Bobcat Attack - Ohio Basketball - Random Thoughts on Lamar Game

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Topic: Random Thoughts on Lamar Game

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Chicken George

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Posted: 11/15/2011 11:57 PM

*Very fun and exciting early season game.

*DJ was solid tonight and I didn't mind the look he got to end regulation. Wide open 15 footer.

*Still like to get Offut more looks and in a postion to score more. My favorite player on the squad right now. Sooo solid all around. He was a bit quiet for my liking tonight.

*Welcome Stevie Taylor. Is this guy really a Freshman? Wow, he had a coming out party tonight and this is only game #2.

*Ricardo is making strides. He's one step away from being somewhat of a contributor and that's finishing.

*Like to see Jon Smith more confident on offense. He doesn't ask for the ball, position him self to get the ball, or even appear he wants it. Did a lot of nice things, but a bit soft in my opinion. Appears JG notices this too and does a lot of offense (Reggie) for defense (Smith) switches when necessary.

*The stat sheet showed we out rebounded and out scored Lamar in the paint, so my observation is not supported with statistics--but boy do we appear vulnerable inside. Afraid to see what will happen when we face a team with a strong inside game as we're going to have to man up to win these inside the paint MAC slugfests we may have later in the season.

*Still missing lots of bunny's inside with the big guys. Like to see them finish a little better. Also like to see Reggie and Ivo understand that they are allowed to kick it back out when they have it in the post. Saw a lot of last year--pause, dribble, back in, pause, dribble, back in--shoot.

*Looking forward to Baltic playing his A game. Been ok, not what I think he's going to be or was last season.

*JG appeared to have a nice rotation and I liked the way he spread out the minutes. Something we haven't seen early season in years past, but it appears he's got a much better feel early season than in years past. Would've like to have seen a little more Stevie Taylor (20 minutes) seeing as though he was so hot, but we've got a lot of guards all sharing a limited # of minutes, so I understand.

*Brazilians gave the OZone a nice lesson in what "roudy" is. Man were they great!!!!

Nice night!

LoganElm_grad09

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Posted: 11/16/2011 12:15 AM

Great analysis. We have the talent, that if developed, can be insanely tough to stop. It seems to me though that we are still tinkering with which combinations of players work better than others. We have streaks where we're unstoppable and some where we look average at best. Maybe it's due to youth though. I'm not positive; while I love to watch basketball, as far as knowing the technical stuff football is my forte. But when you rotate as much as us, this seems to be the case.

Attack U

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Posted: 11/16/2011 12:17 AM

Agree with you on this. To add some things...

1. Kellogg had a nice spurt, but was a non-factor after his 9 straight points.

2. Jon Smith seems like a nice player in our system, but I'm still waiting to see some off the ball plays for him. Kinda thought we'd see some flashy alley-oops from him, but it's still early so we will see.

3. Goard had a nice game. Nice to see Arkley tweet after that he immediatley was working on his shot after the game. Love the work ethic there.

4. Stevie...awesome. Let's get him some more minutes.

5. Keely needs to improve his mid-range game, but looked solid in the low post. Seems to be finding his niche in this offense.

6. Baltic was aggressive, which is nice to see. Missed some bunnies, but those will go more often than not.

7. Ric crashing the offensive boards is huge. Gotta finish though.

8. Offense wasn't really clicking yet, but Lamar's defense was solid.

9. Our team is QUICK. Love the rotations so far.

10. Timely shots = DEPTH! Finally!

TheRealCat

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Posted: 11/16/2011 1:55 AM

To add just a little more and give some of my input....

* We need to find a way to split the time between the 4 guards equally..Dj, Offutt, Kellogg, and Taylor are great in this league, and i dont think there is a MAC team with better weapons at guard or DEFENDERS!

* Great job of cleaning the glass on the defensive side, and very impressive on the offensive side! 18 second chance opportunities is alot of point potential, and only gave up 8 offensive boards.

* low amount of assists tonight. one of the main reasons why i think the game was close, that has to be turned around..although, the first game was fine, so im not worried.

* This was one of the best games I can remember us having from the Free Throw line in a few years it seems like, so i was very happy with that.

* DJ has been playing good, dont get me wrong, but I dont think he has found his groove yet, but that will come after a couple more games into the season

* Offutt didnt have a big scoring game, i know he had 13 but i felt like he wasnt as involved as he could have been. But he made up for it on the glass..great boarding game from him. Maybe he should be treated more like a Bassett a couple years ago

* Kellogg had a stretch where he couldnt miss, and another strong defensive performance out of him

* Taylor had a great game, and really stepped up when he needed to. The shot he hit to tie it up at 64 (I think) was unreal. It looked like he was a senior stepping up a few feet behind the 3 point line. He needs more minutes as he proved himself tonight, but i mentioned that earlier.

* Ivo played well, i though he might have forced a few to many shots, but a strong performance from him on the glass also

* Reggie and Ricardo contributed good, but both missed a couple "bunnies" that needs to be finished to be the team they are capable of being

* Tyquane and Smith have some developing to do i think, but it will come as the season goes on, hopefully. They have potential.

This team has alot of potential, and im excited to watch them the rest of the season. This could be a season to win the MAC regular season and tourny. I know everybody in here would like to go Dancing again!

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Doc Bobcat

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Posted: 11/16/2011 7:59 AM

Attack U wrote:expand_more

Agree with you on this. To add some things...

1. Kellogg had a nice spurt, but was a non-factor after his 9 straight points.

2. Jon Smith seems like a nice player in our system, but I'm still waiting to see some off the ball plays for him. Kinda thought we'd see some flashy alley-oops from him, but it's still early so we will see.

3. Goard had a nice game. Nice to see Arkley tweet after that he immediatley was working on his shot after the game. Love the work ethic there.

4. Stevie...awesome. Let's get him some more minutes.

5. Keely needs to improve his mid-range game, but looked solid in the low post. Seems to be finding his niche in this offense.

6. Baltic was aggressive, which is nice to see. Missed some bunnies, but those will go more often than not.

7. Ric crashing the offensive boards is huge. Gotta finish though.

8. Offense wasn't really clicking yet, but Lamar's defense was solid.

9. Our team is QUICK. Love the rotations so far.

10. Timely shots = DEPTH! Finally!

What he said.

shabamon

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Posted: 11/16/2011 8:11 AM

I was pleased to see Jon, Ivo, and Walter all "tear themselves and everyone around them to pieces for" rebounds.

Andrew Ruck

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Posted: 11/16/2011 8:17 AM

Not to sound like a Debbie Downer, but what would the mood of the board be if Lamar squeeks out 1 more point in regulation? We were that close to having a pretty bad home loss. I agree with many of the points but am not too excited with the results yet. Yeah it is early and we are still working on some things, but the same can be said for our opponents.

We didn't shoot particlarly well, and totally agree with the comments on missing bunnies. I feel like that has been a weakness for years...Seeing a guy elevate in the paint with no discernable reason why he would ever miss it, then watch it roll off the rim. Frustrating.

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oldkatz

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Posted: 11/16/2011 10:22 AM

If the goal tending call were properly made in regulation, then there would not have been overtime. Anyone recall the play? #33 swatted the ball on its downward arc.

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Bobcat Love

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Posted: 11/16/2011 10:34 AM

That wasn't goaltending. No way that ball was in the cylinder. I had no problem with the no-call.

whocaresgobobcats

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Posted: 11/16/2011 10:39 AM

Bobcat Love wrote:expand_more

That wasn't goaltending. No way that ball was in the cylinder. I had no problem with the no-call.

It doesn't have to be in the cylinder for it to be goaltending.

Bobcat Love

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Posted: 11/16/2011 10:42 AM

I realize, but it wasn't coming down, so I'm not sure what type of goaltending oldkatz was looking for...

shabamon

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Posted: 11/16/2011 10:53 AM

From my angle, it looked like the ball may have hit the backboard just as 33 touched it.

whocaresgobobcats

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Posted: 11/16/2011 11:12 AM

shabamon wrote:expand_more

From my angle, it looked like the ball may have hit the backboard just as 33 touched it.

That's what I saw.

OUVan

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Posted: 11/16/2011 11:26 AM

I didn't think it was goaltending either but didn't have the best view on the video.

I agree with a lot said but I also think there are a lot of areas that need to be improved.

--Our guards do a really good job of denying penetration but when they do get beat nobody seems willing to step in and take the charge.

--About 5 minutes into the second half we again stopped working the offense and it nearly cost us. Nobody seems willing to take a shot at times. We had a lot of really good looks the first 10 minutes of the game but couldn't buy a shot. That may have affected players willingness to shoot later. I was glad to see Walter Offut step up late in the game because he looked almost disinterested early.

--We have a ton of versatile talent but I'm worried about our toughness. Hopefully Smith or Goard can play the role of low post banger.

--With all the warts this was a big win against a pretty good team.

Ohio Pilot

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Posted: 11/16/2011 11:33 AM

I dont like complaining about refs....but that was a horrible no call on the goaltending. Very Obvious

OUVan

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Posted: 11/16/2011 11:42 AM

Ohio Pilot wrote:expand_more

I dont like complaining about refs....but that was a horrible no call on the goaltending. Very Obvious

There were a lot of bad calls in both directions last night. If we had lost this board would be full of complaints about the refs. Since we won we'll let the Lamar fans complain about the refs.

Ohio69

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Posted: 11/16/2011 11:47 AM

How about how long it took the guards to figure out they should pull up for shots instead of running all the way in to Lamar's stellar shot blockers? Finally near the end of regulations and in OT we saw some pull ups and tear drop shots. (The guys next to hated those shots while I loved them, even though several missed. To each his own I guess.)

Did anyone else think Rico Johnson did a decent job on #5 when he was in there. Seemed like the only Bobcat who could come close to covering the guy. I feel like Rico should be taking all of Hall's minutes right now.

Can somebody hit a pull up jumper for me?.....

UpSan Bobcat

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Posted: 11/16/2011 1:16 PM

Chicken George wrote:expand_more

*JG appeared to have a nice rotation and I liked the way he spread out the minutes. Something we haven't seen early season in years past, but it appears he's got a much better feel early season than in years past. Would've like to have seen a little more Stevie Taylor (20 minutes) seeing as though he was so hot, but we've got a lot of guards all sharing a limited # of minutes, so I understand.

I like the rotation, too. The way Offutt has rebounded, there's no trouble whatsoever with him playing the 3 even at just 6-3. Johnson/Hall back him up there, leaving Cooper, Kellogg and Taylor to share the 1 and 2 minutes mostly. That seems to work there, and I like the rotation with Smith, Baltic, Keely and a little bit of Goard (maybe more later) at the 4 and 5. By the way, Keely is off to a very nice start this year.

UpSan Bobcat

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Posted: 11/16/2011 1:20 PM

By the way, the Bobcat are shooting just 40.1 percent through two games but have managed two wins with defense and rebounding, which is great. They have forced 39 turnovers with only 22 of their own and have 34 offensive boards while giving up just 24. Start making shots, and I think they will, and they'll have a pretty complete package.

JSF

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Posted: 11/16/2011 2:00 PM

Remember, if we're missing a lot of easy shots, that means we're taking a lot of easy shots. They'll start falling. I just wish Ivo would GO UP with it instead of twisting and turning, but alas.

It seemed like we were getting killed on the glass, but we rebounded 75% of their misses and something like 45% of our own, which is very good. Funny how the eyes can be deceptive.

Only seven assists all night... unusual. DJ was bad in regulation (I actually thought they were better with him on the bench) and the man in OT. Even one of his ill-advised threes went in. Should have had more than three assists but he had good passes that were wasted at least twice. I wonder if that doesn't encourage him to shoot instead...

Stevie was great, but Groce was unhappy with some of his decision making. Is he a streaky shooter, or can he be a consistent scorer?

I think Smith is a defensively-oriented forward, which is just fine in my book.

Reggie and Ivo need to PASS THE BALL OUT OF THE POST when they don't have a good look. They don't have to try 84 post moves to create a shot.

Mike James is legit.

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shabamon

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Posted: 11/16/2011 2:21 PM

JSF wrote:expand_more

Reggie looks like he knows to give it up when he knows he has no hope. Ivo still tries to make something out of nothing.

Mike James has Rucker Park quicks.

OUVan

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Posted: 11/16/2011 3:04 PM

JSF wrote:expand_more

We would have had a lot more assists in the first half if anybody could have hit a shot in the first ten minutes. I thought DJ was pretty good the first five minutes but then was a non-factor for the next 20 minutes. I thought the same thing of OffUtt. The nice thing is we have options now.

I also thought the same thing about the rebounds. I remember towards the end of the game looking at the gametracker thinking they had probably passed us in boards. In my eyes it seemed like they were coming down with all the contested ones.

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Posted: 11/16/2011 3:50 PM

shabamon wrote:expand_more

Reggie looks like he knows to give it up when he knows he has no hope.

Especially last night, Reg looks like he's on the cusp of making a big leap.

stub

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Posted: 11/16/2011 5:59 PM

JSF wrote:expand_more

Reggie and Ivo need to PASS THE BALL OUT OF THE POST when they don't have a good look. They don't have to try 84 post moves to create a shot.

Yes, passing is not happening, but if it becomes an option, it should significantly impact scoring. The others players can help make this happen by working to find open space. And Reggie needs to quit bouncing the ball when he's deep in the post. Head and body fakes to complement going up with the shot is the ticket ( along with a passing option).

Brian Smith (No, not that one)

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Brian Smith (No, not that one)

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Posted: 11/17/2011 12:35 PM

I'm going to sort of miss his Keely's 2010 Old-White-Guy-At-the-YMCA post moves in a nostalgic way, though.

There was something about the persistence of him trying to back a guy down for 25 seconds of the shot clock that was equally astounding and depressing. It was like a car slowly but surely being driven into a lake.