If there is a positive to losing in basketball it’s that no one goes undefeated. Would’ve been a nice win for sure. Should’ve been a win. It wasn’t though. A lot to build on. They looked like trash most of the game and nearly had it. DW3 is a beast. Outside of that…. pretty underwhelming/awful performance by all.

Only got to watch the second half. Looked like really sloppy ball until the about the 9:00 minute mark when we started to make a run. We had a lot of ball hog ball before that run. Toward the end we seemed to be passing more and getting teammates better shots. I think it'll take a little time for this team, with so many new parts, to develop good chemistry. There flashes of that at end. Too bad AJ's clutch shot turned out not to be the winning shot.

After having a chance to sleep on it, I'm feeling incredibly optimistic about the season. Have to imagine that our offensive flow will improve. Decision making will improve. Lineup decisions will change (like the idea to go with three freshmen to blow the 15-6 lead early and give them momentum for the next 15 minutes of game time). And, we have yet to see AJ Brown.

Losing to a deep three at the buzzer hurts. The kid made a shot. Like someone else wrote previously: just gotta tip the cap to a shot like that.

It's gonna be a fun season.

Happy to see DW3 back in form. Beast

Tough loss for sure considering we had it in our hand. .3 seconds to inbound a ball and call a time out seems far fetched but, it's not exactly the Trent Tucker Rule or anything so, who knows?

I didn't have a problem with Brod's play at the end. His guy fell but, with that little amount of time, it's hard to make that switch. The Belmont guy hit a Vander Plas special...

Actually pretty happy with our play. Devon will need to hit more of his shots if we want to beat the better MAC teams. 5 of 16 probably won't cut it. I'm sure he already knows it. Dwight was the man and should get lots and lots of looks. Surprised he only played 24 minutes or so... Keep him rested and at his most effective performance level.

Couple of thoughts by some other posters were right on in my opinion. Belmont's shooting percentages were lower than they will be for the rest of the season but we couldn't take advantage. Also, the run Belmont made in the middle of the first half with our new guys in did hurt us. But, it's a great experience for the young guys to get singed by the fire. We will see how they respond...

Next up, Cleveland! Go Bobcats!

Thoughts from the game other than the ones already stated:

- 17 boards between Wilson and Clayton. I will take that every day of the week. IJ returning will be important as it adds another true big body to the mix

- No assists from the bench. That will need to change, esp since there is not a true go-to scorer coming off the bench at the moment

- When AJ returns, having 2 seniors come off the bench will be helpful (assuming Miles goes to the bench and becomes the 6th man), esp if one of the starting guards gets in foul trouble

- I am surprised we didn't see more of Adelodun in this game. In a game where it was clear that Belmont had more length overall, he seems like the player that could have helped, esp when you consider that it is his 3rd year in the program.

- Ballhandling really seemed like a struggle for us most of the game. Maybe I have been spoiled with having guys like Cooper, Simmons, Preston, and Sears over the last decade, but I cannot remember a game in recent memory that we either lost or nearly lost the ball because of sloppy dribbling or failure to secure a pass as I saw last night. I am sure some of that is first game of the season jitters and will clear up over the course of the year, but it was frustrating to watch.

- Sheppard is a great player. His length and quickness at PG is impressive and I think was the key to the game. We don't have anyone that can match up against that. I will be curious to see how the rest of his season goes and whether, as a 6'6" PG, he gets some NBA looks

- Tyson looks like he is going to have a bigtime freshman season for Belmont. Here's hoping we can get a big season from one or more of our freshmen.

Got this vibe a little bit as well. I have more faith in the current staff working with Baker than I did when Saul took over and had Bean.

Tuesday morning thoughts:

1.) I'm sure Boals has regrets up 15-6 and then going down 18-6 with three true freshman on the floor. Can get away with that against UC-Clermont, but not on the road at Belmont in game one. I get a two minute run, but not a five minute run with these guys on the floor. That truly was the difference in the game.

2.) We put no man on the passer under the basket with 1.4 left to get the ball to half-court. That was a mistake.

3.) Whiz then is on the passer with 1.1 left but did nothing to distract the pass to Tyson.

4.) Adeledun barely hit the floor. If he doesn't play much this year, then when?

5.) Baker/Hunter: 8-25 from field. We can't beat Akron, Toledo and Kent with those numbers.

6.) Hunter needs to develop into a facilitator. Can't go through games where he only has one assist.

7.) The shooting form of Hunter and Baker make J Preston's release look like Pete Maravich.

8.) Still think he made a defensive blunder on last play of game, but good to see Brod make some clutch plays in the last ten minutes...including rebound that set up what should have been Clayton game-winner.

9) Ball-handling was a disaster. Too many TO's that led to transition points for Belmont.

10.) DW3...my god...what a beast. I think he'll have a chance to finish top five in FG% in country this year. His two missed shots was a block from an impossible angle and then a 3 footer. Guy is a true warrior. We can't lose him at all this year. Stay healthy big man.

11.) AJ Brown. Can't wait for this guy to get in the mix. Would have been a difference maker last night.

12.) Take care of business Saturday against Cleveland State and let's move on officially from this one.

Still a tough one to accept the morning after. My thoughts:

-I don't see the Bean Willis comparison. We brought Baker in specifically to be a scoring guard option. When all was said and done with our departures following last season, the clear need was someone who could create his own shot and be a primary scoring option. Many people on this board concurred. When Devon Baker pulls up and clanks a three with 25 seconds on the shot clock, then we'll talk.

-The Baker/Hunter duo is going to take some time to gel. Remember that Baker wasn't available for the Spain trip.

-I thought Belmont got away with a lot of jersey grabbing and other swiping contact especially against Wilson in the paint. This is just one example, but look at what all Dwight had to deal with without getting a call: https://twitter.com/OhioMBasketball/status/15897946718445...

-I hope Clayton has added something in his offensive game other than being a spot shooter. Post ups, mid range, drives. Didn't see it last night. He has at least seemed to improve his rebounding.

-The turnovers were disconcerting, but the worst are the ones where we secure a defensive rebound, then try to throw the outlet to a guard cutting up the floor, only for that pass to get intercepted before the ball even gets to the frontcourt. It's careless amateur level basketball and it happened a couple times last night.

-I was expecting worse from Wiz based off the Capital report, but he at least looked serviceable. The spin move and off hand shot he made looked good and he had another nice move that got called for a travel that I honestly didn't see.

Spot on. With his length, needs to show a post move and a baseline 8-12 foot jumper game. I honestly can't remember the last time he scored in the paint making a move. It's usually off an offensive board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsVMo8o9ocQ

I was expecting Hunter to be that guy. Hopefully everybody got the nerves out of the way and will play with more conviction moving forward. I think we came out tense and pretty much played that way the whole game. We should start to see them gel a bit more moving forward.

I also thought we looked pretty gassed, especially in the first half.

We'll see how the season shakes out (how good Belmont really is) but I walk away from that feeling like it was a difficult way to lose but there's a lot to feel good about. I'm more encouraged than discouraged. So many new pieces, first true road game, and we fought back at the end and were less than two ticks from a W.

On to the next one.