As well all know, Toledo is terrible, the lowest-rated team on our schedule by many ratings. Worse than Norfolk State and worse than St. Francis (PA), teams that we had beat by halftime. But then again, Central Michigan wasn't rated much higher than Toledo, and the Rockets do have surprsing wins against Western Michigan and Valparaiso. Then again, both of those were at home. Toledo hasn't won on the road and has had only two single-digit losses on the road, none of them in the MAC.

So what makes Toledo so bad? Well, just about everything. They are in the 300s offensively and defensively. They are one of the absolute worst teams in the nation at committing turnovers. They don't block any shots and get blocked almost more than any team in the country. Their shooting percentages are horrible. The only thing they are good at is that they have shot way more free throws than their opponents. Too bad they make less than 63 percent of them.

Malcom Griffin (6-4) has become their go-to scorer at 13.4 ppg (and 16.4 ppg in MAC play). He's actually shot quite well and has averaged closed to 4 assists per game in MAC games. After him, Reese Holliday (6-4) has averaged just under 11 ppg, but his shooting percentages are terrible. He's made 3 3-pointers all year. He is their best rebounder at 7-plus per game. Jay Shunar (6-1) is the third guard. He's shooting 23 percent.

The forwards are Delino Dear (6-9) and Hayden Humes (6-8), but neither of them are very thick. They average less than 5 rebounds per game each in MAC play and both are shooting around 40 percent in MAC games, which isn't what you want out of forwards.

Zach Leahy (6-0) has started in place of Shunar the last few games, not that he's doing a lot better. 42% on 3s, but he only makes about one per game and his overall shooting percentage isn't good. Anthony Wright (6-6, 260) actually seems to be their best shooter off the bench. He's made 32 of 79 (41 percent) on the year, but he averages less than 3 rebounds in 20 minutes. Justin Anyijong (6-9, 205 but he looks less than that to me) has played rather sparingly this year. He's shot in the 20-30 percent range this year, but he was their second-leading scorer last year and scored 20 against us.

An interesting stat is that Griffin is first in the nation and D.J. Cooper second in assist rate. He assists on 48 percent of his teammate's field goals while he's on the floor. If Toledo made more shots, he'd probably could have a lot of assists. But more than that, it just shows that he is their playmaker.

I think we match up pretty well against this team. I'd really like to see a win by 20-plus points.

Last Edited: 2/10/2011 8:23:48 AM by tdcz756

The team has definitely improved lately in identifying offensive opportunities and making the right passes.  Against NIU, that meant getting the ball to our post players.  Against Toledo, that meant our post players getting the ball back out to the open perimeter shooters.  Gotta also give some props to Tommy and Nick for knocking down their open shots at a very good clip against Toledo.

Passing looked extremely crisp vs. Toledo.  This wasn't just because Toledo isn't a good team. 

Also, I'm seeing some positive evolution in D.J. Cooper's game.  He's always stuffed the stat sheet, and his assists, steals and rebounding have always been exceptional for a PG.  However, what I'm noticing now is that DJ is working on another part of his game...his own shot selection.  Seems that he has taken a step forward in making the right decisions on the floor even more consistently than before.  As his assists totals show, he's always looked for the open man.  Now I see him taking that to an even higher level.   

Last Edited: 2/11/2011 12:12:57 AM by tdcz756

Last Edited: 2/11/2011 5:08:34 PM by Monroe Slavin