BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee (6-16, 3-6) @ UAB (14-8, 6-3), 7PM, Saturday, February 2, 2019
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
- Start date
Really nice win tonight! I would love to see us upset WKU and beat ODU to continue are dominance over them.
I dont know Andre or Wes real well.. Wes came to UNCA for 1 year and took a significant pay cut to coach with CNM here- he was a finalist for the USC Upstate job before joining the MTSU staff.. good guy but I couldn’t tell you what his specific strengths are because I simply don’t know..
Dixon doesn’t wow on paper necessarily and despite his age he’s got a ton of contacts.. like CNM he has a great eye for talent.. he was a finalist for the Presbyterian job (his alma mater) year before last but once the football team cancelled their P5 contracts he assumed they’re destined to drop back down to D2.. he been with CNM for awhile now- he’s not the most vocal guy so he likely won’t grab your attention but he knows his stuff..
Geographically this staff has a wide recruitment base and they compliment each other.. just my $0.02..
Sometimes I think maybe too forgiving I would yanked gambles azz early for the lack of effort today! But for real I think Nick will do good. I’m glad McPhee went with his gut.
I think the impulse to pull a player is one of the big reasons why Gamble has not developed like he should have. Most play better when they are loose. If you think you will be pulled after one mistake you do not play as loose. McDevitt gives a little more leeway, but he will yank a guy when needed.
Was wondering the exact same thing based on my discussions here lately.. confidence is king.. consistency will be even better as it’d be nice to look back in the future and say this is when the light came on for Sims.. going to be nights where you just can’t throw it in the ocean (ie NC State today) so depth is still an issue.. the outside shooting creates all the space for those pin downs for Scurry and a lot of the other action is so much more effective..
Exciting week for the Blue Raiders! This team deserved to have a couple breaks to their way. Season sweep over UAB is something to always relish. I guess JT’s bet about shouting an apology from the top of Murphy Center or whatever it was he said is also still alive
Great win. Much easier when we shoot the ball well. Both teams actually shot it well. What is amazing is we continue to compete on boards with really no bigs getting a lot of bounds. This is nicks theory to have guards do much of defensive rebounds this seems to be playing out as in both games with UAB we out rebounded them significantly. Last night left friends house thinking we had lost wife keeping up on some internet site said game over with us losing then got on here and people were talking about sweeping blazers. Pleasant surprise Hopefully turning corner now need to get freshmen shooting I do think this will come may be next year though.
It is! I will totally do it. I'm very happy to be dead wrong. I want us to win and these last 2 games have shown me something.
We seem to be getting in sync with each other more now and the passing along with ball protection is getting better. The defense has improved as well. What was impressive about last night was that we were out of the game at least 3-4 times and battled back to take the lead. Coming back from a 14 point deficit is tough no matter how good you are. The fact that we did it on the road with a depleted roster is even more impressive. To play the same team twice back to back and win both is also very impressive.
I've been super tough and critical on this new coach and staff. We do only have 7 wins but we are fighting harder now and are tapping into some talent as well. Combining the 2 is the toughest thing to do but once that happens, it translates into wins. There has been a lot of improvement in the last 6 games. (4 of them being wins) The Rice game was really disappointing to me since we are better than them IMO, but if we played them again, we would probably beat them.
One of the more promising things to me has been our ability to play close with pretty much anybody, even though we have a tendency to fall apart due to limited bench and inexperience. Heck, we even played Virginia during our REALLY crappy stretch closer than #9 VT and Wake Forest did. And that was months ago - we've improved greatly since then...
After I left Murphy Center last night after the Lady Raider dominating win over the uab women, I tuned in to the men's game once I got into my vehicle and found men were down at the half by ten. After walking the dog after getting home, checked the score app and saw we had cut the lead to four, I went on line to watch the rest of the game (the announcers for that broadcast were some of worst and most clueless I've heard recently) and got the feeling we were going to win.
Listening to the Blue Raider radio podcast from wgns now just to savor this first road win of the season
PODCAST: MTSU MBB vs UAB 2.2.19
Listening to the Blue Raider radio podcast from wgns now just to savor this first road win of the season
PODCAST: MTSU MBB vs UAB 2.2.19
Wish Stock would learn how to beat UAB back to back.
Me Too!!!
I was following on the ESPN Gamecast. It updated and said UAB went up by one (which was correct). But then it showed the score as a final and the play by play said missed shot by Sims to end the game.
Dissapointed, yet also satisfied with the effort, I thought we lost for at least an hour. Finally, I started reading the message board and realized ESPN was wrong.
Simms covered a lot of ground in about 2 seconds...I think they were shocked at how fast he got up court.
LOL. That happened to me too. I was out with the wife and was like dang, they almost did it and then it updated and it said we won and I said out loud in a crowded restaurant "What the heck? We won that game? Woooooo!". People laughed and got a kick out of it. I was wearing my MT hat too.
This time last week, I didn't think we'd win that series and didn't think we'd win more than 6 games. I'm eating crow and it's delicious because I'm glad to be wrong. I hope we can keep it going. I watched the game on ESPN plus later that night when I got home and was impressed by the way we played as a team and came back from being 14 points down at one point.
CNM and the team are doing a dang good job of staying in the fight and getting better. Nothing like a bunch of losses to really make you appreciate winning again. And let me tell you, these wins have been sweet.
Both UTSA and UAB were at the top of the conference tied for 1st when MT knocked them off. The point, not all the wins are vs fellow cellar dwellers. They are getting some quality wins in conference.
Glad to see spirits picked up a little around here. I think the season is unfolding in a way that supports that the Blue Raiders started to show signs of coming together and improving vs Ole Miss. At least that was the first game I saw it this year. A whole new team, coach, and a bunch of new young players made it tough to get going this season especially vs elite competition out of conference.
It showed early on that the team just hadn't played enough as a team to get CNM's system. No wonder early on I couldn't tell what the heck CNM was trying to install with the team. Then for about 8 mins vs Ole Miss, the players started to demonstrate some coherence as a team with a system. The team gradually improved those mins each game. They seem to have plateaued at around 32 mins of running the offense and defense that CNM is trying to install. With the lack of depth, it fairly understandable that the team is going to have a 5-10 min stretch in a game of just not playing and executing all that well. I suspect that improved quality depth next year will help take care of that 5-10 mins each game of decreased performance.
Folks, I'm pleased to see the coaching staff making headway with a team that has essentially been thrown together just before the season. They are showing signs of improvement. Hopefully they can continue to pull out a few more wins down the stretch of this season. I'm not expecting any miracles to finish the season. I'd be glad to see some miracles, but I'm not holding the coaches and players to any miracle type expectations. Frankly, putting together 4 out of 6 wins is pretty darn impressive all things considered.
Both UTSA and UAB were at the top of the conference tied for 1st when MT knocked them off. The point, not all the wins are vs fellow cellar dwellers. They are getting some quality wins in conference.
Glad to see spirits picked up a little around here. I think the season is unfolding in a way that supports that the Blue Raiders started to show signs of coming together and improving vs Ole Miss. At least that was the first game I saw it this year. A whole new team, coach, and a bunch of new young players made it tough to get going this season especially vs elite competition out of conference.
It showed early on that the team just hadn't played enough as a team to get CNM's system. No wonder early on I couldn't tell what the heck CNM was trying to install with the team. Then for about 8 mins vs Ole Miss, the players started to demonstrate some coherence as a team with a system. The team gradually improved those mins each game. They seem to have plateaued at around 32 mins of running the offense and defense that CNM is trying to install. With the lack of depth, it fairly understandable that the team is going to have a 5-10 min stretch in a game of just not playing and executing all that well. I suspect that improved quality depth next year will help take care of that 5-10 mins each game of decreased performance.
Folks, I'm pleased to see the coaching staff making headway with a team that has essentially been thrown together just before the season. They are showing signs of improvement. Hopefully they can continue to pull out a few more wins down the stretch of this season. I'm not expecting any miracles to finish the season. I'd be glad to see some miracles, but I'm not holding the coaches and players to any miracle type expectations. Frankly, putting together 4 out of 6 wins is pretty darn impressive all things considered.
How could Blue Raider fans not love what we are seeing out of Sims that last couple of weeks? He has been showing some improvement all season, but he seems to be taking his game to another level right now. I really like watching that young man play basketball.
I don't think there is any doubt that Sims would look completely different if he were still under Kermit's coaching. Kermit has always seemed pretty hardcore about his PGs primarily focusing on handling the ball and setting up the offense with the first pass while taking care of the ball. In my opinion, Kermit has seemed to discourage his PGs from focusing on scoring. Sure, Kermit was ok with a PG picking up a few buckets that comes their way in a game, but I seem to recall single digit scoring as the norm for the PG under Kermit. Apparently, that was the style and system Sims was under in HS as well.
To me, Sims having the ability and skill in scoring is a revelation. CNM gets a huge bonus in my book for identifying, teaching, encouraging, and supporting Sims in tapping into this vast potential that beforehand had just been unrealized and going to waste.
In yet another hopeful sign in CNM's coaching ability, there have been a few subtle comments from players this season suggesting that the players like CNM and have been buying into what he is trying to instill. Interestingly, some of those comments were in the middle of the losing streak. To me, it was cause for hope in addition to the fact that despite losing so many games the players as a whole kept playing hard and competing.
A few more thoughts on the players' development:
Gamble: Sadly, he just hasn't been able to find his way to take his game to the next level. He seems to have a good attitude and is supportive of his team, but I suspect he lacks that hunger needed to be a top flight performer. I don't think that hunger can be coached either. A person has it or they don't. Circumstances are that Gamble is a starter with the bulk of mins despite his level of play still being that of a 2nd string player who could give you 8-10 mins of decent play a game.
Sims, just incredible.
Scurry has some good skills and is strong. With proper support from another high level forward would likely help Scurry play even better.
Green: He still is struggling to learn how and when to score in the system. It's an understandable problem. Early on the coaches needed him to score....period, as the team was essentially lost out there on the court. Now that the team is starting to come together, Green's poor shot selection and multitude of turnovers are holding him and the team back somewhat. As he figures out to let the game come to him, he will be a stellar performer. More assists and less turnovers for Green will benefit him and the team substantially.
Jayce Johnson: he has been impressive from the beginning even if his stats don't reflect that....yet. Understandably, he is young, raw, and inexperienced. Still, he has excellent instincts, strength, athleticism, and toughness. The sky is the limit for that young man. Give him another year or two, and he could realistically be an all conference type player.
Hawthorne: He may not be the smoothest scorer on the court, but he is fun to watch as he brings great effort and energy. It is obvious that he wants to give his all as a senior to this team. He has enough strength and athleticism to make some impressive plays with his tremendous effort.
Gamble: Sadly, he just hasn't been able to find his way to take his game to the next level. He seems to have a good attitude and is supportive of his team, but I suspect he lacks that hunger needed to be a top flight performer. I don't think that hunger can be coached either. A person has it or they don't. Circumstances are that Gamble is a starter with the bulk of mins despite his level of play still being that of a 2nd string player who could give you 8-10 mins of decent play a game.
Sims, just incredible.
Scurry has some good skills and is strong. With proper support from another high level forward would likely help Scurry play even better.
Green: He still is struggling to learn how and when to score in the system. It's an understandable problem. Early on the coaches needed him to score....period, as the team was essentially lost out there on the court. Now that the team is starting to come together, Green's poor shot selection and multitude of turnovers are holding him and the team back somewhat. As he figures out to let the game come to him, he will be a stellar performer. More assists and less turnovers for Green will benefit him and the team substantially.
Jayce Johnson: he has been impressive from the beginning even if his stats don't reflect that....yet. Understandably, he is young, raw, and inexperienced. Still, he has excellent instincts, strength, athleticism, and toughness. The sky is the limit for that young man. Give him another year or two, and he could realistically be an all conference type player.
Hawthorne: He may not be the smoothest scorer on the court, but he is fun to watch as he brings great effort and energy. It is obvious that he wants to give his all as a senior to this team. He has enough strength and athleticism to make some impressive plays with his tremendous effort.
After watching the game again, we sure hit some shots from way beyond the NBA 3 point arc. When Sims and Green are hitting shots like that, we become a different team. It's fun to watch.
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