observations from friday:
* western michigan is friggin good. they ran marshall off the floor in the 2nd half. obviously hot shooting makes any team look good, but that team has such nice balance that they have 4 or 5 guys capable of scoring in double figures each game. marshall was outclassed and played hard (and probably SHOULD have kept it much closer than they did, because they had plenty of opportunities) but in the end, wmu was just very very impressive.
* as for buffalo, i was also impressed by their resiliency. toledo had them on the ropes 3 or 4 times throughout the game but buffalo fought back each time.
* one guy that is way overrated for buffalo is that yassin idbihi. i was expecting him to be much better and he is not all that great. i gave the edge to buffalo in the middle tonight before the game. but toledo won the inside battle and that went a long way toward helping them win the game. valencia played very well inside for toledo and even the white guys for toledo helld their own in the paint. buffalo should have gotten more production in the paint and they didnt. idbihi was getting owned inside yet he was talking shit when he blocked a shot. kinda puzzling
* one guy who is underrated for buffalo is calvin cage. that kid is a nice player. reminds me of earl boykins. he was buffalos best player tonight in my opinion even though the numbers wont show it. very nice player and someone who is gonna be a big time player for them in the next two years. almost reminds me of a tim smith from east tennessee kind of player. scoring mentally and always lookin to push the tempo
* heres one thing i was impressed with: the buffalo fan support. i dont know where they hell it came from (considering they draw 1,500 for home games) but they were LOUD and really did a good job of rallying the bulls every time toledo would push the lead to 6 or 8. they definitely were more of a factor than toledos crowd which was surprising. not sure if it was worm or gfarrow who was tossing the chearleaders up in the air and catching em during the timeout breaks. probably worm. nice job boys. but on a serious note, props to the ub fan support. it was loud (and the loudest of the 4 teams in the night session, including western michigan)
* one request to buffalo: never ever bring your dance team to the gund again. those girls were tanks and one girl had a black eye. if you have a black eye, sit out and dont embarrass the rest of em
. and they were all wearing those short belly shirts that show of their (in this case, LACK OF) abs. one girl was on the heavier side and she had hers tailored so that it was longer and didnt reveal her stomach. stood out like a sore thumb. my goodness. what a motley crew
* on the toledo side, keith triplett was amazing. theres a reason hellah talks him up and theres a reason that i talk him up. the kid was unstoppable for toledo and he is just such a good all around basketball player. even though he went for around 30, he did so much more. just a good leader and a big reason why toledo advanced.
* as a whole- buffalo has zero to be ashamed about. their fans were loud. their team played balls out. and theyre gonna be a good team next year. it was a learning experience for them this year. they got their feet wet. they just shouldnt have been laying points tonight. toledo just looked more comfortable but buffalo played with a ton of balls and i was impressed
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on to friday:
miami/kent state
* kent state in a very rare double revenger. not many teams beat kent twice in a season. i will be laying the chalk here, mainly because of what i read after the kent/miami game two weeks ago. kent had miami down double digits on senior night at kent (45-28 with 13:54 left). they blew the lead and let miami come back to win. there were lots of quotes from haut and jakeway about being embarrassed and not representing kent and the kent basketball tradition well on senior night. miami is always a tough out in the mac tourney and the redhawks could appear to be a live dog. but i think kent in a double revenger (with the way they choked the last one away fresh in the mind of the kent seniors) --- flashes win and cover that 5 points. im laying it. miami has been shooting too many 3s for my liking lately. when theyre hot, theyre good. but kent is not gonna give em those clean looks that marshall and ball state did in miami's most recent games. both teams have outstanding defenses. but kent has more offensive weapons and the angles favor kent imo.
* western/toledo. havent seen a line. but gotta think the total is gonna be very high. probably close to 160. both teams won on their home courts this season. and both teams looked impressive in their game on thursday night. right now, i gotta see what the number is. its gonna be a very good game but im not sure toledo has enough to win on a neutral court. wmu had an easier game on thursday. one thing i dont understand is why wmu didnt rest starters. kaan and williams and reed were still playing with under 5:00 to go and a 25 point lead. really puzzling. will wait to see a number on the game. believe it or not, the under could be worth a look. takes balls to play an under w/these 2 teams, but theres a lot at stake and even though both teams like to push- i can see this one being a little slower tempo
* western michigan is friggin good. they ran marshall off the floor in the 2nd half. obviously hot shooting makes any team look good, but that team has such nice balance that they have 4 or 5 guys capable of scoring in double figures each game. marshall was outclassed and played hard (and probably SHOULD have kept it much closer than they did, because they had plenty of opportunities) but in the end, wmu was just very very impressive.
* as for buffalo, i was also impressed by their resiliency. toledo had them on the ropes 3 or 4 times throughout the game but buffalo fought back each time.
* one guy that is way overrated for buffalo is that yassin idbihi. i was expecting him to be much better and he is not all that great. i gave the edge to buffalo in the middle tonight before the game. but toledo won the inside battle and that went a long way toward helping them win the game. valencia played very well inside for toledo and even the white guys for toledo helld their own in the paint. buffalo should have gotten more production in the paint and they didnt. idbihi was getting owned inside yet he was talking shit when he blocked a shot. kinda puzzling
* one guy who is underrated for buffalo is calvin cage. that kid is a nice player. reminds me of earl boykins. he was buffalos best player tonight in my opinion even though the numbers wont show it. very nice player and someone who is gonna be a big time player for them in the next two years. almost reminds me of a tim smith from east tennessee kind of player. scoring mentally and always lookin to push the tempo
* heres one thing i was impressed with: the buffalo fan support. i dont know where they hell it came from (considering they draw 1,500 for home games) but they were LOUD and really did a good job of rallying the bulls every time toledo would push the lead to 6 or 8. they definitely were more of a factor than toledos crowd which was surprising. not sure if it was worm or gfarrow who was tossing the chearleaders up in the air and catching em during the timeout breaks. probably worm. nice job boys. but on a serious note, props to the ub fan support. it was loud (and the loudest of the 4 teams in the night session, including western michigan)
* one request to buffalo: never ever bring your dance team to the gund again. those girls were tanks and one girl had a black eye. if you have a black eye, sit out and dont embarrass the rest of em
. and they were all wearing those short belly shirts that show of their (in this case, LACK OF) abs. one girl was on the heavier side and she had hers tailored so that it was longer and didnt reveal her stomach. stood out like a sore thumb. my goodness. what a motley crew* on the toledo side, keith triplett was amazing. theres a reason hellah talks him up and theres a reason that i talk him up. the kid was unstoppable for toledo and he is just such a good all around basketball player. even though he went for around 30, he did so much more. just a good leader and a big reason why toledo advanced.
* as a whole- buffalo has zero to be ashamed about. their fans were loud. their team played balls out. and theyre gonna be a good team next year. it was a learning experience for them this year. they got their feet wet. they just shouldnt have been laying points tonight. toledo just looked more comfortable but buffalo played with a ton of balls and i was impressed
==============================================
on to friday:
miami/kent state
* kent state in a very rare double revenger. not many teams beat kent twice in a season. i will be laying the chalk here, mainly because of what i read after the kent/miami game two weeks ago. kent had miami down double digits on senior night at kent (45-28 with 13:54 left). they blew the lead and let miami come back to win. there were lots of quotes from haut and jakeway about being embarrassed and not representing kent and the kent basketball tradition well on senior night. miami is always a tough out in the mac tourney and the redhawks could appear to be a live dog. but i think kent in a double revenger (with the way they choked the last one away fresh in the mind of the kent seniors) --- flashes win and cover that 5 points. im laying it. miami has been shooting too many 3s for my liking lately. when theyre hot, theyre good. but kent is not gonna give em those clean looks that marshall and ball state did in miami's most recent games. both teams have outstanding defenses. but kent has more offensive weapons and the angles favor kent imo.
* western/toledo. havent seen a line. but gotta think the total is gonna be very high. probably close to 160. both teams won on their home courts this season. and both teams looked impressive in their game on thursday night. right now, i gotta see what the number is. its gonna be a very good game but im not sure toledo has enough to win on a neutral court. wmu had an easier game on thursday. one thing i dont understand is why wmu didnt rest starters. kaan and williams and reed were still playing with under 5:00 to go and a 25 point lead. really puzzling. will wait to see a number on the game. believe it or not, the under could be worth a look. takes balls to play an under w/these 2 teams, but theres a lot at stake and even though both teams like to push- i can see this one being a little slower tempo
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