Final Ballot, Blogpoll

Falcon Blog Ballot - Week 16

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
2	LSU Tigers	-1
3	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	--
4	Oregon Ducks	3
5	Arkansas Razorbacks	3
6	Boise St. Broncos	-1
7	Stanford Cardinal	-3
8	South Carolina Gamecocks	1
9	USC Trojans	-3
10	Wisconsin Badgers	--
11	Michigan St. Spartans	1
12	Michigan Wolverines	1
13	Oklahoma Sooners	7
14	Kansas St. Wildcats	-3
15	TCU Horned Frogs	1
16	Baylor Bears	3
17	Nebraska Cornhuskers	1
18	Georgia Bulldogs	-4
19	Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	4
20	Houston Cougars	5
21	West Virginia Mountaineers	1
22	Clemson Tigers	-7
23	Virginia Tech Hokies	-6
24	BYU Cougars	--
25	Cincinnati Bearcats	--
Dropouts: Penn St. Nittany Lions, Arkansas St. Red Wolves

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Orr Presser---Talking Defense

Coach Orr did his weekly presser last week, which had a couple interesting nuggets I thought I would pass along.

He talked a lot about zone and man defenses.  Jack Carle had asked him to comment on the idea that "some people" find the zone a "crutch."  This is one of the key questions for us this year.  BG started the year wanting to play both kinds of defense, played a lot of man early on, had some rough nights, and now (by my perception) have slowly moved into playing more and more zone.

Coach said that you play defense based on what will work for you, and not just because you are a "man to man" team.  He gave a long analogy of thinking you were tough and deciding to fight Mike Tyson---a losing proposition.  My note:  this was similar to the philosophy of Dakich, who rarely rarely rarely played zone.  

Anyway, he went on to say that if you plan good man defense it means you are playing good help defense, and if you are playing good help defense, than you are using zone principles.  He says that with rotations, weakside help, etc, there are very few PURE man to man defenses, and that they are all essentially hybrids.  So, perhaps there is not as big a difference.

Ultimately, he says he uses the defense that gives us the best shot at winning.

A couple of individual players came up.  Jordan Crawford was mentioned.  The question was whether he was better in the man or guarding a spot in the zone with his quickness.  Coach said that there were benefits either way, a man defense allowed Jordan to use his quickness to guard sooner and a zone allowed him to help near the basket.  Either way, given his size, he needs to use his quickness.

Also, Craig Sealey came up.  I've been wondering about his minutes, which have been going down, and apparently someone else was too.  Coach said that his minutes are going down, because it is tough to get him on the floor.  He doesn't like Calhoun in the in the middle of the zone, which means he has to play a wing, and it means that Sealey essentially can only come in for Calhoun.  (Presumably, Thomas is a fixture at the other wing).  As Calhoun has been more effective (and Coach thought he had one of his best games against OU), it has impacted Sealey's minutes.  They have talked about it, Craig practices well, and he wants to try and find ways for him to play.

My idea only, I don't know why you couldn't play Calhoun, Black/Oglesby and Sealey on the front line to give Thomas rest.  You can maintain an outside threat with Brown at 2.  And Sealey has a nice mid-range jumper.

Anyway, some interesting talk about defense.  If you want my guess, you will see most zones from here on in, as that really seems to be where we are most comfortable.

Zipper problems

Next into the Stroh are the Akron Zips, one of the perennial powers in the East and coming off a road win at Millett over the weekend.  The conference season is a grind, but the Falcons really need to continue their strong home play with a win over the Zips.  Until we see improvement on the road, there's a lot of pressure to hold serve at home.

The series has been unkind to BG of late.  The Falcons have lost 12 of their last 13 against the Zips, with the one win coming when Brian Moten drained a miracle shot....that was the game that set BG up for its most recent regular season title.  A couple of the recent games have been blow outs, including a 35-point whipping at Anderson Arena.

So, the Falcons have a little bit of history to correct if they are going to win this one.  Put another way, maybe they are just due.

The Zips have 9-6, but that's against the 116th best schedule in the country.  Their RPI is 106.  This team is better than a 9-6 record.  They started the season with a big win @Mississippi State, and then struggled to 3-5---but 4 of those losses were against teams with sub-100 RPI.  They hit a softer part of their schedule, and have now won 6 out of 7 with the one loss being in OT on a last second basket to VCU.  The streak has included a nice win @Marshall and the previously mentioned win over Miami.

There are an unusual number of common opponents.  And, just like BG, they have lost to Valpo and Duquesne and beaten Detroit.

Offensively, they are very effective, scoring 74 points a game and getting 1.06 points per possession, both of which are in the top 100 in the country.  In total from the field they are shooting 46% which is slightly better than BG is, but they are trying 3 more 3s a game and hitting 40% (16th in the country) which is how they end up with better scoring.

Their free throw rate is in the lower 3rd of the country, but still stronger than BG's, which is 333rd.  They are good on on the offensive boards--112th in the country.  Finally, 14 turnovers a game which is about 20% of their possessions, which is relatively typical.

On defense, they are giving up 65 points a game and .94 per possession, the latter of which is in the top 100 in the country.  Teams are shooting only 41% against them and 28% from beyond the arc.  That's the basis of the defensive game...they are decent but nothing special in forcing turnovers and on the offensive boards.  They are physical and commit more fouls than average.

Individually, Akron features its usual balanced scoring.  They have 7 players who are averaging between 8 and 10.6 PPG, their high.  Those players are Marshall, Cvetinovic , Diggs, Harney, Walsh (transfer from Xavier) Treadwell and Abreu.

Cvetinovic is their leading rebounder as well.  Abreu has been injured some but still leads the team with 4 assists per game and Zeke Marshall is 10th in the country with 3 blocks per game.

Marshall is an interesting case.  He came into the MAC highly acclaimed, yet I would say he is only just now reaching the poing where he is a force in games.  (And might be the kind of player Cam Black could be).  There are rumors he may go pro after this year, which would probably not be a good move, although I read somewhere that he would project to a second round pick.

You have to give the Zips credit.  I think they develop their players well.  Both Treadwell and Harney, for example, play limited minutes as freshman, but here they are ready to step up and contribute in the sophomore year.

Akron is a good team.  So was OU, and the Falcons were able to win that game, and it is going to take that kind of an effort.  Crawford played Cooper tough and now he needs to bring the same kind of game against Abreu.  BG needs to play outstanding defense--whether man or zone, though I am betting zone--as Akron has multiple scorers and obviously shares the ball.  And, of course, as we always say, the Falcons could make it a lot easier on themselves getting some baskets.

This is going to be a very interesting game.  If BG shows chops on the home floor again, then it might really be turning into something.  Akron is battle hardened though, and used to beating BG.  If they sense any cracks, they are going to rush through them.  It would be great to show that BG is the kind of team that can pull two of these off in a row.

Groce Post-Game Presser

I don't know why, but I just loved watching this presser from OU Coach John Groce after the game on Saturday.  On the sidelines, the guy is like a teapot that's at 211 degrees, he is constantly about to boil over.  He's got the world's most expressive face, including a teeth gritting frown that sends chills down your spine.

So watch the presser below....six very entertaining minutes.  He's honest, he's disgusted, he's passionate...things are unacceptable, his team is setting itself up for disappointment...he's just beside himself, but not out of control.

MAC Bowl Success!

During the MAC's long 16 game losing streak in Bowl Games, I kept count, and it was certainly embarrassing for our conference to lose that many in a row, especially when the competition was not top-flight BCS teams.  So, in fairness, since the 16 game streak was snapped, the MAC has now gone 7-3, and that's a pretty good record.

This year, the conference was 4-1, with the only loss to the only team from a BCS conference--Purdue.  But, the conference did very well in the other games, including a nice win over Arkansas State last night by the NIU Huskies.  Given who we end up playing in bowls, you just can't lose 16 straight.  So, good on the MAC for the turnaround in the last couple of years, and congrats to Temple, OU, NIU and UT for holding up the MAC's honor this year.

Falcons Open MAC Season With Big Win...

I will say this.  The Falcons are a completely different team at the Stroh Center than they are on the road.

Yeah, I know, most teams are, but this seems like a pretty serious divide.  On the road, BG had lost to Western Kentucky (who fired their coach mid-season) and UTSA, and had generally played sluggish and poor basketball.

But the performance yesterday on the Stroh Center floor was something completely different.  BG took on an OU team that was 5-1 on the road for the BG and the Falcons probably played the best game of the year in beating the Bobcats by 10, 67-57.

As I noted in the preview, it was a win they really needed.  If you're going to get a top 4 slot, you have to at least defend home floor.  If BG had lost to OU and Akron and was 0-2 with only 6 home games remaining, it starts to look bleak.

The key, so far as I could tell, was defense.  OU had only .84 points per possession, a season low.  They shot 38% from the field and only 20% from beyond the arc and had turnovers on 26% of their possessions, which is their worst result of the season.  BG committed only 14 fouls in all this, and the Bobcats shot only 16 free throws.

The only team to hold OU to less than 57 points was Louisville.

The most important observation is that BG was in zone for the game, something that they have played less of this year.  I had noted that they had struggled with teams like OU (small, athletic and guard-oriented) over the course of December, and Coach more or less acknowledged that in a man to man, we had a lot of matchup problems.  He also said our zone was our best defense.  And, it clearly got the job done.  Whatever defense you play you have to play it well--BG has been torched in the zone, too--but I'd expect to see more zone as the conference season moves forward.  Just a guess.

The other key element to the game was BG's resilience.  BG had owned most of the second half.  With 15 left it was a 33-32 game for BG.  Over the next seven minutes, BG had outscored the Bobcats 17-7 to post an 11 point lead.  With 5 minutes left Scott Thomas hit a 3 to put the lead back to 10 and with 4 minutes left, BG still led by 10.

OU scored 7 points in one minute to bring the game back to 1 possession.  Cooper hit a couple free throws, and OU was then in full court pressure, and they got a steal and Cooper drained a 3.  BG called time out and still turned the ball over. Calhoun got a key block on Cooper but the ball was out of bounds and Baltic ended up with a hoop.

Then, with 2:43 OU nailed another basket, and in 1:20 the game had gone from 10 points to 1 point.

With 2 minutes left (about), OU had the game tied at 56.

It would be have been easy for the Falcons to be overwhelmed.  There are not many times you lose 9 points in 1:20.  You're still facing full court pressure, and OU is sensing blood.

But what happened was that OU scored only 1 more point in those 2 minutes, while BG scored 11 points and closed the game out on a big run, with 5 missed shots by the Bobcats and zero second chances.

NCAA Basketball

And that's something to be proud of for Falcon fans.  BG looked right in the face of that OU run and shut it down.

Coach Orr talked about a key play in there.  With the game tied at 56, Crawford threw an alley-oop to Oglesby.  It was a little off target, and the right handed Oglesby caught the ball one-handed/left-handed and dunked it left-handed.  Coach says we don't have guys who can make that athletic play.

BG's offense was far from stellar, mostly due to 21 turnovers.  When BG did get shots off, they were effective, shooting 52% from the field, trying only 8 3FG but making 4.  BG committed only 14 fouls and won the rebounding battle comfortably.  It was BG's 3rd best D1 shooting performance of the season, and not coincidentally, the best in a win since the Temple game.

NCAA Basketball

Individually, the key player was Jordan Crawford.  He was matched up with DJ Cooper, the MAC's top point guard, and he very much held his own.  Crawford had 16 points (game high) on 5 of 9 shooting, some key transition baskets, with 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.  He did make 6 turnovers, but overall he managed the game very effectively, especially as BG turned back the OU run.

Dee Brown had 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting to go with 5 rebounds in 28 minutes.  Dee has been struggling to score since the first 3 games of the season, and it was good to see.

Scott Thomas started slow in scoring, but ended up with a 10/10 double double with 4 steals.

A'uston Calhoun also struggled much of the night.  OU was double teaming him and clearly committed to keeping him off the scoreboard.  Calhoun did finish with 12 points and 3 blocked shots.

Torian Oglesby did miss a shot, bringing his streak to an end, but he ended up with 5 points and 9 rebounds.

I should also mention Cam Black, who, as normal, did not post any big numbers.  However, when he's in there, he does alter the other team's attack...he only officially blocked one shot, but he does effect the game when he is on the court.

So, a very nice win to open the MAC season for BG.  The Falcons beat a team that I think a bunch of teams are going to lose to.  Of course, the great thing about conference basketball is that it just keeps coming, and next up are the Akron Zips on Wednesday.  They're good too, but if BG could win this one, they can beat Akron.

And then, the other challenge is for BG to find someway to take what they do at home and apply it somehow on the road.  If you win your home games and lose the road games, you are .500.  You might be looking at the cross-over games, but BG has both WMU and Ball State away this year, and plays Toledo and NIU at home.  So, we're going to need to find some road magic somewhere.

Against OU, it was our juniors and seniors who found the way.  Here's a fan hoping they can figure out a way to do the same on the road.

Victory!