MU men hoops vs. Wagner/post game comments
Make them here please..until at least I write my story. Thanks.
TG
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
TG
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
posted by Tony Graham at 6:23 PM
Thursday, January 04, 2007
About Me
- Name: Tony Graham
- Location: United States
If you have a moment please check out my Asbury Park Press blog at app.com. Just click on sports and then colleges. We talk about all MU sports..football, men's and women's hoops, soccer, the works...as well as local colleges in general. Thank you.
Previous Posts
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- Wednesday MU men's hoops practice, some boiling th...
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16 Comments:
Hawks played great tonight...Whitney Coleman! He is going to be a star over time mark my words. Delic played pretty well and Bunch played very well. Tony do you really think Hallet played that well? Im not trying to be nasty, but 7 points and 4 rebs should be what he contributes each game not a season best performance. Hawks defense was superb once again. This is a championship team. How bout Crews, nice!
Good effort tonight by the blue and white. Coleman, Delic and Youngblood were definitely the players of the game, and its always nice to see Hallett contribute. Bunch was his usual butterfinger self but did put up some numbers in the second half. In his defense, he also guarded Wagner's Ulrich pretty well.
I was also glad to see Crews got some playing time...NOT. The hype over this kid gets on my nerves sometimes because I feel that he is going to be nagging problem for the next four years.
Again...I'll check on Rickie Friday when I talk to Dave. I may be ultra conservative here, but I believe in attempting to hear all sides of every story.
I understand what you're saying about Corey. There were about a zillion directions I could have gone.
But, when you're sitting there on a deadline, you just have to make a choice and go with it.
Hallett had a nice second half and since he has been struggling this year, I thought it might in order to write something about his game tonight...his second promising outing in the last three.
That was a strong move he made for a layup to start the second half. Why he doesn't do that more often is baffling. He's quick and athletic. Sometimes I don't think he realizes his potential in the post.
And yes, it would be nice for MU fans to see Corey do this most nights.
Maybe this game will continue to help boost his confidence....hey, better late than never. He could be such a factor if he becomes more consistent.
I thought about Whitney, too (excellent night) and Jhamar, who had a teriffic all-around game, and Bunch, or even the blindfolded kid chasing the money.
It was that kind of a game.
Bunch...don't underestimate his impact in most NEC games and he did shoot 4-for-4.
He blocked four shots and Wagner had 12 turnovers. I'll bet he influenced about 3-4 of them as guys traveled and lost the ball underneath, and I counted at least three shots he changed.
I agree, why are people so harsh on Bunch around here? I hear it in the stands all game too. You know what, he gives you what he is going to give you. He's 7'2 and 340 folks. If he were athletic, agile, and had great hands, he wouldnt be at MU! He is a solid contributer and im tired of hearing people bash him all the time. By the years end he will be giving you 9 points 5-6 rebs and 3-4 blocks. To me, that is a solid solid NEC center playing just 20-25 minutes per game. Im not even a huge fan of his, but it is really baffling to me. Anywho, GO HAWKS!
I have to say one thing, I feel bad for Corey Hallet. The kid is a very hard worker and has a lot of potential that unfortunately hasnt been reached. BUT, he has played very well the past few games. In the stands however, fans almost snicker when he does something positive, as if they are shocked or baffled how he did somethigng well. About that I have this to say...Very very few HS athletes go on to play Division 1 basketball, let alone at a very very good mid major team like MU, and be a two-year starter. All those in the stands harassing the kid and mocking him, I dont think you realize how difficult it is. Cut him a break huh, he's working very hard and hes a solid kid.
"very good mid major team like MU"
give me a break. I love this school as much as the next guy, but I dont talk crazy like that. Without the MAAC we're always going to be just another "pretty good" small school from the northeast.
The defense is back tony! All hail Jhamar!
-joe panski
Well joe, I dont know who you are or what your affiliation is to MU, but they are mid-major. They do lose games some times that they should win, but so does every other mid-major school. They are at the top of the NEC year-in-year out lately, and have been to 3 out of the last 6 NEC tournaments. As well, they play the toughest non-conference schedule each and every year in the NEC. Let me recap some of the impressive wins over the recent past: Vanderbilt, Southern Illinois, Princeton (several times), Loyola Marymount, Akron etc. There were some very solid wins back in the early-mid 90's before the dpression years but my memory is not great right now, I know they beat UCSB when they had Doug Christie, and also beat Miami with Tito Horford. Even solid mid-major teams have ups and downs as well. How about some of the very close games the past few years: South Carolina (who won the NIT last year), Rutgers (beat MU in overtime), Clemson down to the wire this year (Clemson 14-0 and #18 in the nation; Oliver Purnell said MU plays the matchup as well as anyone hes ever coached against), Villanova last year (MU played them very tough), and so on and so on. No other team in the NEC can say this, Period!
That should real 3 out of 6 NCAA tournaments, my apologies...
Tony, what is your feeling on this?
MU appears to be offcially considered a "mid-major" program (thus am not sure what a "low major" is)..as FDU was ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 last season by collegeinsider.com.
Truthfully though, I would generally consider MU and the NEC "low D1" college basketball..not to say low D1s are not capable of upsetting "major" programs as MU history would attest.
And I, personally, would also tend to rate MU and sometimes the NEC in the "mid major" class depending on the ability of the teams.
For instance - MU '96 NCAA team I, personally, feel had "mid major" qualities and the same for MU when Alex Blackwell played.
But, overall, I would have to consider it low D1, in my opinion, and that's all it is.
DISAGREE! Their RPI is consistently in the between 100-200 if not higher, as is their strength of schdule. How do you account for that? Thank you!
It's my opinion on ldvel of caliber of basketball..but I am going to run thougb collgerpi.com arhcives in a moment..but first..new blog topic on "Phantom sighting II" coming shortly..
I only say this b/c there are 330-some teams now in D1, and right now MU is around 200 in RPI and even lower in strength of schedule, and should they continue to play well, boht these numbers will continue to decrease, well RPI and ranking anyways, not strength of schedule. But, with this said, I think this serves as making MU, NOT THE NEC, mid major, aside from the good wins and some near great wins. Thanks Tony.
First off to the anonymous response to joe panski, MU has never beaten UCSB; they defeated Doug Christie's Pepperdine Waves on behind Alex Blackwell and (now Coach) Dave Calloway. Secondly, "officially" all conferences not considered to be the 10 major conferences (the 6 BCS football conferences, plus the A-10, C-USA, Mountain West, and the WAC) are classified as mid-majors. Some of the high conferences, likely enhanced by their media outlets (no offense, TG), unofficially further distinguished the bottom third of conferences as the "low-majors" in an effort to maintain a steep hierarchy of the conferences.
Anyway, that was a good win by the Hawks, and they should be ready for an exhausted Mountaineer team on Saturday. Go MU!!!!
Next to last poster there - above mine - very nice post.
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