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

Good lessons learned early in December. On to the next one.

Defense does not have to have a dry spell. Shooting will. We were really poor on defense and rebounding. Look at a team's road record and you will know if they play defense well. So far, this is our weakness. So far, with our poor shooting, we have to keep the opponents score in the low 60's to win. Watch that number. If our shooting gets better, and I am not sure that it will, that is the number.

(12-06-2010 12:29 PM)GFlash68 Wrote:  Defense does not have to have a dry spell. Shooting will. We were really poor on defense and rebounding. Look at a team's road record and you will know if they play defense well. So far, this is our weakness. So far, with our poor shooting, we have to keep the opponents score in the low 60's to win. Watch that number. If our shooting gets better, and I am not sure that it will, that is the number.

Ummm - hello. We are leading the MAC in scoring at 75 ppg.

(12-06-2010 02:14 PM)dannyb73 Wrote:  

(12-06-2010 12:29 PM)GFlash68 Wrote:  Defense does not have to have a dry spell. Shooting will. We were really poor on defense and rebounding. Look at a team's road record and you will know if they play defense well. So far, this is our weakness. So far, with our poor shooting, we have to keep the opponents score in the low 60's to win. Watch that number. If our shooting gets better, and I am not sure that it will, that is the number.

Ummm - hello. We are leading the MAC in scoring at 75 ppg.

Agreed, but those games were mostly at home, and except for ULM, were closer than expected. If our offense does not improve a lot, as the games opposition gets harder, 60.s is the number. This team getting 75 against Charley Coles would be quite a feat.

I worry less about the defense because I for the last 10 years or so of watching Kent State religously, they always seem to improve on the defensive end as the season wears on. I can deal with defensive lapses right now because a) I think it is to be expected by a young team and b)Ford, like Christian, seems to preach defense and gets results.

On offense I am just not sure that I can tell where the improvement is going to come from. Especially in MAC games where the opponents know you better and sell the farm to stop your one or two best people and games typically are lower scoring. I just continue to worry about Kent's inability to get things going when Greene is being shut down. For now, my hopes are that

1) Like Carducci mentioned, Porrini starts to get it going from closer range

2) Holt finds a shot

(12-06-2010 07:53 PM)fallsdog Wrote:  I worry less about the defense because I for the last 10 years or so of watching Kent State religously, they always seem to improve on the defensive end as the season wears on. I can deal with defensive lapses right now because a) I think it is to be expected by a young team and b)Ford, like Christian, seems to preach defense and gets results.

On offense I am just not sure that I can tell where the improvement is going to come from. Especially in MAC games where the opponents know you better and sell the farm to stop your one or two best people and games typically are lower scoring. I just continue to worry about Kent's inability to get things going when Greene is being shut down. For now, my hopes are that

1) Like Carducci mentioned, Porrini starts to get it going from closer range

2) Holt finds a shot

Don't sleep on Rod Sherman and his offensive game. When he looks to score, he is pretty reliable. Also, Guyton is just feeling his way in the D1 ranks. Give him another month or two and he could be dangerous.

One of my favorite things about the early moments of a sports season is how quickly fans are ready to crown a team a champion one night and read that same team its last rites three nights later.

The truth is, none of us - coaches included - know what this team is going to be like come February. Just enjoy the ride baby.

Two players performances stuck in my mind from last night.

First off, DeAndre Nealy: I was very impressed with his toughness around the rim. Although he wasn't credited with a block I counted 3 times that he easily could have. Two times it was hard to tell, watching it online, if he actually got a hand on it or if he just forced the guy into an arrant shot. The other was the jump ball he forced which I'm guessing didn't go as a block because the guy never released the ball. In addition to his defense I thought that offensive rebound and stick back he had off his own missed FT was a very nice hustle play. If Kent could have sustained that run in the second half that would have been a big play in the game.

The second player was Justin Manns. I was very disappointed with his play last night. He seemed much more passive around the rim then I'm used to seeing him. With the exception of the first play of the game he didn't do a whole lot of anything. I remember when Carlos Boozer was with the Cavs he said that individual scoring can vary a lot from day to day and there isn't much you can do about it, but defense and rebounding are two things you should be able to bring every single night. That's the kind of mentality we need Manns to play with. I'll chalk this one up to him still being very raw and it being his first experience against bigger name team, but I really hope he bounces back well Thursday, we are going to need him. Also, looking ahead to the South Florida game, how well he guards Gus Gilchrist could be the difference between a resume win and a repeat of what happened last year.

With just a short sample of seeing some playing time, my guess is that if guys like holt, Manns and Leonard dont start to be more efficient with their minutes, GaInes, Nealy and Henniger will get more time. Just a Hunch but these guys look like they know how to at least specialize in something and contribute when they are on the court.

I really hope holt gets it going, I really want him to do well.

JimJoyce,

Just discussing our favorite team. The best part about this year's squad from a message board perspective is that there is going to be a TON of ups and downs to discuss. I love it...in fact, it may be my second favorite part of the ride...the dortmunder at rays being my first.

We took care of UAB at our place last year and they got even Sunday night. We will get the final crack at them next season at the MAC center. If we can go 2-1 against a CUSA team, it was well worth the effort.

Here's a quote from your coach after the UAB game from our Rivals.com site:

Quote:"We're not as good as their team," said Kent State head coach Gino Ford. "It was their fourth game in a week and they physically manhandled us."

Ford was also very impressed with Moore. "They've done a good job developing him. It's not a mystery; we get here an hour and a half before the game and walked out on the court and he's dripping sweat in a workout with one of the assistant coaches. He wants to be a good player. When I walk into a game 90 minutes before tip and your best player who's averaging 20 points a game is dripping sweat, he's making a statement that 'I want to be good.'"

(12-07-2010 12:54 PM)Schard Wrote:  Here's a quote from your coach after the UAB game from our Rivals.com site:

Quote:"We're not as good as their team," said Kent State head coach Gino Ford. "It was their fourth game in a week and they physically manhandled us."

Ford was also very impressed with Moore. "They've done a good job developing him. It's not a mystery; we get here an hour and a half before the game and walked out on the court and he's dripping sweat in a workout with one of the assistant coaches. He wants to be a good player. When I walk into a game 90 minutes before tip and your best player who's averaging 20 points a game is dripping sweat, he's making a statement that 'I want to be good.'"

The best team doesn't always win. The best team that night is all that matters. Sunday night, UAB was the best team. BTW - his name is Geno.

(12-07-2010 04:12 PM)dannyb73 Wrote:  

(12-07-2010 12:54 PM)Schard Wrote:  Here's a quote from your coach after the UAB game from our Rivals.com site:

Quote:"We're not as good as their team," said Kent State head coach Gino Ford. "It was their fourth game in a week and they physically manhandled us."

Ford was also very impressed with Moore. "They've done a good job developing him. It's not a mystery; we get here an hour and a half before the game and walked out on the court and he's dripping sweat in a workout with one of the assistant coaches. He wants to be a good player. When I walk into a game 90 minutes before tip and your best player who's averaging 20 points a game is dripping sweat, he's making a statement that 'I want to be good.'"

The best team doesn't always win. The best team that night is all that matters. Sunday night, UAB was the best team. BTW - his name is Geno.

And, I am pretty sure that UAB would be better than us tonight. I would encourage patience with this team. Eleven new faces on a team is almost unheard of.

(12-06-2010 11:31 PM)JimJoyce Wrote:  One of my favorite things about the early moments of a sports season is how quickly fans are ready to crown a team a champion one night and read that same team its last rites three nights later.

The truth is, none of us - coaches included - know what this team is going to be like come February. Just enjoy the ride baby.

The best part is once it is February and we understand where the team is we pretend we knew all along and tell the coaches what they should have done. What a wonderful country. We even do it in the early part of a 162 game baseball season. We pretend one win or lose explains everything.

hey we are at least talking about something...

Had to miss the game..and apparently it was one to miss.

Honestly, I am more surprised that we were 7-1 than that we lost this game. Given his history with us, Mike Davis is never going to have a team sleep on the Flashes.

Oh man! I always though of myself as contender, not a pretender!