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

Danny, it looked pretty awful. I wouldn't put it above the Wisc. GB game from a couple years ago but it's definetly up there.

J Williams, the part that really eats at me is he is the defending MAC POY. He's been one of the best players in the league since he was a So. Yet he still can't buy a call in MAC play. I'm not saying he should get star treatment from the officials just a fair shake.

Is it just me or does it seem like during big games guyton seems to disappear. He is supposed to step up and deliver. I am waiting for someone to step up. Manns has got to step up defensively period. No more coddling he must become a force on the defensive end. Guyton is our best shooter? He needs to look himself in the mirror and decide whether or not he wants it. Chris evans welcome to mac play. I was hoping this team could vwin some games without greene if necessary. Sadly that won't be the case. After greene went out we stopped playing. The same exact thing as the mac chip including the score. His teammates have not picked him up. Everyone talks about the guytons, porrinis, and holts, but without greene they can't put people away. The mac should be fined for using inexperienced refs. One guy only reffed 24 games in 3 years. Buffalo knows they were handed a gift. It does seem odd that greene gets no respect from the officials. He gets hammered and no call. He swings and misses and its a foul on greene. The poor kid gets nothing. Still this kid has over a 1000pts, almost seven hundred rebounds, over a hundred steals blocks, and assists in basically three years as a starter. I have a feeling jg and his crew will be ok. We will beat buffalo at home and a neutral site. If greene can get manns to defend we would have the best frontcourt.

To answer someone's question, yes they can stop play for an injury, except when a team is in the process of making what could be a scoring play. Basically, they wait for a "lull" in the action. I would guess, though, that in the case of a true "emergency", such as a player in convulsions on the floor, they wouldn't wait. At least I hope they wouldn't!

As for "star treatment", it has always been a mystery why some players get it and some don't. CMU's Kaman certainly did. I can think of plenty that didn't.

And on the issue of the live video, I tried but I can't watch that crap. The MAC site feeds stop-and-start too much. And I, too, HATE when they do replays when live action is going on, or show anything other than the live action. And, I like Linder, but even he sometimes is talking about something else when live action is going on. Man, I don't think it is asking too much for live audio and/or video to just cover the actual live action.

j.williams, it is not just you. I'm really disappointed in Guyton. Really, except for Greene and Porrini, I'm disappointed in all the juniors and seniors. I never expected much from Manns, though. Guyton and Manns won't be missed much next year, but Greene and Porrini sure will be.

Sore losers. Actually typical losers....it was the refs fault. No....the truth is your team could not finish.

Agree, Buffalo. In my 50 years of watching basketball, I have yet to see a game in which the officiating was the main cause of a team losing, even though I have seen some poorly officiated games. Kent State shot only 43.3% from the floor, and only 57.1% from the line. Those stats, alone, had more to do with them losing than any allegedly poor officiating. Still, let me hear you say that the Buffalo fans NEVER blame the officials for a loss, especially on the road, or that YOU never have! Fans are alike all over, my friend!

(01-08-2012 09:56 AM)Kent 76 Wrote:  Agree, Buffalo. In my 50 years of watching basketball, I have yet to see a game in which the officiating was the main cause of a team losing, even though I have seen some poorly officiated games. Kent State shot only 43.3% from the floor, and only 57.1% from the line. Those stats, alone, had more to do with them losing than any allegedly poor officiating. Still, let me hear you say that the Buffalo fans NEVER blame the officials for a loss, especially on the road, or that YOU never have! Fans are alike all over, my friend!

I don't think you can EVER straight up say that is the REASON someone lost, but it can most definitely make a huge difference (although did you see the video of ULL-WKY a few nights ago when the refs missed 6 players on the floor in OT when ULL scored the game winning basket?). 57% from the line is good enough if we attempt 4 more FT. Javon McCrea as the returning FOY gets way more calls than Greene, who is returning MAC POY. That is a fact. I am not insinuating anything is intentional or premeditated, but everyone watching can see the pattern.

We can nitpick all we'd like, but we outplayed them and ended up with a loss. That's ok. We knew it would be tough, and despite horrid officiating, we should have won. Only 7 turnovers. Moved the ball well. Most of the game, I thought we looked pretty good offensively and defensively. This was a tough road game and again, we should have won that game. I am encouraged.

dannyb73, I think officiating can be a major factor, yes. But it isn't a major factor as often as some fans think. Fans tend to notice the officiating when it goes against their team, but not when it goes against the opponent. If Kent State, everything else being equal, shoots 45% from the floor (the minimal figure for a team that expects to win), and/or 70% from the line (again, the minimal figure), they win - bad officiating or not. Despite everything that is said or written about basketball, it still basically boils down to what one of my coaches always said - "Just put the ball in the damned hole!"

I know that Kent State Basketball is not about finding silver linings in losses and last night was a disappointment, but some things came out of that game that I think could help this team as MAC play continues.

Buffalo is a good team that should have an advantage over most MAC opponents in the paint. From what I saw, Kent State held their own under the hoop. Justin Greene played a heckuva game (fouls aside). He went right at the Bulls bigmen and looked good doing it. Patrick Jackson didn't back down and I think the best it yet to come from him. I feel pretty good about Jackson going toe to toe with the better power forwards of the conference. As for Henninger, he got beat up but I really don't mind that. Sure, I don't like the missed layup or free throws or the turnovers, but he was thrown into it last night and he did play hard. That is going to be a key. Hopefully he learned something last night.

As for Manns, part of me was surprised we didn't see more of him the 2nd half. But there is a lot at play there. Lets see what he has learned over the last month. The team needs him.

The other thing that struck me last night was guard play. It was pretty darn good. Brewer looks like a guy that can take some PG minutes and do a fair job. He is active and tough. Although there is some talk in this thread about Guyton's performance, I think he has been moved around quite a bit this season and last night he was not at point (where he had been in the last few games) nor was he the focal point in the offense. BUT, he did hit some big shots and played a decent defensive game from what I saw.

At risk of getting more carried away I'll finish by saying this....Kent State looked good last night. That was the kind of offense I have been hoping for all season. It looked to me like the guys were committed to executing the gameplan that was in place and they almost got a big road win against one of the best in the league. The next two are huge. I think Miami and BG are in big trouble this week!

Buffalo held Kent State scoreless over the final four minutes until Michael Porrini made a 3-pointer with five seconds left. Even bigger, Michael Porrini injured himself on that flagrant foul. No reason to go up and foul hard with two seconds left in the half. Broken arm? Out for the year?

A zone enabled UB to avoid foul trouble in the first half and switch to man-to-man in the second. After making 14 of 27 first-half shots the Golden Flashes went just 12 of 33 post intermission. Bulls also won the boards, 42-30, to negate their 14 turnovers (against just seven for Kent State). Javon McCrea got the better of reigning MAC Player of the Year Justin Greene, outscoring him, 25-16.

Oh, give it a rest, Buffalobutt. Your team won -at HOME -by ONE POINT. Well, Loddy-FRICKIN'-dah! Everybody has 15 games left and your boys will take their lumps, too. Congratulations, and all that. Now, go eat some wings!

Just stating facts....not what I think. It is what it is.

(01-08-2012 11:01 AM)buffalofan Wrote:  A zone enabled UB to avoid foul trouble in the first half and switch to man-to-man in the second. After making 14 of 27 first-half shots the Golden Flashes went just 12 of 33 post intermission. Bulls also won the boards, 42-30, to negate their 14 turnovers (against just seven for Kent State). Javon McCrea got the better of reigning MAC Player of the Year Justin Greene, outscoring him, 25-16.

Say what you will, UB won by a single point in a game they trailed by 8 after the intermission. The officiating was horrible and your team was able to escape. You held serve. KSU has won the MAC regular season 2 years in a row without winning at UB. Until you do something over the course of a 16 game conference schedule, last night doesn't mean a lot. I consider UB to be like OU. Can win a game here or there, and will act like they are really good. But when it comes down to it, your team doesn't have the pedigree to get the job done over the long haul. How does the truth feel?

Lastly, Porrini is fine.

Time will tell, right? Just hate fans who can't deal with a bad loss. That's what it was for your team. Should have won and didn't. Plain and simple. Deal.

buffalofan, McCrea outscored Greene 16-25? Yes McCrea scored 25 and Greene scored 16 but go count how many they had head to head before claiming McCrea "got the better of him".

Also, you're saying we can't deal with "a bad loss"? So what you're saying is a one point loss to UB on the road is a "bad loss"? Don't think very highly of your own team huh?

Bad loss means you guys were up 8 with 10 minutes to go and lost. Kent State = Can't finish. Bad officiating excuse = can't deal with a loss. I'm sure we can continue this bs when we meet in Cleveland. Until then, I'm out.

(01-08-2012 12:05 PM)buffalofan Wrote:  Bad loss means you guys were up 8 with 10 minutes to go and lost. Kent State = Can't finish. Bad officiating excuse = can't deal with a loss. I'm sure we can continue this bs when we meet in Cleveland. Until then, I'm out.

Really? How was Buffalo's finishing skills against Temple? Now you are mute and it's time to leave our board.

We havent won in Buf last 4 years yet still manage to finish ahead of the Bulls. We lost our first MAC game last year and still finished ahead of the Bulls. 1 game of 16. long way to go.

DC mentioned the inexperience of the refs, but if we take care of our business we win game period. We will be fine moving forward.

GO FLASHES

Nice to see a Buffalo fan beating his chest after 1 conference win. I would be very careful as a fan of any MAC team to get to high just yet. As for Flash fans, I am pretty sure we are focusing our attention on beating Miami on Wednesday. If I were a Bull I would be thinking the same of Ohio University.