(01-09-2019 08:36 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Anyone want to revise their predicted MAC conference record for MBB?

As I posted elsewhere, this team could, I think, win anywhere from 5 to 11 MAC games this season.

As we've discussed before the brutal OOC made it tough for this team to become confident. Someone described the team as 'mentally broken' and that probably was an accurate description. A few bad, tough losses plus a lot of blowouts will shake even a veteran team.

I suspect it will take a while for this team to re-gain its confident before starting a nice win streak.

(01-09-2019 09:52 AM)alum93 Wrote:  

(01-09-2019 08:36 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Anyone want to revise their predicted MAC conference record for MBB?

As I posted elsewhere, this team could, I think, win anywhere from 5 to 11 MAC games this season.

As we've discussed before the brutal OOC made it tough for this team to become confident. Someone described the team as 'mentally broken' and that probably was an accurate description. A few bad, tough losses plus a lot of blowouts will shake even a veteran team.

I suspect it will take a while for this team to re-gain its confident before starting a nice win streak.

Murphy gave what I thought was an extended after game interview last night. He went into lots of detail and some whining about the OOC opponents and poor scheduling. I didn't think it was necessary for him to vocalize EMU's need to schedule those opponents for financial reasons, but he did. He seems optimistic for the MAC season.

(01-09-2019 11:27 AM)EAGLE KING Wrote:  Getting a win on the road against a good BSU team is nice. However, we cannot let it mask over the past two months. We still showed many of the same weaknesses as mentioned above; Toure/JT on the court at the same time, way too much 1 on 1 hero ball, and at times poor defensive rotations. We also shot the crap out of the ball from 3 (61.5% as a team), which is an outlier game. We will not shoot that well going forward.

(01-09-2019 11:27 AM)EAGLE KING Wrote:  Not to be Debbie Downer, but we need to be realistic and pump the breaks. They played 1 game much better than they have played all year. If we can string these types of effort games together then we may have something to talk about.

(01-09-2019 10:15 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  I'd be more optimistic and predict a better record if I knew Murphy would roll with what is very clearly his best lineup (PJ, McAdoo, Groce, Minnie, Thompson) for the majority of games. Until Toure is a permanent 10-15 minutes a night player, with as few of those as possible coming with Thompson on the court with him, I will remain with a 7-win prediction.

Worth noting that Toure fouled out last night with 3:23 left in the 2nd half, and we had 56 points. Which means we scored 28 over the next 13+ minutes of game action. A large portion came at the FT line (kudos to Thompson for getting over the yips), but we had actual scoring lanes for Jackson, McAdoo, and Groce. That line up should close every game, unless Toure is playing effectively. I wonder how differently the finish would've been had he not fouled out...

(01-09-2019 12:57 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(01-09-2019 11:27 AM)EAGLE KING Wrote:  Getting a win on the road against a good BSU team is nice. However, we cannot let it mask over the past two months. We still showed many of the same weaknesses as mentioned above; Toure/JT on the court at the same time, way too much 1 on 1 hero ball, and at times poor defensive rotations. We also shot the crap out of the ball from 3 (61.5% as a team), which is an outlier game. We will not shoot that well going forward.

Very true. I will say, that I'm fine with the 1-on-1 play at the end of games, when defenses tighten up, so long as Jackson has the space to operate. Like last night with the double high screens, he can either make a layup, get fouled, or miss with the best offensive rebounder in the league crashing down to get the ball. Kind of like what the Pistons do (or used to do) with Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond; high screen and roll, and multiple options for our PG, and as Ramy mentioned, Minnie can pop out for a 3 as another threat. It's probably the best chance we have at running an effective half court offense.

My favorite part of the 3-point stats is that only Minnie, McAdoo, and Groce attempted them. Nothing forced from Jackson or Ellison. You're right that it was an outlier, but we are also way better than 26% as a team...assuming the right guys are shooting.

(01-09-2019 11:27 AM)EAGLE KING Wrote:  Not to be Debbie Downer, but we need to be realistic and pump the breaks. They played 1 game much better than they have played all year. If we can string these types of effort games together then we may have something to talk about.

Fully agree. I will need to see some consistency before I change my tune on this team, but yesterday was a little encouraging. If we can knock off Kent, and get our lineup figured out, then who knows...

(01-09-2019 08:36 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Anyone want to revise their predicted MAC conference record for MBB?

As I posted elsewhere, this team could, I think, win anywhere from 5 to 11 MAC games this season.

As we've discussed before the brutal OOC made it tough for this team to become confident. Someone described the team as 'mentally broken' and that probably was an accurate description. A few bad, tough losses plus a lot of blowouts will shake even a veteran team.

I suspect it will take a while for this team to re-gain its confident before starting a nice win streak.

(01-09-2019 09:52 AM)alum93 Wrote:  

(01-09-2019 08:36 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Anyone want to revise their predicted MAC conference record for MBB?

As I posted elsewhere, this team could, I think, win anywhere from 5 to 11 MAC games this season.

As we've discussed before the brutal OOC made it tough for this team to become confident. Someone described the team as 'mentally broken' and that probably was an accurate description. A few bad, tough losses plus a lot of blowouts will shake even a veteran team.

I suspect it will take a while for this team to re-gain its confident before starting a nice win streak.

Murphy gave what I thought was an extended after game interview last night. He went into lots of detail and some whining about the OOC opponents and poor scheduling. I didn't think it was necessary for him to vocalize EMU's need to schedule those opponents for financial reasons, but he did. He seems optimistic for the MAC season.

(01-13-2019 08:00 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  However, it seems to have prepared you for MAC season.

(01-13-2019 08:06 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 08:00 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  However, it seems to have prepared you for MAC season.

My thinking: It is like being in a sauna and then returning to 72 degrees.

I did hear a player parent tell me the team was 'mentally broken' after the OOC schedule.

Despite the 2 - 1 start, I just don't think our schedule was a good idea. I think it did more harm than good. Scoring 4 points in a half is not the way I'd want a team to prepare.

The team seemed broken. Fans seemed broken. Thank heaven for BSU, Kent, etc. Hopefully we are back on track.

(01-13-2019 11:33 AM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 08:06 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 08:00 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  However, it seems to have prepared you for MAC season.

My thinking: It is like being in a sauna and then returning to 72 degrees.

I did hear a player parent tell me the team was 'mentally broken' after the OOC schedule.

Despite the 2 - 1 start, I just don't think our schedule was a good idea. I think it did more harm than good. Scoring 4 points in a half is not the way I'd want a team to prepare.

The team seemed broken. Fans seemed broken. Thank heaven for BSU, Kent, etc. Hopefully we are back on track.

Rutgers is a MAC level opponent. So to keep bringing up the 4 point half as if it came to a dominant opponent is illegitimate. Plus it came right after an 18 point win against BU, so the team was not exactly reeling from lack of confidence.

Were there early injuries? Lack of coaching preparedness? Normal adjustment period for playing out of natural positions? I don’t know. But I don’t think the strength of schedule was the reason EMU performed as poorly as they did.

(01-13-2019 11:33 AM)RamyEMU Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 08:06 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(01-13-2019 08:00 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  However, it seems to have prepared you for MAC season.

My thinking: It is like being in a sauna and then returning to 72 degrees.

I did hear a player parent tell me the team was 'mentally broken' after the OOC schedule.

Despite the 2 - 1 start, I just don't think our schedule was a good idea. I think it did more harm than good. Scoring 4 points in a half is not the way I'd want a team to prepare.

The team seemed broken. Fans seemed broken. Thank heaven for BSU, Kent, etc. Hopefully we are back on track.

Rutgers is a MAC level opponent. So to keep bringing up the 4 point half as if it came to a dominant opponent is illegitimate. Plus it came right after an 18 point win against BU, so the team was not exactly reeling from lack of confidence.

Were there early injuries? Lack of coaching preparedness? Normal adjustment period for playing out of natural positions? I don’t know. But I don’t think the strength of schedule was the reason EMU performed as poorly as they did.