It's almost too easy to see who has just hopped on the bandwagon and who has a more realistic perspective on Ohio Men's Basketball and the MAC in general.  When JC was still at Kent they were the class of the MAC, I believe they swept us in our matchups from 05-07.

Akron has accounted for our 2 MAC losses this year, they have a great team and are performing well.....as much as I dislike Dambrot I believe he is a solid coach.  Look at Akron's success over the past few years, very similar to ours without the tourney wins.  Are any of us clamoring for Dambrot as our coach?  Of course not, JC is essentially Dambrot 2.0 or 1.5 (depending on your opinion of him), we are always going to be in a great position to reach the tourney with JC at the helm.

The loss last night was a gut punch for sure, I did not think Akron would be able to take us down in our own building.  Like others have been saying, March 16th is the only matchup that really matters (assuming we make it that far).  We win that and we can let Akron and their handful of fans enjoy the bubble talk.

I wouldn't say at all that our guy's are lazy.  That's silly.  I do agree that I don't see the max effort out there as I watch (while allowing that the effort may be there but doesn't show up well via tv or webcast---but I doubt that).

Medler's analysis of Marshall's game and the way 'kron uses him is spot on.  He's got the kind of game that you can anchor a college team around.  Defense at the rim--never a bad thing.

bornacat is a screen moniker and not a real name?  I did not know that.

Duke lost to Virginia tonight. A Top 5 team has lost to a non ranked team NINETEEN times this season. We're frustrated because our last 4 losses have been to teams with an RPI of 35 or better and we're not even close to being ranked.

We finished last season with 8 losses, we'll likely finish this season with 9, 10 at the most. There have been some disappointments this season, but let's not lose perspective.

Yeah, your "stale offense" which has led the NCAA in assists for most of the year.  The "stale offense" which has led the MAC in scoring this year.

I am frustrated because we have yet to win a game that we weren't supposed to, a couple times being completely EMBARRASED. That did not happen last year. Sure we lost more last year, but look at those losses, with the exception of the somewhat bad loss at E Michigan(by 13), we were in every single game and all were tough losses, even the game @ Louisville.

Never once last year did I say, "wow, that was a total embarrasment". This year, I've said it 3 times.

That's why I'm frustrated.

I am frustrated because we have yet to win a game that we weren't supposed to, a couple times being completely EMBARRASED. That did not happen last year. Sure we lost more last year, but look at those losses, with the exception of the somewhat bad loss at E Michigan(by 13), we were in every single game and all were tough losses, even the game @ Louisville.

Never once last year did I say, "wow, that was a total embarrasment". This year, I've said it 3 times. 

This is my point exactly. Another poster commented about getting lucky. When you are playing within five points or so of your opponent, luck can win you a game. When you are being blown out by twenty points, luck won't help you. From where I sit, last year JG had this same team in position to win games against the better teams that JC so far has not. Something was lacking this year against those better teams. I was confident going into the MAC tourney last year, and the NCAA, based on how competitive the team was against its best competition, and figured a bounce here and there could be a win. This year, not so. I just hope JC and the team  learn something from the second Akron game, and perhaps watch  some tape from last year's home game against Akron.

Sometimes 'the chalk' wins. Thats why 'the chalk' is The Chalk. Thats life. 

I'm sure that was sarcasm.

Wasn't it?

What happened NC? I thought BG was a lock to beat us yesterday.

Yeah, the team we were last year lost at BG.

I believe the defensive plan is largely the same as last season. Hedge high on ball screens in order to push a team further away from the basket...rotate, rotate, rotate. BG did a decent job in spurts, but failed to do anything after some minor adjustments Ohio made in the last 10 minutes.

Teams that have a Big that is mobile and can hit the 15 foot jumper are difficult for the defense to handle.

I don't particularly like it, but it was nice to see Ohio's defense vs. BG not hedge as hard...this took BG out of a few looks. The problem is if the Ohio defense sinks, they are opened to all sorts of mismatches. 

This is nothing different from last season. Teams with size (especially at the guard position), do very well against Ohio's defense. 

These are just match up exploitations. Akron is a match up problem...so is Kent. Lots of big and moveable pieces on the court that are hard to rotate against.

We're getting nothing from our 4 on the floor (either end of the floor...especially defensively)...Baltic is hardly a factor sometimes...overplays help...gets lost. Ohio can't go 4 guards against Kent and Akron because it takes the best perimeter defender we have (WO) and puts him in the post. 

Anyway...if you want to watch how Ohio defends ball screens, you'll get a pretty good idea to the continual looks we have developed over the year.