Maybe the two best teams we will play at home this year are our next two games. Troy on Saturday and Toledo on Tuesday night. Please make an effort to be there to give the guys the support to get that little bit extra to put us over the top. In the latest Net Rankings, Troy is #104, we are #150. On the season Troy is 15-8(8-4). Miami is 17-5(9-1). Troy lost at James Madison 64-61 this week.
Coach Stan Cross has turned this team around. In his first 5 years the wins went like this: 9,11,20,20, and 20. They play lower scoring games than we do. They score 73 and give up 65. The are plus 6 Rebounds pg. Plus 2.3 Assists pg, Plus 1.4 Blocks per game, and Minus 0.2 turnovers pg. In their loss to JMU, 6-3 Senior Taten Coverway had 18 points and 7 rebounds. He was SunBelt 6th man of the year last season. 6.3 JR Marcus Rigby JR had 11 points. He is former Sunbelt Freshman of the Year. They have a lot of size inside, so it would be a boost if Potter could play.
I have zero inside knowledge, but since this game is probably the least important remaining on the schedule, Potter sits unless he’s 100%. Even then, I wouldn’t play him more than 10 minutes. Need him as healthy as possible on Tuesday.
In fact, wouldn’t surprise me if Kotecki and Luers get 15-25 minutes each.
We shall see if I’m a totally off base, clueless non-ball-knower… or if I’m my usual fairly clueless, very-little ball-knower self.
Excellent preview. Well written. I’m excited to see what we can do. If we play our game, we can win this as our offense (if firing on all cylinders) would seem to be a differentiator.
I don’t see it as unimportant at all. The only way to get to the NCAA is to win the MAC tournament. This game is a chance to move our net ratings and perhaps give us a chance to get into a postseason tournament if we don’t win the MACC. Also, The one thing our league can do to help our feeble power rankings is to drill the SunBelt Saturday. I think the opportunity is exciting.
Agreed, those are all good points. I just don’t think a Quad 3 win moves the Net needle that much (more than half these matchups will be a Quad 4 game for the MAC school). I believe being rested and healthy for Toledo holds more importance as it’s huge for Miami to finish 2 or 3 in the MAC regular season.
I’m at the mercy of the weather tomorrow morning. They’re talking freezing rain around here until it gets warmer. If things warm up in time I’ll be there
Saw Troy once this year in person. They are well-coached, athletic, physical, and play a lot of guys, but are not overly skilled. Their forte is defense, at which they excel without fouling a whole lot. Offensively, the Trojans are quite deliberate, are Top 10 nationally in offensive rebounds, but struggle at times to make shots. Ken Pom rates Troy as a slim 1-point favorite, but if Miami shoots decently, we should win. I suspect Troy may become unhappy with MAC officials.
