MAC Tournament Observations

[Rollo83]

It was sad to be volunteering at the first MAC Tournament in Cleveland without the BG men's team. Of course the women's helped take the sting out of that somewhat by winning their second straight title. I believe the women have won something like 35 straight victories over MAC opponents the last two years, including the tournaments? Incredible!

I watched the Falcons men's team play in person twice this year and caught them on TV once. I have to say that we are quite aways from the other MAC schools in terms of athleticism. Its not even close. After watching Cage, Ingram, Hayes, Chatman, Hatcher and Joyce (Joyce is the worst of the bunch) play all week, I can't believe we run Floyd and Robinson out there against them. Our point guard play is division III compared to those guys. We have to start recruiting some athletes at the point position...now! All of the guys that I mentioned above can do three things...run an offense, pose a offensive threat (shooting and off the dribble), and play defense. Sadly, our point guards can each do only one of the three.

The other position where we are way behind in terms of talent is the versatile player who can play both the three and four positions. I am talking about a guy somewhere between 6'5" and 6'8" that can run the floor, take the ball to the basket, and step out for a three. Kent has about 5 guys that fit that description (Warzynski, Knight, Scott, Youngblood, Sullinger). It seems every team I watched in Cleveland had at least 3 or 4. I think Eric Marshall has that kind of potential for BG, but beyond that I don't see any on our roster. What's even more troubling is that most of these teams had at least 1 or 2 of these guys that were either freshmen or sophmores. They were playing behind a upper classman and got some great experience and will be ready to contribute big-time over the next couple of seasons. Where will our contributions come from at this very important position?

We absolutely have to start recruting big-time point guards and athletic 3/4 players if we are to compete in this league again. The good news is that this is the last year BG won't ever make it to Cleveland. Starting next year, all 12 teams will make the trip!

I was stunned at watching Ohio University play this year. They just are not the same team I watched last year. Did they over achieve last year or under acheive this year? Probably a little of both. I think Tim O'Shea needs to do something more with this team the next two years or he'll be gone.

I am amazed at the job Charlie Coles does at Miami on a yearly basis. He had sub-par talent this year in my opinion and still went 14-4 in the MAC. This was by far the weakest team I saw him bring to Cleveland in my 7 years working the tournament. They just have a winning attitude about them and it extends throughout their program.

Finally, each year a have a "Knucklehead of the Tournament" award that I give out. This year it goes to Jonathan Amos of Toledo. He's a freshman guard out of Dallas, Texas. First, he has this look about him where he kind of sticks his jaw and bottom lip out. Think of a cross between Bill Cowher and Bubba from Forest Gump. He simply can not shoot and the only move he has is a spin move taking the ball to the basket. Most of the time he loses the ball or gets stripped. In the rare ocassion when he does get the ball in the basket he runs down court banging on his chest. However, he is an incredible on-the-ball defender. That's why Stan Joplin gives him playing time. However, because he plays so tight on people he usually is good for a couple of quick fouls. Then he gets this look on his face and starts complaining to the officials. Great Theater!

[h2oville rocket]

Amos really hurt UT offensively with a couple of silly turnovers early against Kent. But as for Knucklehead of the tournament? Well, at least he didn't step on anybody...