DooleyBull06

How can one not be speechless and impressed after that win? Total domination and team effort. It will be hard to expect this every time out but this is what we are capable of. And if its not Harris, its Perk or CJ or McRea or you or me. That's how deep we are. And Oats keeps saying the freshman are coming. McRea - Quiet night as long as he does the little things we are good. We don't need to lean on him offensively so anything on that end is an added bonus. Harris - Finally blew up. Hopefully he is over his minor wrist issue and this will be the norm. Graves - Continues to blossom as a Soph. Double double. Yet another weapon. His development is what we can expect from Segu and Williams from year 1 to year 2. CJ - Dang near triple double. From the tip he took the role of PG when Jordan went out with injury. What more can you say about CJ who does it all and stuffs the stat sheet. Jordan - Dodged a bullet his injury wasn't serious. Quiet game as a result but came back and played effectively. Perkins - Was strong inside and out. Hit 4 3s and showed some nifty moves in the paint. He's one of our few bigs and we need him to play big. Caruthers - Strong all around game just look at the stat sheet. Spark off the bench and not afraid to drive to the paint and boy does he finish around the rim. No fear. He throws down dunks so hard I fear he may hurt himself. Segu - I feel like Rondo is making strides every time out. His weaknesses are obvious but they are correctable. His future is bright. For now though his role is to steal some minutes throughout the course of the game for the starters and facilitate the offense. I think Oats is realizing that you can't have both freshman on the court at the same time (defensive liabilities) and the best way to get the most out of Rondo is to have on the court with the vets. Williams - Still raw. He seems to want to do too much when he is out there. Almost as if he is trying to justify his recruiting rating. His best days are ahead. But if he settles in and embraces his role he can be useful. His cutting layups were great, that should be his game since his jumper isn't falling so far. Work in progress but he is the future. As with Rondo. Fagan - Here is a guy who should get more minutes. I know it was garbage time the last two games but he seems to be effective around the basket and not afraid to rebound. Bertram - Happy to see him get a bucket. He is what he is. But great credit to him for working hard and embracing his role. So much for being speechless. Lets keep building for March. We don't wanna peak too soon but boy was last night something.

I feel like the biggest challenge in this game is gonna be the noon start time. Its easy to be "sleepy" for games that start at the time. Hopefully the team comes out with the same intensity as we did against Toledo and end this game before it really begins. If we can avoid the let down (we did lose to them last year) we should win by double digits. We dodged a bullet with Jordan only dislocating a pinky, hopefully we remain healthy for the duration of the season.

Every night out it seems like you're gonna get rock fights. Its survive and advance mode for every team but us and its only January. We just gotta take care of business and avoid playing down to our competition or just thinking we can show up and be handed a win. I see teams that can give us a challenge but I don't see a team that is top to bottom better than us. Lets keep building and dominate. We don't wanna peak now but its hard not to be on such a high after last night.

If we can get 5k without the students just imagine in a few weeks once they return. And more importantly...just imagine how loud its going to be. Last night felt quiet until the 2nd half when the rout was in full effect. I want Alumni to be rocking and raucous from the jump. And it will be soon. I expect sellouts for the remainder of the season once students are back.

From what I saw against Ball State was Toledo’s defense is bad. Parsons was able to get to the rim at will. We have to exploit that. Against EMU we shot like 60% from inside the arc. The 3 ball hasn’t been falling with consistency this season so let’s take advantage on the inside. And yes defense is a major factor. Toledo can score so we have to defend and limit 2nd chance scoring. Rebounding has to be better. I’ll give us a pass against EMU but poor rebounding can’t become an issue.

I would have never wished bad for him had he transferred but this is the best outcome for all. He goes into the draft as a Bull. Which will raise our profile as a school. And he will get drafted. Hope he has a great combine and his stock sky rockets. I can see him right now being a 3rd round pick. But he has all the tools to get drafted higher. Especially in a “weak” QB draft.

No. But maybe keep a tab and if they accumulate to a certain number then it’s a game suspension.

I definitely think we are more athletic and have better foot speed than both teams

Credit Ball State’s defense in this one. But Toledo’s defense is atrocious. Ball St has been able to dribble drive at will. My fear is not that we can’t score on them but will our defense play well. Remember last years regular season game. But after watching this the blueprint is simple...Dontay and Davonta go get em.

I was just about to link this. Great minds.

Been saying it for awhile the heads of the conference need to raise the profile of the conference as a whole. That means continuing the uphill battle of scheduling better in the non conference. There is no reason why EMU should have 4 wins against non D1 schools. The conference heads also have to try to get some agreement with another conference for an annual head to head. Even if its only for 2 seasons (one home and home). And yes each individual school has to do better in terms of scheduling. If we can become a multi bid league that would be great.

The MAC is taking center stage tonight. There are really no other games on the slate and we are the only ranked team playing tonight. Good scheduling by the conference. Lets go boys!

Even lesser wins St. Francis won tonight. They were preseason pick to win their conference. Hey it all helps the metrics right.

Just goes to show you that if it wasn’t for an epic 3 point shooting performance (one that’s hard to duplicate) we would’ve had a chance. You just tip your cap but that game left me wanting another shot at them bc we all know Marquette can’t and won’t shoot 62% from 3 again. But onward we go. Play D and rebound and everything else should be alright.

Who would’ve thought a win against San Fran would be our “best” win so far? I’ve said this before and I’ll repeat it...from now until conference tournament time (aside from the few who know what we can do) the only time we will be talked about is if we lose. Hopefully the MAC is stronger that way it keeps us and the conference relevant. But my fear is that even if we win we will barely stay in the polls. And one loss will most likely take us out completely. All that said win the MAC tournament and leave nothing to chance. Oh and could Syracuse, WVU and SIU wins some games. How disappointing is WVU?

To your point they only have 2 wins against D1 schools. 2! We should win comfortably. I’m not gonna put a number on how much we should win by as long as we look sharp. Anything can happen within the conference and on the road but this should be a tune up game. Let’s make it a business trip and jump on them from the start and squash any hope they have.

We need West Virginia to win this game against Texas Tech

While their zone is modeled after Cuse I just don’t fear it. Yea it will give us a challenge but if we use our athleticism on the boards and get run outs we should be fine. Rebound and find the soft spots to attack. Given that a HUGE home game against Toledo next week looms I’m worried about two things...1) our defense. We have to keep getting better and play 40 minutes of lockdown defense. 2) the overlooking EMU trap game factor. Can’t underestimate it but I think given the time off we should be focus and itching to go. Hopefully this is a get right tune up game for the battle of the Mac’s best two teams next week.

Our metrics

Let’s just all pause and realize one thing...we control our own destiny. Bottom line is it all comes down to 3 days in Cleveland. We win the MAC tourney and we are in. We have proven we can compete with any team in America. Now we just run through the conference slate and build for March. Its nice knowing we control our own destiny.

I agree with you. However that was theoretically what the NET is supposed to prevent. While winning during conference play might not be enough there are other things we can do to keep our NET high. Such as our efficiency on both ends of the floor and margin of victory. While we don't have to blow out everyone by 50 we have to beat MAC teams by 10 and be more efficient doing so. That with winning should keep our number in a good spot. I think our peak NET ranking will either be right now or if we beat Marquette. Bottom line is lets not leave it in the hands of the committee, lets win the MAC tourney. That coupled with how we have looked so far should get us a top 10 seed (or higher) come the big dance.

One would hope. Remember last year when Harris came on strong during conference play. Also late in conference play when Graves started to play well and earn some minutes. That's what we can hope for with Rondo, Williams and Fagan to a lesser extent.

I think coach is just outwardly trying to temper expectations from the fan base. But in the locker room he has the team focused. I don't think for one second the team will come into this game and not give it their all and hang their hats on the fact that we beat Cuse, when this game will go a longer way to convincing everyone that we are for real. The reality is we aren't going to win every game but just don't suffer any "bad losses". Sad part is unless we lose to Toledo any loss in the conference is a bad loss. But for sure nothing has been accomplished in terms of an at large for March but we've laid the ground work. Tonight we can leave it on the floor. I think win or lose tonight the real test will come in late January early February when we have to fight against being bored by conference play.

This was a great article. Very insightful. Love Oats and his words and approach. Who wouldn't want to play for a coach like him. This article also gets me excited to see Rojas. He sounds legit. Does anyone else feel that in the days leading up to the Cuse game and with the win we got more exposure and coverage than when we beat Arizona? I feel like we are lasting in the spotlight longer now. Loving every second of it.

Each game we played this season had it's own importance for various reason. Examples, beating WVU to set the stage, beating SIU on the day we got ranked, beating San Fran to win a tourney, beating Bona and Cuse on the road to establish that we are kings of NY. This game is no different. This is the toughest and best opponent we will have played so far this season. Could be the toughest until March. This game will do more for us and our at large hopes and remaining ranked hopes that any other game. Marquette is clicking right now having beat a few top 25 teams already. As previously said they could win the Big East. A victory here will impress voters and the public more than the Cuse and WVU wins. I expect the guys to be a bit tired considering CJ played 39 minutes, Jordan 35, Harris 34 and Perkins 31 against Cuse. Hopefully Dontay doesn't foul out and he and Graves have bounce back games. If we can steal some minutes with the freshmen that would help too. Another test is another opportunity, no let up. Crazy we still haven't played our best game, this could be it bc I expect a more open free flowing game. Bring the defense and we will be right in it.