kreed5120

None of what I'm saying below is to dispute anything you've said. It's just an observation. A lot of those games were part of those November exempt tournaments. That's why I was very vocal back in November/December criticizing the changes that have made it so most of those tournaments are now segregated into fields of mid-majors or power schools. Playing a Penn State or Oklahoma State on a neutral court provided the best opportunities to pick up those P5 (I guess P6 back then) wins that mid-major resumes desperately need.

They seem to be good when they can slow the game down and turn it into an old school 80s, 90s style of play. They don't really have the athletes or perimeter shooters to play an up and down the court, high scoring game.

I do think a strong UMass would be good for the MAC. As a fan of the game, the more compelling match-ups the better. If the MAC consistently had 3 or 4 top 100 programs it would make the season feel more must see. I just saw Miami @ WMU was selected as one of the ESPNU games. Akron/Kent was the other game selected that week. I see why they picked Miami since they're ranked, but on the surface that looks like a terrible game. At the same time I guess the only other possible game they could have picked over it would have been Toledo @ Ohio, but who would want to watch that?

I don't mind those dance teams and other things you mention. I actually think its great marketing to introduce potential new fans. In fact, when @Hilltopper gave me his seats for the EMU game, my fiancé stayed out at half-time because she wanted to watch the dance team perform instead of going into the Tommy Evans Lounge. Edit: I also wasn't hinting at spending money, at least nothing material, on the half-time entertainment. There are things that can be done that cost little to nothing.

I think you're mistaken about what I was talking about. I'm not talking about just the flagship schools of those states. Dayton and Xavier (even before Big East) have drawn well historically. WKU and Murray State draw well in Kentucky. There is a long list of mid-majors in Indiana/Illinois area that are all well represented, particularly in the MVC. Heck, even Ball State last I saw draws fairly well compared to other MAC teams despite being irrelevant for several decades. Some regions of the country basketball is a big deal. Other parts of the country not so much. Edit: Not just at the collegiate level either. If I went to a McKinley basketball game, which has had a ton of basketball success, it will feel small time compared to those high school powerhouses in Indiana and Kentucky.

Some of the things have more merit than others. Expecting Red Panda is too much considering she has made it big time. Expecting something more than a random 3vs3 pickup game for the biggest game of the year is reasonable. Expecting a new arena or $20+ million renovation unreasonable. Wanting to simply replace some of the bleachers with more chair backs much more feasible. Either way I don't think any of the things that get complained about would get an extra 2k people to games on a nightly basis. Edit: Maybe a new arena would, at least in the short term, but that would be the most costly option and the University would never see a ROI. The new car smell would wear off after a season or two anyway.

We could fix all the things people here mostly complain about and attendance would probably go from 3,000 to maybe 3,200 over the long run. Apathy surrounding the program is very real. College basketball has never really seemed to be a big deal in the Cleveland/Akron/Canton area. At least not compared to hot beds like the northeast or Kentucky/SW Ohio/Indiana. It has further been hurt by a generation of fans being taught by ESPN and other outlets that if you aren't first you're last. There used to be a lot more community in sports.

Probably not much worse than the 6PM start time we had for Kent. If someone works an 8-5 it's a nightmare or even logistically impossible to drive home from work, gather the family, and then make it to the JAR before tipoff. The 9PM tipoff is kind of only bad for those with kids ~<10. That's a much smaller amount of people impacted. Heck, even my fiancé who works a 10 hour shift this Saturday and has to be up at 6AM is planning to make the game. I don't think the JAR will be packed, especially coming off a deflating loss. I don't think it's as much about the start time and more about the casual fans who are the difference between 3k in attendance vs. 5k really only get excited about Kent and the MAC tourney.

I don't really know enough about him to weigh in, but I hope his scheme is similar to what the Browns have been running.

They won at Marshall while we beat Kent at home so that's a significant difference. Our best OOC road win is at Tulane so that's a ~70 spot difference compared to their Marshall win. In conference it would be at BGSU who just got boat raced by a SBC team that is worse than Marshall. You seem hyper focused on our losses. What I've said repeatedly is Miami has better wins as well. It doesn't matter if you schedule tougher if every top 200 team you schedule you lose to. You criticize them for having 2 top 200 OOC wins. We meanwhile sit with a goose egg. I don't want anything I've said to be misconstrued that I feel we can't beat Miami. I think if the season restarted today and Miami was to replay all their games again they would have 2-3 losses right now. They have had a number of bounces go their way and are fortunate to be where they're at. My main point is it's not as easy as it appears to win every night that you and others try to make it out to be. I'll say it again we were favored in 4 out of our 5 losses. That means we scheduled teams that were perceived to be weaker than us, but still lost those games. Tons of great MAC teams over the years have gone through MAC play (forget even OOC play) and aren't where Miami is right now.

Their road win at Marshall is better than any win we have currently. And yes it's a top 200 NET (In fact it's top 150) win so you should fact check yourself. What's our best OOC win? Road win @ #202 Tulane? You shouldn't throw stones if you live in a glass house. I don't think they would be undefeated with our schedule, but we wouldn't be 24-0 with theirs. We've lost to every half decent team we faced, including to Miami. Like I said, it's not easy to win every game even when you're favored. That's why you have to go back to 1958 to find the last time a MAC team went undefeated in conference play. They aren't one of the top 25 best teams in the country, but they deserve the recognition they receive. If Akron was 24-0 I would expect the same attention.

I mean we were favored in 4 out of our 5 losses so it could be argued that we should have won more than 2 of them. That's why it's hypocritical to criticize Miami this year. They played an easier schedule, not that ours was brutal, but they actually took care of business. It's more challenging to win all the games you're expected to then people care to admit.

The MAC pissed down its leg today going 3-10. They lost the SunBelt challenge 12-14.

I agree with Halligan, but its challenging to give both him and Evan extended playing time together. Young is a good defender. I'm not sure he's a lock down defender, at least not now.

Honestly, that's better than I would have guessed.

Also, I thought Bowen was a problem defensively in the 2nd half. He was out of position and then would try to run out to the 3 point shooter. The shooter just instead dribbled past him, which made Lyles rotate. This left Amani's man to get an easy offensive rebound put back. Outside of Evan I'm not sure we have any great defenders. Not having a lock down perimeter defender might be what we miss most this season by not having Nate.

I'm not sure adjusting the starting lineup will do much. The opening 7 minutes we played great. It was the 33 minutes that followed that was the problem.

The problem is any time we've played any team half decent this year we've lost. Good teams are able to exploit our weaknesses. If you beat the bad teams, but consistently lose to the good teams that means you're somewhere in between the two.

That's probably game unless chaos happens.

This sums it up. We aren't built to play in the half court. A big reason why we're able to run the score up on bad teams is their miscues allows us to play an open court game.

I didn't even think we played that bad in the first half. We only had 3 turnovers, we played good defense, we're holding our own on the glass, and we seem to be running our offense. We need some shots to fall.

They're still 5th in Kenpom luck. In long run things even themselves out. Edit: It's also on Pinky for mismanaging his timeouts. If he had one in his pocket he could have initiated a review.

Kent State chokes

I've stopped into watch a few of these games and man these SunBelt gyms look empty. Maybe a few hundred in attendance for a Saturday game. Granted the games I've watched so far have been mostly the lower ranked teams, but even Southern Miss, who is middle of the conference, looks like a ghost town.

I do agree that is the most feasible option. I just don't think that alone will turn a 3,000 person crowd to 3,500.