This is what drives me nuts about this board sometimes.  ANYTIME we lose, football or basketball, the whole board goes nuts and claims that our program has no focus, has no purpose, and we might as well just fire all of the coaching staff and go "clean slate" and hire a whole new crew. Even though we are one of the best in the conference, it's never good enough.

I just don't understand it.  Maybe I just try to look on the bright side of things...

Couldn't agree more!!!!!!!

G-a-r-b-a-g-e.

It is quite reasonable to expect his senior heavy team which returns all but one guy from last year's Sweet Sixteen run (and which actually added a couple of guys) to play well consistently.

That has not happened.  In our toughest challenges, not many good performances.

We got destroyed tonight.  Not many open 3balls on offense and not much else to turn to.  Big surprise; they doubled DJ a lot (at least for first half).  Where are the other options?  Our hedging D got worked--Belmont's excellent ball movement and spacing on offense (notably unlike our poor spacing) tore us up for a ton of open looks at the rim and from 3-point land.

Reasonable to expect a run like last year's?  No.  Reasonable to expect better than we've seen...better than getting schooled on national tv like tonight late in the season.  Probably.

This isn't 'Groce goggles.'  It's more a game after game experience of 'what's going on...where's the consistent good play?'



this will draw your fire...but it's correct.  last week's W over kents was a thriller.  but, reflect.  their record is not that good, they are not that good though better lately.  but this was a home game in which we led by about 15 about 5 minutes into the second half--and it took a highlighter in overtime to win it.  sorry; it should'be been won in regulation without the last minute being a huge sweat.

Embarrassing performances like last night always bring out the doomsayers.  We all had very high -- maybe unreasonably high -- expectations after last season.  We have so much talent and experience on the floor, it's hard to imagine that they shouldn't go out and win every game.  But I think the team is still trying to find chemistry with the coaching staff.  They were used to Groce's style as a coach and teacher, and really had a connection with him.  They don't seem to be making the same connection with Christian.  Not that either coach is right or wrong, better or worse.  They're just different, and the team as a whole doesn't seem to be quite plugged into him as a coach and a teacher.   

+1

We will win 10-14 MAC games every year under Christian & will be the premiere program in this league.  I fully believe that. He did it at Kent with far less resources.  Now....will that transfer to NCAA success?  I don't know.  Going 0-for in non conf road games is not promising.  But under JC we will ALWAYS be a favorite to make MAC title game....and our odds of multiple NCAA tourneys are good.  This year is as frustrating as ever....but 11-1 in MAC & still alive for regular season title is pretty good.  Just hope we show up in Cleveland....take care of business.....and get a favorable draw like last year.  Lets be honest....if not for drawing UM & USF/Temple winner....Sweet 16 might not of happened.  So much depends on draw.

Go Cats.... F Up Akron

And if Christian was out there yelling and screaming at these guys the board would be filled with, "he needs to shut and get out of the way.  These players went to the Sweet Sixteen last year and he is getting in the way."

Another thing to bring up is matchups. Here are the three wins that landed John Groce the Illinois job:

Georgetown
Michigan
South Florida

I will fully give him the Georgetown domination, because I thought going in that was a terrible matchup for us. We shot 57% from three and 58% from the field. Those numbers will win you a lot of games. That game was played at a high pace, but we did give up 83 points. You don't win a lot of college games giving up that much to a team that runs the Princeton. It wasn't quite the efficiency of Villanova against the Hoyas in 1985, but it was close when it comes to just how easy we were scoring. This is what I feel the most legitimate tournament win we have had in this recent run, and it might have been the greatest offensive performance Ohio Basketball has ever had.

The Michigan game was an unreal draw for us. As soon as that game was announced, many shared similar thoughts that we would win this game. Before the Georgetown game, most were just hoping we weren't going to get embarrassed. I don't even think we played all that well, but Michigan just looked flat from the beginning. Again, credit is deserved, but that Wolverines team seemed to hit a wall. They missed some pretty good looks, and then made some bonehead plays down the stretch.

Finally, the South Florida game was ugly. I know the Bulls had a nice record, but they played offense like converted football players. No one could shoot, they couldn't really score period, and Ohio was good enough defensively that just an average offensive outing would win the game. Seriously though, if a team wins shooting less than 40%, that means their opponent was not very good.

Now let's look at Christian and see what landed him the TCU job:

Pittsburgh
UNLV

In 2006, Christian's team looked like they were ready for a tournament run, but, as is the case with many non-power schools, they have to shoot well and hope their opponent isn't equally as hot. Kent State didn't get that, as they shot 39% while Pittsburgh shot 67%. Do defensive schemes and such play a role in that? Maybe, but Pittsburgh was clicking in that game right from the beginning.

In 2008, Christian again has to fight through a terrible shooting performance from his team (36%). Yes, that's right, neither one of his tournament teams have eclipsed the 40% mark. UNLV didn't play all that well either, but they came away with a convincing win.

Both of those teams heading into the tournament were solid offensively. Sometimes, shots just do not fall. Sometimes, they do. Is that the difference when it comes to getting a chance at a big school? Yes, it most likely is. Tim O'Shea was heating up in coaching circles, and a win against Florida could have very well landed him a Big East job.

If NBA All-Star David Lee isn't there to catch an airball and put the ball in the basket, we could have pulled off the win against Florida. If Armon Bassett didn't find a way to stay eligible long enough to put together an unreal couple of weeks, we never get that shot against the Hoyas. If, if if...my main point in this very long and drawn out post is that a lot of these coaches at the end of the day are fairly similar. They have strengths and weaknesses, but luck and hot shooting nights dictates their fate quite a bit.

If we get in the NCAA tournament this year and shoot under 40% from the field against a solid team, we will lose by double-digits, and it wouldn't matter if Hunter, O'Shea, Groce or Christian was on the sidelines. An undersized team, which Ohio will be against a marquee school just about every time, has to shoot well for tournament success.

This overreaction to tournament wins is crazy, because in my opinion it tells more if you win consistently during the season. The tournament you just have to hope that everything comes together at the right time. You cant just flip an on and off switch. Christian is a couple of hot shooting nights in March away from being the toast of the town. Don't mess it up for him Nick Kellogg!

Even though this same team did not play consistently last year either? The sweet 16 run we still that same team.

Seriously?  Exact same team with one more year of experience and more consistent, better play this year is not to be expected?

LOL, awesome stroll back in time!!!

Ture.  But also true is MAC very weak and same team as last year but one more year of experience, so reasonable to expect better than last year as far as regular season goes.

An example could be 'kron is about the same players as last year but is better this year.