BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee vs Winthrop, 6PM, Tuesday, November 16, 2021
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
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I don't think anything in particular other than he wasn't giving the team much in the first half- he played 4 minutes had 2 TO's and 2 fouls and was out of position on at least one offensive set that I recall- neither Turner nor King played in the 2nd half..
More positive news from the basketball side of the house. 👍👍👏👏
Were you there...they were VERY watchable!!!!!!!!!!
Let's see if they can do it for a season. I'm not sold on one night of decent shooting. Forgive me for being skeptical after going through our worst 3 year history in men's basketball history
This was a great game...the best in 4 years. Lots of emotion and energy from both teams. Yes, refs were terrible, Winthrop players got real mouthy when they got down in the 2nd half and we just fed off of it. This team can get a lot better, but they give great effort and don't have a "me first" player on the team this year like Shuler. But it was fun to be there!!!!!!!!
I was there and enjoyed the game very much. Not saying this is a good team, we'll see as season progresses. The team had to fight through one sided officiating and they played hard the whole game. The win was very satisfying. They finished strong.
Winthrop guys wanted to start something there in the second half. I thought the Raiders kept themselves under control. There was a bench technical a minute or so after the Winthrop guys wanted to start something on the court. The officials should've T'd up some of the Winthrop guys then. Glad to send those guys home with a double digit loss.
Winthrop guys wanted to start something there in the second half. I thought the Raiders kept themselves under control. There was a bench technical a minute or so after the Winthrop guys wanted to start something on the court. The officials should've T'd up some of the Winthrop guys then. Glad to send those guys home with a double digit loss.
Wiley, pick a lane. You make so many contradictory comments so that you can always go back and say you were right. Sure, we have been bad but don't downgrade a really good win against a team you said a couple of days ago would be a good measuring stick. Well we measured up.
Interesting factoid about Winthrop. They are 1-11 in post season play.
| Year | Seed | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | #16 | First Round | #1 Auburn | L 80–41 |
| 2000 | #14 | First Round | #3 Oklahoma | L 74–50 |
| 2001 | #16 | Opening Round | #16 Northwestern State | L 71–67 |
| 2002 | #16 | First Round | #1 Duke | L 84–37 |
| 2005 | #14 | First Round | #3 Gonzaga | L 74–64 |
| 2006 | #15 | First Round | #2 Tennessee | L 63–61 |
| 2007 | #11 | First Round Second Round | #6 Notre Dame #3 Oregon | W 74–64 L 75–61 |
| 2008 | #13 | First Round | #4 Washington State | L 71–40 |
| 2010 | #16 | Opening Round | #16 Arkansas–Pine Bluff | L 61–44 |
| 2017 | #13 | First Round | #4 Butler | L 76–64 |
| 2021 | #12 | First Round | #5 Villanova | L 73–63 |
I have been consistent. I don't think our guard play is very good. Average at best and very streaky. They just don't shoot the ball very well. It was still average at best tonight but our forwards dominated the game and defensively we took the game over, except for giving them some great looks from 3 in the first half (Guards didn't defend the 3 point line very well at times). Winthrop should have been ahead by double digits going into the half but they simply didn't capitalize.
My prediction isn't changing for the season. .500 record with a first or second round loss in tournament, our average at best guard play holds this team back from doing anything more than .500 - Our guards are just not that good, however; they're more than welcome to prove me wrong.
I do like the Weston kid but I'm not sure of his shooting abilities. I think Buford might also be a good player for us in time. I don't recall anyone that we signed being a very good shooter at the guard position. Nick seems willing to sacrifice higher % shooters in favor of more size, length, and athleticism. Which can work because younger players can develop and become much better shooters over their careers, but it's a dice roll. I suppose the theory is you can't teach and develop height/length/athleticism.....but you can develop a kid's shot.
I can get on board with that. But we need to get these kids developed and strike some gold. We are due.
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So since 1999 they have made the tournament 11 times.
I should've posted this before the game, but here is the three man weave preview of the Big south conference. Unlike scrolling all the way to the bottom for the MT/CUSA preview Winthrop's preview is at the top of this link
www.three-man-weave.com
Big South 2021-22 Preview — Three-Man-Weave
Mike Jones and Pat Kelsey left for greener pastures, leaving a potential power vacuum at the top of the OVC totem pole - can anyone not named Winthrop or Radford rise to the occasion?
www.three-man-weave.com
It was a good win.. it was a very good 2nd half.. guard play was solid in terms of valuing the ball- 15 TOs, only 6 in the 2nd half but more importantly most of the TOs weren’t live ball TOs- WU only had 3 points off of the TOs and 2 of those were a late layup when Sims got picked late in the game- in contrast MT had 29 points off TOs and that’s really the ball game. so that was very telling of the teams effort defensively and the effectiveness of converting offensively- something we haven’t seen since CNMs been at MT..
The outside shooting still wasn’t great- the 2nd half felt better than it actually was because they went 3 of 4 in the first 4 minutes and then Sims had back-to-back 3’s 10 minutes later.. those were the only 5 makes in the 2nd half- so 0 for 10 outside of thise 2 stretches but there were good looks and shot selection unlike the first half attempts.. solid win tonight no doubt but I’m particularly interested in this first road trip..
Prossers teams at Western Carolina were known to be very mouthy like this bunch- that’s not something I saw with Pat Kelsey’s WU teams.. they didnt back up all that cussing and sh!t talking they did at at the MT bench in the first half.. anytime Winthrop loses it’s a good day!
The outside shooting still wasn’t great- the 2nd half felt better than it actually was because they went 3 of 4 in the first 4 minutes and then Sims had back-to-back 3’s 10 minutes later.. those were the only 5 makes in the 2nd half- so 0 for 10 outside of thise 2 stretches but there were good looks and shot selection unlike the first half attempts.. solid win tonight no doubt but I’m particularly interested in this first road trip..
Prossers teams at Western Carolina were known to be very mouthy like this bunch- that’s not something I saw with Pat Kelsey’s WU teams.. they didnt back up all that cussing and sh!t talking they did at at the MT bench in the first half.. anytime Winthrop loses it’s a good day!
Feels good to be 3-0. Not a fan of playing another D2 game on the 27th but whatever.
Dishman looked good tonight. I think it's fair to say he will have his best year thus far for us. His first step seems quicker and he doesn't look so sluggish anymore. Feels like he's been here a long freakin' time though and the guy's still only a junior. I recall hearing Chip say he tied his career high tonight....not sure if he broke it.
Turner was pretty non-existent and looked largely out of place tonight after two good performances against lesser competition. May take him a little longer to adjust and come around than we might have originally thought.
Millin hit some timely shots for us and finally showed why he has earned Nick's trust to start. Still only a sophomore which is hard to believe. Everyone getting another covid year has really changed the game.
Sims was Sims tonight. I do think his defense has gotten better but it's still nothing to write home about. He's always been a streaky shooter. His back 2 back 3's tonight stretched the lead out for us tonight and we never looked back.
Eli Lawrence played pretty well tonight. He has always been kind of the X factor in my eyes. Another streaky hot/cold player that struggles with consistency. He's had some flashes of greatness while here but never is very consistent for us. Still young though.
Josh Jefferson....has to be better. He had a timely drive and 1 opportunity that was great for us but he has to be better as a graduate transfer 1 year assassin guard. 0-4 from 3 and only 1-5 from the floor for 5 points. It's a good sign we won by double digits with him not playing well but it won't be a good year if he plays like that every night. Hopefully he can step it up and be a consistent threat for us.
T Lenard - I love this guys tenacity. He plays 100mph every moment he is on the court. Going to really enjoy watching this guy in a Blue Raider uniform for years to come. Just one thing, let's work on that 3 point shot before we start jacking them up in live games? Every single possession in college basketball matters. Gotta resist the urge because I'll bet money teams will bait him into it in the future. Love this guy though.
Christian Fussell - Rough first half. Still a young player for us and still developing. He tossed a few 3's up there too which had me scratching my head. Does he make those in practice? This guy was really touted coming out of high school so I've always expected more from him. Hopefully things come together more for him this year.
Camryn Weston looked good out there. Good handles, smooth stroke, and ended up with 3 steals despite only playing 20 minutes. That's great. I think Nick has to seriously consider starting him or giving him more minutes. I like him over Sims personally and I'm starting Weston if I'm the coach.
We shot well from the FT line tonight....81.5%. If we continue to shoot that well from the charity stripe we will win a few more games as 6 point underdogs. Conversely, we were 22.2% from 3. That's bad. That numbers need to be closer to 40% and ideally 45-50%. We have got to get better from 3 and it starts with our guards. I wish Elias King would figure things out because he's probably our best outside shooter of the bunch. As King alluded to, we did turn it over 15 times and only had 9 assists but we really cut those turnovers down in the second half which was key. It was an early season game and predictably a bit sloppy. Regardless, we will at least have a team that is competitive in almost all of it's games this year. That alone gives us something to be excited about and to look forward to.
What also caught my eye is the team overall is actually pretty young. We will only have 2 scholarship senior/graduating players that we lose after this year (Sims, Jefferson). I can see us taking our lumps this year, finishing around .500, and really making a push next year. If we could find a nice transfer guard or two for next year, we could potentially be a top team in the league. If we can reach that point and continue to cycle in the talent like Kermit did then Blue Raider basketball might not be so bad afterall. Long way to go though.
Dishman looked good tonight. I think it's fair to say he will have his best year thus far for us. His first step seems quicker and he doesn't look so sluggish anymore. Feels like he's been here a long freakin' time though and the guy's still only a junior. I recall hearing Chip say he tied his career high tonight....not sure if he broke it.
Turner was pretty non-existent and looked largely out of place tonight after two good performances against lesser competition. May take him a little longer to adjust and come around than we might have originally thought.
Millin hit some timely shots for us and finally showed why he has earned Nick's trust to start. Still only a sophomore which is hard to believe. Everyone getting another covid year has really changed the game.
Sims was Sims tonight. I do think his defense has gotten better but it's still nothing to write home about. He's always been a streaky shooter. His back 2 back 3's tonight stretched the lead out for us tonight and we never looked back.
Eli Lawrence played pretty well tonight. He has always been kind of the X factor in my eyes. Another streaky hot/cold player that struggles with consistency. He's had some flashes of greatness while here but never is very consistent for us. Still young though.
Josh Jefferson....has to be better. He had a timely drive and 1 opportunity that was great for us but he has to be better as a graduate transfer 1 year assassin guard. 0-4 from 3 and only 1-5 from the floor for 5 points. It's a good sign we won by double digits with him not playing well but it won't be a good year if he plays like that every night. Hopefully he can step it up and be a consistent threat for us.
T Lenard - I love this guys tenacity. He plays 100mph every moment he is on the court. Going to really enjoy watching this guy in a Blue Raider uniform for years to come. Just one thing, let's work on that 3 point shot before we start jacking them up in live games? Every single possession in college basketball matters. Gotta resist the urge because I'll bet money teams will bait him into it in the future. Love this guy though.
Christian Fussell - Rough first half. Still a young player for us and still developing. He tossed a few 3's up there too which had me scratching my head. Does he make those in practice? This guy was really touted coming out of high school so I've always expected more from him. Hopefully things come together more for him this year.
Camryn Weston looked good out there. Good handles, smooth stroke, and ended up with 3 steals despite only playing 20 minutes. That's great. I think Nick has to seriously consider starting him or giving him more minutes. I like him over Sims personally and I'm starting Weston if I'm the coach.
We shot well from the FT line tonight....81.5%. If we continue to shoot that well from the charity stripe we will win a few more games as 6 point underdogs. Conversely, we were 22.2% from 3. That's bad. That numbers need to be closer to 40% and ideally 45-50%. We have got to get better from 3 and it starts with our guards. I wish Elias King would figure things out because he's probably our best outside shooter of the bunch. As King alluded to, we did turn it over 15 times and only had 9 assists but we really cut those turnovers down in the second half which was key. It was an early season game and predictably a bit sloppy. Regardless, we will at least have a team that is competitive in almost all of it's games this year. That alone gives us something to be excited about and to look forward to.
What also caught my eye is the team overall is actually pretty young. We will only have 2 scholarship senior/graduating players that we lose after this year (Sims, Jefferson). I can see us taking our lumps this year, finishing around .500, and really making a push next year. If we could find a nice transfer guard or two for next year, we could potentially be a top team in the league. If we can reach that point and continue to cycle in the talent like Kermit did then Blue Raider basketball might not be so bad afterall. Long way to go though.
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Eagles Fall At Middle Tennessee Tuesday Night - Winthrop University Athletics
Murfreesboro, Tenn. – Josh Corbin and D.J. Burns Jr. scored a team-high 14 points each but Winthrop fell 76-65 at Middle Tennessee State, Tuesday evening.
winthropeagles.com
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Blue Raiders capitalize in win over Winthrop - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Havoc-creating defense and smart offense paved the way on Tuesday night, as Middle Tennessee picked up a big non-conference win over Winthrop,
goblueraiders.com
Was definitely an ugly game at times (especially in the first half), but Middle Tennessee definitely put things together in the second half and definitely flustered Winthrop with the defensive pressure. Good luck the rest of the season.
I’ll take it the win. Sounds like the players are lookin better. With young kids playing winter sports it’s hard for me to catch games during the week.
I think it's safe to say that Winthrop is our best win in 3 years. They were a tourney team last season with a 23-1 regular season record so that says a lot. I've been hard on this coach so we'll see how it plays out but to get a win like that this early, it says something to me.
Many have mentioned the bad shooting night, and I cannot help but think that we beat a very good team by 11 points on a bad shooting night. To me that shows us more than if we had shot 50% from 3. I also think we are finally getting to see why Dish was brought here. I am still very skeptical, but so far things are looking much better. Imagine if we had Jalen and Coleman-Jones healthy.
On another note, who thinks this could be the best team we will face before the Ole Miss game?
On another note, who thinks this could be the best team we will face before the Ole Miss game?
Great win! I think we're all cautiously optimistic.
SFA looks winnable on Friday. They are not the same 19-20 team that took down Duke. They do have a freak at Forward in Kensmil.
SFA looks winnable on Friday. They are not the same 19-20 team that took down Duke. They do have a freak at Forward in Kensmil.
I haven't seen or heard anything official, but I've heard from a couple of different people that he's out for the season.
Currently BPI predicts our record to be around 17-14 (8-10). We are obviously a very long way from that coming to fruition, but after the past few years I would be satisfied with that. Win a few you are not supposed to and that would be a 20-win season. Of course I think it is just as likely we don't win 10 games.
We just wore Winthrop down with our depth . not much difference between our starters and our next 5. We are starting 3 6th yr players. Our bench is young but very talented. I like our mix. Should be able to play 500 ball in our conference or better.
recap from the winthrop blogger
bloggingthewu.wordpress.com
Recap: WU @ Middle Tennessee
2021-22 Winthrop Men’s Basketball Season – GAME #3 Final Score: Middle Tennessee 76, Winthrop 65 Boxscore Winthrop’s first road game of the 2021-22 season did not go as hoped for …
bloggingthewu.wordpress.com
FWIW
winthrop visits vandy on Saturday
wtop.com
winthrop visits vandy on Saturday
Winthrop squares up against Vandy - WTOP News
Winthrop (2-1) vs. Vanderbilt (2-1) Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Winthrop and Vanderbilt look to bounce back from losses. Winthrop fell 76-65 at Middle…
wtop.com
Eagles lost by a similar margin at Vandy, 77-63.. not that it means a thing about MT but always a good day when WU loses!FWIW
winthrop visits vandy on Saturday
Winthrop squares up against Vandy - WTOP News
Winthrop (2-1) vs. Vanderbilt (2-1) Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Winthrop and Vanderbilt look to bounce back from losses. Winthrop fell 76-65 at Middle…
Winthrop dominated the boards, +15 was the main difference-especially as WU won the offensive rebounding battle 12-3
Burns finally avoided foul trouble and had 24 pts, 9 boards...
The WU win really boosted MT's live RPI.. and the WU game is now a NET Quad 2 win for MT.. MT just needs to keep working and take care of their business on the court.
IIRC about the range where we were during the early Davis years when I first started keeping up with RPIs.
I remember wishing for several years we could just get into double digits, then all at once with Dendy and the three JUCOs we stayed in the 30-80 range for several years.
Could it happen again? One can dream.
Rider gave South Carolina all they wanted yesterday. I think that will prove to be a quality win as well.
Same. When we got ranked it was pretty surreal. I think we can get back there, clawing and scratching.
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