MBB: American Southwest Conference

[bcal]

McMurry was able to out run HSU by using their depth.  Everbody who suited up, played, and most played some serious minutes.  HSU did not have the depth to hang with the the lines which came off the McMurry bench.  As the starters ran down, the bench was not able to match up.  McMurry had a good advantage in rebound and put back shots. 

the Indian guards need to work on pressure bringin up the ball.  This is an area the coaches may stress in Tuesdays shoot around. 

A good effort on the part of both teams.  Both teams can point to things they did well and things that need to be improved.

[Ralph Turner]

bcal, you are right about the McMurry depth.  Coach Holmes mentioned that he wanted to get into the HSU bench.  I think that will be the case for everyone in the conference.

This conference has gotten better since the last time that Coaches Holmes and Vanlandingham ran this system.  Therefore, they are counting on their #9, # 10 and #11 and #12 being better than comparable players on the other team.

Actually the way that they substitute, and #11 will get almost as many minutes as the #4 player on the team.

McM-HSU box score.  Thanks to HSU!  McMurry gets a double double out of Rommel Colina and Fred Baker and 8 players score in double figures.  Twelve of the 13 players scored.

http://hsuathletics.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2005-2006/mcmmhsu1.html#GAME.BX2

HSU goes to LaCollege on Thursday and MC on Saturday.  McMurry cathces LC on Saturday and MC on Monday.  Both games will be on the radio!

[quasar]

Sounds like nobody played any defense

[Ralph Turner]

Quasar, actually there was a considerable amount of defense played.

Sometimes the length of the possession is confused with whether defense is played.  If the point guard takes 9 seconds to walk across the timeline and then takes 20 seconds waiting to push the shot including 3 decent shots that are not taken because they want the perfect look, and a shot is taken with 2 seconds on the time clock, and you get offensive rebound, then you get another possession.  The point guard kinda passes the ball around for another 30 secs and only tries to drive the lane with 4 left on the shot clock.  You have consumed 1/40th of the game and may have only 2 points to show for that.

Conversely you have an uptempo style that McMurry plays which involves a real pressure defense such that the rotations are like hockey.  After 3-4 minutes on the court, you should be exhausted, or you have not been hustling.

http://hsuathletics.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2005-2006/mcmmhsu1.html#GAME.BOX.

McMurry caused 26 turnovers, had 18 steals and got 33 defensive boards.  In fact the #2 all-time NCAA leader in steals Daniel Martinez holds the season average of 6 steals per game in the 1999-2000 season when McMurry also out-scored its opponents by 20 ppg, 100-80.  (Daniel Martinez' freshman year at McMurry does not qualify for the NCAA records, because McMurry was not a full NCAA member in 1996-97.) Last night, we got a double-double plus 9 defensive boards and 4 steals from Fred Baker, one of the 2nd wave guys, in his 19 minutes of play!

http://www.americansouthwestconf.org/pdffiles/recordbook-menbasketball.pdf.

Had the score been McMurry (126 divided by 2 =) 63, Hardin-Simmons (104 divided 2 =) 52, would that have qualified as a game with adequate defense played?

We McMurry fans are becoming more excited with every game at the prospects that we see.  We defeated HSU last night with our Starting #2 guard out with Strep throat.  The team was clicking ,and I believe that the players see the system for how it can help teams win.

We had outstanding performances from players on each of the "lines", to borrow a hockey term.  I only hope that the team continues to develop and master this style of play.

[warped]

it will be very interesting to see the CUA vs MCM game because they play the exact same style of basketball...

[Ralph Turner]

warped, that becomes a question that hockey fans understand well.

"How does my 2nd line and 3rd line match up with whom they put on the court?"  Hockey fans may look at the game and see the first lines match up well, but may see real weakness in their third line.  The box score the next morning may show a guy on the third line had a "hat trick".

My experience from 1999-2001 was that the 1st 7 at each team in the conference matched up well.  McMurry had better players "8-12".

In McMurry's system, reviewing team stats and seeing one game, I really don't see any drop off in talent.  (Some players have been injured or ill for several games and some players will need to step up their game to match the development of their teammates.)  With that degree of talent, then the coaching staff is trying to find selective matchups so 2-3 players can really take big advantage of the match-ups.  Against HSU, McM had 8 players in double figures.  Terence Mirabal, McMurry's letterman senior, had 12 points in 8 minutes.  Fred Baker came "off the bench" to get 11 points and 15 rebs including 9 defensive rebs.

For McMurry fans, it becomes very interesting to see which player is "hot" on a given night and see how he can get the match-ups necessary to have a great night.

[whitebutterflies]

Sounds like nobody played any defense

You are absolutley right.

With two teams putting up 230 points in 40 minutes of basketball, I wouldnt call it much of a offensive struggle.

[McM Blue Devil]

While it was not a defensive struggle, I would once again echo the sentiments of Ralph.  McMurry played very tough and agressive defense against HSU.  While the score does not indicate that, you must remember that good defense does not always equal low scoring.  The style that McMurry plays dictates an up tempo, they push the ball up the floor and try to force their opponent to do the same.  Why?  Because 5 minutes-10 minutes into the game HSU players were grabbing their shorts and gasping for air.  So were the Mcmurry players, the difference is 5 more guys can then come in and give the starters a rest.  They key stat in the game was not that 8 McMurry guys scored in double figures, but that 10 guys played double figure minutes, with only 2 playing over 20 minutes (JR and Elijah) which can be attributed to the absence of Tee Jay Void.

I still think there is room for improvement for this team and there is a long way to go in the season, but for now I am happy with the way McM has started the ASC season.

One last thing, HSU has a real good team and they never gave up.  In the second half they cut a 26 point lead to 12.  They have alot of talent and are well coached. They will have a good season and will remain a force to be reckoned with in the ASC West.

Ok, one more last thing,  A BIG THANKS to all who participated in the Bible drive to benfit our troops on Monday night.  We collected over 160 Bibles and devotional books for "Operation Inspiration."

[mcmfan]

For all the talk about defense from the specialists, to an average guy who just watches the games because, hey, McMurry is my team, what "up tempo" seems to come down to is (1) wearing out the other team, as has already been said; and (2) taking lots of shots at just about anything with the assumption you can get points faster even with a lot of missed shots than the other team can while playing a "normal" tempo and taking more care in picking their shot opportunities.  That worked in those turn-of-the-century (?!) games, but if I remember right what killed us at the big playoff game with Calvin College was that Calvin overwhelmed us with its shooting percentage.

[thejungle]

Right, Calvin beat us by making their shots.

Then again, they were pretty good...They won a national championship that year.

That style worked plenty well...Just ask Maryville, or any of the other teams we beat on the way to the elite 8 that year.

[Ralph Turner]

McMfan, you are self-deprecating of your support for the McMurry teams.  You, and the other faculty who lurk on this board, do a great job of educating McMurry students.

In honor of you and the other McMurry faculty,
for the education that I and many others have received,
I dedicate this celebratory haiku.

McMurry cagers
Premier at up-tempo hoops
Hail the victory!

Thank you!    

[Aerie Head]

If we're having a contest for haiku, here's my entry:

Finals all week long
Makes for tired and edgy brains.
Time for some good hoops!

[warped]

CUA 62 @ UTD 85

[dsc]

Final:

LC   96
HSU 82

Per LC's Sports Page...Thursday, Dec 15.

[etbualum]

ETBU lost to wiley

not sure what he score was but it was bad like 15.  Might be the worst day in ETBU basketball history