Blue & Gold

I just remember being nervous about that game &, more precisely, the matchup at PG w/ Preston being 8 inches taller than LCJ, but then LCJ pretty easily getting the better of him.

Isaiah Childs received an offer from Butler C.C. I wonder if academics were an issue for him? Edit: He also received an offer from Highland C.C.

I feel like somehow we need to shake things up a little. 1. Start Dawson over Dailey. Bring Maishe off the bench & just tell him to take a deep breath and focus on playing suffocating D; let any offense just take care of itself. 2. Bring in Clarke as our #2 PG as opposed to Tribble. Tribble is more of a 2 guard. He doesn't have the typical handles of a PG. (...nor the typical shot of a 2 guard 😐) 3. If we play as lackadaisically as we did today, then Marshall should play more. That guy hustles. Maybe even start Marshall and make Ali our official 6th Man. That's not a demotion of Ali, it's a promotion. He'd be the undisputed leader of our 2nd unit & would give us more spark off the bench. Just thoughts.

He played a very forgettable game... like we collectively did today. Lol

Preston played the first time we met this year.

That’s what I was thinking; they look burned out. This was their 5th road game out of the last 6 games. Maybe that’s what it was. Idk but they didn’t have any energy or form on either end of the floor today.

I saw Mason McMurry a few times at Stow. He’s an... agitator. Lol.

After Ali’s 20-point performance -v- NIU, I don’t think he’s scored today?

💯 Unless Toledo lays an egg in the tourney like we’re laying today.

Yeah... “inconsistent.” 😶

Dailey is worthless 😒

Thinking the same. We just look slow & sleepy today. Let’s wake up & play like we actually care.

+1. I don't want to be a prisoner of the moment, but he kind of reminds me of Bryan Trimble. Like Trimble, his athleticism isn't going to blow you away. But he can be a little tricky with the ball & hit a 3 off of a crossover from 4 feet behind the high school line. His competition is reeeeeeaaaalllllyyy suspect, IMHO. So I wouldn't be surprised to see him redshirt to get acclimated to higher-caliber athletes. But he played AAU, so, who knows. But the teams I've seen him play have been pretty low caliber... except East Liverpool. East Liverpool looked pretty good & he dropped 40 on them. Also, he's reeeeeeaaaallllyyy (yes, same spelling as above) going to have to step up his game defensively; not much intensity there. However, when watching him play it appears his coach may be encouraging him to not risk picking up any fouls on D due to the fact that if Harrison Central has any chance to win they need him on the court all 32 minutes getting buckets. He's a football player, so I have confidence he could get nastier on D if asked to.

Play Preston just like we did last time. Until he adjust, I don’t think we should. Pressure that ball & don’t let him get comfortable!

Great post and great question. I didn't realize how we've really dominated this rivalry over the past 20 years. I love cutting down the nets and hanging a banner for MAC Championships (regular season). But I think that perhaps the reason I didn't realize how thoroughly we've dominated the rivalry with Ohio over the past 20 years is because those NCAA tournament victories weigh so heavily. They still are fresh in my mind and seem like just a couple years ago, but, now that you point it out, it's has been a while. IMO, those tournament victories are feathers in your cap which don't lose their luster for a long time. There are a lot of programs which I still consider prominent basketball schools because of former NCAA tourney runs, but who really haven't done anything of note since the turn of the millennium! UMass, UConn, Creighton, DePaul, Wichita State, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, Pitt, Memphis, St. Bonny, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, UNLV, Drexel, Tulane, Cincy, Detroit Mercy, Temple, Charlotte, George Mason, George Washington, La Salle, Rhody, St. Joe's, St. Louis. Okay, I was largely doing that off the top of my head, so don't over analyze it, but I think you'll get my point. None (?) of those schools have done much in men's basketball in quite a while, but I still think of them as better basketball schools than Akron because tournament success is what everyone looks at and, I'd argue, remembers. I'd want to see an NCAA Sweet 16 run. However, I know, grass is always greener and if the Wicked Things NCAA Sweet 16 run was contingent on being followed by 20 years of mediocrity... Idk. Tough one.