48-36 NIU at halftime

Huskies with a nice block on a driving layup from App St to end the half.

WED: Ohio wins
THU: Kent St loses (2OT)
FRI: Akron wins
SAT:
BSU, BGSU, EMU, and NIU wins
Buffalo, CMU, WMU, and Miami loses

We're up by 1 game on SBC. Toledo plays Louisiana and should make it by 2 games.

Huskies defeat App St 91-78.

NIU shot 50% for FG and made 24-of-29 FTs.

Keshawn Williams, our best player, still on the bench not suited up but practicing with the team.

I didn't realize App St was the preseason #2 pick in the SBC coaches poll.

https://sunbeltsports.org/news/2023/10/1...-poll.aspx

Toledo with a big comeback for a deceptive 9 point victory over a Louisiana team that really defended well, hit the boards and made threes until crunch time. Toledo had 10 players score and wore down the Cajuns with depth and strength. This is a pretty rugged Toledo team that saw freshman PG Sonny Wilson break out and lead the comeback. Toledo was behind by double digits over half the game.

Kent responds to the JMU debacle with a solid win by 10 at home over Fresno St.

Ohio gets nipped on the road by Cleveland St who looked pretty good.

My overall synopsis of the league after week 1.

Top 3: Akron, Toledo, Kent still run this league. All defend, have guys who can take over for a stretch, and are deep. Fun teams to watch that should get better. Sounds like Ali Ali will be eligible mid December as a graduate if his waiver to play right away isn't approved. Akron will be more dangerous then, right now their guard play is a notch below Kent and Toledo but Ali can play a big ballhandling wing and address that. Kent got the lefties on lock. I'm not a huge Santiago fan but Sullinger is playing like an all-MAC guy and Payton is a problem.

Mid 4: Ohio, Ball St, NIU, BG all have proper mid majors talent. Ohio is a guard driven unit and vulnerable on the glass but tough to beat if they play their style. I think their pg Hunter is a little overrated (one mag had him a top competitor for POY), but I like Brown and James and the little transfer guard Mitchell is a big time on ball defender. They'll match up fine w the league's best teams on the perimeter but not sure how they contain the better big guys. Ball St is well coached and plays hard. Anderson is an upgrade from Boogie Coleman, imo, as the ball dominant guard. Jihad isn't the post player Peyton Sparks was but he rebounds, hustles, and can make jumpers and free throws. Ball St is depending on some young guys and needs health to stay relevant but may not fall as far as we expected after all the top guys hit the portal. NIU is solid and should get better if Williams can return and regain his form. App St was picked 2nd in the Sun Belt and NIU beat em by 13. BG is figuring it out as they go but HC Simon rebuilt the roster well and BG will put legit D1 players out there, even off the bench. Hill isn't a pure PG buts he's quick, fun to watch, and an aggressive scorer.

Bottom 5: EMU has a hell of a freshman is Slovenian Arne Osojnik. Nice find by Heath. Modern wing who has 31 points on 52/44/100 shooting splits with just 1 turnover in his first two games. Takes what's there, plays aggressive but doesn't force. Might save Heath's job. Overall, EMU has the best roster of this bottom 5. Miami often had two short, offensively limited guards on the court together. They have one good athlete and everyone else looks like a glorified D2 player. But they play basketball the right way and when their big guy gets back in a month they might be ok. WMU has a deeper roster I just don't see any good players. CMU likewise isn't trash but lack playmakers. Buffalo has really fallen off. A few years ago people were thinking they were too good for the MAC, now they are gonna fight to not finish last. New coach did not bring in enough guard talent to compete in the MAC. Sy Chatman does not look like the player he was before his knee injury and 1 1/2 seasons off. Maybe, he finds his game and Buffalo can build around their frontcourt, maybe...

MiamiO gets a vote in the AP Top 25. 2 MAC schools could be ranked at Ford Field? Miami #34 and Toledo #28 as it is right now.

(11-12-2023 08:02 PM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  MiamiO gets a vote in the AP Top 25. 2 MAC schools could be ranked at Ford Field? Miami #34 and Toledo #28 as it is right now.

That is exciting news, but this is the basketball thread.

(11-12-2023 05:58 PM)pono Wrote:  Toledo with a big comeback for a deceptive 9 point victory over a Louisiana team that really defended well, hit the boards and made threes until crunch time. Toledo had 10 players score and wore down the Cajuns with depth and strength. This is a pretty rugged Toledo team that saw freshman PG Sonny Wilson break out and lead the comeback. Toledo was behind by double digits over half the game.

Kent responds to the JMU debacle with a solid win by 10 at home over Fresno St.

Ohio gets nipped on the road by Cleveland St who looked pretty good.

My overall synopsis of the league after week 1.

Top 3: Akron, Toledo, Kent still run this league. All defend, have guys who can take over for a stretch, and are deep. Fun teams to watch that should get better. Sounds like Ali Ali will be eligible mid December as a graduate if his waiver to play right away isn't approved. Akron will be more dangerous then, right now their guard play is a notch below Kent and Toledo but Ali can play a big ballhandling wing and address that. Kent got the lefties on lock. I'm not a huge Santiago fan but Sullinger is playing like an all-MAC guy and Payton is a problem.

Mid 4: Ohio, Ball St, NIU, BG all have proper mid majors talent. Ohio is a guard driven unit and vulnerable on the glass but tough to beat if they play their style. I think their pg Hunter is a little overrated (one mag had him a top competitor for POY), but I like Brown and James and the little transfer guard Mitchell is a big time on ball defender. They'll match up fine w the league's best teams on the perimeter but not sure how they contain the better big guys. Ball St is well coached and plays hard. Anderson is an upgrade from Boogie Coleman, imo, as the ball dominant guard. Jihad isn't the post player Peyton Sparks was but he rebounds, hustles, and can make jumpers and free throws. Ball St is depending on some young guys and needs health to stay relevant but may not fall as far as we expected after all the top guys hit the portal. NIU is solid and should get better if Williams can return and regain his form. App St was picked 2nd in the Sun Belt and NIU beat em by 13. BG is figuring it out as they go but HC Simon rebuilt the roster well and BG will put legit D1 players out there, even off the bench. Hill isn't a pure PG buts he's quick, fun to watch, and an aggressive scorer.

Bottom 5: EMU has a hell of a freshman is Slovenian Arne Osojnik. Nice find by Heath. Modern wing who has 31 points on 52/44/100 shooting splits with just 1 turnover in his first two games. Takes what's there, plays aggressive but doesn't force. Might save Heath's job. Overall, EMU has the best roster of this bottom 5. Miami often had two short, offensively limited guards on the court together. They have one good athlete and everyone else looks like a glorified D2 player. But they play basketball the right way and when their big guy gets back in a month they might be ok. WMU has a deeper roster I just don't see any good players. CMU likewise isn't trash but lack playmakers. Buffalo has really fallen off. A few years ago people were thinking they were too good for the MAC, now they are gonna fight to not finish last. New coach did not bring in enough guard talent to compete in the MAC. Sy Chatman does not look like the player he was before his knee injury and 1 1/2 seasons off. Maybe, he finds his game and Buffalo can build around their frontcourt, maybe...

1) Actually like this Toledo team better than any of the last three ... a lot more grit to them. A lot more physical around the glass, but still explosive offensively, and more depth.

2) Akron is moving into the season smoothly and rumors are Ali Ali will be back early December. With the middle and bottom of the MAC not being particularly strong, splitting with Toledo and Kent ( and one 'how did that happen' loss) is about all the MAC setbacks out there for the Zips ... that said, wildcard seems to be Northern Illinois.

3) Kent State's brain fart vs. JMU is going to overshadow this team for a few weeks. That said, Kent still has an opportunity to build itself back into the conversation with several other non-con challenges upcoming. Lost in that JMU debacle was a monster game from Chris Payton with 25-points, 17 rebounds a couple assists and a couple of blocked shots. Don't sell them short just yet.

4) NIU is a team to watch ... and EMU is a trap game for any team not paying attention. Ohio's all-guard lineup will be a challenge, but unless this team collectively become a bunch of high-quality FT shooters (75% or better) its ceiling is not very high.

5) Bowling Green is still to be determined.