BG - OHIO

[Matty B]

To address the rebounding question, we graduated A TON of post minutes last year. A rebounding decline was expected, though not to this extent. It's just plain bad and right now all I can attribute it to is a lack of desire on that end. OU even got an offensive rebound on a "soft" FT miss in which BG lazily waited for the ball to come down and OU came right around and grabbed it.

As for the guard play, we're hurt by having our only "creator" on offense being 5'5", Kraus giving you nothing on offense, Brown and Jakubowski being BIG liabilities on defense (although Brown played OK last night).

Calhoun's being in foul trouble wasn't our problem last night, it was Calhoun's play while he was in that killed us. He got TORCHED on more than a few OU offensive rebounds early on, and we didn't make our run until he got his 2nd foul.

Also, why does no one on this team EVER go up strong and get to the line? Is our poor free throw shooting becoming a mental issue on offense? The only guys on this team that will actually attack the basket and show ANY willingness to take it up strong and get fouled are Thomas, Brown, Sealy & Crawford. Yes, Crawford. Calhoun, McElroy, & Black ALL fade away around the basket and/or pass up inside looks. Ogelsby is even doing this of late.

On a positive, Sealy looked VERY strong. He created his own shot at times, went fearlessly at the rim, and made our offense look respectable. I've been watching Orr's offense for the past two years, and aside from post entry passes to Calhoun from time to time, I can't seem to figure out what the "goal" of our offense is each possession. i.e. HOW are we looking to score? A lot of times it just looks like our guys are running through the motions of the offensive with no intent to look at the basket at any point.

I think the pieces are there, but the team is young and these are kinks that CAN be worked out. Only time will tell.

[CrazyFan]

I am getting so sick off ALL the excuses. "Were young"; that excuse has been used for the last 3 of the last 5 years - that's coaching and inability to tranform your players. "To many fouls" - that's coaching. "Our rebounding sucks" - that's why we brought Orr in - THATS HIS SPECIALTY, and it sucks! - Thats coaching. When is this board gonna wake up and end this obsession and scareness of negatively commenting on Louis Orr and his staffs performance. Their HORRIBLE! Instead every year we stick with the "There gonna be really good next year" excuse instead of putting the blame where it belongs! You dont get ran by an Akron team, who is lower in the standings to you, AT HOME, BY 40 POINTS. Thats ridiculous and yet another sign to me that this staff needs to go. This team has been horrible under Orr, except for 1 year where we rode Nate Millers shoulders and ABSOLUTELY FELL into a MAC Championship (Tie). That's it. Lets use our newfound cash to get rid of this coaching staff and bring in a staff that can transform this program into the next Gonzaga, like the money was donated for, instead of overpaying mediocrity. My rant is over. Go Falcons.

Well for starters, as I have said earlier in this thread, I don't love or hate Coach Orr & company. I don't think they're a great staff destined to have us become the next Gonzaga, but I also don't think they're terrible. I know I would take Orr over Dan Dakich any day of the week, so Orr gets a lot of leeway in that regard.

To address your points, I certainly don't think I've been using the youth excuse for the past few years. We weren't young in those years. This year we most certainly ARE young, or at least inexperienced. Maybe Orr hasn't done a good job developing his youth, but that doesn't mean that we're not young THIS year, because we're certainly relying on a lot of players that either weren't here last year or didn't play much if they were.

As for too many fouls, I don't think that's been a consistent complaint at all. If it is I don't really think it's warranted. One of the best things I've loved about Orr is how the zone defense has allowed us to keep most of our players on the court. Unlike Dan's insistence on man defense which had us consistently racking up massive foul troubles. During conference play we're averaging about 2 fouls per game more than our opposition...that doesn't really bother me that much. Not enough that I'd say fouling is a major reason why we're struggling. My only point was last night Calhoun's fouls really hurt us, but I wouldn't say that's an ongoing theme for this team.

As for the rebounding, yeah it blows, but you put it squarely on the coaches, because that is supposedly Orr's specialty? What about last year? And the year before that? Both seasons we outrebounded our opposition. 3 years ago we were outrebounded by less than 1 a game, so about even. This is the first year that our rebounding has really been a major issue. Now do you think that is because Orr sucks as a coach, or do you think it could be that all of our front court minutes are going to guys that have never really played? Calhoun & McElroy barely played last year and are playing all of the PF this year. Dabney, Oglesby, and Black are our only centers and none of them were even on the team last year. Our rebounding blows, but I don't think that's purely an indictment on the coaching staff as much as it is the pure inexperience of our front court. No coaching staff can wave a magic wand and make players change, it takes time in the system.

I'll gladly agree that some of the losses have been an absolute embarrassment. You should never lose by 40 to a team in your conference...especially at home. I'll also even agree that even the lone MAC Championship in Orr's tenure wasn't exactly a dominant team. I'm not afraid of talking negative about coach Orr...I definitely think this team could use a fire lit under their ass at times. I think they're too talented to play so poorly for such long stretches, and too oftentimes come out totally flat to start games. I also think the rotation patterns are ludicrous at times. No way Jakubowski should be starting for this team...it's time Crawford learns how to start, he will be doing so next year. I also think Black should be playing more if he's healthy. Sealey deserves more minutes as well. I've also never been a fan of our offense under Orr...it still has never developed into the inside/out offense that we were told we'd get.

The only reason I'm not ready to say Orr should be fired is that this team has a lot of young talent. I think Orr's done a good job recruiting the past few years. I remember all too well the Dakich days of being the slowest least athletic team in the MAC, so I'm not ready to cast Orr aside. That being said, I would certainly not cry if Orr were fired this year, and I certainly don't think he's done enough to earn an extension. Personally I think Orr's recruiting the past few years has earned him the right to go at least one more year and see how those players develop under him. If they are no better next season then you can bet your ass I'll be ready to ride Orr out of town, but right now I think he deserves a shot to play with his better recruits...although I do think you could reasonably question why his first classes were so weak...

Im not singling you out hammb. I read posts every week uttering mostly the same things. Its just im sick of hearing the excuses for this team with nobody really pointing a finger where it should be pointed to. Everybody hated Dakich so much that there settling for Orr and that shouldnt be the case. I dont have the time nor the motivation, but if you go back and reread the posts for the last 5 years, we are ALWAYS saying that "next year our players will be more mature and rounded and we will be awesome", and here we sit doing the cycle all over again. Our players arent progressing like D1 players should progress. Is it recruiting? Does Orr have a knack at recruiting players who have already mostly hit their ceiling? I dont think so. So the only other option is coaching. The coaches arent getting it done. They can't bring out the progression in a player like many coaches can. There offensive system doesnt work around the players. There defensive system is very spotty and gets crushed many times. And for the life of them they can't make adjustments! We sit in this same cycle and we as fans are settling for this mediocrity, making excuses, and keep watching our hopes and past predictions (about being really good the next year) get crushed. But hey, were gonna be awesome next year (or maybe the year after that, or possibly the year after that.......). Its time we stop blaming Dakich and look at the actual leader of this program and make him responsible, cause I know damn well if Dakich was running this program like this 90% of this board would be calling for his head. Oh wait, that already happened.....................

[hammb]

Im not singling you out hammb. I read posts every week uttering mostly the same things. Its just im sick of hearing the excuses for this team with nobody really pointing a finger where it should be pointed to. Everybody hated Dakich so much that there settling for Orr and that shouldnt be the case. I dont have the time nor the motivation, but if you go back and reread the posts for the last 5 years, we are ALWAYS saying that "next year our players will be more mature and rounded and we will be awesome", and here we sit doing the cycle all over again. Our players arent progressing like D1 players should progress. Is it recruiting? Does Orr have a knack at recruiting players who have already mostly hit their ceiling? I dont think so. So the only other option is coaching. The coaches arent getting it done. They can't bring out the progression in a player like many coaches can. There offensive system doesnt work around the players. There defensive system is very spotty and gets crushed many times. And for the life of them they can't make adjustments! We sit in this same cycle and we as fans are settling for this mediocrity, making excuses, and keep watching our hopes and past predictions (about being really good the next year) get crushed. But hey, were gonna be awesome next year (or maybe the year after that, or possibly the year after that.......). Its time we stop blaming Dakich and look at the actual leader of this program and make him responsible, cause I know damn well if Dakich was running this program like this 90% of this board would be calling for his head. Oh wait, that already happened.....................

I can certainly see where you're coming from blaming the coaches for the players not developing. The only reason I'm not really on board with you is because I'm not sure that it's a case of players not developing as much as it is a case of Orr's early recruiting being really bad. I'm willing to give him a shot and see how well he can develop players, for at least one more season, who actually have talent.

Brown and Thomas are the only 2 worthwhile players from Orr's first 2 recruiting classes, and both of them are pretty athletically limited (well I guess Calhoun is in that class too). These past 2 years though, I think we've brought in some guys that can play in this league. Crawford, Sealey, and Black are all very talented. McElroy can play a bit as well.

Maybe he won't be able to develop this group of players either, but I think these guys have a lot better talent than what the earlier Orr recruits had. I'm willing to give Orr next year as well to see what he can do in developing these guys, along with the potential of Henderson & Clark. If next year is not a big step forward from this year, then I'll be right there with you wanting to move on. Right now though, I'll give Orr a pass for his first couple classes and want to see what he can do with this young, talented group.

[h2oville rocket]

What the heck happened with Kraus and Freeman? No mention of this here? Blade says Kraus is supended for a game? Enquiring minds want to know.

[TG1996]

What the heck happened with Kraus and Freeman? No mention of this here? Blade says Kraus is supended for a game? Enquiring minds want to know.

John Wagner's blog made it sound like it was a pretty senseless intentional/flagrant foul, which resulted in Kraus' ejection for the waning moments of the game. It sounds like the MAC replied to The Blade and said that a suspension isn't automatic, but they're reviewing.

Miami(OH) fans want him drawn and quartered at dawn, I'm sure.

[AyZiggy97]

What the heck happened with Kraus and Freeman? No mention of this here? Blade says Kraus is supended for a game? Enquiring minds want to know.

John Wagner's blog made it sound like it was a pretty senseless intentional/flagrant foul, which resulted in Kraus' ejection for the waning moments of the game. It sounds like the MAC replied to The Blade and said that a suspension isn't automatic, but they're reviewing.

Miami(OH) fans want him drawn and quartered at dawn, I'm sure.

It certainly was at least intentional. It looked like Kraus gave Freeman a forearm and the referee did not immediately call the foul. So there was a second forearm/elbow that got up around the neck area. Kraus was visibly frustrated going to the locker room. He was +10 on Wednesday, the only Falcon above even.

[BGSUHoops]

Stupid fouls, stupid fouls, stupid fouls. That game was full of them (as most BG games are), the worst one being the elbow from Kraus with so little time left in the game. What was he thinking?!? Being a thug isn't going to help win the game. When he got ejected from the game he shook his head like "I can't believe I'm being ejected". Really??? If you're man enough to throw the elbow, be man enough to own it and accept the consequences. In my opinion, Kraus should be suspended for more then one game. There is no room in college sports for crap like that.

[orangeBGbrown]

My sources tell me that the play was reviewed by the MAC offices and Kraus will not be suspended.

[h2oville rocket]

My sources tell me that the play was reviewed by the MAC offices and Kraus will not be suspended.

Blade said that this morning although they didn't say a final decision had been made, just that the MAC said a suspension wasn't part of the normal process and they were continuuing to review.

So why did he throw the elbow? Was it a chippy game? The OU people didn't seem to think that Freeman is the kind of guy that plays dirty or is real mouthy. Kraus, by the same token, hasn't impressed me as a thug (or impressed me period for that matter) but then I've only seen him in a couple of games.

[Matty B]

My sources tell me that the play was reviewed by the MAC offices and Kraus will not be suspended.

Blade said that this morning although they didn't say a final decision had been made, just that the MAC said a suspension wasn't part of the normal process and they were continuuing to review.

So why did he throw the elbow? Was it a chippy game? The OU people didn't seem to think that Freeman is the kind of guy that plays dirty or is real mouthy. Kraus, by the same token, hasn't impressed me as a thug (or impressed me period for that matter) but then I've only seen him in a couple of games.

Kraus was probably frustrated that he's riding the pine while Brown and Jakubowski turn the ball over and get torched on D.

On the play itself he was trying to cut off the dribbler on the sideline and Freeman set one of those "unintentional" moving screens with his backside that you'll often see on a fast break or when a player is driving the baseline. Kraus was probably just trying to run through him to get to the ball. When the first shove didnt get him out of the way, the second shove was a result of pure frustration.

Kraus is never one to shy away from a scrum, as you'll see his elbows fly while securing the ball ot going for a tie-up. While he went over the top in this instance, it's nice to have some fighters in there to motivate the team send a message to the other. Now just harness it in, young fella, and you'll have a nice career at BG.

[orangeBGbrown]

Also, after the years of watching Freeman, I've noticed he has a tendency to make fouls look worse than they are. He is a real flopper at times and I wouldn't doubt he tried to make this look worse.

[Class of 61]

Also, after the years of watching Freeman, I've noticed he has a tendency to make fouls look worse than they are. He is a real flopper at times and I wouldn't doubt he tried to make this look worse.

No way was this a "Flop"....he got nailed, not once but twice.... the TV boys only showed the replay from 2 different angles at least a half dozen times...got a bit over the top after awhile...as to why Steve Mix does "color commentary", I think he was a heck of a basketball PLAYER...nuff said.