Ohio 1/11

[Hammer]

I don’t think we can fault the effort. We just got beat by a better team and a better coach. It’s beating a dead horse to point out our coaching deficiencies but it is hard to watch the decision making.

Kudos to Gordon for what he has given us as of late but this team plays too much hero ball. I don’t think they are set up to do much else so can’t really blame them. They are at least showing some fight.

For four games I have been scratching my head at the officiating but there is no way all the officials in the league have it out for us right? Maybe I just don’t understand the rules of modern basketball but halfway through the second half the rules appear to have changed. Are MAC officials just all over the place when they call a game? If it was a foul on the other end of the floor it’s a foul on this end. If it was a foul five minutes ago it’s a foul now. If it were a play on five minutes ago it’s a play on now.

[Diemilkweed]

I don’t think we can fault the effort. We just got beat by a better team and a better coach. It’s beating a dead horse to point out our coaching deficiencies but it is hard to watch the decision making.

Kudos to Gordon for what he has given us as of late but this team plays too much hero ball. I don’t think they are set up to do much else so can’t really blame them. They are at least showing some fight.

For four games I have been scratching my head at the officiating but there is no way all the officials in the league have it out for us right? Maybe I just don’t understand the rules of modern basketball but halfway through the second half the rules appear to have changed. Are MAC officials just all over the place when they call a game? If it was a foul on the other end of the floor it’s a foul on this end. If it was a foul five minutes ago it’s a foul now. If it were a play on five minutes ago it’s a play on now.

That is exactly what MAC refs have been like as long as I can remember.

And that goes back to at least 1982 when I was a junior falcon.

[BGSU33]

I fully expected a loss to Ohio, and it was. I was actually surprised BG was able to hang around most of the game, but that was mainly due to BVP having an off night for Ohio. And Joe Reece is going to have nightmares about Jason Carter tonight, as he was a huge factor in Reece fouling out in just 7 minutes. It was as if Reece didn't play tonight, as he played the fewest minutes of any player and yet started and fouled out. Carter's activity level is constant and none of it was wasted. When he wasn't scoring buckets, he was drawing fouls. BG did a decent job on the MAC's scoring leader from the floor, but Sears still finished at his average. Just think about it, Ohio lost Preston to the NBA and Sears is actually giving them MORE that Preston did. It's beyond impressive and shows how good teams can reload and not miss a beat. As mentioned earlier, Ohio is just the better team and has a better coach. And now BG falls to #11 in the 12-team MAC standings with Toledo on deck. It's getting awfully close to pushing the panic button for this team right now. Huger could very well be on the verge of seeing this all come crashing down. The only saving grace is after the UT game there is a stretch of better matchups for BG. The question is, will it even matter?

[guest44]

Ohio is really good. Saying Sears gives them more than Preston did is a stretch. Especially in March. He is really good but Preston had a different level. Carter is just what he was in his first stint at Ohio, a first team all MAC player. Boals is the best coach in the MAC and it isn’t even close. This or next year could very easily be his last at OU before the big money comes calling.

Like the Orr years, we begin the countdown until contract completion. Another incompetent administrator giving a incompetent contract extension. Atleast Orr won a regular season title and we didn’t spend an additional 80k per year in the process.

[hammb]

The only saving grace is after the UT game there is a stretch of better matchups for BG. The question is, will it even matter?

That is the question because what we've seen with this team so far this season is they'll mostly play close games regardless of whether or not it's a team they should beat. I didn't expect us to keep it as close against OU as we did, but then I also didn't expect to lose at Ball State either. We keep it too close, and then don't really have "go to" guys to close out a game...not a good recipe. We seem especially bad on the road this year.

Reece is a fine player, but he simply has to learn how to not foul so much. He's been one of our most effective players all year but he's averaging under 20 mpg because we can't keep him on the court.

In last night's game of "what the hell will we actually get from our guards!?" Curtis turned back into a bit of a pumpkin scoring only 6 points (although he did still have 5 assists). Mills comes out of nowhere to actually score (and plays 30+ mins!?), Gordon also did some good things with 18 points in only 19 minutes. Fulcher again played 9 minutes and watching the game I don't remember hearing his name called a single time and have no clue what he actually did on the court for those 9 mins. 0 points, 1 rebound...

I also have zero clue why we spent the last 3-4 mins of the game down enough that we likely needed 3s to have a shot to win it and Diggs wasn't on the floor for any of that time. No doubt he has his flaws, and he still got his minutes, but if I need to start chucking 3s and hope to get hot to win a game he's by FAR the guy I want out there doing that. And this was with us going offense/defense subbing adding O'Neal to the offense constantly...

[hammb]

Ohio is really good. Saying Sears gives them more than Preston did is a stretch. Especially in March. He is really good but Preston had a different level. Carter is just what he was in his first stint at Ohio, a first team all MAC player. Boals is the best coach in the MAC and it isn’t even close. This or next year could very easily be his last at OU before the big money comes calling.

Like the Orr years, we begin the countdown until contract completion. Another incompetent administrator giving a incompetent contract extension. Atleast Orr won a regular season title and we didn’t spend an additional 80k per year in the process.

Orr was absolutely awful. I don't think I've ever hated watching the game of basketball as much as I did watching those teams play. But his top salary was around $217k, towards the bottom of the MAC.

Huger is making more than double that amount and is, last I checked, in the top 5 of MAC salaries. And this is not to say we shouldn't pay that. We absolutely should, we have consistent revenues rolling in from the Frack endowment that allow us to pay among the best in the MAC for our coaches. The problem is at NO point in Huger's tenure have I (or anybody paying attention) felt he's close to the top 4 coaches in the MAC.

The real frustrating thing about this season so far is we're struggling here in January which is typically the part of the season Huger does WELL. If we go the same direction as every other Huger season come late Feb/March this team may not even make it to Cleveland.

[guest44]

I was laughing at the bringing O’Neal in for offensive part of the subs at the end of the game. The way we use Diggs makes no sense. Like the final play of regulation against Miami. We had Mills on the court and not Diggs. If Diggs isn’t worth putting on the court for the final possession of offense in a tie game, why is he on the team? If nothing else he is a threat.

[BillyLP]

I think it's become pretty clear that Huger was a good coach to bring in some talent and stability, but he doesn't have the coaching skills to be the one to get them over the hump. A better coach with this roster or the roster of the last two seasons should have been able to break the tourney drought. I really like the guy and how much he loves BG, and I don't expect there to be a change before the end of next season, but the X's and O's have become damn near unwatchable.

[Globetrotter]

I am enjoying not watching games and just reading these conversations. Pretty much agree with everybody.

[guest44]

Never forget how the contract extension happened. Huger’s agent floated his name for the George Washington job he was never actually a candidate for. At the time he had a losing record in MAC play. He is currently 4 games under .500 in MAC play. Moosbrugger got worked. Since then, the Bill Frack game has become Toledo or Findlay to offset the raise. Complete incompetence we haven’t seen since, oh wait the hire of Loeffler. The extension was a JOKE at the time and will become more laughable the next 2.5 years of mediocrity to eventual suck. Hold Moosbrugger accountable and make him answer questions about the Frack money and that extension

[hammb]

The Frack game being Findlay-Toledo-Toledo is an absolute joke. If bill had any family that pays close attention they should be doing everything in their power to revoke the endowment.

The BG AD has made a mockery of his donation and what it was supposed to be used for.

[jpfalcon09]

The Frack game being Findlay-Toledo-Toledo is an absolute joke. If bill had any family that pays close attention they should be doing everything in their power to revoke the endowment.

The BG AD has made a mockery of his donation and what it was supposed to be used for.

Probably using those funds to keep the athletic department afloat.

[guest44]

https://ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/Rep ... c4EK0Sz-Ek

One sport in particular should be having much more success than it has been given the resources. A large portion is being paid to this coaching staff to be under .500 in MAC play. This is before the ridiculous contract extension & raise.

[hammb]

Those budget audits are always painful and comical at the same time. Most of our programs have to operate on shoestring budgets, the leanest of the lean. Yet, thanks to Mr. Frack's generosity, basketball can spend $130k+ in recruiting to get what, 3-4 new players in a season? They can spend north of $10k per athlete on equipment? To play a game that basically just requires shoes, shorts, jerseys, and a ball? The sport that is so cheap to play that nearly every kid from every impoverished neighborhood in America can actually participate?

Where does this money GO!?

Not to mention paying a good deal on mediocre coaching.

Lord knows none of it is being used to go out and hire top flight highly sought after young coaches the way Bill Frack intended. CERTAINLY none of it is being used to go out and schedule the best home competition we can afford.

The ONE sport on this campus (well I guess baseball and hockey have garnered some of their own support as well) that actually has been able to find funding for itself, and STILL they can't put that money to anything worthwhile in actually pursuing the dream of the man that put the money up. Sad.

And I'm too lazy to do any real digging now but I believe we had it on decent authority that there were stipulations in the endowment that it was NOT allowed to merely fund "operating expenses". The whole point of the donation was to elevate the program. Yet here we still sit, mediocrity defined.

[guest44]

I'm not sure how it is possible to spend 130K in recruiting a basketball team. That seems like a lot for a below average MAC team. The entire football staff spent less than double that for 8 times the scholarship athletes. Not only is Moosbrugger OK with those numbers, he offered a raise to a coach who spent that, with the current results. It's embarrassing.