Rick said

The last offensive foul call on Richardson had to be one of the worst whistles ever blown in the history of college hoops.

The guy was no where near stationary and was sliding to the left?!

Yeah, and watching it on espn3 the announcer for mtsu says "that was an easy call."

Yeah, an easy blocking call!!! What a*holes those guys are.  They said EVERY call against them was a terrible call and should not have went that way, even out of bounds calls. I mean come on, support your team but be realistic about it.

FINAL QUICK STATS:


FAU  34.8% FG, 27.8% 3PT

MTSU 49.0% FG, 36.4% 3PT


Shavar Richardson leads the Owls with 16 (7-of-7 FT), and Mavin and McCoy add 10 a piece.

LaRon Dendy posts a 20 point, 10 rebound performance in his last contest at the Murphy Center.


Blue Raiders take the battle off the glass 31-24, and double up assists 15-7.

There were forty seven personal fouls called in the contest.

FINAL BOX:

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Can somebody put forth any personal analysis on these two teams differences from last year - what caused such a dramatic one-year change? I know we lost one player (starter Royster) who was good on blocking shots but not a big rebounder or even much of a scoring threat. And I know we recruited the JUCO guy as our big man to replace him but then he did not qualify. But to me that is like the Colts blaming thier collapse this year on losing one starter (qb Manning) but his loss does not explain ALL of the other problems they had this year (like giving up 40 or more a game consistantly on D).
Manning did not play D and Royster pretty much did not play O or rebound very much for a big man.
LOTS of questions for the demise of this team from last year and to me - one player does not change EVERYTHING!

GeorgiaOwl said

Can somebody put forth any personal analysis on these two teams differences from last year - what caused such a dramatic one-year change? I know we lost one player (starter Royster) who was good on blocking shots but not a big rebounder or even much of a scoring threat. And I know we recruited the JUCO guy as our big man to replace him but then he did not qualify. But to me that is like the Colts blaming thier collapse this year on losing one starter (qb Manning) but his loss does not explain ALL of the other problems they had this year (like giving up 40 or more a game consistantly on D).
Manning did not play D and Royster pretty much did not play O or rebound very much for a big man.
LOTS of questions for the demise of this team from last year and to me - one player does not change EVERYTHING!

Royster was a threat under the basket and took a lot of pressure off our guards on the outside.  With out a presence under the basket the opponents don't need to be under there guarding anyone and can put much more pressure on our undersized team - less open shots, no outlet under the basket to pass to.  It's not having a big man/ royster that is hurting us.

GeorgiaOwl said

Can somebody put forth any personal analysis on these two teams differences from last year - what caused such a dramatic one-year change? I know we lost one player (starter Royster) who was good on blocking shots but not a big rebounder or even much of a scoring threat. And I know we recruited the JUCO guy as our big man to replace him but then he did not qualify. But to me that is like the Colts blaming thier collapse this year on losing one starter (qb Manning) but his loss does not explain ALL of the other problems they had this year (like giving up 40 or more a game consistantly on D).
Manning did not play D and Royster pretty much did not play O or rebound very much for a big man.
LOTS of questions for the demise of this team from last year and to me - one player does not change EVERYTHING!

Unless that one player is a GREAT LEADER.

To me ANYONE 6'9" (or 6'5" or 5'10" even) near the basket SHOULD be considered a risk, weather he really scores much or not - and Royster did not score much or even rebound all that much either. So I guess with Mr. White's wanting to play shootong guard removes him from a potential scoring position near the basket  thereby causing the situation we are in on O, forced to shoot threes.
If this is basically correct, why is he on the court and not on the bench since he is useless and not filling his needed role? (Coaching issue).
Like I mentioned before, anyone near the basket should be considered a scoring threat (yes, the taller the more dangerous to the opponent.). If the opposing D does not stick with the smaller front-court player I am discussing, then he is open for a pass or dish. If they do stick to him then the path to the goal is more open for the layup, pull-up and/or to draw a foul on the opposing D . (Coaching issue).
As a team and coach, AT ANY LEVEL AND IN ANY SPORT, if you do not adjust your game to the situation and opponent AND your own talents, you are basically bound to fail.
See football the past three or four years.
I keep going back to this, and I am not there to see it in person, but I don't see ANY intensity from Coach in his interviews after losses - like he does not care (carefree, lackadaisical) - again like football in the past three or four years. I believe his getting screwed around with by Angelos has definitely affected his desire, determination and overall attitude this season, like a lame duck coaching staff again!

Jarvis doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve during interviews. He's plenty fired up during games so I doubt that's the reason why we are playing poorly. Do I think this contract thing has anything to do with this year? It's hard to tell. He obviously cares about whether he'll have a job at the end of the year but I don't think it's his greatest concern.

One thing Middle did that hindered us was double team White. As SOON as he got the ball, there were two of their bigs on him. They dared us to beat them from outside and we lost.

I see us winning a game in the tourney and that's it. We haven't put together a solid win streak all year so I don't think we can do it for the tourney. I just hope we get Jarvis resigned and come out strong next year.

GeorgiaOwl said

Can somebody put forth any personal analysis on these two teams differences from last year - what caused such a dramatic one-year change? I know we lost one player (starter Royster) who was good on blocking shots but not a big rebounder or even much of a scoring threat. And I know we recruited the JUCO guy as our big man to replace him but then he did not qualify. But to me that is like the Colts blaming thier collapse this year on losing one starter (qb Manning) but his loss does not explain ALL of the other problems they had this year (like giving up 40 or more a game consistantly on D).
Manning did not play D and Royster pretty much did not play O or rebound very much for a big man.
LOTS of questions for the demise of this team from last year and to me - one player does not change EVERYTHING!

Losing a hall of fame QB does change everything.  The Colts collapse was completely Peyton Manning.  Defense gives up a lot more points when you're offense cant move the ball.  I know Manning did not play D, but have you heard the adage that the best defense is a good offense?  You realize that when teams used to play the Colts they would run thier offense to play keep away from Manning, without him they aren't scared to give the ball back.  Furthermore, the Colts D was build to play with a lead…they have 2 undersized DE's that are meant to get up field and pressure the QB…they were playing from behind this year without Manning and didn't have the D for it.

As far as Royster goes, blocks can change the momentum of a game and the opposing teams psyche.  Royster was a decent rebounder and scorer as well.  On top of that he took the attention off K. White.  Look at opposing teams FG % vs us this year compared to last and you will probably see the real difference of no Royster.

This season has been ugly and is starting to get a little uglier.