The Falcons fell to 1-4, and last place in the MAC East with a one point loss @ Kent. That makes two tight road losses in a row, but four losses in a row, too (we're 10-8). It is very hard to tell if we are making progress.
I have already noted Coach's multiple personalities during the post game show. We played a hard game, and I don't think this game, in isolation, is a cause for worry. But there's the four straight losses, the 11 out of the last 12 conference games.
Though we trailed by at least 11 at one point, with :44 left we were three down with the ball, huddling in a time out. As is far too typical for our team, we came out of the huddle and didn't get a shot--any shot--much less a decent shot. We were out of timeouts, so we didn't get a second chance. They trapped Martin at the top of the key and eventually stole it from him. From there, it was pretty much over.
Some notes:
- Martin rebounded big time from the Miami game. 26 points, 11-19 from the field and he only took 4 treys (hitting 3).
- Nate Miller is a stud. Plain and simple. 20 points, 14 boards, and Germaine Fitch like steals and disruption on the defensive end.
- Eric Marschall seems to be back. He played 33 minutes. He didn't produce much (4 points, 4 boards, 5 fouls). Maybe still getting his game back, maybe still working out how he and Nate can compliment one another inside.
- Player rotation continues to be a mystery. I just don't understand. Not saying anything is wrong with it--Coach knows more and sees more than I do. We only played six guys more than 19 minutes, a tighter rotation than normal. Darryl Clements played 26 minutes, where he has hardly played at all recently. Otis Polk and Guerin, who were on the floor for the "old school" play against Miami, hardly saw any time at all. I just don't see the rhyme or reason.
- Kent shot 48% against us. We will not beat too many teams when that happens.
- We won the rebounding 36-25, and only gave up 4 offensive boards, which is a nice improvement.
- We had 18 turnovers and 21 fouls, both a little higher than optimal.
Ok, so we continue on, waiting to see if this is the kind of team that can be even a little dangerous in March. My goals for this team would be a .500 MAC season and two wins in Cleveland. Obviously, we have a ways to go.
A start would be to beat WMU on Wednesday at AA. Then we play @ CMU and Ball State at home. So, if we can string 3 in a row, we're 4-4 in the MAC and maybe have something to build on.
The WMU game is no gimmee, but I'm not sure they are the team they used to be. Their 3-2 MAC record is against the weak west. They lost to NIU, and their wins are against BSU, EMU and CMU--ALL AT HOME. They had a nice win against Virginia Tech in the pre-season, and played tough teams pretty well. Their freshmen phenom David Kool (MI Mr. Basketball) scored 26 against EMU yesterday.
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