Lack of depth at guard continues to cause trouble for MT. Raymond, Simpson, Ivory, or Copeland just don't seem to be stepping up. While Raymond seems to have tons of athletic ability just not being turned loose, that's seems to be his course here at MT over his few seasons. The surprise to me is Simpson. Physically he seems to have really developed well. He looks strong. I also thought Simpson was a high IQ guy. With that combo, I thought he might have been the one to step up on the perimeter. Every game, I keep hoping this is the game where Simpson puts it all together and becomes that other backcourt top flight player.
Gamble has seemed to make some positive steps the last couple of games. He did pretty well tonight at Charlotte for his best yet 3-3 from the field. Good to see. Even though Phillips has been here a couple of more seasons, it seems like Gamble just might be starting to pass Phillips in on court performance already.
Giddy Potts has come back with a vengeance! While Upshaw played strong to pick up the load when Giddy was absent, Upshaw has dropped off with Giddy contributing back on the court again. Maybe Upshaw is just having a little slump? Maybe he's trying to find his role in the grand scheme of the team? It almost seems like it takes something to fire him up that he hasn't figured out how to turn on at just any given moment??? When Upshaw is fired up, he's one of the best Forwards in C-USA.
What is it with C-USA this season? This was supposed to be a pretty good bball season. It's shaping up to be in conference, but out of conference was terrible. Last I check on CBS Sports RPI rankings, C-USA was ranked about 20th just 1 above the OVC and 1 below the SunBelt at 19. The SunBelt has already started to drop numerous conference ranking positions now that conference play has started. It seems C-USA and OVC are maintaining about the same, thus far. What's crazy is that now that conference play has started, some of the teams are looking like they are really playing really well after terrible OOC seasons. Look no further than both UTSA and Charlotte, both have about 3 or 4 wins on the seasons, yet both seemed pretty close to knocking off MT. They haven't looked like 3 and 4 win teams the last couple of games. Marshall scoring 90+ points a game lately?! LaTech losing 2 already?! FIU getting some wins. ODU finally competing like you'd expect. UAB is competing exceptionally well, but where was that in the OOC season for UAB? Then to top it all off, the goattoppers are not looking too good at all thus far. Crazy season.
I imagine C-USA having a terrible season in OOC play has hurt a little in leverage negotiating new tv contracts. With "cord-cutting" and resultant ratings drop, the new tv contracts were going to be rough anyways. ESPN just finding themselves way overextended virtually made them a nonplayer in making any offer to C-USA I suspect. It's all pretty unfortunate timing for C-USA to be renewing tv contracts.
Gamble has seemed to make some positive steps the last couple of games. He did pretty well tonight at Charlotte for his best yet 3-3 from the field. Good to see. Even though Phillips has been here a couple of more seasons, it seems like Gamble just might be starting to pass Phillips in on court performance already.
Giddy Potts has come back with a vengeance! While Upshaw played strong to pick up the load when Giddy was absent, Upshaw has dropped off with Giddy contributing back on the court again. Maybe Upshaw is just having a little slump? Maybe he's trying to find his role in the grand scheme of the team? It almost seems like it takes something to fire him up that he hasn't figured out how to turn on at just any given moment??? When Upshaw is fired up, he's one of the best Forwards in C-USA.
What is it with C-USA this season? This was supposed to be a pretty good bball season. It's shaping up to be in conference, but out of conference was terrible. Last I check on CBS Sports RPI rankings, C-USA was ranked about 20th just 1 above the OVC and 1 below the SunBelt at 19. The SunBelt has already started to drop numerous conference ranking positions now that conference play has started. It seems C-USA and OVC are maintaining about the same, thus far. What's crazy is that now that conference play has started, some of the teams are looking like they are really playing really well after terrible OOC seasons. Look no further than both UTSA and Charlotte, both have about 3 or 4 wins on the seasons, yet both seemed pretty close to knocking off MT. They haven't looked like 3 and 4 win teams the last couple of games. Marshall scoring 90+ points a game lately?! LaTech losing 2 already?! FIU getting some wins. ODU finally competing like you'd expect. UAB is competing exceptionally well, but where was that in the OOC season for UAB? Then to top it all off, the goattoppers are not looking too good at all thus far. Crazy season.
I imagine C-USA having a terrible season in OOC play has hurt a little in leverage negotiating new tv contracts. With "cord-cutting" and resultant ratings drop, the new tv contracts were going to be rough anyways. ESPN just finding themselves way overextended virtually made them a nonplayer in making any offer to C-USA I suspect. It's all pretty unfortunate timing for C-USA to be renewing tv contracts.
