very big play for me. grabbing this overnight because im not sure a 2 will be around on wednesday. then again, mac line moves are always weird so who knows.
eastern michigan eagles (-2)
approaching this one from a couple of angles.
im not sold on bowling green this year as a frontrunner in the mac west. gotta give credit where its due -- theyre playing really well right now. and there have been a couple of times where ive kinda forced a play against them whereas in hindsight, i should have just waited for conference play to roll around and find better spots to go against bowling green.
this is one of those times.
this is probably eastern's best team since the earl boykins emu squad that made the tourney. its been awhile since this program has been good. but theyve got a nice team this year. lots of experience and a lot of size.
last time out, they played on the road and went to the line an absolutely obscene 60 times. they were 41-60 from the stripe.
the crazy thing is, that game wasnt an anomaly. i swear eastern michigan goes to the line more than any team i can remember. obviously the officials are liberal with the whistle in their games, but they do pound it inside and draw a lot of fouls the old fashioned way.
im an almost duke blue devil-esque fashion, theyve made more free throws this year than their opposition has even attempted. and theyre also converting them at a 71% clip.
in 13 games:
emu 279-395 from the line (avg of 30 attempts gm)
opponents have attempted 260 (20 attempts gm)
other things that favor emu:
* both teams have a lot of veterans and emu has held serve on their home court, winning the last two in ypsilanti.
* bowling green has played five games away from home this year. only one of those 5 had a winning record (depaul 9-4). the other 4 were youngstown state (3-11), detroit (5-8), oakland (3-10, and bg lost that one), and marshall (3-10). i think thats why when you read dakich's press conference quotes, you can tell hes trying not to get too excited because he knows they are going to be facing a lot stiffer competition in the coming weeks.
more on this one in a bit.
eastern michigan eagles (-2)
approaching this one from a couple of angles.
im not sold on bowling green this year as a frontrunner in the mac west. gotta give credit where its due -- theyre playing really well right now. and there have been a couple of times where ive kinda forced a play against them whereas in hindsight, i should have just waited for conference play to roll around and find better spots to go against bowling green.
this is one of those times.
this is probably eastern's best team since the earl boykins emu squad that made the tourney. its been awhile since this program has been good. but theyve got a nice team this year. lots of experience and a lot of size.
last time out, they played on the road and went to the line an absolutely obscene 60 times. they were 41-60 from the stripe.
the crazy thing is, that game wasnt an anomaly. i swear eastern michigan goes to the line more than any team i can remember. obviously the officials are liberal with the whistle in their games, but they do pound it inside and draw a lot of fouls the old fashioned way.
im an almost duke blue devil-esque fashion, theyve made more free throws this year than their opposition has even attempted. and theyre also converting them at a 71% clip.
in 13 games:
emu 279-395 from the line (avg of 30 attempts gm)
opponents have attempted 260 (20 attempts gm)
other things that favor emu:
* both teams have a lot of veterans and emu has held serve on their home court, winning the last two in ypsilanti.
* bowling green has played five games away from home this year. only one of those 5 had a winning record (depaul 9-4). the other 4 were youngstown state (3-11), detroit (5-8), oakland (3-10, and bg lost that one), and marshall (3-10). i think thats why when you read dakich's press conference quotes, you can tell hes trying not to get too excited because he knows they are going to be facing a lot stiffer competition in the coming weeks.
more on this one in a bit.
