Leatherneck Nation

vatusay wrote:

sealhall74 wrote:Just for the sake of discussion, I wonder what some old-timers on this board think about our talent level the last ten years or so. Are we better or worse now than the D2 days of Dykstra, Lilly, Banks, and company. IMHO, those guys were better ball players but I also know it is hard to compare D2 and D1.

Don't even have to go back that far to see talent has been abysmal. Covington (viewed to be best player program has seen for a while) would hardly see the floor, if at all, on the TP CC teams. Can't think of one guy he would start over and mcavoy would come off the bench before him.

Or maybe this team has the talent but the coaching truly is THAT BAD. Chicken or the egg?

If those teams had Covington they would have been a tournament team. Two other scoring threats, one that could drive and find a guy or knock down a three and another dominating inside; he'd have less attention, less of a need to force it, and could sit back and knock down threes. Just my thoughts.

I don't know. I feel like he is force fed the ball. They had guys to hit the three.

WIU is now 0-4 on the year (the NCAA throws out their 2 lower division wins when it comes to tournament time).

They blew a 9 point halftime lead and gave up 40 points in the 2nd half to a winless team. Got out rebounded 29-38 (AU got 11 offensive rebounds to WIU's 2), shot 2-10 from 3 point line, shot 14-23 from the free throw line, turned the ball over 13 times, and committed 16 fouls with one being a T.

Again, tell me how they are not soft and discipline?

Ok he would have started in 2012-2013 with obi gone to oral Roberts. STILL burns me. Although, If obi doesn't leave he is the seventh man after mcavoy, who I was pretty critical of, but he always brought a spark. Perfect 6th man. So I concede you are right.

If we didn't have Covington we would never score more than 30 points a game. He is the all time scoring leader even though he has had having no offensive help for the last four years. He may be force fed the ball, but that is because no one else can consistently shoot. The new Duff kid has shown he has some potential. Hopefully with the experience he can start knocking down down shots consistently soon. I am fearful this season is becoming a waste and we have completely wasted the college career of one of the greatest players to come through WIU.

IMO, most of these players should be playing D2 not D1. Yes, Garrett would have definitely been the 6th-8th man off the bench with the CC/TP team. I don't believe this team would win with Coach Mo either. Coach Mo had one year with Garrett and Jabari (his recruits) then hit the road because he knew exactly what he was in stored for with this team! I definitely agree this team is soft, but I would not say they are not disciplined. I have sat through many practices and they work on blocking out, free throws, and basketball basics. Jabari is not a good point guard, everyone over 6'6 is a borderline liability, and players should have been shooting free throws since elementary school.

McAvoy his senior year was a stud. This year, Covington is the only player we have who can 1) create his own shot and 2) fairly reliable put it in the hole or get to the line. So if you are looking for points, where else would you look?

JoeW, you are right. We are too soft to compete at the D1 level right now. We dont have guys who want to get dirty around the rim. Of course, I am saying that after watching Gonzaga and Iowa State battle up on Sunday and watching a 300lb Goliath (Karnowski) control the paint.

CC3 was amazing, but there is no team we have ever had where Covington would not have started somewhere as a freshman fornall 4 years. We have never had more than 1 true consistent shooter on any team, let alone that averages 17 pts per game.

Mo hardly ever blew a 10 point lead. On the other hand, never came back from a 10 point deficit either. But I think the EIU and this game would have been Ws under the slow and deliberate take the air out of the ball Mo system.

American University won their first game of the season tonight 57-50.

Garrett Covington led the Western scoring with 20 points. Mike Miklusak had 10.

Western was 2 for 10 on three-pointers and 14 for 23 on free throw attempts.

Attendance at American University = 686.