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Username Post: Middle Tennessee        (Topic#20870)
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-22-17 03:37 PM - Post#241041    

Open Princeton +5.5

 
SRP 
Postdoc
Posts: 4894

Reg: 02-04-06
12-22-17 04:58 PM - Post#241045    
    In response to bradley

It will be interesting to see if Princeton can not get confused by the MTSU "morphing" zone, which plays an aggressive 1-3-1 look until a pass gets to the baseline, when they switch to a 2-3 for the remainder of the possession. It's funky and can lead to turnovers and shot-clock violations if you're not prepared. They sometimes switch to man-to-man in the middle of a possession, too.

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 06:42 PM - Post#241052    
    In response to SRP

Tigers take early 6-0 lead. Defense looks scrappy tonight.

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 06:46 PM - Post#241053    
    In response to TigerFan

Couple of defensive breakdowns and lead is gone. Tied at 10. MTSU is a tough test.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-22-17 06:48 PM - Post#241054    
    In response to TigerFan

Tigers are rebounding very well, especially Stephens. Good defense not great but MT plays very good defense. Really challenging game. Great coach - seniors and juniors.

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 06:53 PM - Post#241055    
    In response to TigerFan

17-10 Tigers with 9 to play after nifty second chance and one play by Bell

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 06:59 PM - Post#241056    
    In response to TigerFan

Tigers have missed 4 tough shots around the rim. Gotta make those.

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 07:01 PM - Post#241057    
    In response to TigerFan

A game of runs. Down 18-17 now

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 07:03 PM - Post#241058    
    In response to TigerFan

Aririguzoh contributing with 4 quick points and the Tigers go up 3.

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 07:05 PM - Post#241059    
    In response to TigerFan

Potts getting open. Has hit 3 from down town to tie game

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-22-17 07:09 PM - Post#241060    
    In response to TigerFan

Cannady's shot is off. He needs to start making some 3s -- really important.

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 07:10 PM - Post#241061    
    In response to TigerFan

Tigers look good for 25 seconds playing 1-3-1 on D then give up a drive through the defense and uncontested layup. Ugghh

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 07:12 PM - Post#241062    
    In response to TigerFan

Game has gotten ratty on both ends. Good time out by MH. Up 2 with ball and 50 seconds.

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 07:15 PM - Post#241064    
    In response to TigerFan

Up 5 at half despite poor shooting from 3. Defense looks pretty good, although MTSU missing a lot of shots.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-22-17 07:26 PM - Post#241066    
    In response to TigerFan

The good sign is that the Tigers intensity on defense and especially rebounding turned around starting with the Monmouth game. MT's King a 22.9 pt scorer was taken out of the game in the 1st half but he may come out with a very different energy level. King may be the best 6'7" player that the Tigers will face. Stephens switched from King to Potts to slow him down after he hit 3 pointers.

Arirguzoh, Young and LeBlanc have surprisingly made contributions. Bell picked up 2 fouls and Young kept him off the floor.

MT coach will come out with adjustments in the 2nd half offensively. Tigers are going to have to hit 3 pointers far greater than 25%.

Going to be a crazy though second half.

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
12-22-17 07:34 PM - Post#241067    
    In response to TigerFan

Multiple mental breakdowns for the Tigers and the Raiders rip off the first 8 points of the 2nd half. Gotta focus and stay disciplined. This team is too good to mess around with.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-22-17 07:43 PM - Post#241068    
    In response to TigerFan

Agree/ Tigers must make open 3 pt shots when they get them. Need to keep moving the ball quickly to get open 3s'. Ball movement will give them open looks but does not guarantee that they will make them but it will help.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-22-17 07:55 PM - Post#241069    
    In response to TigerFan

MT is picking up defensive intensity and going out further from basket to contest. Stephens, Bell and Cannady should try to go to basket. 4 fouls on Bell -- killler.

 
gokinsmen 
Postdoc
Posts: 3634

Reg: 02-06-10
Middle Tennessee
12-22-17 08:21 PM - Post#241073    
    In response to bradley

Missed FTs are killing us.

 
1LotteryPick1969 
Postdoc
Posts: 2261
1LotteryPick1969
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
Re: Middle Tennessee
12-22-17 08:23 PM - Post#241075    
    In response to gokinsmen

He was out of bounds!

 
gokinsmen 
Postdoc
Posts: 3634

Reg: 02-06-10
Middle Tennessee
12-22-17 08:28 PM - Post#241076    
    In response to 1LotteryPick1969

Get a big stop...fumble away an easy rebound. MT scores on the 2nd chance.

Looked like the early-season Tigers there.

 
gokinsmen 
Postdoc
Posts: 3634

Reg: 02-06-10
12-22-17 08:29 PM - Post#241077    
    In response to gokinsmen

Win or lose, I love seeing Young taking and making big shots.

 
gokinsmen 
Postdoc
Posts: 3634

Reg: 02-06-10
12-22-17 08:33 PM - Post#241078    
    In response to gokinsmen

Just wasn't sharp tonight. Missed tons of FTs, fumbled away some easy rebounds. Some sloppy TOs reminiscent of earlier in the season.

 
gokinsmen 
Postdoc
Posts: 3634

Reg: 02-06-10
Middle Tennessee
12-22-17 08:38 PM - Post#241079    
    In response to gokinsmen

Painful loss, but I'm proud of the guys.

A missed out-of-bounds call and our missed FTs cost us a game we should have won. MTU is a top mid-major program and they hit a long 2 for a game-winner with 2s left. *shrug*

Let's see how the guys react against Akron/USC. Hopefully they won't get down on themselves after losing such a winnable game against a good team.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
Re: Middle Tennessee
12-22-17 09:11 PM - Post#241084    
    In response to gokinsmen

Good description -- painful but proud. Very different team than earlier in the season, needless to say. What happened? -- it looks like the big 3 got tired of losing plus the development of Much. FT shooting continues to work against them based on their shooting as well as the ridiculous level of shooting by opponents.

I hope that they play Akron vs. another game against USC as playing different teams/styles will help them in the Ivies. They may have a letdown tomorrow night but if they play well, it will be a very good sign as to their determination/intensity. Both Stephens and Cannady hit the floor hard several times tonight. Remaining non-conference games at this point and time are pretty much a lead up to game 1 at the Palestra.

On a side note, Monmouth has a 15 pt lead on Yale's home court. Yale played very poor defense against Iona the other night as the Gaels simply drove right past the Bulldogs.

 
SRP 
Postdoc
Posts: 4894

Reg: 02-04-06
12-22-17 09:18 PM - Post#241085    
    In response to gokinsmen

That was a tough loss against a good team. Could have used the refs seeing the opponent step out of bounds before passing out for a trey.

Obviously, too many ORs given up to the Blue Raiders and too few FTs made (especially a couple of front ends that could have led to an extra three or four points; just hitting the season average would have added a couple even ignoring the bonus). Some missed layups in the first half, including the very first play of the game off the tipoff, and too many turnovers in the first half, too. First half also saw numerous cases of dangerous MTSU jump shooters getting left wide open on bad switches off screens.

The three-point shooting wasn't awful at 36%, but it felt like they could have nailed a lot more given the looks PU got. Cannady normally hits better than that. A few stagnant possessions, and some trouble when MTSU extended their D, but mostly the offense looked pretty darn good in terms of ball movement and looking for cutters. 11 assists and 11 TOs isn't where you want to be, but the Blue Raiders were pretty much daring Princeton to drive and trying to stop the threes and the backdoor cuts (which is why they committed so many fouls).

As far as individual performances, Bell earned his non-scholarship, taking a lot of punishment on the way to a solid performance. Cannady had a tough road to 16 points, but his usage was really good and he mostly made good decisions. Stephens carried a gigantic load defensively--he lapsed on the last play against jump-shooter Potts by playing him for the drive, but was otherwise pretty effective at harassing whomever he guarded and vacuuming up those 12 boards. Offensively, his scoring prowess one-on-one was impressive a couple of times, but he didn't look in sync in the passing game either as a receiver or a delivery man, plus he missed a lot of FTs.

Much was mostly good on offense, especially that late three off the dribble and step-back. Arirguzoh looked terrific to me, the occasional mistake outweighed by his energy and activity. LeBlanc had one tough defensive possession against a great drive by a Blue Raider but was otherwise pretty solid in his brief minutes. Young had by far his best game of the season and looked like a calming rather than frazzled influence, more like years past and a good sign. Don't know why Schweger and Derosier got so little run, but they were OK in their limited appearances.

I still think this team would benefit from the return of Gladson, and Morales would have been handy tonight against the MTSU defensive pressure with Bell having four fouls.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-22-17 09:44 PM - Post#241092    
    In response to SRP

Missed call was pretty obvious and the wide open 3 pt shot off the out of bounds pass with 2:01 to go really hurt. Need to overcome bad calls as it is part of the game.

Tigers certainly had the opportunity to win -- both offensively and defensively within the last two minutes. Cannady had a wide open 3 with 29 seconds to go. His shot was off but he is not always going to knock down 3s' --- he is going to the basket with some success which really adds to his game.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
Re: Middle Tennessee
12-22-17 09:49 PM - Post#241093    
    In response to bradley

No Seaborn for Monmouth and they are up 20 pts with 2 minutes go. What happened to the IL this year? -- predictions as to a 2 bid league not so long ago???

 
SRP 
Postdoc
Posts: 4894

Reg: 02-04-06
12-22-17 10:14 PM - Post#241096    
    In response to bradley

The earth-tone contingent of the Ivies beat up on two bad teams today.

 
gokinsmen 
Postdoc
Posts: 3634

Reg: 02-06-10
Middle Tennessee
12-22-17 11:29 PM - Post#241101    
    In response to SRP

For the record, I can't believe that it's 2017 and we STILL get obvious missed calls that a TV crew spots immediately.

A simple challenge system would be enough, and to avoid added costs for the NCAA, it would be up to each team's coaching staff to make the call (like it is in baseball). An assistant with an iPad would catch 95% of mistakes, including this one.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
Re: Middle Tennessee
12-23-17 01:16 AM - Post#241106    
    In response to gokinsmen

USC beat Akron by 31. Akron and Tigers tomorrow night. Hopefully, Tigers can salvage 5th place.

 
jeromelh 
Junior
Posts: 202

Age: 81
Reg: 03-30-17
12-23-17 07:04 AM - Post#241109    
    In response to bradley

My take is that the game was lost at the foul line

 
mrjames 
Professor
Posts: 6062

Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
Re: Middle Tennessee
12-23-17 08:19 AM - Post#241111    
    In response to bradley

Yale lost Copeland for that one. Hard to expect Yale to be much of anything without Mason, Bruner and Copeland. Its biggest problem preseason was depth and losing three top guys exposes it big time.

 
1LotteryPick1969 
Postdoc
Posts: 2261
1LotteryPick1969
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
12-23-17 08:59 AM - Post#241112    
    In response to jeromelh

Well, this morning the pain has subsided a bit.

Middle Tennessee beats Middle New Jersey on the last shot

They were well coached, and Giddy Potts is a great shooter. I liked the physicality of the game. Bell seemed to thrive on it. Their defense was very intense, especially the half court trap at the end, which stymied us a bit. Much is the real deal. Young made some big shots. Aririguzoh showed a nice combo move: drop step pivot, followed by ball fake up and under.

This game bodes well for the Ivy season and especially the Ivy tournament.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-23-17 09:15 AM - Post#241115    
    In response to 1LotteryPick1969

Bell got into some early foul trouble which is not unusual for him as he challenges shots to the rim. He is unbelievably selfish -- he should be more selfish at times but he gets very aggressive right at the end of the game by driving to the hoop.

I have been pretty critical of his play at the beginning of last year and this year and I was wrong. He is a very good fit for Cannady and the team.

 
JadwinGeorge 
Senior
Posts: 357

Age: 75
Reg: 12-04-15
12-23-17 09:20 AM - Post#241116    
    In response to bradley

Tigers move up 5 spots in kenpom rankings after this loss. Interesting to me that Henderson used LeBlanc quite a bit after he disappeared for three games. Aririrugozuh looked very good and was comfortable. I think MT would be a favorite vs. any Ivy team. If there is such a thing as a good loss this was it.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-23-17 09:43 AM - Post#241117    
    In response to JadwinGeorge

MT would surely be the IL favorite based on the "predictive" power of KenPom, #66. They are very good but like most teams, they have a weakness --- 3 pt shooting. MT is very athletic, extremely quick and play in the interior unlike IL teams. King is a throwback player as to getting to the rim and he was a match up problem in the 2nd half. They would be very good over the entire season as they are deep, play hard in addition to being well coached. I thought that the Tigers would learn more from playing MT than USC for IL play; especially regarding intensity for 40 minutes. Will MT beat USC??? -- very interesting match up -- not sure.

It is interesting that the top IL teams are now between 123-162 while the bottom four are 222-260. The top is not as good this year and the bottom may be better which should make an interesting season.

The one player that concerns me as to match ups in the IL may be Harvard's Lewis as I am not sure who will effectively defend him -- Stephens will be on Townes -- Bell/Cannady will be on Aikens. Morgan could also be an issue although the Tigers have handled him well in the past.

 
1LotteryPick1969 
Postdoc
Posts: 2261
1LotteryPick1969
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
12-23-17 10:49 AM - Post#241122    
    In response to bradley

  • bradley Said:

The one player that concerns me as to match ups in the IL may be Harvard's Lewis as I am not sure who will effectively defend him -- Stephens will be on Townes -- Bell/Cannady will be on Aikens. Morgan could also be an issue although the Tigers have handled him well in the past.



Thanks for the scouting report; I don't get to watch anyone else play. Based on last night, one would guess it would be Much/Ariri-G on Lewis? Or maybe Gladson, if he is back?

How do you see the upcoming Penn game?

 
TigerFan 
PhD Student
Posts: 1871

Reg: 11-21-04
Middle Tennessee
12-23-17 11:56 AM - Post#241126    
    In response to 1LotteryPick1969

Very encouraging game despite the last second loss. So great to see the Tigers cutting hard, scoring several back door buckets that would put a smile on Pete's face. Defense also looking more intense and focused, although there were still some breakdowns.

This tournament is a great warm up for Ivy play with three games in four days forcing Mitch to play the bench. Aririguzoh took a big step forward last night with some nice cuts, a beautiful back door execution and a nifty up and under move. I think his continued development, particularly on the defensive end, could be the key to the season.

Edited by TigerFan on 12-23-17 12:01 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
12-23-17 12:03 PM - Post#241127    
    In response to 1LotteryPick1969

Darn good question regarding defending Lewis as he has power and quickness albeit a limited shooting range -- no perfect match up for the Tigers as Mulch needs to bulk up to handle Lewis defensively although Lewis would be dragged away from the basket guarding Mulch. Arirguzoh followed by Brennan is probably the best defensive match up. Gladson was ok on Lewis last year but Lewis' offensive game has improved.

As to Penn, who knows as they have played such a weak schedule. Are they for real or not??? Take a look at Columbia's schedule and how competitive that the Lions have been in a number of games but they are 1-10. If Penn had a similar type schedule, you would suspect that the Quakers record, 8-4, would be very different. Home court advantage in game #1 will be a big plus for the Quakers but the Tigers have already played in very tough road environments -- Butler, Miami and USC. Game will be a tough one for Vegas but I would suspect that the Tigers will be a 1-2 pt favorite depending how the final non-conference games go. Should be a good start for the season and I hope to be there to watch the Quakers do the usual meltdown - I hope.

 
mrjames 
Professor
Posts: 6062

Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
12-23-17 12:20 PM - Post#241129    
    In response to bradley

Wins against bubble ("WAB") can help give some perspective on the quality of records, as it is a measure of how the average bubble team would have done against the same schedule the given team played relative to the number of wins that team actually earned. Here's WAB for the Ivy:

1) Penn -1.6 wins
2) Cornell -2.5 wins
3) Brown -3.5 wins
4) Princeton -3.6 wins
5) Harvard -3.7 wins
6) Yale -4.5 wins
7) Dartmouth -4.7 wins
8) Columbia -6.9 wins

WAB obviously misses a ton of important context, but does a great job of answering the question of "how strong is a team's actual record."

 
Tiger69 
Postdoc
Posts: 2801

Reg: 11-23-04
12-23-17 02:02 PM - Post#241138    
    In response to bradley

"Mulch"? Give him a break!

 
SomeGuy 
Professor
Posts: 6391

Reg: 11-22-04
Re: Middle Tennessee
12-23-17 11:26 PM - Post#241235    
    In response to mrjames

Is it just me, or has Yale's play gotten worse since they went to the small starting lineup? I know the minutes haven't changed a whole lot, so it may not make that much difference, but I don't see why they play small so much, particularly at the start of games. I also think I'd play Phils more. Bringing both Oni and Phils off the bench just seems odd to me, in terms of balancing out size, defense, etc.

 
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