Kent State – Game 5 (Friday, Nov. 26, 2010)

Forum Forum Lehigh Sports Lehigh Men’s Basketball Kent State – Game 5 (Friday, Nov. 26, 2010)

This topic contains 13 replies, has 1 voice, and was last updated by  norcalfan 13 years, 4 months ago.

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  • #2837

    LU65
    Participant

    MAC Season Preview

    Kent State basketball fans will need a game program to identify all the new faces in the program this winter. Yet even with the departure of six seniors and over 60 percent of the offensive production, the cupboard is far from empty for third-year Head Coach Geno Ford.

    Coming off their second Mid-American Conference title in three years, the Golden Flashes have more than reloaded with the influx of eight newcomers and redshirts. The eight fresh faces to the line-up give Kent State plenty of athleticism and provide the program with more than enough firepower to defend its conference crown, a feat that no MAC team has accomplished in over 20 years.

    "This is highest number of first-year players we’ve had in a long time so it’s a combination of concern, excitement and optimism for the coaching staff," said Ford. "They are a really talented collection of athletes with some size and skill that we know can play as individuals. The challenge for us is blending it all together as one team which hopefully doesn’t take too long."

    While the newcomers take time to gel and adjust to Coach Ford’s style of play at the start of the year, the KSU staff will turn to the veteran leadership of Rodriquez Sherman and Justin Greene.

    "Justin and Rod are two of our better players and they’ve also been here the longest," said Ford. "We need them to lead by example in terms of production and practice habits as well as lead vocally to get the other guys to follow what they need to be doing on and off the court. Its going to be an adjustment since neither one has been in that role before."

    Game Notes

    http://www.lehighsports.com/assets/1/wo … /41581.PDF

    Rankings and Odds of Winning

    Lehigh fans, don’t get your hopes up, both Pomeroy and Sagarin have little doubt who is the stronger team.

    Pomeroy
    Kent State is given a 84% of winning

    Sagarin
    Kent State (4-1) ranked 66th
    vs.
    Lehigh (2-2) ranked 200th
    Resulting Line: KS – 13

    This will be Lehigh’s toughest test to date. The Golden Flashes sport a 5-1 (4-1 in D-I) record and have out-scored and out-rebounded their opponents by 11.5 pts. and 6.8 boards, respectively. Defensively, they have allowed just 65.7 pts/game while holding foes in check from three-point distance (.294 3FG%). Scoring inside hasn’t been simple, either. Getting by the likes of Justin Greene (6’8" Jr. F) and Justin Manns (6’11" Jr. C) has proven to be no easy task. The two have already blocked 19 shots and average 7.7 and 5.3 rebounds/game, respectively. Lehigh had better hope the 3’s start to drop if they have any hope of staying with the home team who have yet to lose at in their gym and sport a mighty imposing starting lineup comprise of 1 senior and 4 juniors (see below…name / avg. minutes per game / avg. pts. per game / avg. rebounds per game).

    Green / 31.5 / 19.7 / 7.7
    Guyton / 31.0 / 13.0 / 4.0
    Sherman / 28.2 / 9.4 / 2.8
    Porrini / 28.0 / 9.3 / 5.5
    Manns / 23.0 / 8.2 / 5.3

    #2844

    norcalfan
    Participant

    LU65,
    Look at it this way. With odds like that, there is no pressure. Take it to them LU, they must win. I hope they have a great time and no one gets hurt on either team.

    #2845

    LU65
    Participant

    More scary numbers coming out of Ohio

    * Kent State is seeking the program’s first 6-1 start since the 2002-03 season.
    * A win would set a school record for victories in the month of November.
    * Kent State has recorded over 40 rebounds in four of the last five games after reaching the mark only nine times all of last season.
    * The Kent State starting line-up has accounted for 78 percent of the scoring this season. The first five are averaging 60.0 ppg.
    * After racking up 94 points in the win over D-II Urbana (Nov. 23) the Golden Flashes have increased their scoring average to 77.2 ppg this season.
    * Coupled with the 90 points scored on Nov. 13 vs Bryant, this marks the first year since 2005-06 that the Golden Flashes have scored 90+ twice in the same season.

    Numbers don’t lie and two questions that need to be answered

    KS’s O vs. LU’s D

    FG% .472 vs. .398
    3FG% .302 vs. .364
    2FG% .526 vs. .421

    Will Lehigh be able to shut down or at least limit the effectiveness of Kent State’s interior shooting?

    [/u]LU’s O vs. KS’s D

    FG% .409 vs. .369
    3FG% .324 vs. .294
    2FG% .453 vs. .403

    Where, if anywhere, will Lehigh be able to penetrate the Kent State shield? Concerned, the Golden Flashes may jump out to an early lead, we may be forced to do it from beyond the 3-point line where we’ve struggled making only 22 in 4 games. Doubling that number may be the minimum needed to give us a chance in tomorrow night’s game.

    #2854

    norcalfan
    Participant

    This was a winnable game. No one wanted to play. I watched on line and the only person taking shots was CJ. The body language out there was awful. Did the team expect to lose? There is something missing with the players and Coach Reed. CJ finally performs at the level we know he is capable of and the rest of the team quits. Please explain this game to me. No one showed up besides CJ. There is a motivation problem somewhere. If players do not respect you, they do not play. I know I am ranting. Maybe I should not have watched the game.
    Kent was either over rated or had a bad game. From the comments we were suppose to be blown out. This team was not good at all and we did not capitalize.

    #2855

    LU65
    Participant

    Unlike you, norcalfan, I did not see the game. I wish I had but prior commitments took me away from home this night. I’m hoping others did see the game and would offer up their comments. A quick review of the stats (see below) would lead me to believe I missed a good one and, like you say, a winnable game. I sense, from what you say, 12 guys dressed in the Brown and White watched one guy, CJ, shoot the ball and have "his day" before the hometown fans. If true, I wish it wasn’t. We’re going to need contributions from across the ranks and I sincerely believe Coach Reed knows that to be the case. He and the rest of the coaching staff has until January 8th to make it happen.

    Norcalfan, you say, "There is a motivation problem somewhere. If players do not respect you, they do not play." Would you please elaborate? While not in Coach Reed’s inner circle by any means but merely a fan who attends nearly all the team’s home games and a fair number of games on the road, I do not sense a lack of respect shown toward the coach. What am I missing?

    Stats that caught my eye:

    11 ties and 22 lead changes. Neither team holding more than a six-point advantage

    KS "O" had shot .472 from the field before tonight’s game. LU held them to .383. They had also averaged .362 from deep. Lehigh held them to .214.

    LU "0" had shot .409 from the field before this game. KS couldn’t contain us, allowing us to hit .453.

    As feared, Lehigh was out-rebounded 38-32 and was hurt badly at the line, getting to it only 18 times (making 12) compared to KS’s 42 attempts from the 15′ stripe.

    Anxious to hear other reactions to the game.

    #2856

    norcalfan
    Participant

    Seeing this game probably frustrated me more than not seeing it. After game comments by Reed and CJ did not indicate there is a problem. The college game is a different beast, I was referring to the body language of the players. How does a whole team not perform? Take the Monmouth game. Those guys were motivated to win, where is that on this team. CJ had a great game. Why were the other players not motivated. Since you attend most of the games, maybe you can enlighten me as to how you see the team get motivated. You had to see the game to get my frustration. I will stick with watching the win and loss column for a minute. I still believe in the MtnHawks, just frustrated with the loss to Monmouth and now Kent State. Thanks for your comments.

    #2857

    LU65
    Participant

    Having not seen last night’s game, it’s hard to commment on what did – or didn’t – in your eyes motivate the team. When present at games I do, in fact, sense motivation. Often it seems to come from a defensive stop, the enthusiasm exhibited on the bench, a long three by CJ, a vocal Ojo, the exhubriant play by a lesser known contributor (for example, the Holden Greiner’s leap and semi-fist pump after draining a three) and yes even Coach Reed. As for the Good Doctor, don’t expect to see tear into a player or ref, that’s not his style. Instead, I see him as a patient educator, a skilled tactician, and yes, a motivator. Time will tell if I’m right.

    Look forward to meeting someday at a game.

    #2871

    norcalfan
    Participant

    Thanks LU. I will wait to see what happens this year. Are you coming to USC? My neice is a graduate student there, but she will cheer for LU. From all I have heard, Coach Reed is a good person, nothing personal here, I was simply frustrated with my perceptions of what I saw on the internet. For the record, I am good friends with Andoh and Adams parents. I know Lumpkins parents but have not seen them for some time. I watched them all four years of high school and try to keep up with the west coast guys.

    #2882

    LUHoops00
    Participant

    Norcal where did you watch this game? I was traveling for the weekend but could not find it televised or online video anywhere? Do you know of any replays?

    I’LL SAY IT AGAIN – d’orazio needs more pt…

    #2886

    Mtnhwkfan
    Participant

    The game was televised on the Big Ten Network and is still available there ‘on demand’. It requires a monthly subscription that can be cancelled anytime. I watched the game and my impression was that the team was going to the hot hand. There were some frustrating close-in baskets that our forwards failed to finish, but otherwise, I thought the effort was strong overall by the team. Kent State is very athletic and their program results speak for themself. I would put this game in the ‘good loss’ category.

    #2887

    norcalfan
    Participant

    Ok MtnHawk Fan. I am going to agree. I guess I was too emotional. I saw the game on line as mentioned above. I will place it in the good loss category too. I must admit, I am definitely a novice at this game, only having watched it, played a little rec ball as an adult. I will leave it to the experts. No more negatives from me ok? Good win tonight. I did see Dr. Reed mixing it up tonight. Go LU!

    #2888

    norcalfan
    Participant

    That’s Big Ten on the internet, not on TV.

    #2893

    LUHoops00
    Participant

    NorCal – maybe I’m just very tired after doing some homework for grad school tonight, but I have a big 10 network id from PSU game, but I can’t find the Kent State/LU game on there for the life of me. Any links you can pass along to help me find it or directions once I get to bigtennetwork.com web site would be greatly appreciated.

    Going to watch 1st half of bryant game before bed…..

    #2894

    norcalfan
    Participant

    Sorry about that. It was on Game Central, the Kent State network. Too many games and websites to keep track of. Hope this helps.

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