Game on ESPN U tonight....

[Globetrotter]

Crawford made bad decisions in bunches in the second half before being pulled. That "chip on his shoulder" causes him to make to many stupid plays to prove himself. Crawford's absence clearly did NOT hurt us down the stretch.

Crawford is a senior and still plays stupidly and selfishly. At this point, he should be a smarter player that does more to deliver basketball games rather than a douche me-first stat-padder. Coach Orr should limit Crawfords minutes at the point to no more than 20 and give the other 20 to Clarke.

He had 6 assists in the first half. If ever there was a game that this didn't make any sense it was this one. He messed up because he tried to pass too much.

[Globetrotter]

We just blew our chance at the tourney if we are on the bubble.

Nice

[Globetrotter]

What DID hurt us was the explainable abundance of minutes for Erger and Kraus.

I thought Erger played fine. Kraus was actually ok on defense and his two charges came at big times. The problem is he jut flat out can't score.

[kdog27]

I have no problem that he can't score but quit spotting up like you can.

[vwfalcon]

I listened to the post-game interview with Coach Stone and he mentioned that Orr was cramping which is why he sat out

[CrazyFan]

I listened to the post-game interview with Coach Stone and he mentioned that Orr was cramping which is why he sat out

Which Orr was cramping? Seemed like both of them sat out the last 6 minutes.

[guest44]

BG can't score without Crawford. I don't care why Stone and Crawford were about to fight on the bench, but Crawford has to play down the stretch. Louis Orr created this situation. He buried Joe Jak on the bench 2 years ago for Crawford, let Clarke rot on the bench last year, and wasted multiple roster spots on big guys who don't play. He has no other options. Basically each game is a disorganized mess. How many times can you sub after the horn in a timeout? How many times can you flat out forget about key players on the bench in key situations. Orr is a mediocre coach and his staff is really really poor. That Michigan State team was ripe to be beaten. BG just doesn't have the coach to do it. Over/Under on attendance for Eastern Michigan is 1400?

[HoopsFan]

I'm sure this is probably after the fact...it was a very long day for me Tuesday, but the BAD Crawford got pulled. I like that. True he didn't have to be punished for the rest of the game, but we didn't lose because of Crawford being pulled. Also, it was hard to play Chauncey when he wasn't on the bench.

This team may make some noise in MAC play. They certainly held their own against MSU. I don't think Kraus and Erger should get so many minutes and I'd still play Holmes, Sealey and Clarke more. I absolutely HATE when the ball is in Crawford's hands with 15 seconds or less on the shot clock, that's when the bad Crawford surfaces.

How about that #11 from MSU going to the basket with 4 seconds left on the clock? What a class(less) act.

HoopsFan

[guest44]

Spread was 10.5. That was why Appling took another shot.

[fredthefalcon]

[quote="HoopsFan"]

How about that #11 from MSU going to the basket with 4 seconds left on the clock? What a class(less) act.

HoopsFan[/quote

On TV in looked like Izzo was really apoligizing to Orr for that last basket. Just seemed he took a lot of time in their handshake.

[fredthefalcon]

How about that #11 from MSU going to the basket with 4 seconds left on the clock? What a class(less) act.

HoopsFan[/quote

On TV in looked like Izzo was really apoligizing to Orr for that last basket. Just seemed he took a lot of time in their handshake.

Well I found an explanation at the Detroit News website. Here's the link.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2012 ... es-Falcons

Not sure it makes that much sense. Obviously someone lost track of the shot clock being off but if you were so worried about a TO why not just launch a 35 footer that you were trying to miss?

[hammb]

I'm very torn on the Crawford issue at the end of the game. He was terrible in the 2nd half last night (after probably his best first half as an actual PG ever). The second half he forced his own shot way too often when he couldn't make them, but at the same time he passed up good looks to make boneheaded passes as well. It was weird because it seemed like he was making the wrong play with the ball nearly every possession. I would have yanked him too. But I don't think you can leave him rot on the bench for the final 6 minutes when the game was still somewhat close...bottom line is that we had NO shot of winning with Crawford on the bench. I really hate Crawford...you can't win with a player like that and this team is so devoid of other options we cannot win without him. He's the posterchild for why this team sucks...thanks Orr...

For the life of me I cannot figure out why Luke Kraus still plays. Everybody applauds his defense but he still was beaten soundly off the dribble on more than one occasion last night...and that was one of his better defensive games. He's so horrible on offense that his marginally above average defense is completely irrelevant.

Chauncey followed up his best half of basketball from the last game with an even better game tonight. A real shame to see him cramp up and have to sit out the end...I could get to like this version of Chauncey Orr. The last game and a half he's shown an aggressiveness that we haven't seen before...best of all he was moving WITHOUT the ball, which he needs to do because he's not real quick off the dribble, but he has shown lately he can actually score if he gets the ball while moving towards the rim... And it seemed last night that when he got things going inside it seems like maybe it gave him more confidence/stroke to his jumper? I dunno, but he made 3 last night after having a brutally bad looking jump shot for the past year and a half. Hopefully we see more of that Orr because this team badly needs a slashing option.

Holmes was a beast defensively last night. I thought all of our post guys actually played really good defense on the initial guy last night. Our problems arose with MSU's very good ball movement inside the paint. When they tried to post somebody up straight up, we did a good job. I also thought we did a helluva job holding our own on the boards... MSU expects to destroy mid majors in rebounding, and we were right there with them all night long...and this with us shooting far worse than them.

We really need to start getting better shooting if we're ever going to win. For the first time in awhile I thought we actually got consistently good looks in the first 30 mins of the game last night, yet still we were shooting in the 33% range all night long. That's pathetic when you're actually getting good shots. Clarke & Henderson both look like they've got decent shooting skills, but neither are knocking them down. Crawford & Calhoun can both score, but their shooting has been terrible because they're constantly being forced (or decide on their own) to take bad shots to bail the rest of this group out. We have to be one of the bottom 20 offenses in D1...it's just pathetic. I don't understand how you have a roster full of guys that cannot put the ball through the basket...it's kind of important in this game...

[Flipper]

Good effort defensively...lack of a consistent scoring threat will kill this team. How do you not recruit a SG and SF that can shoot when you know for years that once Brown and Thomas leave you're left with a collection of guys that have little to no game from the midrange out?

No problem with sitting Crawford if he defied the staff. I don't like what Orr has done here, but he's the coach and that's it...you cannot tolerate insubordination.

[guest44]

MAC teams are really going to struggle to score against BG when Holmes is on the court. Amazing to see Big10 athletes either get blocked or be hesitant to shoot around the basket like that. He is a real talent. If this team had a JUCO 2 or 3 that could score instead of a transfer sitting to backup Holmes his entire career, this team could be a threat. However, Orr has poorly managed his roster and now has nobody but himself to blame for that. I get Crawford getting benched last year for some of his decision making. However, this season I don't blame him a bit considering the offensive slop on the court with him. He is the only player capable of creating 80% of the time. Plus Orr insists on running pick n roll basketball and putting the ball in his hands.

[Globetrotter]

I listened to the post-game interview with Coach Stone and he mentioned that Orr was cramping which is why he sat out

Which Orr was cramping? Seemed like both of them sat out the last 6 minutes.

EWING FOR THREE>>>>>>>YES!!!!