s about all he has going for him. Players take little to no instruction from him during a game. They ignore him almost completely.

Stacey was also pretty laid back at practice. He did a lot of good work with the bigs when they broke out by position but I never saw a lot else. Seemed involved with others visiting practice. Summey was a big loss as far as assistants go. He was very involved in the defense and had a lot of energy while demanding perfection. They use to run for every straight line drive they allowed during games and practice.

Of course we've also lost Turner since then and that's the biggest impact

Of course justin Turner is also gone now