Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: Official Game 16 Thread: Western Michigan
Page: 3 of 3
Pete Chouteau
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Pete Chouteau
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Posted: 1/13/2013 2:40 PM
From my seat, Hawkins looked like he had us exactly where he wanted us down 7 with about 9 minutes left. And I reluctantly agreed.

The entire interior had foul trouble and had to play tentatively on defense. TJ Hall played great minutes out of position against bigger guys and held up fairly well.

I would say the officiating was just awful, but I've never watched Western play under Hawkins without the game being rendered unwatchable. So I'm starting to think it's a product of style over referee incompetence.

I don't wanna turn into the sunshine and lollipop brigade, but folks gotta recognize that this win is significant. It's the 18th all time at Western, which joined the MAC in 1947. We got sucked into playing their game, and beat them at it.

All in all, I'm fairly gruntled.
JSF
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Posted: 1/13/2013 4:47 PM
Western has traditionally been good about imposing their will on opponents. They want to make the game physical and ugly. When you're in their house, it's really tough to avoid that. Please consider the context of the game when making assessments. I am pleased that we won a game that was less about skill and strategy than grit and physicality. Sometimes winning ugly is really pretty.
bornacatfan
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Posted: 1/13/2013 10:52 PM
JSF wrote:expand_more
Western has traditionally been good about imposing their will on opponents. They want to make the game physical and ugly. When you're in their house, it's really tough to avoid that. Please consider the context of the game when making assessments. I am pleased that we won a game that was less about skill and strategy than grit and physicality. Sometimes winning ugly is really pretty.


WMU is all about muddying up the game. How many times in the last 5 years have there been altercations and chippy play when facing them? ANd that is just us....there are a number of other teams that go through the same thing with them. They call it "toughness" and "physical". II find it just bad basketball. Their coach, their fans ....especially the morons in row 3 right behind our bench and their players all reflect that penchant for liking it rough and tumble.

Teams in the bIG WHATEVERMANY like Purdue, Wisky and Minny do the same while teams that really work on individual skills, fundamentals and technique get roughed up and are taken out of their game. I never have liked the way that game is played.
Monroe Slavin
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Posted: 1/14/2013 12:51 AM
Okay, so now I'm getting educated about the WMU.  Two questions:  How come no one mentioned that before the game?  And, if they play that way in Athens, what results do we usually see?
bobcat2nc
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Posted: 1/14/2013 11:48 AM
bornacatfan wrote:expand_more
Western has traditionally been good about imposing their will on opponents. They want to make the game physical and ugly. When you're in their house, it's really tough to avoid that. Please consider the context of the game when making assessments. I am pleased that we won a game that was less about skill and strategy than grit and physicality. Sometimes winning ugly is really pretty.


WMU is all about muddying up the game. How many times in the last 5 years have there been altercations and chippy play when facing them? ANd that is just us....there are a number of other teams that go through the same thing with them. They call it "toughness" and "physical". II find it just bad basketball. Their coach, their fans ....especially the morons in row 3 right behind our bench and their players all reflect that penchant for liking it rough and tumble.

Teams in the bIG WHATEVERMANY like Purdue, Wisky and Minny do the same while teams that really work on individual skills, fundamentals and technique get roughed up and are taken out of their game. I never have liked the way that game is played.



I also feel more educated about WMU basketball.  Throughout the early part of the game I thought WMU demonstrated a lot of aggressiveness (pushing with hands, hips, etc) that seemed more than the usual.  It certainly seemed that OUr guys were out of their comfort zone.  

I am not certain how that style of play translates into more fouls for Ohio unless it us because we start playing the same way and are not quite as "practiced" at it so the physicality is more noticeable. 
JSF
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JSF
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Posted: 1/14/2013 2:20 PM
Monroe Slavin wrote:expand_more
Two questions:  How come no one mentioned that before the game?  And, if they play that way in Athens, what results do we usually see?


I mention it often in my articles for MAC Report Online and occasionally on Twitter. To the second question, last year's game was an ugly grinder as well.
RSBobcat
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Posted: 1/14/2013 11:34 PM
WMU seems to have always been a physical play type team. I strongly remember hating the Handlogten brothers back in the early 90's - always played tough/physical games. Even Trent did not intimidate them - though they prolly got more bruises than he did...........
athena
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Posted: 1/15/2013 8:52 AM
I remember Western always playing a physical game too, back to the Donewald days.
bigtillyoopsupsideurhead
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Posted: 1/15/2013 1:13 PM
Western Michigan plays so physical that they don't send kids to the NBA. They send them to the NFL: http://www.colts.com/team/roster/Joe-Reitz/445b8918-c5ad-...
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