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Fort Wayne at ORU


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It would be great if ORU can back up their win against Omaha and start out league play 2-0 with the potential to start 3-0 w/WIU in next.

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This is a hard one to figure...a few weeks ago, TheEagleman would have put this game in the loss column for sure but ORU has been playing better basketball and I think we have a shot tomorrow night vs. the Mastodons.....Fort Wayne lives and dies by the 3.....I watched some of their game two weeks ago at Indiana and they were hot that night banging in a ton of long range shots and the Dons beat the Hoosiers by 20.....they are an impressive 11-6 but four wins are against teams below D-1 level....still, they are better than ORU over the first 2 months of the season and if we allow them to shoot a lot of open 3 pointers they are going to hurt us....hopefully, Ruder is back and healthy because ORU needs some outside shooting....TheEagleman will wait until later tonight or early tomorrow to make his prediction once the Vegas line comes out....I would expect this one to have Fort Wayne as a slight favorite....:eagles:

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You know what I REALLY like so far about this team?

They say:  "Here we are; this is what we do.  We are not going to change to match-up with whatever you do.  We are going to try to do what WE do to the best of our ability, and YOU are going to have to deal with THAT."

In other words:  screw the 3-guard and 4-guard line-ups for a team like Fort Wayne. 

"Go Big (as in "big line-up"), or Go Home!"

Good guys by 3...watershed game.

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All this statistical breakdown is fun but sports usually come down to matchups.  We happen to pose a problem to most teams especially mid majors and its a beauty to watch.  Our front line is big and mobile.  This has allowed us to play a pretty effective zone defense while keeping our key guys out of foul trouble (most games) and being pretty good at defending the 3pt line.  Then on the offensive end we have absolutely demolished the offensive glass.  Most mid majors don't have the size to hinder our rebounding.  In fact, I'd wager that 90% of mid major play small lineups most of the time.  Even some of the best teams in our conference are playing bigger guys on the wing.  Daum and Konchar are great shooters and they kill you from the outside.

So throw the numbers out the window.  If we stay healthy we should stay in every game.  I think this particular game will come down to how well we cover all five shooting spots from the 3pt line and how much we can continue to hit the offensive glass.   Another underrate aspect of this team is our guards ability to limit transition chances while we have 3 and 4 guys crashing for offensive boards.  Some team is going to exploit that and we may need to adjust or just stick to it and hope we do enough damage to win.

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Just a few weeks ago this team couldn’t buy an offensive rebound and I still am not very confident in our perimeter defense even though it has improved, so if ORU continues to play like they did against Omaha, then you are correct.  I hope it does continue but as Dr Gillen used to say “A sample of one does not a conclusion make.”

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Ah...Dr. Gillen....a real good guy.....my personal favorite was Dr. Morgan....a real piece of work....we played golf together during the summer a couple times....I lost touch with him after I graduated...anybody know if Doc Morgan is still alive?...:geek:

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Morning line has turned around and ORU is now a 1 point favorite.....very interesting.....:eagles:

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This will be a good indicator of ORU’s relative position. I’m interested to see how Fort Wayne does against our zone. They have some really good shooters so defending the perimeter (good close outs) is important. I like OT’s observation about our determination to play our game and bend the opponent to adapt to us. 

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TheEagleman watched the Bedlam game last night....OU crushed OSU....that freshman Sooner guard  Trae Young is REALLY good.....also, SDSU beat NDSU in Fargo last night....Daum had 37....looks like the Jacks are surely the class of the Summit this season....:geek:

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Quote

“They're absolutely elite on the offensive glass,” coach Jon Coffman said of ORU. “They're averaging almost 15 offensive rebounds per game. Their four-man (Javan White) is the best in our league at offensive rebounding, averaging almost four a game.

“They're going to play three post players. (Emmanuel) Nzekwesi, who started for them at the four last year, is playing at the three. They're going the opposite of us. We like to size down and stretch you out, they like to pound you in the post and upsize you.”

Nzekwesi, this week's conference player of the week, averages 12.8 points per game. Albert Owens (12.4 points), Austin Ruder (11.5) and White (10.8) are also averaging double figures.

“Oral Roberts is playing at a high, high level,” Coffman said. “They just came off a 19-point win over Omaha. They've had some really high-level wins. They beat Florida Gulf Coast and Missouri State, both teams that have received and been ranked in the mid-major Top 25. It'll be a tough battle and then you go to Denver and that's challenging in its own right, as well.”

To be able to get one, potentially two, road wins to open conference season would be a huge boost in a league with such parity.

http://www.journalgazette.net/sports/colleges/local-colleges/20180104/ipfw-ready-for-league-play

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Well....Fort Wayne may get a road win on this trip but it won't be in Tulsa tonight.....should be a really good game but TheEagleman likes the Good Guys at Mabee Center  in a close one....TheEagleman got ORU +1.5 and the O/U is 151.5 so I have a 7.5 point cushion and will only need 146 to get the over....I think we pound the ball inside and hopefully IPFW isn't draining 20 threes....I will take that chance and say the Golden Eagles beat the Mastadons in a high scoring affair by something like 90-85.....GO BLUE!!!....:eagles:

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Fort Wayne puts up a ridiculous number of 3s. If they are hitting from very deep then we'll be in trouble.  I think we cover the 3pt line fine but we've been leaving guys open from NBA distance.  I don't know if these guys have that kind of range but they might.  

I really think the biggest keys to this game are:

Transition defense - Fort Wayne likes to run out and get open looks early

Fouls -  Bryson Scott has shot almost 140 FTS on the season!  That's a huge number for a guard.  By comparison, Eman and Javan lead us with 59 a piece.  Keep him off the line and it takes away a big part of their offense.

 

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I want to give Chris Miller some credit.  He has really stepped up over the past few games and I saw him trying to fly from the post area all the way to the 3 point line to cover an Omaha shooter in the last game. It is possible that the increase in Chris Miller’s usage is because he may have more foot speed to be able to run the zone defense the way Coach Mills wants it to be run.

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3 hours ago, ORUJason said:

I want to give Chris Miller some credit.  He has really stepped up over the past few games and I saw him trying to fly from the post area all the way to the 3 point line to cover an Omaha shooter in the last game. It is possible that the increase in Chris Miller’s usage is because he may have more foot speed to be able to run the zone defense the way Coach Mills wants it to be run.

You make a good point. Albert's slow feet and poor rebounding hurt us in a man defense, but are even more difficult to accommodate in the aggressive zone defenses that Mills likes to throw out.

 

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7 minutes ago, ORUIllini said:

Ruder still got pink eye? I didn't catch pre game show.

Infection spread to under his eyelid.......hope to have him next week.

 

How about Konchar?  Not athletic, but man is he a smart basketball player.

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