It is December 10th and any chance of an at large bid is out of the window, After returning and All-MAC PG and the MAC Player of the year and a top MAC Newcomer. The seson is nowhere near over, but some doors have already closed and it is only December 11th.

I thought KK was going to come in and work on his versatility. How can you be a solid 6-8 and hate going inside?

Jeff, I completely agree with your post. Some of these posts are simply "nattering nabobs of negativism."

Back away from the ledge. Back away from the ledge.

It's a road non-conf game in December. As much as some like to think, it does not matter. The only way we get to the dance is winning in Cleveland. If we stumble a little on the road early and learn from mistakes and failures that pay off in Cleveland, I'm perfectly fine with that.

We hear this every pre-conference season and I couldn't disagree more. Every game matters, from November through March. Otherwise, don't play them.

I do agree that the players/coaches can learn from losses, maybe more than from wins. But if Ohio is as good as some on here think they are, or at least hope they are, then the Cats should be winning games at Iona and Marshall.

Had we beaten Iona and/or Marshall, we still would need to win in Cleveland to make the tournament. That's the bottom line. So, how consequential are they, really?

And keep in mind, our darling Sweet 16 team lost 5 conference road games. The world is not ending.

Absolutely. Based on most of the rants in this thread, you'd think the Cats went to Iona and lost by 25. I obviously watched I different game. The game that I saw definitely left something to be desired at the end, but to say this team was "poor" simply isn't the case.

There appear to be some old issues on defense sometimes, and the free throw shooting, which will get better, was a factor in this one. The one that seemed odd to me was how they seemed to get away from running offense in the scoreless stretch. I'm not great at analyzing things like that during a game, so I didn't note what Iona might have done to affect them. Running the offense and working for good shots is something that seems to be a strength of this team, so it was odd to me they had that drought.

In my opinion, this one came down to a few decisions that didn't go well at the end. Coach leaving Tony out for that crucial stretch, and Simmons forcing the long pass under a minute in a one possession game that ended up causing a turnover. If that pass connects, Tony gets a dunk, and all the negative posts aren't here.

A lot has been made about Saul keeping AC on the bench during a crucial stretch. I actually don't blame him at all for jerking Campbell out.

Go back and watch the second half

AC was relatively ineffective...spent most of the time whining to refs about not getting any calls in the post.

He was 2-7 FGs....his last bucket with 8:52 left. Was 0-2 FTs. Had two turnovers....and five rebounds.....but only two in the final 10 mins (both defensive)

He missed a layup that resulted in him getting frustrated and making a terrible, lazy foul on the rebound for his 4th foul. That's when Saul pulled him. Came with 4:28 to go.

Saul kept him on the bench for a whole 1:38......where Iona outscored Ohio 2-0.....and Iona had two offensive possessions and Ohio had one.

I wouldn't exactly fault Saul for that decision. And I definitely wouldn't say it really cost Ohio the game. This game was lost more when AC was on the court, rather than when he was off it.

This is supposed to be the MAC player of the year....a potential NBAer.....the star of Ohio basketball.

Jordan Washington was the star that was the court for this one....including 13-18 shooting for 30 points.

Those are the type of numbers you'd expect from your star.

I'm guessing from Saul's postgame comments...

"I'm more disappointed in how we lost. I'm mad. I'm flat-out mad."

"I don't expect that out of a veteran group."

...that he probably is pretty disappointed with how his star performed with the game on the line.

I'm not saying the season is lost...or that Ohio is terrible. But that game was very disappointing and doesn't provide a lot of hope that this team is ready to compete when things get tough. There were a lot of mistakes highlighted in many of the above posts that need to be corrected if this team is going to win the MAC (and even think about competing on an NCAA Tourney level)

I think everyone had high hopes for this team....but maybe they just won't live up to the pre-season hype. So far it appears to be headed that way.

For all the talent on this team....stuff like Saturday should not be happening.

I agree nobody should be jumping off a bridge just yet. But after Marshall and Iona...there is plenty of reason for concern and questioning just really how good this team is.

This. QFT.

Marshall scores 56 points in the second half v. Ohio. Iona scores 45 second-half points v. Ohio.

Players and coaches have been preaching how much work and focus they've put into improving the defense but we're still seeing some of the same troubles that plagued the team last season. Can't allow that and expect to win against average teams, home or away. This team will go as far as its defense will take it this year.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda....on to tonight's game, and then to Saturday.