With roster issues, we've had every excuse to have a hiccup game. 4-0 in the MAC.

GUT CHECK @ CMU and @ Fiami next.

Let's. Go.

Yep, that was about it.

Or the brilliant Malcolm Brogdon.

Dame ain't too shabby, and his coach Chauncey Billups was pretty good

I also tuned into that game and noticed the same thing!

JJ Redick relatively recently as well. 2004 he went 143/150 for a cool 95.3%

Earl Boykins

Shabamon......Great post on the crowd size.
I just checked on the other MAC games and discovered attendance figures were all below 2,000.
It makes a great statement about our fan base.
Glad to see Boals always thanking the crowd for their support.


GO BOBCATS

If you would've told me at the beginning of the season that there will be a game where Mark Sears is healthy and Tommy Schmock plays 38 minutes, I'd send you for a mental eval. He had 7 rebounds! 0 turnovers despite handling the ball quite a bit. A really great game, looked much better than he did vs Kent. It will definitely be interesting to see how playing time is distributed when Miles is back.

Jason Carter was great around the rim and only 1 dumb ill-advised 3 hoisted. Roderick may have as many air balls as he has made threes on the season...just continues to be heartbreaking to watch. But he is still a solid basketball player, good ball skills, rebounding, driving ability all of which he showed last night. But Clayton continues to play fairly mistake free while draining threes. 15-35 vs 13-63 is hard to ignore.

This is such a well-coached team, just fundamentally strong team oriented basketball. The type of system that can handle the losses of DW3, McDay and temporarily Miles and not miss a beat. Let's keep it rolling.

Coaching matters doesn't it? If you just looked at the stats of three guys: Sears, BVP and Roderick...many would have said we lost the game. And amazing we are calling Sears 19 point performance one of his worst games of the year, but he'll even admit that. Man...he's special.

Bottom line.

Coaching matters.

And this gets me to my next point. I think it would be smart of our AD to throw more money and extend Boals contract before the MAC Tourney. Does it mean anything in terms of him not having the ability to leave with buyout...no (see Nate Oats). But I just think it would be a good look to show him how much his work is appreciated. But if we can keep Boals for another five years minimum, this will turn into my opinion the greatest run in Ohio hoops history of hanging banners.

Still, that's tickets sold, not butts in seats.

 

A few random observations:

1. Sears is damn good even on an off night. He may have missed some shots he normally makes, but his rebounding was excellent. Many times on the defense end of the court he somehow managed to be in position to get rebounds over guys much taller. How he was able to position himself consistently so well and out jump taller guys was amazing for me to watch. His foul shooting down the stretch was a key to our victory.

2. Clayton is going to be one of the best Bobcats of all time. The potential this kid has is simply amazing. He seems to have a very high basketball IQ coupled with a great skill set.

3. Roderick still can't make outside shots, but he was hustling all night -- getting rebounds, putting in others missed shots, playing good defense. The kid's a winner, even though his outside shooting slump continues.

4. Carter did well in all aspects of the game, except outside shooting. During many stretches it was his offense that kept us in game. There was a lady right behind me that has something against Carter. Every time he had the ball she kept yelling for him not to shoot. Once Carter got into the scoring lead, I kept yelling that out so she could hear it. She finally got the message and stopped her inane babbling against Carter.

5. BVP was not as productive as he usually is, but did many things that helped the team to the victory. He's a hustler and team player.

6. Towns put in some good minutes. He seemed more comfortable on the court in this game, and turned in a very good performance -- good shooting, passing and defensive play.

7. Schmock is the most pleasant surprise in a long time. He just continues to amaze. Great outside shooting, tremendous dribbling skills, deft passing, tremendous hussle. At one point late in the game he was dribbling the ball for about 20 seconds in and around and through practically the whole BG team. This kind of reminded me of the late, great Bill Whaley. Raise your hand if you have any idea who he was. I expect no more than three of four hands will be raised in this crowd.