I know people will point to the 25 wins as a great accomplishment this year, but in the end, who did we really beat? The epic stumble to the finish line is impossible to erase from the memory bank. There truly is nothing remarkable that stands out from the win total. . . .
I have to agree with this. As I said in another thread, this was in some ways my most disappointing season as a Bobcat basketball fan. We have had years when we truly stunk, and we had low expectations which we met. We've had seasons of mediocrity, when we started that way and ended that way. We've had some truly great seasons and seasons that looked not so good but then we peaked at just the right time. I can never remember another season where we looked like a sure-fire MAC regular season champion and then ended up getting creamed by the really, truly good MAC championship calibre teams.
In hindsight, we appear to have been a real imposter. I think what actually happened was that we were rather one dimensional and when other coaches had tape on us they could neutralize our offense by effective guarding and double teaming of Sears and BVP and not paying a whole lot of attention to a few of our other players. I'm hopeful that some of our incoming recruits and maybe a good transfer or two (replacing a few outgoing transfers) will make next year better.
I truly believe, though, that if we still had JP, with his ability to distribute and make even the weakest teammate look better, that we might still be dancing at this point.
Let me add that I'm not down on Jeff Boals. I think he's an excellent coach. He just doesn't yet have the recruits he needs to lead us to the promised land. Have faith. Ohio will get there under Boals. Go OHIO!
No doubt about it Ohio Cat Fan, had Jason still been with us, I think we could have made some serious noise in the Big Dance. Mark was thrust into a point guard role that was not his forte. It took a while (thankfully) but once coaches were on to the fact, he got double team which caused him to pick up his dribble etc. For all of his frenetic pace and play, Jason had a calming effect on the team. It seemed we didn't have a true floor general out there this year, which will happen. Everyone's personality is different. Honestly, I felt before Jason left we could compete with the 2012 team for a deep tournament run. Alas, it was not meant to be, it is hard for all the stars to align for Mid Major teams. There's always next year.
It's hard for me to nitpick on Sears who was First Team All-MAC and averaged 19, 6 and 4 but it's the 4 that sticks out. Four assist per game with a 1.2-1 assist to turnover margin is FAR from what a point guard should be doing in this offense. What we truly missed was Jason's drive and kick ability. Mark got caught in the trees too often. Add in that we had only one reliable outside shooter in Tommy late in the year and it is disastrous. I love Miles and BRod as omplimentary players but neither is going to create their own shots. That's why I would love to see a bigger point guard brought in to allow Mark to slide into the wing a bit. And with AJB and EJ3 I think we have two guys who can create their own shots.
My final dig on the year is the strange lack of playing time for Adelodun, Ezuma and Clayton. I know AJ got some time but even in blowouts these dudes sat the bench. How are they not getting time? Adelodun showed spurts. Ezuma showed spurts. I don't know if it was a loyalty to Carter and BVP or what but dang, I think Adelodun could have done what BRod did this year except he's 6-6 and long.
Good post. Another thing Jason did so well was orchestrate the pick and roll to perfection. Whether it was with Doug his freshman year, Sylvester, or Dwight, it worked so well and so often it was poetic. We ran a little pick and pop stuff with Vander Plas, but I'm having trouble remembering a single successful instance of pick and roll to the basket all season.
I'm not so disappointed in the lack of or waning playing time for the three freshmen. Rarely did BVP and Carter get into foul trouble nor did they appear overly fatigued for the most part, so if we're trying to win games and our best forwards are good to go, roll with them. Ezuma essentially replaced AJ as the season wore on, but I did not see the bouncy Devaughn Washington/Doug Taylor hybrid that I thought we were getting based on IJ's Hargrave tape. Adelodun had a steep learning curve after sitting out of competitive basketball entirely during the Covid year. I'm surprised we saw him at all. I think all three have all-conference potential in time.
From a personnel standpoint, I see two keys to winning this thing next year:
1) Chemistry between Sears and Wilson. Dwight is a very good MAC center, but he is not Leon Williams or Tony Campbell. He does his best work getting into position for a high percentage shot when he doesn't have the ball and being fed at just the right moment. Preston was a magician working with Dwight, and I don't think it will be that tall of a task for Mark. Some good stuff between the two in these clips -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKws2Io-LYw 2) A lot more consistent scoring needs to come from the group of Miles Brown, Roderick, Towns, Adelodun, Sheldon, AJ Brown, James, and throw in Lukas Frazier if he returns. It'd be cool if two or three of those guys emerge as double digit average scorers, but it can be by committee too. We averaged 74 points per game and the group of Brown, Roderick, Towns, Schmock, Adelodun, Mcday and Frazier accounted for only 22 points per game. Can that get above 30?