Now that we are at the season's mid point along with some conference play I thought I would give my assessment of the team.
As of 1/17/2016;
1)It is becoming clear that there is a lot of improvement that is needed.
2)There is a big difference of the level of competition between our OOC schedule, 9-3 record, and that of the MAC, 1-3.
3)Playing on the road continues to be a problem, conference record so far 0-2.
4)Our D is suspect, we just can't seem to stop people.
5)Player consistency on O needs improvement.
6)We continue to find ways to loose, last night it was through fouling. Other games it was with turnovers.
7)Weak bench play

My predictions for the balance of the year:
1) With 14 games remaining, 7 home and 7 on the road, I project our road record at 2-5 and at home 3-4, which would yield an overall record for the year at 15-15.
I am not making any comments for the conference tournament as I don't believe we would get very far at all.

A look at next year;
1)Basically the team we have is what we will see next year. This remains a concern as we really only have 1 point guard, the most important position in the college game.
2)Can we improve if we still have the same players? Maybe.


GO BOBCATS

Maybe that is a question for the Bobcat Caravans. May just be to get home games. Hard to get comp to the Convo. Not sure about the whys but going to the Sprint Center in KC to get P5 comp may not be such a hot idea after all. Early tourneys get a chance to see some bigger comp if you win vs Fl St and such.

This thread is kind of funny. We all bad mouthed the guys playing non D1 comp who have beaten us (I guess those teams prepared them). The low level D1 teams we played had to be as good as those non D1 teams so we should have been as ready as we could be. I think it is just a matter of the MAC competition being much better than anyone (fans, coaches and players) thought it would be.

Although some will blast me, I continue to believe success is built on getting MORE BETTER players to Ohio (my same old story from football). Once there, a good coach can coach them up. Our problem so far, just like FB,is I am not sure Saul has gotten as good or better players than some of the previous coaches. Looking at the new Frosh, I am not sure we get to the promised land with them. But, I know, the jury is still out and time will tell. .

Why are we still debating the schedule so much? I think in terms of who we played, it wasn't nearly as bad as it's made out to be compared to the rest of the MAC.


The only thing in the thread thus far I agree with is the concerns about a 1 slash 2 guard after Simmons and Dartis. I'd hope that's part of the recruiting effort come April. Would Culver help a lot with that if they could get him?

I'd also speculate that the odds are there that someone not getting the PT they'd like will transfer. I could be wrong, but it just seems more than 50/50 it could happen. If so, that opens another scholly. If not, the five frosh are gonna get better. I don't doubt that, and that will make a difference.

I agree, getting the crap beat out of you doesn't make you a better team, but it certainly MAY make you worse!

One personal example is back in my high school FB playing days when we had a pre season scrimmage with Cincinnati Moeller (the good old days when they were one of the top 5-10 in the country). They gave us the proverbial old butt kicking and I mean a bad one...I can't even remember and don't even wanna remember the score. We had a decent team returning that year but after that experience we were never the same and lost any and all confidence. I won't even mention our final record but I do believe had we not scrimmaged them we would have had a somewhat better record!

I am kind of ambivalent ...I think you need to play a good club in order to assess and point toward excellence. Going up against a North Carolina, Florida, Maryland, all make you better and set a benchmark. Butler, Zags, Shockers, X have all set their benchmarks and took on aggressive schedules in order to move the program forward. YOu can't be a sacrificial lamb but you need to mark progress and assess. This year the schedule had to be soft to get a new coach and a new roster experience. THe flip side is 2012 should have been a tough schedule as those players were then end of a recruiting cycle.

Need to play some tough-competition games. The idea in this is not to get thoroughly whupped. That would be pointless. The idea is that we probably lose, perhaps somewhat decisively. But we get experience playing at a high level.

I think the women in the NCAAs last year vs. Arizona State (right?) lost in part because ASU wasn't all that much better than us...but they were used to playing at a higher level of competition.


I'm a combo of green kool-aid and realism. Without having seen any of the action...so, with only reading stats and comments here, I'm predicting that we're quite good next year, absolutely contending for the MAC championship.

For the guys complaining about playing some competitive games, let's put this to bed a little. We've played 4 teams in the RPI Top 150 (FSU, Tulsa, St. Bonnie, Marshall), plus FGCU, who would have been expected to be there at 182.

Are Florida State, Tulsa, St Bonnie all bad teams? Yeah, the rest of the schedule was a pretty weak schedule after Marshall, Tennessee State and FGCU and the three top 100 teams above. So 6 of the 12 non-conf games were solid, the rest weren't even close. How many more "tough" games do you all want? Two? Five?



http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/sort/RPI





I can get behind this concept as well.

When you play a better schedule it helps you recruit. Do you think that better players want to play against better comp or weaker comp? In the Snyder era we played as many as 5 Big Ten teams in a year. Look at those schedules and those teams. I know it's a different era but if you want to improve you can't hide from good competition. If we have to go on the road, so be it. If you do it consistently you'll see the results.

Five is not realistic. I think playing three Big Ten teams or WVU or Pitt on the road every year would be good.

We differ. I'm not playing anybody in their gym without them being willing to come to mine. The exception is playing in a Senior's hometown. I'll be happy to play those three in a neutral setting. Give me a home and home with Northern Iowa or UMass.

I agree with you Van to a certain degree. I'm perfectly fine if Saul would choose to play two road games at "P5" schools every year, or someone like Gonzaga, or UC, Memphis, etc. Some of them could be a great excuse for a road trip!

Past that, I agree next tier conferences like MVC,MWC, A10, AAC. CAA, Summit, Horizon, C-USA, Ivy have a bunch of teams that would be good games as well where home and home is more likely. The key some fans need to remember is OUr program also has to be in a position where we aren't an RPI drain on the opponent just like we say about schools on our schedule.

Looking back at old schedules. 2011-2012 was an interesting year, given where the team ended up. Clearly, it was challenging enough to test the Bobcats for the postseason. A Sweet 16 trip proves that. Very tough road schedule and pretty soft home schedule.

Home games against UT Martin, Lamar, Arkansas St., Morgan St., Marietta, N.C. A&T, Kennesaw St., Robert Morris, UNC Asheville

Road games at Louisville, Marshall, Oakland, Portland, Wright St., N. Iowa

This is the kind of road schedule I'd like to see again moving forward. Maybe a couple upgrades on the home slate from this.