Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

1st 10
• Look good so far, much more athletic then last year. Replacing all but 1 starter. I think this team could be much better then I keep hearing. Athletic and deep, at least much deeper then I am used to.
• Help D is bad, offensive movement is bad. Rebounding and fundamentals on D have been great, not a lot of second chance shots for the Victors.
• Already played 9 guys

2nd 10
• Gotta stick with the guys on the outside
• Just saw them run a play and score off it? Our offense is sloooowwwwww developing
• Just seem much more fundamentally sound
• Need to change things up. Let them beat us off the dribble if they are going to beat us
• Definitely don’t love the offense, not enough movement for me, especially if we are playing 9 guys
• Don’t really get how that guard from Toledo cant crack the lineup

3rd 10
• We are pretty athletic. The only guy who is a defensive liability is Jaku and he adds quite a bit just being a veteran at the guard spot
• Psst Novak can shooooooott
• 21 of Michigans 46 pts are from behind the arc
• I think we can be very good. Need to fix 2 things 1. Offensive movement, 2. Defense (mostly scheme it seems like, spacing seems bad too, why don’t we fix that as well, and following our shot)
• we look tired now…taking quick shots and bad shots slow on D need some subs
• Guard rotation of Crawford-Kraus-Brown and Jak will be solid but never spectacular. Having 4 guys will help us a ton though. I think Craw and Brown will end up being the guys in at ends of games

4th 10
• Nice hustle still, and still love the athleticism of the squad
• I am still not really sure where the offense is designed to get someone open because it just doesn’t do it.
• 4-20 in the second half
• 15% on 3’s
• Austin Calhoun noticeably absent for a lot of second half
• 27-28 When Kraus got his shot blocked. A 16- 33 run since.
• We need to be more aggressive taking it to the basket, especially Calhoun, Black and Mac

Jordan Crawford
• Has to annoy the crap out of the other teams pg, I like him out there as long as we can scheme around him getting posted up all the time.
• Impossible not to love this guy
• He should be starting, and is..
• Can jump super high wow

Luke Krauss
• Much more athletic then I thought. Solid D.

Scott Thomas
• Steadying force
• Will always be in the right place at the right time
• This guy is great with Calhoun next to him that will be a great duo. Thomas will score just by having a guy on the floor who can also score
• He just doesn’t do things wrong

Danny McElroy
• Great athleticism

Cameron Black
• Great athleticism
• I have a great feeling about Black with Louis watching him

Dee Brown
• Love the idea of him as a 6th man, which we seem to be seeing
• Can get his own shot when he tries hard enough, Calhoun is the only one better at that

Auston Calhoun
• As others said he could be special or a black hole on offense
• Have not seen him pass yet
• I get the feeling that he would rather score then win, hope that’s not true

Joe Jakubowski
• One of the worst inbound defensive plays I have ever seen. Did not even have his hands up
• I know that one of his problems on D is that he is not athletic, he also has not been very smart. A step slow in reacting and not in the right place several times. I know I keep harping on the help D but he needs to expect that to come from someone else on that three
• I think that he is still uncomfortable and races to get the ball out of his hands

Overall:
This is what I would go with for my rotation (Name, Ht, Minutes tonight)

Crawford 5-6 14 Jakubowski 6-2 28
Brown 6-3 31 Kraus 6-2 14
Thomas 6-6 29 Calhoun 6-7 21
McCelroy 6-8 28 Calhoun 6-7 21
Black 6-10 24 Sealey 6-6 6


• Calhoun backs up both McCelroy and Thomas likely eventually starts over McElroy
• I think Orr is leaning this way
• Something must really be up with Calhoun if he is only playing 21 mins.
• Crawford is better then jaku and jaku is pretty good. I just thing Craw gives more to the squad despite his height. He is much more active and the offense moves better with him. Not sure how much his height hurts him
• I really enjoy this team. There are players that are just magnetic/engaging. Craw, Thomas, Black and McElroy are all very very fun to watch.

I loved Calhoun tonight!!! He is the one guy on our team who knows he can make a shot, and might be the only one who can create his own. He has All-MAC written all over him if he keeps improving! I loved how we looked tonight over what he looked like vs Howard. Even most of his misses were right there and could have dropped. I love how he attacks offensively. I would much, much rather see a guy for us do what he's doing offensively on a team that is struggling so much to score. Tonight, we shot under 30% as a team! That is awful. This team prides itself on defense, but in doing so, we need to be able to score. We just do.

I also loved the energy and movement of McElroy and Black down low. Like Calhoun, these two have such a bright outlook as they improve. Thomas seemed rattled tonight. He worked hard, but his shots looks rushed or something. Even his free throws were off, looked more like he was hoping they'd go in than just shooting them. But he'll bounce back. I thought Brown looked decent out there too. Kraus has just looked like the invisible man to me at times. I only saw him vs Howard and Michigan, but he's now 1-10 from the field in three games. He hustles on defense, but offensively looks like he going through the motions out there with his ball fakes. He needs to start dropping a few shots for us as we really need something from this backcourt. Same with Jakubowski. We are very undersized in our backcourt and look very slow (with the exception of Crawford) and methodical. We really need to start generating some offense from our guards.

I know Sealy is listed as a forward for us, but with his size and frame, I can't help but wish this kid was a 2 right now. Haven't seen him attempt a shot in person, but he looks to be athletic enough on the wing. Still no sign of Oglesby (who was up on his feet on the bench showing some fire when we had a good play) or Henderson. Can't help but wonder if these two aren't going to see the floor for us this year. I could see Henderson maybe getting a red-shirt, but it seems odd to have brought in a juco in Oglesby and have him not seeing the floor. Anyone have any insight?

All in all, a tough night offensively, but it wasn't a conference game and like any of these non-conference games, you can only hope they help come conference play time. We have some very solid pieces to work with, it's just a matter of getting things in place. Lastly, we just need to score the ball already - we're making it look way harder than it really is.

A bad shot is still a bad shot even if it goes in. Calhoun forces a bunch of stuff. He might end up really good but at times he is a black hole.

Globetrotter wrote:A bad shot is still a bad shot even if it goes in. Calhoun forces a bunch of stuff. He might end up really good but at times he is a black hole.

I'm not exactly sure I understand where all these "bad shots" are coming from that you are referring to??? Yes I saw some contested shots out there tonight, but I also saw him knock some of those down. You can take a "great shot" and still miss, or take a "bad shot" and it could go in - it's all relative in the end. Bottom line is, did the ball go through the rim or not? Calhoun shot 40% from the floor and we shot 29.6% as a team. He also was 3-3 from the line and we were 16-23 as a team. If you want to talk about bad shots and black holes, I can think of several other names before his. Calhoun has the ability on offense that we haven't seen in years. He could very well be our best player - right now. He, like everyone on the team, has a ways to go, sure. They all do. But this kid has game and I'm thrilled as hell we've got someone like him out there for us, finally.

BGSU33 wrote:

Globetrotter wrote:A bad shot is still a bad shot even if it goes in. Calhoun forces a bunch of stuff. He might end up really good but at times he is a black hole.

I'm not exactly sure I understand where all these "bad shots" are coming from that you are referring to??? Yes I saw some contested shots out there tonight, but I also saw him knock some of those down. You can take a "great shot" and still miss, or take a "bad shot" and it could go in - it's all relative in the end. Bottom line is, did the ball go through the rim or not? Calhoun shot 40% from the floor and we shot 29.6% as a team. He also was 3-3 from the line and we were 16-23 as a team. If you want to talk about bad shots and black holes, I can think of several other names before his. Calhoun has the ability on offense that we haven't seen in years. He could very well be our best player - right now. He, like everyone on the team, has a ways to go, sure. They all do. But this kid has game and I'm thrilled as hell we've got someone like him out there for us, finally.

I agree with 33, and Orr seemed to confirm in the post game that they had makeable looks. He also mentioned being stronger around the basket. That appeared to be especially needed on the defensive end from my perspective.

Thomas and Kraus need to watch Calhoun. Those 2 guys are not aggressive enough. They have to trust their shooting ability. I love the way Calhoun is aggressive. He forces some shots, yes. But everyone else is passing up open looks.

SHOOT the ball. If the guys start thinking about their shooting % and are hesitant like I'm reading above, we are REALLY screwed. If you've got an open look and it's in your range SHOOT the damn ball....

They will come out of it guys.... GO Falcons!

My game report:

For the love of Bob, someone please make a frickin' shot!

I thought we looked tough overall, we just couldn't make a shot. When we get over that, lookout. The lack off offensive movement seemed to get worse thru the 2nd half - perhaps that's the result of a young team getting discouraged from so many missed shots.

I love the way Austin takes it to the rim. After years of watching fear-ridden BG teams pass it around the horn and force something at the end of the clock, this approach is refreshing.

Both walk-ons got into the game but Henderson and Oglesby didn't. Neither have played at all so far. Something's up. I'm assuming that we won't see them 'til semestar's end. That added depth would put us over the top.

My starters at guard would be
- Crawford
- Thomas
with Krauss, JoeJak, and Erger coming off the bench, in that order.

McElroy diving for the ball for 3 feet in front of the half court line and landing about 3 yards on the other side while trying to get the ball was awesome. Great effort!

I did notice a lot of players diving for loose balls. That was encouraging. I think we will be fine when we get into the MAC.

BleedOrange wrote: My starters at guard would be
- Crawford
- Thomas
with Krauss, JoeJak, and Erger coming off the bench, in that order.

Dee Brown??? As far as I'm concerned he was the best guard against Michigan and actually had some good looking assists. Crawford is just OK and was a defensive liability in this game. Other than drawing one offensive foul, I can't think of anything else he did.

I do like Calhouns aggressiveness. but there is a such a thing as being too aggressive, which he is. His shot selection is very poor

I'm torn on Calhoun a bit. I love his aggressiveness. He's the one guy on this team who looks for, and can get, his own shot. However, I do see a bit of Samarco in him that when he gets the ball it seems like he is ALWAYS going to be looking to take the shot.

This team does need somebody to take over and get some buckets, it needs an aggressive scorer, but it can also be a detriment when he's forcing up bad shots rather than get his in the flow of the game.

It can also really hurt the team when he goes through cold stretches but keeps shooting everytime the ball touches his hands. IF Calhoun is shooting the way he did in the first 2 games, or in the 2nd half of the UM game, then he is probably doing more harm than good.

I still like this team, and I still think he can develop into an all MAC guy, I could see him leading the conference in scoring. The talent is there, he just needs to do a better job recognizing when to be aggressive, and when to help set up his teammates, IMO.

This is going to be a very fun team to watch, IMO.

I think Calhoun's biggest setback is that he has not played in "real" game situations for two years. He's been playing against the same guys for a looonnnngggg time. Once he gets his feet under him in "real" games, he will be very good.