That second half was so awful that I think we need a thread dedicated to talking about how bad OHIO basketball is right now. I don't think I've witnessed a worse half of OHIO basketball in many, many years. We looked totally inept. The bad passes, with no pressure, when we had a chance to cut into the lead were killers. The 3-point shooting that was as bad as our three-point defense was just horrendous.

And, I thought that non-p5 schools couldn't recruit 6-10+ guys who could walk and chew gum at the same time. Well it appeared that App State had at least two.

I like all of our players individually. They seem like really nice guys. Many of them seem to have a fair amount of talent, but as a team they are not really very good.

And, today, so far the MAC has won 7 and lost 4 to the Sunbelt. I believe there is one game remaining, in which CMU has and early lead 16-9, as I type this. All of the other supposed top MAC teams won -- Toledo, Akron, Miami, even Kent State. So, the MAC may be weak this year, but OHIO is not one of the top teams by any measure. Early in the season I thought this "team to beat" mantra about our team being the best in the MAC was pure hype, and now it's clear that I was right. And, I'm usually the cockeyed optimist. Something about this team just has never inspired me, and now I think I'm seeing in more depth just exactly why.

Sorry for the rant, but I just had to get this out of my system.

Copied from App State game thread:

I am so tired of hearing our coach say we get outbid for bigs. Appalachian State is finding a way to make it happen and so are many other mid-majors. We have now gone two consecutive seasons without a starting true “big” who can give us 25 to 30 minutes of solid basketball. We can’t compete for championships with the current recruiting philosophy.

I just think a lot of this season's teams issues are

1) The best player on the team is a soft, no-defense, stretch big - who when he is on from the outside is a match-up nightmare, and when he isn't is a net negative. Clayton most nights is either really good or really bad.

2) Boals runs a free-flowing unstructured offense that is predicated on having a "jack of all trades" elite PG (Preston, Hunter etc) who can break down the defense an either get to the hoop and finish/get the foul, or drive and kick to our open shooters. Say what you want about Paveletzke - and he's a tough kid - but he isn't putting this team on his back as that type of PG.

3) With the 4-out, 1-in philosophy you have to do certain things well. Limit turnovers. Gang rebound. Shoot the 3 well.

All things considered, we've been fine with the turnovers.
Our rebounding is terrible.
We've really struggled (from where we thought we'd be) shooting the 3. Sheldon (30%), Pavs (29%), Elmore (35%), AJB (37%), Hadaway (34%), Reef (38%), Clayton (39%), Elliott (46% now but on 5 makes, 2 today in the last minute).

This team isn't going to win the MAC with Clayton and Pavs being the "guys" unless we shoot the lights out. And we aren't.

Boals did recruit a big this year. In fact he recruited TWO. Searls and Evans. Evans was never going to play big minutes this year. He's going to need a season or two to develop. By his Jr/Sr years he'll be a contributing big in the MAC. We needed a backup to AJC this year - which Searls has filled admirably.

With both AJC and Searls moving on, I expect Evans to be a bench guy next year - means our starting big for next year isn't on the roster yet.

I’m tired of looking at other teams like App St and thinking “they’ve got some ‘dudes,’ I wish we had some.” If App St can get athletic, physical bigs (plural) in Boone, NC, why can’t we get at least ONE in Athens?

Interesting edit that a mod made of the title of this thread -- the word "bitch" was replaced by the word "complaint." I submit that "bitch" was an appropriate word. The meanings of the word in a reputable dictionary:

1. the female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammals

2. informal + often offensive: a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman

3. informal: something that is extremely difficult, objectionable, or unpleasant
Aspirin overdoses are a bitch to treat.

4. informal: COMPLAINT

It was pretty obvious that I was using definition #4 and not any of the others. So, why was the use of "bitch" in this context offensive?

Boals has won enough to be safe, but it isn't going to excite anyone. He has done poor non-conference. His team usually peak. Hadaway injury sucked the life out of this team. Searles is a backup big at best at this level. He is a 10 minute guy. My question is wtf is Evans doing. For all the hype this kid had he hasn't earned any playing and for good reason. He is a complete disaster on the floor. Boals can't play him. Nicol in year two also nowhere good enough to see the floor. Someone on the staff needs to be fired for the lack of development. We are 20 games in and Evans and Nicol are so bad Boals can't play them even after losing Hadaway. My guess is they are shown the door after the season and Boals hits the portal for legit division I players that can play now. The lack of improvement from James and Sheldon also reflect poorly on Boals staff. Boals needs to make changes.

Back in those days how many DI schools were there?

Billy, not sure what your point is. My point is simply I don’t think we are recruiting inner city kids or we can’t get them to Athens now…maybe because Athens doesn’t have a good mall. Schools like Northern Kentucky, Longwood, App State and many others… None of them were division one, but they seem to be passing us up because they are getting better players than we are.

And B2, who recruited him in 2019? And did our staff identify him as somebody comeing out of junior college that could be helpful?

Are you talking about a 6-10 clown who can shoot 3s, dunk like Trent, and is a great rim protector on defense? Yes, please send us that clown! ;-)

Not to sound as old as I am, but Jim Snyder was great at finding the diamonds in the rough -- in all kinds of places -- Corning, Portsmouth, Cincinnati, Xenia, Columbus, Cleveland, etc. And, he was good a coaching them up to their full potential. I'm not sure that Boals is as good as Snyder at getting the most out of the players he has recruited. I know that it's a different era, but even today some coaches are better at that than others.

One of the worst performances in a half I have ever seen in a game. How many passes did we just throw out of bounds? Elmore did not have a good game and should of sat. I understand why Clayton was in but he should of sat too. Some of the shot selection in the second half was questionable too. App St. had adjusted but we didn't.

I agree. I know he didn't get off to a fast start, but Captain Chaos was coming on before the injury. His value to what he brings can't be understated.