BASKETBALL OOC record update

[ewglenn]

This was amazing to look at. D1 only:

Hofstra 22-8 W
Montana St 19-10 W
Belmont 19-10 W
SFA 17-10 W
Murray St 15-13 W
Chattanooga 15-14 L
Missouri St 14-14 L
St Bonaventura 13-15 L
Winthrop 13-16 L

 

[BRaiderDave]

Is that coaching?

 

[ewglenn]

The bottom three loses were true road games. I think that just shows we do not handle opposing crowds well. Neutral site and home games we’ve done really well. Who that’s on? I’m not sure…

 

[MTFAN61]

Think at least 1 road victory could be very helpful to the team's mental conditioning going to Dallas. Even though we lost at Western due to terrible D, the guys shot the lights out there. And we also had a great game at La Tech. So there is a chance, & would love to see an effort like that at UTEP. Combining the momentum of an end of season road victory along with the upcoming neutral site tournament could make MT a very formidable team. Look forward to seeing what happens

 

[dukewayne]

It's the same team that just beat #1 in C-USA and #25 in the country that also lost to the worst team in the conference. I mean UTSA is dead last in C-USA and it's not even close to the next team in the standings. UTSA has won only one other game in conf.

It's called discipline. It's called toughness or mental toughness. It's the old school stuff that doesn't always sell so easily especially in the transfer portal era. It's the intangibles that make the difference on the road. Identifying the problem isn't that hard. Of course, implementing the solution is the problem. Instilling discipline and toughness is hard work each and everyday. It's the daily grind of consistently getting focused and ready to play even if you just spent 6 hours in a bus. It's the focus and effort of consistently playing hard on defense in front of a hostile crowd despite the fact that your shots aren't falling in a new and strange gym or arena on the road. That's the hard stuff. Identifying the problem is the easy part. Heck, any ole guy online such as myself can identify it. The hard part is instilling it and living it when the lights are off and no one is watching.

CNM has assembled one of the most talented rosters in the conference if not the most talented roster in C-USA. The talent or potential is there to compete for 1st in C-USA even in this stacked season. The talent and potential is also there to be a Top 25 team. I think to realize that potential, there still has to be a lot of development particularly in the areas of discipline and toughness. If not, I expect to see big wins continue to be offset by seemingly inexplicable losses, just like we have all season.

 

[MTFAN61]

Don't disagree with you at all. In fact totally agree with you concerning lack of discipline & toughness we encountered playing in true road games this past year. The Winthrop loss, the total destruction at Missouri State, & of course at UTSA were very frustrating. Even the big turn around loss against UNT at home can be thrown in there. That one I put more on the bench for disrupting our momentum, but overall our home performance has been very good the last 2 years.
So, it may be with a mixture of hope & fingers crossed for our possibilities in post season. The positive take is the tourney is at a neutral court site. Our guys seem to perform pretty well when not at true away game arenas. With the intimidation factor being removed they're just plain better. Once again, remembering our solid play in Canada. If we can get those 1st game jitters out of the way in Dallas & grab a victory you never know how things may develop. Anyway, with this year's past history I won't be destroyed with an opening game loss. As you mentioned it's certainly a possibility, but hopefully everyone will agree it's more enjoyable to go into a tournament with some high hopes rather than expecting the worst before we even begin.