Treg Setty and Tony Campbell should never, ever be allowed to shoot 3 pointers.

Reverse jinx always works!

Jim Christian was hired when John Groce left to go to the Big10. I agree that his personality was probably not a good fit for Ohio but the current situation is not just due to JC but to the situation that existed. In his first year recruiting was limited because of trying to get kids to come to a team where their playing time would be limited cannot be easy. That is not to excuse the guard selection for the next year but there is often a gap after a team loses what was a full cupboard because playing time is more important to some kids than blending into a system. JC left for, what he must have believed to be, greener pastures. We saw a number of pretty good recruits change their minds after he left. Who knows what this year would have been with those recruits. It is hard for many of us here to think of BC as greener pastures than Ohio but most people outside of Ohio Bobcat fandom would probably believe that to be true. I, myself, have a hard time thinking that going to Illinois is better than staying at Ohio but that is just my green blood talking. I don't know either of the previous two coaches personally so I still root against Illinois and BC.

My point is simply that to put the blame solely on JC is unfair. It is a systemic problem as the MAC is seen as a stepping stone for many coaches. Coaches leave and the program suffers because recruits change their minds and it is too late in the recruiting season to get the best. Those recruits who are available after the NCAA tourney are not usually the top recruits. Saul Phillips said he is here for the long haul. I hope that is true but when he leaves I will probably think he is abandoning Ohio too.

Sorry but I don't agree with this at all. What has hurt is losing two coaches in two seasons. But I don't think the program is damaged at all. We are just in a transition period. I look at what Saul Phillips brought in this year and I'm pretty excited. RT and Laster are really good gets. We've clearly got some pieces that don't fit what Saul wants to do so that will hamper us this year. But I feel that the guys that will be here after this year seem to be figuring out what they are supposed to be doing.

Now if we could just get a certain someone to stop dribbling into trap after trap after trap.

This team could turn out to be just fine by the end of MAC play, who really knows, but right now I'm not liking much of what I'm seeing. Just looks like a bunch of parts that don't necessarily work well together. Some random thoughts so far:

*We're terrible defensively. Why anyone would settle for a jump shot against us on a regular basis I'm not sure as we cannot stop penetration and offer little help side assistance. I really think this team needs to zone-up at least periodically, if not most of the time.
*At the same time, we get few easy looks and it seems most of our shots are tough jumpers that you can't depend upon night in/night out.
*Setty reminds me of Ivo in that his stuff may work against MAC level teams and lower, but doesn't translate against high competition. Be an energy guy, but let's avoid 3 pointers and trying to create stuff off the dribble. Ends up being wild, out of control stuff.
*Intitially I thought Mo was the kind of guy who would average 20+ ppg and could carry a MAC team--obviously I was wrong. He's talented and has all kinds of potential but not a game changer. JC once told me that Mo is not great enough of a ball handler or shooter to dominate on the perimeter and not strong enough to dominate in the post, hence he's just above average all around.I didn't agree with his assessment then, but realize now he was probably correct. Very good player that we need on this squad, but not a game-changer that's putting this team on his back.
*As noted, Ryan Taylor is going to have a real nice career at OHIO and even Laster looks like he's going to contribute for 4 years. Moving forward, these two guys along with Campbell appear to be the only assets we have going into next year. I'm not sold on any of the other underclassman as anything more than role players who need a bunch of assistance.

Not giving up on this team as it could come together and we could be decent. There certainly are enough parts to have a nice MAC team. But I honestly see little up-side potential for anything special this year. Do the best you can and then hope they guys coming in next year start a new run that has more promise.

Lack of consistence has been an issue. I may be in a minority but I think Bean is contributing as much as anyone. At times he does force things that aren't there, whether a bad shot, a forced pass. I sense he might be trying too hard. One thing jumped out from yesterday's box score .. Bean leads us in rebounding with 8. Mo with 1 rebound (sure he had foul trouble). I think it will be tough for Bean to play PG and also be looking to get his shots. It's almost a contradiction trying to play both PG and shooting guard at the same time .. something has to suffer.

Borna nails it although I think he's being kind. Another thing that frustrates me about Bean is his lack of movement/spacing when the ball isn't in his hands. He caused a couple of turnovers yesterday that weren't credited to him because he didn't make an effort to give a big a good passing lane after they were stopped on a drive. I like to spend some time in every game watching a player for about ten straight possessions up and down the court. You learn a lot about a player doing it. Nick was a joy to watch last year in this fashion. Treg is fun to do this with as well although he's clearly no Nick. But he works hard every possession. I suggest everyone do this for Bean and then tell me what you see.

CGeorge, borna and Van hit it right on the nose.

Espec re where this team is strong and weak, Bean bringing a lot of plus and minus, and a good way gauge a player's game.

That was also my point. It is a systemic problem for programs OUr size. Many coaches us us as a stepping stone, frequently causing a shift that upsets the balance that existed before. As an aside, itlseems that the goal of obtaining post-season success (ala JG) is counter to the goal of perpetual MAC dominance (ala Akron) when it comes to keeping coaches at a program of this stature.

its not a matter of coaches moving on or not moving on, its the rare expediency of which the moves happened. If JC is to get any of the "blame" it would be because he left after only 2 years.

I don't agree that its an either or proposition of JG vs KD, I think you can have both.

If we were 10 and zero right now we would be in the dance as an at-large.

If we were 10-0 right now guys with 71 in their screen name would be telling us all to not get our hopes up because with a SOS of 149 and at least 18 games to play in a conference with a SOS ranked 25/31 that if we lose 1 game we'll be out of the at large talks.