BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee @ Coastal Carolina, 6PM, Monday, November 18, 2019

[SpaceRaider]

Coastal Carolina
Location: Conway, SC
Enrollment: 10,641
Arena: HTC Center (3,212)
Website: goccusports.com
Nickname: Chanticleers Colors: Teal, Bronze & Black
Head Coach: Cliff Ellis Record at School: 230-164 (12 Seasons) Career Record: 842-513 (45 Seasons)
2018-19 Record: 17-17, 9-9
2018-19 Finish: T-6th Sun Belt
2018-19 Postseason: CBI Quarterfinals
Starters R/L: 3/2 Letterwinners R/L: 7/7
Twitter: @CoastalMBB


MT GAME NOTES
LIVE VIDEO
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TWITTER UPDATES

MT TUNE-IN

 

[SpaceRaider]

goccusports.com:

Coastal Carolina will Host Middle Tennessee in First-Ever Meeting



goblueraiders.com:

Raiders looking for second road win

 

[SpaceRaider]

MT a two point dog

 

[MTsumner92]

Cliff Ellis? wow.

 

[RaidRRick]

Cliff Ellis? wow.

Just read his bio; earned his masters from Middle. Interesting.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Cliff Ellis? wow.

73 years old

1968–1969 Ruckel JHS (assistant)
1969–1971 Niceville HS
1971–1972 Vanguard HS
1972–1975 Cumberland
1975–1984 South Alabama
1984–1994 Clemson
1994–2004 Auburn
2007–present Coastal Carolina

 

[SpaceRaider]

thread on ccu message board with not much talk at all about their opponent...

Middle Tenn. 11/18/19

 

[SpaceRaider]

https://tunein.com/radio/Middle-Tennessee-St-Basketball-s308250/

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game?gameId=401170074

 

[MT01]

This defense is as bad as our football teams defense. And we’re getting dominated on the boards again. That’s a bad recipe.

 

[MTBig Blue]

I think 21 of their 42 points have come at the line.

 

[MT01]

I think 21 of their 42 points have come at the line.

Because we can’t defend without fouling. My biggest concern related to the extended 3 pt line.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[kingaling42]

Because we can’t defend without fouling. My biggest concern related to the extended 3 pt line.

Close... 18 of 25 from the FT line.. clean up the communication on the switches and that will help- the rest Coastal is just pounding the ball inside.. Jackson, Millin, Crump all in limited minutes due to fouls.. hopefully a little more offensive balance in the 2nd half but hopefully the shot by Green to end the half really changed the momentum going into the locker room..

 

[MarJac23]

View embedded media

Am I missing something here? TuneIn app says no live stream available and WGNS is streaming Monty's show from Friday.

 

[MT01]

Embarrassing. Getting taken to woodshed by a mediocre Sun Belt program.

Great week to be from MT.

 

[BlueAlpha]

Close... 18 of 25 from the FT line.. clean up the communication on the switches and that will help- the rest Coastal is just pounding the ball inside.. Jackson, Millin, Crump all in limited minutes due to fouls.. hopefully a little more offensive balance in the 2nd half but hopefully the shot by Green to end the half really changed the momentum going into the locker room..

Kingaling, my wife and I are driving over from ATL for both games Thursday & Friday. Curious if you will be in attendance either day?

 

[SpaceRaider]

Am I missing something here? TuneIn app says no live stream available and WGNS is streaming Monty's show from Friday.

It is working

https://tunein.com/radio/Middle-Tennessee-St-Basketball-s308250/

 

[MT01]

I’m done. Seen enough. About what I expected when we faced something with a heartbeat. Good news is we have a third non D1 game.

 

[kingaling42]

Kingaling, my wife and I are driving over from ATL for both games Thursday & Friday. Curious if you will be in attendance either day?

Wish I could make it down there from AVL but unfortunately not able to swing it this trip..

Nothing really positive in the 2nd half- guys continued to drop their hands and/or swing at shot attempts leading to easy foul calls- led to -13 point differential at the charity stripe..

This game showed the inexperience of most of the players.. nothing really else to say- it was an egg and gives the coaches a lot to hopefully get the guys attention..

 

[coachchia]

I watched on ESPN+... Granted our lineup missing a few tonight but our Perimeter D was very lacking... The lack of foot movement is concerning to me... Good defense / footwork is a mindset... I also felt we were out of control offensively several times tonight. We are athletic though and, given time and coaching, will improve...

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Up next:

#17 Villanova in Myrtle Beach

3-1 Belmont

 

[MTsumner92]

What tournament is next week?

 

[RandallThomason]

What tournament is next week?

Not next week. This week. Thursday against Villanova; Friday against Mississippi State/Tulane; Sunday against Ohio/Baylor/Utah/Coastal Carolina

 

[MTFNBY5]

I watched on ESPN+... Granted our lineup missing a few tonight but our Perimeter D was very lacking... The lack of foot movement is concerning to me... Good defense / footwork is a mindset... I also felt we were out of control offensively several times tonight. We are athletic though and, given time and coaching, will improve...

I hope you are correct about the improvement part. The freshmen were exposed last night along with our lack of depth, especially inside. I think we have three good freshmen but it's hard not to expect more when we see highly touted freshmen play so well on TV. I don't know if these elite players overcome their lack of experience with their talent, if they were coached better earlier, or they are just born with BkB skills.
What I noted last night was several players playing flat-footed on the perimeter rather than on their toes. No wonder we were driven to the basket all night when players, some with experience, don't get in a guarding position on defense. (lower the further you are from the basket). As for inside we may develop some good post players but they must learn to present a position for the entry pass and the perimeter players must learn when and how to enter the ball. Very poor last night. Here's to hoping the return of Scurry and Millner will help with the inside play.
I don't know what is wrong with Sims but he should be the best PG on the team yet he had his pocket picked a couple of times (and almost several more) last night, had 4 TOs to his 8 assists, and has lost his shooting touch. A real concern. And Crump doesn't seem to have improved much, if at all, from being in the program a year.
It appears that if we win again in Nov. and secure more than one victory before the end of the year we will be witnessing an upset. Tough road ahead.

 

[MTFNBY5]

Not next week. This week. Thursday against Villanova; Friday against Mississippi State/Tulane; Sunday against Ohio/Baylor/Utah/Coastal Carolina

I had only recently canceled my plans to attend the tournament this week after a conflict came up. Had I not canceled my reservations earlier I would be on the phone this morning after last night's performance. Highly likely we'll be playing Coastal again on Sun. and will not be in any game. I'll be watching when I can on TV.

 

[MT01]

I watched on ESPN+... Granted our lineup missing a few tonight but our Perimeter D was very lacking... The lack of foot movement is concerning to me... Good defense / footwork is a mindset... I also felt we were out of control offensively several times tonight. We are athletic though and, given time and coaching, will improve...

More or less what I referenced after the first three games. This team has more offensive talent than a year ago, but not enough to outscore anyone - and last night was a perfect example. There is a lot of street ball being played without clear organization and CNM seems to be cool with that. The defense - at this point - is even worse than last year's defense. They are just perpetually and constantly out of position. I would say that it can be fixed with coaching but a coach that doesn't really emphasize defense not sure that's a true statement.

As I stated a year ago in my research on CNM his style can work at lower levels where the other teams in a league similarly play poor defense. And it can work at an elite level (like Duke or Kentucky) where the players across the board are just better than everywhere else, but I have yet to see anything that tells me it will work a high mid-major where our opponents will play serviceable defense against our helter skelter offense. We've seen UNT and wkcc employ this exact style in years past to great failure. If it's not starting to click by year 3 it's never going to work. As for year two there is a long, long way to go but absent a dramatic shift in how this team plays defense - this will be the first time in 18 years with back-to-back losing seasons.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Then at Murray and at Ole Miss to start Dec.

I’m sure Kermit will be a gentleman and not run it up on the Blue Raiders.

 

[SpaceRaider]

wgns

PODCAST: MT Men's Basketball vs Coastal Carolina 11.18.19

 

[Raiderclyde]

I’m not worried yet. Still have growing and gelling to do. My measuring stick goal for this year is .500 overall (or perhaps one game under) and being top 8 in conference for 2019-20. If we are mired in single digit wins when in bonus play starts in mid-February, there are problems surfacing. Short of an abject collapse (last place in standings), think Coach is operating on pretty safe ground. Year three will tell us a lot about direction and a winning campaign is needed then to say we are on the mend and trending upwards.

 

[sWiley]

Sad but true. We are in full rebuild mode after years of avoiding said rebuilding. Can't put into words how frustrating that is.

Recruiting is everything at this point. We need to sign Donte Houston Jr. to pair with Fussell. That secures our front court for years to come and then we just gotta hope McDevitt can find some shooters (and people that play defense.....which reminds me.....)

One thing that certainly surprises me with the current team is the pathetic defense. McDevitt obviously loves the long, big wing span players yet they can't seem to defend if planet earth depended on it. Kermit Davis and his defenses often relied on undersized players but they played with so much intensity and pursuit that their size didn't matter. I am quite disappointed with our teams lack of ability to defend. With all of these long rangy players we should have a BETTER defense....not a significantly worse one.....

 

[SpaceRaider]

We are rebuilding, there's no doubt or argument about that. Plus against CCU Milner was held out. With Scurry not eligible for 8 more games and Dishman out for the year, depth is an issue. Hopefully Milner is good to go on Thursday just to help with depth. Depth was non-existent last year and while it is better this season, MT sure could have use for Scurry and Dishman in this tournament. What depth we have is young and it will get better. There are understandable growing pains, and I am grateful that this coaching staff didn't go for quick fixes for short term gain that becomes a vicious cycle of rebuild on back end.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

“Rebuilding” a basketball team is nothing like rebuilding a football team. One or two really gifted players can turn a basketball program around in a year.

 

[MTFNBY5]

We are rebuilding, there's no doubt or argument about that. Plus against CCU Milner was held out. With Scurry not eligible for 8 more games and Dishman out for the year, depth is an issue. Hopefully Milner is good to go on Thursday just to help with depth. Depth was non-existent last year and while it is better this season, MT sure could have use for Scurry and Dishman in this tournament. What depth we have is young and it will get better. There are understandable growing pains, and I am grateful that this coaching staff didn't go for quick fixes for short term gain that becomes a vicious cycle of rebuild on back end.

Agreed that it is a positive that in the last two classes along with two transfers and one JUCO we have signed four high schoolers (so far). I'm hoping this year's class will be all high schoolers. Much prefer this approach to the route of the last three coaches who all emphasized JUCOs and transfers to a greater extent IIRC.

 

[MTLynn]

It's nice to see the same players on the court for 4 years but I'm completely fine with one-year players (LaRon Dendy, JaCorey Williams) if the coach can make it work...

I just don't want shady characters on the team

 

[coachchia]

As many have stated, our Defense is lacking... With that said, I remember a quote from a HS coach... "Defense is 90% Desire and 10% Ability." Playing intense Defense is a mindset.... Some players have that innate ability but most must have it instilled through coaching... When instilled properly, it becomes an individual pride thing...

 

[MT01]

As many have stated, our Defense is lacking... With that said, I remember a quote from a HS coach... "Defense is 90% Desire and 10% Ability." Playing intense Defense is a mindset.... Some players have that innate ability but most must have it instilled through coaching... When instilled properly, it becomes an individual pride thing...

And most coaches have very simple minds. I don’t prescribe to this theory. Defense is a good number more things than just desire.

 

[sWiley]

As many have stated, our Defense is lacking... With that said, I remember a quote from a HS coach... "Defense is 90% Desire and 10% Ability." Playing intense Defense is a mindset.... Some players have that innate ability but most must have it instilled through coaching... When instilled properly, it becomes an individual pride thing...

Virginia won a national title last year because of their amazing defense (and offense). A good defense can easily win championships at the CUSA level. And we know that because we all saw it happen. If I recall correctly, most of our wins in the CUSA Championship games and SBC championship games were low scoring and won thanks to our defense.......