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Post by shooting the J on Feb 18, 2012 8:37:04 GMT -6
Phoenix take on EMU today. I expect a win. Hopefully the Nix can speed up the pace. I'm absolutly befuddled why EMU plays so slow when what they could really use is some easy baskets. Defensively, they play the Syracuse zone, and play it well. KC will need to open it up from 3 point range. Here's previews from Brian Dickman and Andrew Gavin. Here's Rob Demovsky's preview and Brennan Cougill story. I don't know where we'd be without Cougs, but it wouldn't be pretty. Great addition. Rumor has it that the Horizon League will be leaving the Bracketbusters series after 2 more years. I like the decision. We don't need this series to schedule games for us, we find better match-ups on our own. Today should be a huge match-up with Cleveland State that would draw a big crowd. Instead we'll be lucky to have 2,500 in the building. I'd be fine with the Bracketbusters in if they were early in the week, but not when they ruin weekend scheduling. Another rumor is the Horizon League will look to become part of a challenge series with another conference. No word on which conference that would be.
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Post by phearthephoenix on Feb 18, 2012 11:57:46 GMT -6
I would love a challenge series with the Missouri Valley, but I highly doubt that would ever happen. I think the Summit League or the MAC would be more likely.
Coincidentally, the Horizon is off to an 0-2 start on Bracketbuster weekend.
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Post by GBPhoenix1 on Feb 18, 2012 14:56:21 GMT -6
That was not a pretty win. Way too many turnovers. Thankfully EMU is one of the worst offensive teams in the country. A better opponent probably beats GB today.
Cougill still struggled with the high post passing so I guess the camera in his brain is going to have a lot to review.
I also thought GB gave up too many offensive boards in the second half despite in general having the advantage on the glass.
The crowd was announced at 3500, not bad for this game.
CSU is next and is struggling without D'Aundrey Brown. That needs to continue because a healthy CSU is much better than GB.
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Post by GBPhoenix1 on Feb 18, 2012 15:12:08 GMT -6
This is year number 9 of the bracket buster for GB. I really can't be that upset with the opponents and too be honest I don't think GB has demonstrated that they are too good for this series and that they can schedule opponents that are just as good.
In the series GB is now 4-5 in the front end of the games. Wins: Eastern Michigan, Indiana State, Long Beach State and Northern Illinois Losses: Southern Illinois, Western Michigan, Farleigh Dickinson, Illinois State and Northern Iowa
In the return game GB is 3-4. Wins: Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Faleigh Dickinson Losses: Indiana State, Long Beach State, Illinois State and Northern Iowa Yet to Play: Southern Illinois and Eastern Michigan
Overall they are 7-9 in the series.
On top of that by conference they have played the MAC 3 times and the MVC 4 times. To be honest that is about as good as I think GB has demonstrated that they can schedule on their own. I know they have added some A10 and MWC games but they still play D2's.
Bottom line getting out of this series would be good for the winning percentage but I am not sure it is good for GB's schedule. Now if they start playing a tournament with the MVC, CAA, WCC, A10 or CUSA then my opinion might change.
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Post by shooting the J on Feb 19, 2012 9:09:56 GMT -6
First off, congrats to the Horizon League on a very strong weekend. HL teams went 7-3, and Valpo lost while it choose to leave C Kevin Van Wilk home to rest his knee. The conference had slid to 14th in RPI entering the weekend. We knew the league would be down this year because of it's youth, and many of the young teams are starting to grow up. box scoreThe Phoenix had no problem keeping EMU off the scoreboard, holding them to 32% shooting. GB had big problems solving EMU's zone. EMU plays it's zone exclusely, and it shows. They're really polished, and statistically they rank high on that end of the floor. I wonder if the Phoenix spent much time in practice preparing for this zone considering this was a rather meaningless game? What's befuddling about EMU is their choice to play glacier slow on offense. If you can't score in the half court, wouldn't an easy transition basket help? They have 3 senior guards, you'd think they'd put some trust in them. EMU really takes the fun out of basketball. Easily the least entertaining home game of the year. Does EMU really think they'll be able to recruit quality players playing such a boring brand of basketball? Here's Rob Demovsky's game story.
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Post by shooting the J on Feb 19, 2012 9:57:15 GMT -6
That was not a pretty win. Way too many turnovers. Thankfully EMU is one of the worst offensive teams in the country. A better opponent probably beats GB today. A better team may have run a more conventional defense that would have allowed GB's recently surging offense to operate more efficiently. The crowd was announced at 3500, not bad for this game. Agreed. That really surprised me. By comparison, CSU drew just 2,500 for Drexell, and Detroit drew just 2,000. Still think GB would have drawn more if we had been playing CSU. This is year number 9 of the bracket buster for GB. I really can't be that upset with the opponents and too be honest I don't think GB has demonstrated that they are too good for this series and that they can schedule opponents that are just as good.
On top of that by conference they have played the MAC 3 times and the MVC 4 times. To be honest that is about as good as I think GB has demonstrated that they can schedule on their own. I know they have added some A10 and MWC games but they still play D2's. I don't know what your basing your opinion off of. Since taking over, Wardle has added series against Virginia (top 50 RPI) of the ACC, Wyoming (top 100 RPI) of the MWC, Duquesne (top 100 RPI) of the A10, and Idaho (CIT team last year) of the WAC. All are significantly better than a team with a RPI in the 230s from the lowly MAC. As far as the D2s still onthe schedule, the Bracketbusters does nothing to prevent that. GB's unbalanced deals with Virginia and Marquette, and the really unbalanced deal with Wisconsin force GB to schedule 2 guarantee games (games the program pays a team to visit with no return game). GB only draws a few hundred more fans for D1 non-conference games than they do for D2's. It costs roughly $30,000 more to buy a guarantee games verus D1's. That makes for an easy business decision. Yes, I'd prefer D1 games just like you, but that will only happen if attendance improves significantly. I do think that's possible over the next few years. Getting out of the low drawing Bracketbusters would allow HL teams to have big drawing weekend games late in the year, and sticking with the tandem traveling schedule limits travel costs. Whether we continue to play D2 teams is a seperate decision from the choice to continue with the bracketbuster series.
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Post by shooting the J on Feb 19, 2012 11:22:34 GMT -6
Phoenix recruit Nick Arenz, and Phoenix target Turner Botz each attended this game.
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Post by phearthephoenix on Feb 20, 2012 12:29:32 GMT -6
Interesting to see that former GB player Rian Pearson is 2nd in the MAC in scoring at 16.6 points per game and 3rd in rebounding at 8.3 per game for Toledo. Its really too bad TK stole him away from us
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