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BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee vs Tulane, 11AM, Friday, November 22, 2019

SpaceRaider

Blue Raider Legend
Gold Member
Jul 22, 2001
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God's Country
Tulane Green Wave (3-1, 0-0)
Head Coach: Ron Hunter Record at TU: 3-1 (1st Season) Overall Record: 448-315 (26th Season)

Date: November 22, 2019 Time: 11:00 AM CT
Location: Conway, S.C.
Arena: HTC Center (3,212)
Series Record: MT leads 1-0

TV: ESPNU Talent: Doug Sherman (PxP), Cory Alexander (Analyst)
Radio: Blue Raider Network (Game2/WGNS/TuneIn) Talent: Chip Walters (PxP), Kyle Turnham (Analyst)
Twitter: @MT_MBB, #BlueRaiders
 
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Coastal Carolina just beat the pants off of Utah, which ensures that we won’t have a second game with Coastal Carolina. After Tulane tomorrow, we will get either Utah or Ohio.
 
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Would be nice if we could win just 1 game here. 2 games would be amazing.
 
Would be nice if we could win just 1 game here. 2 games would be amazing.

After watching parts of all games yesterday we just might be competitive in the next two games regardless of opponent. Sure hoping we don't leave South Carolina with an 0fer.
 
That’s why - as I mentioned a day ago when you don’t have the offensive talent to run this system - defense should be emphasized even more.
 
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There have been a couple of times that Tulane missed shots rebounded off the floor and were picked up by Tulane.

Yeah my two peeves with this team as I’ve stated it now a half dozen times in a half dozen different ways are rebounding and the matador defense.
 
too little too late - you cannot give away the first half like that
 
serious question, is there another D1 team in the country that is allowing more PPG than us?
 
Jones and Green had 9 points between them the first half.

Sims, Jones, and Green have not shown up in the first half of any these games. They need to get their asses in gear from the the tip.

I really do want to give McDevitt a chance to let the process play out as he rebuilds the program in his 2nd year but it's hard, very hard. (Tulane won 4 - that's FOUR - games last year and had 11 players along with the coach new to the program this year - Did I hear that correctly?)
It's hard watching a coach with his butt on the pine emotionless early in the game while the team makes countless unforced turnovers, has poor shot selection, fails to go hard after 50-50 balls and rebounds, has numerous defensive lapses, and seemingly is either not following or has no game plan. This while the opposing coach, his team leading by 17, is very animated on the sidelines.
There is no excuse not being in this game from start to finish.
 
It's hard watching a coach with his butt on the pine emotionless early in the game while the team makes countless unforced turnovers, has poor shot selection, fails to go hard after 50-50 balls and rebounds, has numerous defensive lapses, and seemingly is either not following or has no game plan.
Everyone has their own style - early in his tenure Kermit would drop audible F-bombs. Tom Landry, however, was like a statue.

I certainly don't like the loss but Nick has a solid track record. I'm sure this team will be much improved in January when conference play starts.
 
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We haven’t improved yet at all where it matters. You guys thinking we get to .500 need to check the delusion. We probably only win one more game in non conf against that DIII like Christian school we play.

We’ll see what improves once Scurry is back but the reality is though Scurry is a decent player, he’s not nearly elite enough to fix this mess by himself.
 
What's up with Tulane getting 30 foul shots to our 7?????

That seems a bit much even with variance considerations.
 
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What's up with Tulane getting 30 foul shots to our 7?????

That seems a bit much even with variance considerations.

For one thing, if you're content to throw up shots from outside with no contact you are not going to get fouled and not go to the line. Very rarely in the first half did MT pass the ball more than once or twice it seemed.

Plus there must have been three or four times MT fouled the three point shooter.
 
What's up with Tulane getting 30 foul shots to our 7?????

That seems a bit much even with variance considerations.

I think it’s also already been talked about a number of times. Constantly out of position, poor footwork, no real discipline defensively, etc. When you play this way you are apt to foul more because you’re constantly getting beat on the floor.
 
After a cool down period, I'm ready to throw in my two cents.

After the the two previous horrendous performances, the first 30 mins of this game were the low spot in CNM's time here, in my opinion. The team finally playing with a little life in the final ten mins at least kept today's performance from being the absolute bottom of the barrel.

I've consistently advocated for patience, time, and optimism for CNM's brief tenure of rebuilding and an incredibly young team. Perhaps it's a matter of him seemingly recruiting some good looking talent that has increased expectations that they would be able to perform better in these early season games. Whatever the case it's not that MT is just losing to some better playing teams, it's the way they look in losing those games. It's hard to say it is just an effort issue as they are active and moving throughout the game generally speaking. It's the overall lack of intensity, the lack of discipline, the lack of a sense of urgency, and the lack of a fighting attitude that troubles me.

After a couple of performances of the players being lost on defense, it was apparent vs Tulane that the coaching staff tried to address the deficiency. MT had been nowhere close to defending opponents shooting wide open threes. Today the players were clearly trying to made improvements as evidenced by the greater effort at closing out on the 3 pt shooters. The problem, they went just a little too far and fouled the 3 pt shooters at least three times. Applaud the effort, but deride the lack of discipline in fouling 3 pt shooters.

What was probably as frustrating as anything is that half the team are playing like wimps. Jayce Johnson again was about the only one to play with toughness and physicality. It's apparent that Jayce Johnson has the heart and attitude to take the fight to the opponent.

No team is going to have success giving up close to 50 points a half. It's getting to be ridiculous.

To borrow a basketball phrase, they are trying to defend with their hands rather than their feet. Hence the excessive fouls.

The team as a whole are settling for 3 pt shots. Poor shot selection 3s without really running any offense.

Reflective of the lack of an aggressive and tough attitude, very few seem willing to drive to the rack off the dribble. Jayce Johnson and Sims are the only exceptions that standout.

I'm not throwing in the towel on CNM and this team. For starters, it's way too early in the season during a rebuild job that is really just getting started. Last season, I like that CNM kept the team together in an almost impossible situation. Plus, they didn't quit. They kept up good effort despite being over-matched in most every game. I like CNM's approach to recruiting, and he seems like one of the good guys. He seems well liked by the players. There is a lot about CNM that keeps me hopeful.

I can take MT losing games as a part of the growing pains. I understand that it takes some time for the young team to learn both the offense and the defense. What I can't take is the team losing without some real fight in them. I can't take seeing losses because MT lacks a tough and fighting attitude. I can't stand to see MT lose because they lack heart. Dang it, it's time to get mad and tough. Instead of letting other teams dominate the Blue Raiders, they need to possess the attitude that they will dominate whoever they face....each time up and down the court.
 
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