Western Michigan

[chito_and_leon]

How long has it been since we had a team where you didn't think "we're screwed" when the other guys started fouling down the stretch? The free throws kept us in control.

Not every day you shoot 16% from 3 and give up 21 (!!) offensive rebounds and win.

 

[astonmartin708]

We played quality defense most of the day. That Western Michigan team is pretty soft all around.

 

[cmullinsTU]

Not every day you shoot 16% from 3 and give up 21 (!!) offensive rebounds and win.

And win very comfortably. Final score was closer than the game felt.

I really liked the game plan to make everyone not named Wilder beat us, and they couldn’t. It was also well executed by the players. Ball movement on offense was good too, plenty of open looks that just didn’t fall. Last year I would’ve expected the poor 3 pt shooting to continue, I think we have some shooters. Don’t expect them to only make 3 3s very often.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

We played quality defense most of the day. That Western Michigan team is pretty soft all around.

They're better than Lamar. I think Lamar is much better than you think.

 

[astonmartin708]

They're better than Lamar. I think Lamar is much better than you think.

I'm still waiting to see them play somebody else. Waiting to see if it was a fluke or not.

 

[I.I.]

I remember the last time we played a Steve Prohm team. We were outcoached badly in the NIT.

 

[Gold*]

I remember the last time we played a Steve Prohm team. We were outcoached badly in the NIT.

They also had a lottery pick and we had a team made up of spare parts. But yeah, they whipped our butt.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

I'm still waiting to see them play somebody else. Waiting to see if it was a fluke or not.

I honestly think they will not kill our rpi if it matters at the season's end.

But yeah will have to wait and see. They're record should be pretty decent even if they suck. They don't play a very tough schedule. The highlight of their schedule is probably the Las Vegas Classic tourney. And that's not even a very challenging field.

 

[drboobay]

I think we have seen that a bad loss does not hurt a team as much as lack of good wins. Hopefully we can avoid more bad losses and puck up some good wins in conference.

 

[Gold*]

I remember the last time we played a Steve Prohm team. We were outcoached badly in the NIT.

They also had a lottery pick and we had a team made up of spare parts. But yeah, they whipped our butt.

 

[chito_and_leon]

Seeing Joiner play I can't help but think about Doug "I'll play a zone before I'll play a freshman and I'll eat a bucket full of turds before I do either" Wojick.

 

[Barlass]

I honestly think they will not kill our rpi if it matters at the season's end.

But yeah will have to wait and see. They're record should be pretty decent even if they suck. They don't play a very tough schedule. The highlight of their schedule is probably the Las Vegas Classic tourney. And that's not even a very challenging field.

They have 4 non-D1 teams on their schedule. How does that affect their RPI?

 

[drboobay]

It does not. Other than losing opportunities to improve it.

 

[TU_BLA]

Get Taplin or Joiner back in!!!

We are not very good when we have Henderson and Wheeler on the court at the same time. Both want to play PG but neither of them is any good at distributing the ball or running the offense. Henderson is starting this year like he did last year...cold from outside.

 

[TU_BLA]

Definitely the B (or possibly C) crew tonight on the broadcast.

Actually I believe the guy who was doing PBP may have Puerto Rican ties and hence why he was calling the Puerto Rico Tip Off Classic games. The analyst knew what she was talking about for the most part. Her issue may be the listening appeal to her presentation.

 

[TU_BLA]

FT and 3PT % not good tonight.

I saw this and thought we were tanking at like 60% from the FT line. We shot 77.4% from the line tonight. We went to the line 31 times. We outscored them from the line by 20.

Now you're dead on about the 3s.

 

[URedskin54]

We are not very good when we have Henderson and Wheeler on the court at the same time. Both want to play PG but neither of them is any good at distributing the ball or running the offense. Henderson is starting this year like he did last year...cold from outside.

What I don't get is the whole reason we needed a good back up point guard was to fill in when Taplin can't go/has foul trouble, so why on earth would you bench the back up point guard with 2 fouls? We're deep enough at guard that it doesn't matter very much if Joiner picks up his 3rd foul in the first half. He's there to keep things running so we don't get smashed without Taplin.

 

[TU_BLA]

What I don't get is the whole reason we needed a good back up point guard was to fill in when Taplin can't go/has foul trouble, so why on earth would you bench the back up point guard with 2 fouls? He's there to keep things running so we don't get smashed without Taplin. We're deep enough at guard that it doesn't matter very much if Joiner picks up his 3rd foul in the first half.

This is a good point. Right now I don't think Haith views him as a back-up anything but more as an extension. I honestly think that down the stretch he would rather have Joiner out there than Scott or Wheeler. What I have noticed in the 1st 3 games is that Scott gets easily lost on defense. Joiner did a great job on Wilder when he was in there against him. Wheeler...is Wheeler

 

[goldenhurricane2]

Actually I believe the guy who was doing PBP may have Puerto Rican ties and hence why he was calling the Puerto Rico Tip Off Classic games. The analyst knew what she was talking about for the most part. Her issue may be the listening appeal to her presentation.

Well I think you’re in the minority of folks who liked them... listening to both of them was like nails on a chalkboard.

 

[URedskin54]

This is a good point. Right now I don't think Haith views him as a back-up anything but more as an extension. I honestly think that down the stretch he would rather have Joiner out there than Scott or Wheeler. What I have noticed in the 1st 3 games is that Scott gets easily lost on defense. Joiner did a great job on Wilder when he was in there against him. Wheeler...is Wheeler

Yeah Joiner and Jackson are both ahead of where I thought they would be at this point defensively

 

[TU_BLA]

Well I think you’re in the minority of folks who liked them... listening to both of them was like nails on a chalkboard.

I didn't say I like the PBP guy...he was tough to listen to especially when he announced that Geno Artison goes up strong for a rebound, except it was 35 in white grabbing the board.

The analyst was fine and knowledgeable of the game and didn't try to make herself the focus of the call. I always do the Phil Simms test...1) Are they talking as much as Phil during a game 2) Are the saying the same thing over and over and over again but what they're saying has no relevance to the play that just happened? and 3) Does their voice grate on me like Simms' did? If you are a no on 2 out of 3 then you're fine as an analyst.

 

[Weatherdemon]

I saw this and thought we were tanking at like 60% from the FT line. We shot 77.4% from the line tonight. We went to the line 31 times. We outscored them from the line by 20.

Now you're dead on about the 3s.

We started each half shooting poorly but you're right, we actually shot well.
8-9 in the 1st half and 16-22 in the 2nd.
It was really just Etou and Taplin that shot poorly. They each shot %50 and accounted for 5 of our 7 misses.

I'm amazed this team hit 81 points going 3-18 from 3.
That's pretty impressive IMO.

15 assists to 14 turnovers is pretty nice too.

 

[Henry Kendall]

Saw defensive improvement in the first half. Clogging passing lanes, everyone had more active hands...looking to steal. Kept Wilder in check. Only when it looked like we had the game under control did the defense get lazy and revert back to old form.

 

[TU_BLA]

We started each half shooting poorly but you're right, we actually shot well.
8-9 in the 1st half and 16-22 in the 2nd.
It was really just Etou and Taplin that shot poorly. They each shot %50 and accounted for 5 of our 7 misses.

I'm amazed this team hit 81 points going 3-18 from 3.
That's pretty impressive IMO.

15 assists to 14 turnovers is pretty nice too.

Some of those turnovers were just stupid too...from rewatching the game, we legit should have only had about 8-9 TOs.

We got to the rim and the lane pretty easily yesterday. Jackson has an incredible knack of finding the space and he and Joiner seem to have a different level of connection when on the court together. Jackson would be a soccer coach's dream since he understands the value of well-timed run into space.

EDIT: Etou shooting less than 70% from the FT line will not be acceptable this year. He is going to go to the line a lot.

 

[lawpoke87]

They have 4 non-D1 teams on their schedule. How does that affect their RPI?

Lamar's RPI problem is the conference in which they play. Once conference starts, SFA will likely be the only team they play with an RPI above 150. Their OOC schedule sucks as well btw.

 

[ctt8410]

EDIT: Etou shooting less than 70% from the FT line will not be acceptable this year. He is going to go to the line a lot.

His shot has looked off to me so far, both at the line and from distance. The good news is that Igbanu is at 86% and he's another guy that's gonna shoot a ton of free throws.

 

[ctt8410]

Well I think you’re in the minority of folks who liked them... listening to both of them was like nails on a chalkboard.

I thought he was pretty good for a guy watching his first ever basketball game.

Lucky for us, they're calling tonight's game as well.

 

[Henry Kendall]

Concerning that ex-coach color lady, I still contend that ‘verticality’ and ‘physicality’ are not really words. They have just been used for so long by jocks that they have made it into the lexicon.

Can’t wait to experience more of that Gallagher-Iba-esque camera angle. I will take my Dramamine.

 

[nevadanatural]

I can understand that, the cameras are on a balcony a good 20 feet above the top row of seats.

 

[TUBballJunkie]

They would have been fine on local access TV. It was an ESPN real tv broadcast. A remote studio pbp would have been more professional, as lame as those are.

Hey, did you guys know Igbanu is related to Ibaka?

 

[nevadanatural]

Yep, cousins.

 

[cmullinsTU]

Etou.

And he speaks 6 languages included one that the announcer would make fun of the name of Etou’s native language because he can’t pronounce it. Did that at least 3 times over the two games.

Ms. Verticality would be tolerable with another color guy, but combined they are no bueno.