BG vs Kent

[Falconfreak90]

This MAC Tourney is gonna be wide open. WMU has won 7 straight and Kent St is almost as hot with 5 in a row. ANY team can win it this year. We got a great taste of it last year so let's finally win this damn thing for once.

[gmartin]

Have to get by Toledo first. Toledo currently #7. BG #10

[hammb]

Then Ali promptly throws up an air ball.

I really won't miss Ali....

That makes two of us. That foul was just stupid and simply a killer. They're likely going to have to force up a shot to beat the clock and you bail them out 30 feet from the rim with a bonehead foul and give them two more points. Where is the awareness of what's going on in the game??? It's like he had no clue.

I'm no Ali fan buy from my vantage point (completely across court) that looked like really good defense and a bogus call. His feet were under him and he looked to be in fine position to me.

Again I could be wrong not having the benefit of replay and being opposite side of the play, but that's what I saw.

That call and the inbounds play where Fox lost his man for an easy layup+1 when they only had a 4 sec shot clock were backbreakers.

[Globetrotter]

This game tells me more and more we need a star. All the great teams have a star. We don't have one. We have a ton of potential stars though. It wouldn't surprise me at all if almost anyone on next years roster became that guy. Someone needs to take a leap forward.

[factman]

Then Ali promptly throws up an air ball.

I really won't miss Ali....

That makes two of us. That foul was just stupid and simply a killer. They're likely going to have to force up a shot to beat the clock and you bail them out 30 feet from the rim with a bonehead foul and give them two more points. Where is the awareness of what's going on in the game??? It's like he had no clue.

I'm no Ali fan buy from my vantage point (completely across court) that looked like really good defense and a bogus call. His feet were under him and he looked to be in fine position to me.

Again I could be wrong not having the benefit of replay and being opposite side of the play, but that's what I saw.

That call and the inbounds play where Fox lost his man for an easy layup+1 when they only had a 4 sec shot clock were backbreakers.

That was about 15-20 feet right in front of us and was a TERRIBLE call, especially at that point of the game. The officials we not very good all night. The black guy was more worried about coaches standing at the end of the court, opposite play, and I think the "young" one came on the Kent bus (ala the Washington Generals).

[gmartin]

I agree. The one ref was more worried about the players on the bench sitting down.

[BGSU33]

This game tells me more and more we need a star. All the great teams have a star. We don't have one. We have a ton of potential stars though. It wouldn't surprise me at all if almost anyone on next years roster became that guy. Someone needs to take a leap forward.

I couldn't agree more. Look at a team like Ohio, it lost last year's MAC Player of the Year in Campbell this year to a season-ending injury (he would have been a candidate for it again this season) and still rolled along as Simmons is now a candidate for the MAC Player of the Year award now himself and Carter, who stepped in to fill Campbell's void, is now a candidate for MAC Freshman of the Year, and as a team they'll likely finish as the #2 seed. It goes to show just how much better and deeper they are even without their best player than we are.

[BGSU33]

Then Ali promptly throws up an air ball.

I really won't miss Ali....

That makes two of us. That foul was just stupid and simply a killer. They're likely going to have to force up a shot to beat the clock and you bail them out 30 feet from the rim with a bonehead foul and give them two more points. Where is the awareness of what's going on in the game??? It's like he had no clue.

I'm no Ali fan buy from my vantage point (completely across court) that looked like really good defense and a bogus call. His feet were under him and he looked to be in fine position to me.

Again I could be wrong not having the benefit of replay and being opposite side of the play, but that's what I saw.

That call and the inbounds play where Fox lost his man for an easy layup+1 when they only had a 4 sec shot clock were backbreakers.

I only saw the play live on espn3 and they didn't show the replay, but it looked like a play where a foul could and usually is called, and of course, it was. Ali was certainly pressuring his guy and was all up on him, and if it was a bad call, then that sucks, but he still can't put himself and his team in that position that far from the rim with the clock running down. Now if his guy was driving for a layup and he was beaten on the play and he swiped at him and it was called, so be it. But to be all up on a guy that far from the rim in that situation, you just can't do it. Bad call or not, he put himself and his team in a bad position on the play, while also giving the ref a hand in the outcome, and it turned out to be a back breaker. Water under the bridge now though...

[Flipper]

That's such a fine line though...you don't want to encourage too much space defensively because then you're giving the guy a chance to have a wide open look at three. what's too much...what's too little? Besides..Huger is a defense first coach...it's tough to expect a kid to have an aggressive attitude on D all game and then suddenly become more passive.

[hammb]

This game tells me more and more we need a star. All the great teams have a star. We don't have one. We have a ton of potential stars though. It wouldn't surprise me at all if almost anyone on next years roster became that guy. Someone needs to take a leap forward.

I couldn't agree more. Look at a team like Ohio, it lost last year's MAC Player of the Year in Campbell this year to a season-ending injury (he would have been a candidate for it again this season) and still rolled along as Simmons is now a candidate for the MAC Player of the Year award now himself and Carter, who stepped in to fill Campbell's void, is now a candidate for MAC Freshman of the Year, and as a team they'll likely finish as the #2 seed. It goes to show just how much better and deeper they are even without their best player than we are.

Absolutely we do.

The difference for me, is I don't yet really see anybody I have much hope for to become that star. It's very tough to say it with certainty when we're talking MAC guys because the best players oftentimes do take significant leaps forward while they're in school, but I would be fairly surprised if any of our current roster guys become that MAC POY candidate type player that the top teams in the league always have.

Frye seems like the best bet, as he can both get to the rim and shoot it. He's gonna have to add strength without losing his quickness though. Then he needs to be more aggressive getting to the basket with that new strength and getting to the line. He doesn't shoot nearly enough FTs to be a "star" at this stage.

Caldwell I like, but I don't see a future star there. He's got a nice jumper, but he doesn't finish at the rim much. Doesn't distribute nearly enough for a guy with the ball in his hands all the time. He's a nice MAC player, but I don't see him as a star, and wouldn't be surprised to see him become depth on a good team.

Wiggins I don't see a star from at all either. He's OK most nights, but doesn't have a great post game scoring, and he's awful when they bring a double team. HE cannot be a star as a post player if he keeps averaging more than 1.5 TOs a game because he fails to find the open guys out of the double team. Honestly I'd double him every time he gets the ball in the post because he doesn't have the skillset to finish from it, and turns it over a ton...and his improved FT shooting has faded back to being merely bad (from previously awful) as the season went on.

Lillard has the talent to maybe become a star, but has no outside shot, and way too many games where he seems far too passive to even attempt to dictate pace/offense. Half (or more) of being the star is the confidence and bravado to WANT to be the star. Lillard doesn't seem to have that mindset...way too many games this year where he's content to just dribble the perimeter and hand the ball back to the guards even though I think he's got the ability to get to the rim against most MAC defenders, and has even shown an ability to finish around the rim. He's shown far too little initiative, and also shooting lower percentages both from 2 & 3 this year than last; on similar numbers of attempts per game. You could live with losing some efficiency if he was trying to carry more of the load, but he's been a similar role as last year and actually gotten worse.


The rest of the team are either upper classmen (unlikely to make a leap to star status) or haven't played much at all this year through injury or whatever (so tough to really gauge them). I like all 4 of these guys. I think all 4 can be quality players in the MAC throughout their careers. I think all 4 could even be starters on a good MAC team before it's all said and done. But right now I'm not sure I see anybody that has future MAC star ahead of him. I hope Dylan finds the weight room, puts on 20# this offseason and comes in next year ready to rock. He's the one guy that appears like he COULD make that leap.

[hammb]

Because I thought Frye could be that guy I went back and looked to see our last 2 guards who I thought had MAC POY star capability. Ron Lewis bolted before his Jr. year but I think he was destined to win a POY award had he stuck it out. McLeod was the other guy I was curious about.

Ron Lewis, as big of a fan as I was, I had forgotten how crazy good he really was. He came in with an uncanny ability to get to the line, and he averaged a ridiculous 1.5 points per FGA as a freshman and only dropped a little as he carried more load his sophomore year. The dude shot over 400 free throws in 2 seasons as a Falcon.

McLeod, OTOH, actually compared pretty favorably with Frye. He averaged a few more points per game on less shooting...he was more efficient because he got to the line a LOT more often than Frye has (which is why I really need to see Frye put on some bulk and show some aggressiveness towards the rim if he's to become that player), but his numbers don't blow Frye's away as a freshman. Other than getting to the line though, McLeod also had more assists and more turnovers than Frye (indicating he had the ball in his hands a lot more). McLeod was also a steal a game player every year, and as we all remember was probably the best on the ball defensive guard in the MAC by his Senior year. Frye isn't far from where Keith was as a freshman offensively, but he's got a long way to go to get to that defensive level.


The comparison to McLeod was encouraging, and McLeod made his big leap in scoring efficiency as a sophomore going from a 1.15 ppa guy to 1.40 in one year. We need that same sort of leap if Frye is to become that player.

[Globetrotter]

This game tells me more and more we need a star. All the great teams have a star. We don't have one. We have a ton of potential stars though. It wouldn't surprise me at all if almost anyone on next years roster became that guy. Someone needs to take a leap forward.

I couldn't agree more. Look at a team like Ohio, it lost last year's MAC Player of the Year in Campbell this year to a season-ending injury (he would have been a candidate for it again this season) and still rolled along as Simmons is now a candidate for the MAC Player of the Year award now himself and Carter, who stepped in to fill Campbell's void, is now a candidate for MAC Freshman of the Year, and as a team they'll likely finish as the #2 seed. It goes to show just how much better and deeper they are even without their best player than we are.

Absolutely we do.

The difference for me, is I don't yet really see anybody I have much hope for to become that star. It's very tough to say it with certainty when we're talking MAC guys because the best players oftentimes do take significant leaps forward while they're in school, but I would be fairly surprised if any of our current roster guys become that MAC POY candidate type player that the top teams in the league always have.

Koch or Cummings could both be that guy. Cummings has had at-least 2 games of 50 or more this year. Watching Koch play I think he might be freshman starter at PF and ALL-MAC by senior year.

[Flipper]

That put back dunk Lewis threw down against OU was probably the best purely athletic play I've seen at BG