BG/Kent State Preview

[gmartin]

A win is a win

[Flipper]

I smell...team of destiny. No..maybe it's my feet.

[gmartin]

9 out of 12 teams either 6-5 or 5-6.

Try figuring out that tie breaker scenario. After Saturday you could have 8 teams at 6-6.

[gmartin]

I smell...team of destiny. No..maybe it's my feet.

I think it's RangerRockets feet.

[Hawk thrower]

Why do they play Ali so much? He doesn't score, he turns it over. All three of the younger guards are better. I can't figure out what the coaches see in him. Two lousy points ! Happy for the win though!

[fanatic13]

Were 1 game out of second place...in the conference. Too bad there's no double byes anymore.

[Rollo83]

Nice road win...

http://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-basketbal ... en-flashes

[gmartin]

Were 1 game out of second place...in the conference. Too bad there's no double byes anymore.

Also 1 loss and a WMU win from being #11 seed.

[Globetrotter]

Ali leads the MAC in turnover to assist ratio.

Why didn't Alcegaire play more?

[gmartin]

Ali got passed last week on the TO/ASSIST stat. And 2 turnovers and 2 assists, 1-5 shooting, bad defense and bad decisions at end of game nearly cost us tonight. I think Hammb would put him in the 'Crawford' category.

Alcegaire looked exhausted. He was slow. Couldn't get back on defense. And he was 2-7 shooting. His shot was off. Not sure if he was sick or maybe he was just exhausted from the Toledo game and never got his legs back yet

[Globetrotter]

Looks like Ali is still first.

[gmartin]

You are going to make me look this up at 4am. Fine!!

If you want to get technical because they are a few assists short to qualify at this time then yes Ish is #1 in the league if you go by NCAA reporting rules. If Ish minutes stay on the same pace, approx 18.4 MPhil then he will not finish #1.

Ridenour of Kent is currently at 2.9:1, and Lauf at Toledo is at 2.8:1

Ish currently isn't even in the starting lineup where the others are. He will get passed and has on many sites but if you go by NCAA rules Ish is #1.

And BTW, that #1 is also #85 in the country. So even though he leads the league I wouldn't brag too much about that. Ish ratio is 2.1:1

My troublesome, last 6 games, 13 assists 11 turnovers. And that includes a 7 assist game. 13 assists 11 turnovers. That's slightly above 1:1.

Ali, what have you done for me lately? Nothing. Which is why Caldwell and Frye and Malik have seen more minutes.

[hammb]

Ali frustrates the hell out of me because he's a senior who plays so out of control, but he's not in the "Crawford" class for me. Ali is a flawed player, but Crawford, to me, is the sort of guy that you cannot put on the court. Denny was shading close to that territory until having a huge game against UT. I do not like players who shoot double digit times a game and do so quite inefficiently. IN the case of Crawford bonus frustration points in that he was the PG and always willing to pull up for NBA range 3balls with 25 seconds on the shot clock.

I prefer Caldwell playing over Ali at this point purely because Caldwell can do far more. Ali is limited, but worthy of backup minutes. And Caldwell is still an inconsistent player, but he's a freshman. But the overall skillset already shows a much higher ceiling than Ali.

Wes didn't have anything last night. Not sure what was going on, probably hangover from the 2OT game, but he just didn't have it. Thankfully Lillard/Fox took his minutes and played pretty damned well. Fox showed EXACTLY what he should be doing. Pick'n'roll, and spacing the floor both half court and transition. Then when given open looks from 3 he hit them. Fox is a massive defensive liability, he needs to be shooting and making 3s to see the floor, and last night he was.

Great win. Should have won in regulation, we outplayed them most of the game, and ended up needing to pull it out of our tails at the end.

[BleedOrange]

After staying away for a while, I have new-found optimism for this program.

Last night was one of the best basketball games I've sat thru for a long time. The lead see-sawed most of the 2nd half. I disliked how BG went into prevent mode with a mere 9 point lead (70-61) with time on the clock. Our offense stopped when we should have gone for the jugular and kept scoring. However, the team overall showed a lot of guts - there were numerous times when Orr's teams would have folded.

Caldwell is a MAJOR upgrade over Ali. Caldwell has better handles, shot, body control, and court sense (and reminded me a little of David Greer). Ali pounds the ball on the floor too long and kills the rhythm of the offense. He telegraphed passes. I'd play Frye over Ali. That kid has terrific court sense.

It was good to see Hulu start and get minutes. Matt Fox was devastating when left open. That kid has a beautiful stroke and a ton of poise under pressure. He was on the floor in the final minutes - that says a lot.

Alceguaire had a couple spectacular drives to the basket that he didn't finish on. He didn't play in the second half. I'm looking forward to finding out what his deal is. (That kid has sweet athleticism. Give him a couple more years to refine his skills overseas an look out.)

For Wiggins, a summer practicing post moves and footwork will make a huge difference. He had numerous opportunities to use his length to score inside, but just didn't have the skill to execute.

I noticed the Worrell's motor is nothing like it was when he first showed up on campus. He reminded me of Devin Davis (Miami forward of mid 90's who beat Arizona in the dance) when he arrived but has obviously lost that fire. Sad to see.

I'm looking forward to next year's roster. We've already seen Turner and Uju. If the freshmen pan, we'll have our deepest roster ever.

[gmartin]

Next year should be fun to watch!! Yeah we lose Ali, Denny and Alcegaire but Frye, Caldwell and Hulu will be just as good. Get Tuner and Uju in the mix plus 2 bigs and a pure shooter. We can possibly play Wiggins & Worrell at the same time. Let's build momentum now and carry it into next year.