2023: 3s and Put Backs

[Wayne23]

12/14: 4-3 Vermont is here. They have a good outside game and a solid Center.

We take an early lead. Up 7 after 10 and the crowd is LOUD! Hasn’t been an empty seat at a home game yet. 58-37 at the half. Kitt has 10 and 7. Every starter and one sub have either 2 or 3 fouls and that’s a real concern. I talk about playing with discipline.

Up 27 with 10 to play.

109-84. Another romp. Ture, Shor, and Toon all fouled out, my 3 other starters had 4 each as did one sub. Great bench, 41 points! 22, 5 for Howe who played a lot at guard. 15, 7 for Kitt.

We’re already prepping for our game against #3 ranked Brigham You\ng, a week from today. We’re still #9.

[Wayne23]

12/21: Well, here it is, the day we play #4 Brigham Young. We’ve had a week to prepare and we’re ready, but are we good enough? They’re 11-1, we’re 11-0, but they’ve played better teams. They’re very good outside and have a very good C.

Back and forth early. Up 3 after 10. It’s staying close. 14, 8 for Pugh. Kitt has 3 fouls but so does his man and Pugh’s man. We took only 8 threes and made only 2. We need to do better with that. We take the lead quickly. Up 13 with 10 to go.

108-87. We took charge in the 2nd half. Only 6-18 on threes but we didn’t need them tonight. 34 and 11 for Pugh. They doubled Howe in the 2nd and we found Pugh regularly. 18, 4, 6, 3 for Ture, 16, 5 for sub F/C Holl, 12, 4 for Call, 12, 3 for Shor. Both Kitt and Howe fouled out but our bench did the job. +12 points, +8 RBs, +5 assists.

We were +22 in the paint, +10 RBs.

We end the pre-conference season at 12-0, ranked #10, NET #3, which is way too high.

Howe leads us with 21.3 PPG. Pugh is next with 15.3 and leads in RBs with 7.8. 13.8 for Ture with 7.6 assists. 12.6, 6.6 for Kitt. 9.3 for Shor but that’s rising.

We’re #1 in the country in PPG with 102.3, but nearly last in PPG Allowed. Still, +17.2 PPG. We’ve climbed to #17 in RBs, +7.7. A terrific 9.2 turnovers, -2.1.

All in all I’m pretty happy.

[Wayne23]

12/26: We start MAC play with Central Michigan, 2-7, here. They give up 10 per game more than they score.

Early lead, as expected. Up 21 after 10. 56-34 at the break. 16 for Howe.

We’re in total control in the 2nd.

99-73. We led by as many as 37. 27, 4, 3 for Howe, 18, 8 for Pugh, 12, 4, 5 for Shor. Good bench play.

I’m going to move to the Big Ten next season.

12/30: 2-8 Ball ST is here. Again we take an early lead. Up 9 after 10. 47-27 at halftime. Balanced scoring and good inside play.

My guys are cruising. These kinds of games don’t teach us much, unfortunately. We probably won’t lose until the NCAA tourney.

100-57. 16, 8 for Howe14, 18, 4, 3 for Toon, 14, 3, 3 for Shor, 15 for Pugh, 12 for Holl. +40 in the paint.

Holl hurt his calf and is day to day.

1/2/2023: We’re at 5-6 Northern Illinois. Our usual quick start but they hang in. Up 9 at halftime. Fouls hurt us, especially on the big men.

We widen the lead early in the 2nd but they come back. Up 7 with 10 to go. BIG late run.

108-84, but it was closer than that. They got it to 4 at one point. Balanced scoring, 7 guys had between 11 and 15. Ture had 13, 3, 13.

[Wayne23]

1/5: At 7-5 Miami, the 2nd of 3 straight road games. This is the best MAC team we’ve played so far. They have a very good SG and a good C.

They’re hanging with us early. Up 2 after 10. 42-36 at the half. Finally a challenge in conf. Both of our guards have 3 fouls; not good!

Close early. Up only 3 with 10 left to play.

81-85. Foul trouble and poor three point shooting, 10-32, did us in. We ended the game with 4 players, 3 of them guards, having 4 fouls each so we couldn’t press late when we needed to.

A loss may be a good thing. We were getting very cocky. It’s not the end of the world.

[Wayne23]

1/9: At 6-8, 1-3 Western Michigan. Their SG is out with an injury.

We fall behind early,. Down 9 after 10. 39-52 at the half. Not sure what’s going on. 2-19 on threes is one reason; 32.5% overall is another. Letting them shoot 58.2% is a third. Down 11 with 10 to play. Not good!

87-92. A late run comes up short. 2 losses in a row. 25, 9 for Pugh, 17, 5, 4 for Howe, not much from anyone else. 6-35 on threes.

Coach Prin and the other coaches and I spoke for the entire plane ride home. We live and die with the three and poor shooting has caused the losses.

[Wayne23]

1/12: Back home with 5-9, 2-3 Bowling Green. We need to get back on track.

We fall behind early again but catch up. Tied after 10. Then we go on a big run. 58-39 at halftime. The run seemed to psyche us up. 9-21 on threes.

100-65. 15-37 on threes. 16, 11 for Kitt, 19, 6 for Ture, 17, 7 for Howe.

1/16: At 5-10, 3-3 Buffalo. We fall to #13 in the polls.

Close early. Up 5 after 10. Then the run continued. 63-42 at the break. 9-14 on threes. 18, 5 for sub Todd Toon, 11, 7 for Pugh. We’re romping.

104-91 but it wasn’t that close. 12-25 on threes. 23, 12 for Pugh, 20, 9 for Toon, 16, 7 for Kitt, 15, 2, 5, 3 for Shor.

We’re 17-2, 5-2, one back of 1st place Ohio in the MAC. We play them here next. They’re 11-6, 6-1. They have a balanced attack.

1/19: Early lead. Up 5 after 10 so they’re in it. 54-44 at halftime. 13 for Howe, 11, 2, 7 for Ture. Big edge inside. Up 21 with 10 left after a run.

100-78. 19, 6, 1, 4 for Howe, 16, 4, 11 for Ture, 16, 7 for Holl.

[Wayne23]

1/23: 6-11, 2-6 Toledo is here. They have a very good SG, but not much else. We still have not had a single empty seat for a home game.

Close early. Up 7 after 10. 46-38 at the half. We’re 2-16 on threes, the last 2 went in. 11, 5 for Pugh. We’re turning them over regularly.

Big run and we’re up 18 with 10 to go.

105-83. Their SG had 23 but it didn’t matter. It’s always a question whether to really focus on a big scorer or whether to let him go and stop everybody else. We mostly did the latter.

Only 7-31 on threes. 19, 6 for Pugh, 21, 2 for Howe, 14, 6, 8 for Ture. We owned the paint and turned them over 23 times to our 7.

1/26: 7-11, 5-4 Buffalo is here. We won by only 13 there. Their PG is their best player. Pat Ture says he’s ready for the guy.

Early lead. Up 12 after 10 and we’re turning them over and hitting threes. 61-36 at the break. 8-17 on threes. The starting 3 front court guys have a total of 45 points. We’re having it all our way in the 2nd.

110-92. 28, 5, 2, 5 steals, 3 blocks for Howe, 29, 7 for Pugh. 12-29 on threes.

1/30: All of our recruits hit our SAT score.

At 11-9, 6-4 Ohio for a rematch. We beat them easily at our place.

Early lead but it’s close. Down 6 after 10. 52-54 at halftime. They’re shooting 62.1%. I climb all over our guys for poor D. All 5 starters plus our 6th man have 2 fouls. 15, 3, 3 for Ture. We’re not controlling the paint. There’s a lot of work to do in the 2nd.

We take the lead quickly. Down 3 with 10 to go. Going to the wire. 95-87 as we heated up in the last 90 seconds.

22, 3, 4, 3 for Ture, 16, 6 for Kitt. This was a real battle which is good. These kinds of games make us better.

[Wayne23]

2/2: At 7-13, 3-8 Toledo. We won by 17 at home. They’re the team with the very good SG.

Close early on. Down 2 after 10. 40-39 at the half. Their SG has 22; he had 23 for the whole game last time. We’re adjusting the D. 4-16 on threes; they’re 7-14. Big run puts us up 15 with 10 left.

89-63. Their SG’s 34 didn’t do it for them. 22, 4, 2, 4 for Howe, 17, 11 for Pugh, 13, 10, 4 for Kitt. +17 for the bench. Only 7-25 on threes.

I’m thinking that after a few seasons of going with the strong three point offense I may move to another school and try and all in the paint offense. Could be interesting!

We’re 22-2, 10-2, ranked #11, NET #8. Up 1 on Eastern Michigan in the MAC. Kent ST is one back of them.

Paul Howe is getting 19.7. Mick Pugh gets 16.3 and 7.2 to lead us in RBs. 12.1, 6.4 for Kitt, 11.3, 6.9 assists for Ture.

Still #1 in the nation in PPG with 100.2, and near last in PPG Allowed. 3 point pct is .367. +18.1 PPG, +6.0 RBs, -4.5 TOs with a terrific 9.5.

[PointGuard]

Your team sure is pumping in the points...even with 36.7% shooting outside the arc.

Are you running the offense at fastest speed possible? Turnovers pretty normal...or more or less that usual?

As I recall you set edited your perimeter players to shoot 100% 3's and interior players (with outshooting skills less than 3) to shoot 100% inside shots...but are they pretty much shooting what their individual "floor range by percentage" shows on their player cards?

[Wayne23]

Offense at about 90% speed.

Good ball handling team, only 9.5 TOs per game.

Everyone with a rating of 30 or higher for 3s (in Commissioner Mode) is set at 100% threes. we're, as you noted, shooting only 36.7% on 3s but we take a lot of them!