2023: 3s and Put Backs

[Wayne23]

2/6: At 8-13, 5-7 Bowling Green.

Big early lead. Up 21 after 10. They close the gap. 46-40 at halftime. Both Ture and Kitt have 3 fouls. Not happy with the officials.

Up only 3 with 10 to play.

86-90. They went to the line 25 times, we went 9. I couldn’t afford a T but I came as close as I dared. But we played awful D, they shot 56.6%. 18 each for Howe and Ture, 17 for Shor. I can’t say the refs beat us when we played such poor D but one reason we did was the fact that we had guys in serious foul trouble throughout the 2nd. Not a good night!

2/9: Big game with 2nd place (tied with Kent ST) Eastern Michigan, 14-8, 9-4, here. On paper we’re better but we need to play well. We play at their place in a couple weeks so this one is big for us.

Pretty much a must win.

Early lead. Up 11 after 10. 48-30 at the break. 12, 4 for Pugh.

We run wild in the 2nd. 101-69. 16, 7 for Howe, 17, 6 for Pugh, 16, 3, 8 for Coop. 13-28 on threes.

We’re 1st in the nation in 3 pointers made but only 3rd in attempts.

2/13: 9-14, 5-9 Northern Illinois is here. This is a team we should beat.

Early lead. Up 17 after 10. 68-44 at the half. 12-25 on threes. 17 for Shor, 16 for Howe.

Up 31 with 10 left.

A season high 131-88. 21-42 on threes. We shot 64.6%. 22, 3, 16 for Ture. 26 for Shor, 24 for Howe.

1 up on Kent ST who we play here in the regular season finale.

[PointGuard]

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!

Hmmm...you think the fast speed offense is contributing to such a low turnover rate?

36.7%...like you say that's like hitting 55% of your 2's, so I guess really pretty good...and helping to achieve such a high ppg.

[Wayne23]

I learned in 2021 or 2022 that a fast offense resulted in fewer turnovers with a decent PG.

[Wayne23]

2/16: 13-11, 8-7 Miami is here. They take an early lead but we come back. Up 3 after 10. 54-38 at halftime. 12, 0, 5 for Ture. 9-22 on threes.

Up 27 with 10 left.

106-67. 20, 0, 9 for Ture, 16, 8 for Howe. Good bench play.

Still a one game lead with 4 to play, 3 road games then at home with 2nd place Kent ST.

2/20: At 3-22, 1-15 Central Michigan. There’s nothing to gain and everything to lose in a game like this.

Back and forth. Down 2 after 10. A late run puts us up 52-38 at the half. 12 for Howe, 10 for Pugh. Not happy with 10 TOs and they are hearing about it in the locker room. Up 22 with 10 left.

102-75. 19-38 on threes. 24, 5, 3, 3, 3 for Howe. I’m sorry he’s a senior! He’s the only one we’re losing but it’s a big loss. 23 for Shor.

2/23: At 8-18, 6-11 Ball ST. We won very easily at home.

We’re sluggish early on. Up only 3 after 10. 46-39 at halftime. We’re 9-32 on threes. 15 for Shor, 13 for Howe, 10 for Pugh. They’re beating us inside, which needs to change!

Up 18 with 10 to go; we really stepped up here in the 2nd half.

95-79. 13-47 on threes, not great! 24, 0, 3, 4 for Shor, 22, 6, 1, 3 for Howe, 17, 7 for Pugh. Much better inside play in the 2nd.

2 to go, both could be challenges.

[Wayne23]

2/27: At 17-10, 12-6 Eastern Michigan. We won easily at home but the road is never as easy. Their strength is outside.

We take a quick lead. Up 11 after 10. 46-31 at the half. 14, 6 for Howe, 13, 1, 5, 5 for Shor. 8-24 on threes. Good inside play.

Up 17 with 10 to go.

90-78 but that was about as close as they got. 24, 11 for Howe, 21, 1, 8, 7 for Shor, 16, 13 for Pugh, 15, 2, 10 for Ture.

1 more to play, against 20-8, 15-4 Kent ST here. They’re still 1 back of us so this is for the regular season MAC title. They can play, both inside and outside.

3/2: Back and forth early on, then we go on a run. Up 10 after 10. 46-37 at the break but they’re staying close. 13 for Howe, 12 for Shor. We need better inside play.

Up 18 with 10 left. It’s a wrap folks. Subs are in.

94-79 and the MAC title. 24, 5 for Howe, 11, 3, 10, 3 for Ture, 15, 4, 4 for Shor.

“WAKR Sports and we’re talking to Akron Head Coach Rick Loes. Rick, congratulations on the MAC title. What’s your feeling About the conference tournament?”

“Well, Spike, it’s great to be the #1 seed, of course. That’s a huge advantage. There are some tough teams in this conference.”

“You’ve pretty much rolled right over them.”

“Three of those teams have beaten us. We need to play well and we need to hit threes.”

“Let’s talk about threes. Pretty interesting strategy you have. Tell the fans about it.”

“I’ve been a Division I head coach for 13 years now. I always wanted to try this and they’re letting me do it here at Akron. Basically, we look for a three every single time down the floor. We hit.378 of them, We make more threes, 13.1 per game, than anyone in the country, and only North Carolina takes more of them- 34.8 to our 34.7. We’re only 34th in 3 point pct., but it’s working really well for us.”

“I’ll say! You’re #1 in the nation in scoring, 100.3 per game.”

“Yes, mostly because of threes and put backs.”

And you’re a young team, only one senior starter and one sub.”

“Yes, but Paul Howe is a terrific ball player and our leading scorer. We’ll need to find a way to make up for losing 20 points a game when he graduates in May.”

“You have 4 recruits coming in. Will they be the answer?”

“They’ll need to be a big part of it, but but guys like Pete Coop, Sam Call, and Dan Holl are ready to step up and get more playing time. I think we’ll be okay.”

“Best of luck in the post season, Coach.”

“Thanks Spike.”

[Wayne23]

3/8: 1st round opponent is #8 seed Ball ST, 11-19, 8-12. We beat them easily twice. They’re better outside than inside.

Close early. Down 2 after 10. 48-43 at the half. This is tougher than it should be. 8-24 on threes. Kitt has 3 fouls. Poor D, 50% shooting. Not playing well inside.

Early run. Up 23 with 10 to play.

107-76. We took total control in the 2nd. 16, 1, 4 for Shor. Very good bench play, +15.

Terrible news. Frosh Mick Pugh tore his ACL. He will miss the rest of this season and almost all of next season. Dan Holl will start. Todd Toon is livid but Holl has been playing better.

#4 seed Eastern Michigan, 19-11, 13-7, in the semis. We beat them twice. They’re better outside than in. Let’s see how Holl does.

Kent St was upset today.

[Wayne23]

3/9: Close early. Up 3 after 10. Big run. 56-40 at halftime. 13, 2, 4 for Ture. 3 fouls for Kitt, who played only 7 minutes. I was all over him at halftime. Holl looked good, as did the bench. They’re getting back in it. Up 10 with 10 to play. Solid play late in the game.

93-79 but they got it to 4 at one point. 21, 13 for Holl, 22, 4, 8 for Ture, 12, 4 for Call from the bench.

It’s #3 seed Western Michigan, 20-12, 13-7, in the title game. We lost by 5 at their place so we know we need to play well. The threes weren’t falling and they took 16 more free throws last time. We feel like we’re ready, especially with Dan Holl lighting it up in today’s game.

3/10: Not easy early on. Down 8 after 10. The threes aren’t falling again and the calls are going against us. 47-62 at the break. We’re in trouble. 3 fouls on Kitt yet again; he played only 8 minutes.

They took 11 more trips to the line. Our D was awful, 56.3%. 9-27 on threes. It’s a big hill to climb in the 2nd half.

It’s not happening early on. Down 23 with 10 left.

112-102 but we never threatened them in the 2nd half. They took 12 more free throws and we let them shoot 54%. Ture fouled out and Kitt and Shor wound up with 4 each. 18-55 on threes. Not much went right for us. Holl didn’t play well.

On to the NCAAs. Without Pugh I’m not sure how far we can go. Hoping for a #2 seed but it’s unlikely with us losing the title game. 31-4, 17-3, #8, NET #8.

3/12: #3 East. We play #14 Brown, 17-14. They have a good looking SF but this is a team we should beat.

[Wayne23]

3/16: Early lead. Up 10 after 10. 49-35 at the half. 20, 4, 2, 3 for Howe. Holl and Kitt are not playing well. I’m “motivating” them in the locker room.

Up 23 with 10 to go. This one is wrapped up early. Bench is in.

96-75. 26, 7, 4, 6 for Howe, 16, 4, 4 for Shor, 15, 10 for Toon.

#6 seed, #18 ranked Gonzaga, 25-8, in the 2nd round. Not an easy team, especially outside. We’ll need to play well.

3/18: A battle early on. Tied after 10. 41-47. We’re shooting poorly, 33.3%, 6-28 on threes., Kitt has 3 fouls again. We need to step up, we’re being outplayed. Mostly we need to make shots.

Down 5 with 10 left. We take a lead. Back and forth.

94-87. Whew! The front court stepped up in the 2nd. 26 for Howe, 16, 10 for Holl, 13, 10 for Kitt, 16, 2, 5 for Shor.

We’re in the Sweet Sixteen! We’ll face #2 seed, #6 ranked Brigham Young, 31-5. We beat them in December by 21 at our place but that was a LONG time ago and we had Mick Pugh then.

They have become a very good team.

[Wayne23]

3/23: Early lead but they come back. Up 8 after a run and after 10 minutes. 53-50 at halftime in a real war. Fouls are hurting us, as usual. 21 for Shor with 7 threes.
We’re 12-28. They’re winning the inside game, and took 16 more from the line.

It’s close! Down 2 with 10 to play.

91-101. They went on a late run and that was that. 24, 5 for Shor, 18, 5, 3 for Howe in his last game, 15, 4 for Holl, 15, 4 for Call. But they took 20 more from the line and made 14 of them, which was the difference. They also beat us inside. The refs didn’t help but they didn’t beat us. BYU outplayed us. Being in foul trouble handicapped us though.

Great first season at Akron!

[Wayne23]

4/3: #1 Kansas is the champ.

4/4: Awards: Paul Howe is MAC POY and Def POY, as well as 1st team along with Mick Pugh. Pat Ture makes the 2nd team. I am Conf. COY.

4/9: We reached most of our goals and our TP climbs from 50 to 55.

Some very good teams are showing interest in me. I’m not going anywhere.

4/23: I ask for $.

We get $12,000. I’ll take it!

Great first season at Akron, 33-5, 17-3, regular season MAC champs, Sweet Sixteen. For 13 seasons I’m 333-77, .812.

We hope to move to the Big Ten for next season. That’s a BIG jump!