The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

The SIU game left me without some of the frustration of past games. I am changing my rhetoric. I am not going to say that we are being outcoached anymore this year. JC is trying just about everything. He can not shoot the ball for the team and this team can not shoot. I might question his evaluation of talent that he has brought in but that is for another day.
SIU is the best team that I have seen at the MACC. They are super quick and talented. They would win the MAC hands down. I thought it was ironic that they reminded me of our 2002 team. Guards that can take the first quick step and be beyond a quick defender and then shoot off the dribble or penitrate and dish is fun to watch. Man were they good.
Now for our team and future prospects. We know that Haynes can not shoot or pass. We are stuck with him. The good thing is that he is a very good athlete and he defends fairly well. It is a shame that he has limited vision and can not shoot because he could be what we all thought he would become when we saw him as a freshman. Crenshaw, if he would become intense and consistent, could become a good point.
Edwin will be gone. He is probably our best player at times but he is gone for games at a time anyway. He also can not pass. He is a good one on one player.
Cutley is the heart. He just can not shoot. If he were 2 inches taller, he would be all conference. I like this guy on a team that has a shooter or two.
Warz is the target of my observations for the past several games. He is not a D1 player. Size is not everthing. He can not or will not run. His man beats him down the court 100% of the time. (not 98%) He has no post moves. He shoots well for a big man if he is absolutely square to the basket and feet set. He can not shoot coming off a screen. JC has obviously put the play in after his hot night. Off the screen, pivot at the foul stripe and he has missed every shot. Do not count on him if you are building a MAC championship for next year. He is a spot player and a hot-cold player. His defense is the worst in the post that I can imagine. If he plays 20 minutes a game next year, we are a loser.
Youngblood had a nice game at times. He may be a keeper. I really hope that Issac is super good. Gates, I do not know. Meech, will not be major. Where does all this leave us?

Amen!

I'm sorry to say, but we will get creamed at SIU next year. We can be thankful though that this can only help us in recruiting.

GFlash68 Wrote:Warz is the target of my observations for the past several games.  He is not a D1 player.

In sorry but I have to comment on this one! I couldn't disagree with you more. I have seen posts that are prone to exaggeration about this team but this statement is really over the top. :rofl:

I guess the 51%+ FG and 3 pt shooting isn't D1 enough for you or the 4.7 rebounds he averages. He makes his free throws too (77%). His numbers are team highs among the starters. His performance isn't the reason the team is losing. The reason this team is losing is because this is their first season together. The talent is there.

Reno79 Wrote:

GFlash68 Wrote:Warz is the target of my observations for the past several games.  He is not a D1 player.

In sorry but I have to comment on this one! I couldn't disagree with you more. I have seen posts that are prone to exaggeration about this team but this statement is really over the top. :rofl:

I guess the 51%+ FG and 3 pt shooting isn't D1 enough for you or the 4.7 rebounds he averages. He makes his free throws too (77%). His numbers are team highs among the starters. His performance isn't the reason the team is losing. The reason this team is losing is because this is their first season together. The talent is there.

It's not that impressive because the team is only 14-10. If he was good, the team would be better.

When I observe, I barely look at statistics. I look first on the defensive end. Warz has a tendancy to get twisted around by his opponent and he is ALWAYs behind. His passing is very sloppy and soft. He telegraphs his passes if he passes at all. He is the last man down the court on defense and offense. He will be good in certain matchup situations. Against mobile teams he will be an overall liability. If you really wish to be infatuated by statistics, note his monster games (or better yet, half games) that inflated his average. Look at the games where he never showed up. He can be a valuble player, but not for the anchor that a post player needs to be. I will take a healthy Nate who can not shoot as well, but will hustle his pants off.

I daresay without Warzynski we would be 10-14 or worse. And I am not saying this is a good team, but I am defending their talent. Furthermore, saying Warzynski isn't a D1 player is absurd. As for taking a healthy Nate over Warzynski who wouldn't, but it wasn't a luxury we were going to get this year. At 10 minutes a game two years after his inital injury, you might want to reconcile yourself to the fact that he may never again be the player he was in his freshman year. Without Warzynski where would we be? Cutley as our big man?

I guess with over 90% of the season accounted for, statistical averages really don't mean much, after all it was probably just those inflated games but those antidotal observations why their amazing...

I agree with Reno. Remember, this isn't the ACC we're talking about. We've got enough talent to compete in the MAC and the tradition to come back.

Warz is averaging 51% from 2 point range and 51% from 3 pt range ( on 29 attempts). His shot's ugly? Do you recall Bedford's form? Probably not, because most of the time his shots went in. But BB, God love 'em, had a form most coaches would hold up and say " Don't shoot this way!" Warz has almost five boards a game. I'll give you his defensive shortcomings. But he can compete in the MAC. He does and he will.

The exerpt below is form Huffman's blog about playing at Kent. Now, if one of the guys we so often cite as having heart, tenacity and guts can feel this way, imagine how Youngblood, Warz, Crenshaw and Scott feel about playing through their first MAC season right now. And recall, Huffman was on a team that won the MAC tourney and went to the NCAA's his freshman year.

Quote:Maybe it's basketball. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself to do certain things- specifically, succeeding or not succeeding with basketball. Actually, it's true. There have been times throughout my life I linked basketball to happiness. For example, (many of you may think I'm crazy, but I need to say this) I thought getting a division one scholarship to play basketball would make me happy and to tell you the truth, when I signed those papers, I was one of the happiest kids in America. But guess what? It didn't last.

            A year later I was entertaining the thought of transferring because Division One basketball was the hardest thing I had ever done.  It suddenly ran my life and every ounce of my energy, sweat, and tears went into it. But rather than being happy of making it to the Division One Level, rather than seeing my dreams and goals through, rather than being grateful, all I thought about was my unhappiness and the peaks and valleys that came with it.

            Don't get me wrong. There were good days. But rather than enjoying the journey every step of the way, I thought about how much I missed days off and having friends that cared about me, and seeing my family. College basketball was not happiness. It wasn't like I thought it was. It took a lot of talking and coaxing for me to stay. My coaches and teammates told me, "Don't worry Trevor, this happens to all freshman. You hit the wall, but don't quit. Don't quit."
           

In closing, I heard a quote about basketball in a book by Malcolm Gladwell, BLINK, who writes about our capacity to make decisions in an instant. It struck as truth.

Quote:Basketball is a high speed, intricate game of split second decisions that appears effortless when played well. But the illusion of effortlessness comes from hours upon hours of repititions...running the same plays over and over again...so with just your gut you know where your teammates are and what they will do.

Everybody hang in there. They'll come back. Maybe not this year...but they'll be back.

The treatment on WARZ is a little harsh. Does he have shortcomings. Heck ya but who doesn't on this team. Did you realize we have only 1.3 players on scholarship taller than 6-5?. I count Gerwig as .3 since he can only go about 15-20 minutes a game. So love him or hate him we are stuck with WARZ.

Not sure how much help is one the way with the big guys? If a 7 ft HS kid is only averaging 9 pts/game he is going to need at least a yr or two to develop. So hopefully Gerwig can stay healthy and WARZ can improve his weaknesses but i hate to say i woulnd't expect much change from a 5th yr senior that is leading the team in scoring and thinkin Nate will be healthy is wishful thinking.

ksu315 Wrote:The treatment on WARZ is a little harsh.

Everyone knows I was kidding, right?

We have a good group on this board. I find the posters to be knowledgeable and interesting. Controversy does not go unchallenged. We are very good fans. Yes I was harsh on WARZ, a little too much so. It got what is was supposed to. Good support for one of our players. Let me encourage all of us to continue to keep this going. Go Flashes. Yes we can still win the MAC.

Quote:We have a good group on this board. I find the posters to be knowledgeable and interesting. Controversy does not go unchallenged. We are very good fans. Yes I was harsh on WARZ, a little too much so. It got what is was supposed to. Good support for one of our players. Let me encourage all of us to continue to keep this going. Go Flashes. Yes we can still win the MAC.

Completely agree, GF.

Well, I don't know if it's any consolation or not, but the students are just as frustrated and spoiled as the rest of us.

<a href='http://www.stateronline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/21/42198f05346ed' target='_blank'>http://www.stateronline.com/vnews/display....1/42198f05346ed</a>

GFlash68 Wrote:We have a good group on this board. I find the posters to be knowledgeable and interesting. Controversy does not go unchallenged. We are very good fans. Yes I was harsh on WARZ, a little too much so. It got what is was supposed to. Good support for one of our players. Let me encourage all of us to continue to keep this going. Go Flashes. Yes we can still win the MAC.

I saw Kent play NIU in the 1999-2000 season (Kent 73, Northern Illinois 54) and I remember thinking that Trevor Huffman played like a spaz and didn't have a lot of business being on the court. Hhhmmm, maybe I was a bit wrong.

My take on Warzynski is that he is the type of player that is being forced to do things that his skill set doesn't really allow. He's not a center at all, and really plays more like a power forward with a good jump shot. Now, that can be really handy if you have a guard that penetrates and draws the defense, or a team with a good center, creating all sorts of mismatch problems for a typical MAC team. That ain't this team. I think he's a fine MAC forward and I'm glad he's on this club.

bopol Wrote:My take on Warzynski is that he is the type of player that is being forced to do things that his skill set doesn't really allow.&nbsp; He's not a center at all, and really plays more like a power forward with a good jump shot.

That's been my observation too. Everything about Warzynski is geared for the power-forward position, yet he's had to play center due to Gerwig's injury. If Gerwig had been healthy all season, Warzynski would be playing at his natural position and probably having a better season. Of course, I think he's done a nice job despite having to play out of position.