Joepa's MAC Hoops Preview

[akatdrake]

Great post JoePa! Thanks for the insight.

Backing Nittany's post - starting out my season 0-4 isn't any fun! Let's rawk the MAC!

[joepa66]

Basketball seems to come along at the right time.....at the end of football and between the lull before bowl season. I start out slow with the number of plays I make, but after bowling it's full throttle. Really expect Kent, Miami, and Ohio to make some noise in the East and the others will be very competitive as well. The West has WMU and CMU but unlike other years no dominant big man in the middle......

Let's put the ball in the hole baby!:thumbs:

[MiamiSportsFan]

BOWLING GREEN
LAST YEAR: 13-18 overall, 3-13 Mid-American Conference.

THE SKINNY
After 10 seasons with Bobby Knight act-alike Dan Dakich leading the way, the BGSU breaks new ground on with head coach Louis Orr. Last year, the Falcons fell short of expectations in the strong MAC East Division. In Dakich's last two years, the Falcons regressed with records of 9-21 and 13-18. Orr, was 100-80 mark in six seasons at Seton Hall.

Guard Martin Samarco led the MAC in scoring @ 19.5ppg, but he wasn’t enough to salvage the Falcons season as they finished the conference season with a 3-13 mark. And this year, BG won't have Samarco to lead them this year. The Falcons also had trouble stopping teams, allowing 68.9ppg.

The cupboard won't be bare as juniors Nate Miller and Ryne Hamblet return. Miller had five double-doubles last season, including a triple-double. The 6-4, 225-pounder averaged 14.1 points and 7.7 rebounds last year. Hamblet, a senior 6-5 guard, started 20 games last year and finished third in team scoring at 10.4ppg and led the Falcons in assists and steals. Hamblet is the only senior on the roster, which has six underclassmen.

The Falcons didn't load their first month with heavyweight contenders. Games against Cincinnati and Temple will be good tests, but Bowling Green can gain some confidence with a favorable non-conference slate.

STRENGTHS: Nate Miller has the potential to be one of the best players in the Mid-American Conference. Ryne Hamblet is a versatile player ready for a big senior season.

WEAKNESS: The Falcons will struggle early in the season determining their roles. They won't rely on Samarco to bail them out. Finding dependable team leaders is important.

NEWCOMERS: The Falcons have two new recruits. Joe Jakubowski, a 6-2 guard, is a local kid and Cameron Madlock (6-8, 200) is expected to help the Falcons in the frontcourt. Redshirt freshman Chris Knight should receive valuable off the bench.

KEY Pre-MAC GAMES: The Falcons have a good early-season schedule to help build some steam for the rugged Mid-American Conference. The Falcons travel to Cincinnati and host Temple in late November

Good preview - I'm a 2006 BG grad, played against alot of these guys throughout my years. Dead on with Nate Miller - he's a great talent on both ends, think a poor man's Ron Artest, he's too big to put a smaller guard on him, and too quick to put a post player on him. And like Artest, he's a head case - his attitude might be what keeps him down.

[joepa66]

Kent State Earns Impressive 77-71 Win Over Hampton
Courtesy: Kent State Athletic Communications

KENT, Ohio — After a season-opening one-point loass at Detroit on a last second three-pointer, the Kent State men’s basketball team began its run at a 10th straight season with at least 20 wins by defeating preseason MEAC favorite Hampton 77-71 tonight at the M.A.C. Center. Sophomore guard Mike McKee (Plum Borough, Pa / Plum) had a career-high 16 points to go along with five rebounds while junior forward Rashad Woods (Houston, Tex. / Lee College (Tex.) bounced back from rough first game to score 16 points, including four, three-pointers.
Kent State (1-1), who led by as many as 18, hit 9-of-20 three-point attempts while shooting 48.9 percent from the field. As a team, the Flashes dished out 16 assists and consistently broke a tough Hampton (1-2) full-court press on its way to 26 points in the paint. They also connected on 24-of-33 foul shots for 72.7%, a vast improvement over last season’s team average of 62%.
Senior forward Haminn Quaintance (Sarasota, Fla. / Jacksonville Univ.) scored four of the first six points and added an assist as KSU came out of the gate strong with a 6-0 run in the opening minutes.
After an 8-4 Hampton run that pulled the Pirates within two (10-8), Woods buried consecutive three’s to give Kent State an 18-10 lead that they would never relinquish.
Coming off of the bench, junior forward Julian Sullinger (Columbus, Ohio / Fork Union (Va.) Military Acad.) came in and scored six points as Kent State went into halftime on a 6-0 run up 30-19. He would end the night with eight points, two rebounds and a block. Hampton shot just 25 percent (7-for-28) form the field in the first half.
In the second half, Kent State came out of the locker room firing threes. McKee hit two and Woods connected on another in the first five minutes that propelled an 11-4 Golden Flash run to open the half.
Despite the Flashes long-range exploits, Hampton cut Kent State’s 18-point lead down to seven (68-62) after a 18-7 run with 1:57 left. However, senior forward Mike Scott (Indianapolis, Ind. / Northwest) would connect on four late-game foul shots to preserve the 77-71 win. Scott, who hit 10-of-11 foul shots, finished the night with 14 points and six rebounds. The Flashes shot 52.2 percent from the field in the second half. Vincent Simpson led Hampton with 22 points.
Kent State will continue its three-game home stand Sunday against Coppin State at 2:00 pm

If you care.....and go to kentstatesports.com, the game picture on the left with the dunk by Isaac Knight with the game story link below it....that's me in the front row behind the bench sitting by the bearded man....

[pitch21]

Joe what do you think about Toledo +9 at ODU and Akron -25 tonight? Akron seems like alot of points. Nice pic by the way

[joepa66]

:drunk: Is what I was before the game.....LMAO!:thumbs:
Almost looks as if I have a comb over....:laughing:

I looked at the Rockets and like that play......Akron guard situation is up in the air and they lost their leading assist man and 3pt. shooter from last year along with their big man....that line is very inflated in my eyes....

[Shamrock]

Lets have another good run this year Joepa!!!:beerbang:

I've managed close to a G so far, i'll try and keep it going........

Sham..........