ORU vs. Western Illinois

[ORUTerry]

 

[vcboy2000]

Obanor is a beast! I love how he plays with a chip on his shoulder. We need to keep that guy on the floor as much as possible. 

[ORU82]

Great win for the Good Guys!  Very impressive how we played.  These next two games will be real challenges, both PFW and SDSU are great teams.  However, this is all part of the "growing" process and should only strengthen us going into the future.  Good luck in Ft. Wayne and Brookings and continue to make us proud.  Go Golden Eagles!

[Old Titan]

Good guys take care of business at home this week against two of the league bottom-dwellers, as was to be expected. 

In sharp contrast, they now take to the road against the best two teams in the Summit, looking for their first win vs. any opponent with a winning record.

Defense, taking care of the ball, staying out of foul trouble, and making free throws will all be key factors (as in any road game, but particularly for ORU, where things have gone off the rails in those categories in several blowouts). 

Can ORU keep the scores in the 70's?  If either opponent scores 80 or more, doubtful the Golden Eagles can keep pace offensively.

[Tru Blue]

Great win for the Eagles! They are growing up! Not only did they win big but they are doing the basics right. This team seems to have a good chemistry and even during the brutal 1st half of the season they still kept a good attitude and cheered for each other. If they continue to improve they should play IPFW and SD State tough on the road.For this young team NOT committing a lot of turnovers is huge! Let's keep the same focus and intensity for the next 2 games!

[ORU GRAD]

This was what I was waiting for. He has been doing this in practice. Actually, he was 4-5 but that is great.   

[EagleManiac]

Very impressed by our play the first half. We couldn’t have manhandled a high school team that way at the beginning of the season. After the half they let off the gas a little bit. Very impressed by how far we’ve come along. A couple of notes: 

1) where is Kennedy Milton? He’s still on the roster, but we haven’t seen him in a while. Would he have been allowed to go home for the break? 

2) I like Kerwin Smith more and more every time I watch him, though I wish he had a few extra pounds to throw around. He’s a great defender, alters a lot of shots. But my favorite thing about his game is that he goes to the rim STRONG when he gets the ball under the bucket. He’s got some great post moves as well if he gets the ball outside of the paint. 

3) We have some bona fide shooters on our team, FINALLY. Both Weaver and Lacis are accurate from beyond the arc, but more importantly, they have VERY quick releases. Their defenders can’t help off of them more than a foot or two or a shot is going up. Really opens things up elsewhere. 

 

Excited to see how we handle the Elephants and Bunnies this week.

[Dr. Cornelius]

3 hours ago, Old Titan said:

Good guys take care of business at home this week against two of the league bottom-dwellers, as was to be expected.

I don't think wins over ANY Summit League were expected. Even going into the game yesterday against WIU I expected a loss... I didn't think Znekwesi and Obanor would have much success against Western's frontcourt compared to UND.

39 minutes ago, EagleManiac said:

2) I like Kerwin Smith more and more every time I watch him, though I wish he had a few extra pounds to throw around. He’s a great defender, alters a lot of shots. But my favorite thing about his game is that he goes to the rim STRONG when he gets the ball under the bucket. He’s got some great post moves as well if he gets the ball outside of the paint. 

3) We have some bona fide shooters on our team, FINALLY. Both Weaver and Lacis are accurate from beyond the arc, but more importantly, they have VERY quick releases. Their defenders can’t help off of them more than a foot or two or a shot is going up. Really opens things up elsewhere. 

Completely agree on Smith, he is a defensive presence in the middle - there is a pretty big drop off whenever he heads to the bench. I wonder why he had so many DNPs at Grand Canyon when he can obviously play.

I think Weaver and Lācis will be pretty big assets in conference. SDSU usually has success with a bigger guard (Tellinghuisen the past several years and Flatten this season) that can elevate and shoot over smaller Summit defenders.

[Old Titan]

2 hours ago, Dr. Cornelius said:

I don't think wins over ANY Summit League were expected. Even going into the game yesterday against WIU I expected a loss... I didn't think Znekwesi and Obanor would have much success against Western's frontcourt compared to UND.

Here's what I suggested back on December 24th, in the post titled "Entering Conference Play":

"...ORU has a decent chance to win their conference home games against the lower half of the league.  But otherwise, I don't like their chances in ANY road game, or when the Dakota schools and IPFW visit (UND being the exception).  Throw in an outlier or two along the way, and you're looking at a 5-11 conference record and a 7th or 8th place finish..."

To ORU's credit, they've already won an impressive "outlier" by defeating Omaha on the road, and they were dominant at home this week.  But, other than when Denver (and possibly Omaha) come to town, I still don't see them being a favorite in ANY regular-season games the rest of the way (which doesn't mean they can't/won't win any of them, especially if the front court guys keep playing the way they have lately).

[ORU GRAD]

https://gojacks.com/news/2019/1/3/mens-basketball-jackrabbits-fall-at-purdue-fort-wayne.aspx

After watching this game highlights, I have to agree with OT. They both look pretty good but Purdue Ft. Wayne is legit. 

[Old Titan]

2 hours ago, ORU GRAD said:

https://gojacks.com/news/2019/1/3/mens-basketball-jackrabbits-fall-at-purdue-fort-wayne.aspx

After watching this game highlights, I have to agree with OT. They both look pretty good but Purdue Ft. Wayne is legit. 

There's one thing that an SDSU fan mentioned in another thread that should be taken into consideration when comparing those two teams:  After Daum and Jenkins, the Jackrabbits are pretty young.  But they're still really talented, as ORU will see this week.  Will be interesting to see how/if they mature over the next few weeks.

[theeagleman5]

TheEagleman can't remember the last time he won 3 consecutive wagers on the Good Guys to win....it's been several years....but here we are in one short week having done just that.....not sure I can go with ORU again on Thursday at Fort Wayne but lets wait and see....big weekend as I also had the Eagles +6.5 over the Bears and Seahawks +2.5 over Dallas (whew! Close Call...lol)…….