Wow!  What a fun game, until the end.  Like every contest with Miami, very competitive and tight.  To preface my observations, I have only watched this team on one other occasion, against Valpo.

1)  This was the first time I've watched us on STO, and overall, I thought they did a pretty good job.  Crowd looked great, annoucers were decent.  I look forward to more coverage (I hope) on this network.

2)  Our entire offense is Cooper.  He is phenomenal, and since 2000, I can't think of another player who was this important to our entire team, except maybe Jaivon Harris during his senior year.  Even when DVW or Freeman score, it seems Cooper fed them the ball.  Without Coop, we score 37 points a game.

3)  I'm impressed with TJ Hall.  I haven't seen much of him, but if this game is any indication, he will be a nice player.

4)  I'm 93% confident that the Love and Monroe could have played today, and fought each other for every single rebound, and they would have done a better job on the glass than anyone else on the floor.  We absolutely got crushed on the boards today, and holy hell, this was frustrating.

5)  DVW is a senior, and in 4 years, he still has not figured out how to not foul out.  Has to cause Groce headaches.

6)  I'll say it again, the crowd looked amazing on TV.  You could see the OZone hopping.  We should be dominating the MAC based on our fan support alone.  I'm not sure how any recruit who is deciding between a few MAC schools does not pick OU.

7)  Great job from the charity stripe today by our boys.  Anyone who follows this team knows that this usually kills us more than it helps.  Great effort.

8)  If I wrote this at the end of regulation, I would not have said one thing about Baltic, good or bad.  However, he was the MVP of OT.  Clutch on both ends of the floor.

9)  Officiating was bad, but really, in the MAC, they just call this 'normal'.  Not too much to complain about.

All in all, it is still apparent that the cupboard was left pretty empty offensively when Bassett and Coleman decided to bail.  The nucleus of a young and talented team is there, but this year will be extremely excruciating at times.  We need a big man, badly.  If we had a Leon or Tillman on this team, I think we run away with the MAC.  Tough loss, and unfortunately, that likely kills attendance for the rest of the season.

Last Edited: 1/9/2011 5:00:52 PM by Ozcat

If the 7 footer is going to sit for 55 minutes, we have a problem when 3 guys foul out. Where was Rico Johnson?

Yes - the offensive rebounding for Fiami was dominating. We were nowhere to be found.
 

Last Edited: 1/11/2011 5:10:19 PM by Jeff McKinney