NIU and BG, our next 2 games, are very winnable. If we shoot better, make FT and play better D.
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And there is no reason to be too down. We will play them again. Also Anderson with another double double. This cat is something else. We werenât that far off.
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Ball State appears to have made a very good hire in Michael Lewis. He played for Bob Knight and coached under Bob Knight, Brad Stevens, Chris Holtmann and Mick Cronin amongst others. He inherited a talented young roster from James Whitford and talked 3 good freshmen out of the transfer portal. Ball State could be a sleeping giant in the MAC.
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BG up 11 at the half, scored 92 and lost by 16. Gave up 69 in the 2nd half. YIKES!
| Final | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|
 BGSU |
50 | 42 |
 WMU |
39 | 69 |
That is why I said the next two games are winnable. NIU isnât very good and quite frankly, like most of the MAC, neither is BG.
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Watching Sparks, it got me thinking about what post-players have we had since Mavunga graduated after 2011-2012 that was truly impactful. I just went through every roster since then. We have had exactly 2: Will Felder at 6â7" and Logan McLane at 6â9". Other than that, really nothing. And I had to stretch a bit to call Felder a post player, but he was at least somewhat physical. Let us hope with Anderson, Morris, Potter, and Kotecki, things are starting to change a bit in that regard.
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There were plenty of opportunities in the 2nd half to make this a game but they couldnât get it under 10. Itâs already been mentioned but this team canât win without hitting the 3 and we missed quite a few old school 3 point play opportunities and 1 & 1âs. I thought we struggled with Ball States physicality and athleticism. This game reminded me of the UC game where our kids look like they need to be locked in the weight room after this season.
Interesting⌠I actually thought he played well. Defense gave him drives to the left and he took them all the way. Rebounded ok from the SG spot, played decent defense, but had a couple too many turnovers (all but one was an âaggressiveâ turnover rather than a passive turnover). Really a bit better than what you would expect from most freshmen.
Lairy is who I thought set a poor tone for us. Consistently was beat off the dribble, forcing others to help (led to Mirambeauxâs foul trouble early), and had decided hell or high water when he was going to shoot by himself. He didnât create for others. Zero assists from the PG spot canât happen.
Actually Mabry did double his average in rebounds today getting 3. He averages 1.8, something I have commented needs to improve.
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A guy named Jihad exploded for 12 points in 14 minutes for BSU.
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I agree on Lairy. Also thought Kamari missed some opportunities on the front end of 1on1 (3 times!) and some wide open 3s
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JihadâŚexplodedâŚOh, I get it.
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Will Felder. A bit undersized at Center, but he could playâŚnice jump shot, quick leaper who liked to dunk.
Unless we meet in the MAC tournament, we are actually done with Kent and Ball State. I donât think much was made of it at the time, but the MAC dropped from 20 to 18 games this season.
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I guess that makes me an optimist. I think both of those teams are terrific and I like our improvement so yes, Iâll stand by the idea we will run into them in the MAC tourney as I think we will be there.
We also play Akron and Eastern only once.
I didnt know that. Weird that Miami vs Ball State is a protected cross over rivalry in football and not in basketball. Historically I would say the basketball rivalry was more real
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Basketball doesnât have divisions, only football
I think they dropped divisions when they stopped letting everyone into the conference tournament?