theeagleman5 Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 TheEagleman isn't feeling very confident in this Summit League road opener after our last two outings vs. OSU and John Brown.....and not sure how this team will play after 10 days off and perhaps a Christmas vacation swoon....but then again KC has exactly the same issues....and the Roos haven't beaten anyone of note and not really playing well at 5-8. So despite my concerns I still think this is a game ORU can and should win.....and we had better win because the Sunday afternoon game in the Mile High City will be a lot tougher....ORU cannot afford to start the league season at 0-2.......it will be interesting to hear everyones' post holiday thoughts on this team..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 This could be a tough road trip. As Yogi says, basketball "is 90% mental. The other half is physical." The team that comes mentally prepared on Friday will win. The team that comes physically prepared on Sunday will win. Which team will show up?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted December 27, 2023 Author Share Posted December 27, 2023 Games are Friday/Sunday with less than 48 hours between tipoffs....TheEagleman doesn't like the afternoon starts in the 2nd games of these road trips as it's a serious disadvantage to the road team.....but at Mabee Center we play fair and schedule all night games....perhaps ORU should rethink that strategy since we always seem to get hosed on the road.....not an easy trip going from KC to Denver this week...... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 1 hour ago, theeagleman5 said: Games are Friday/Sunday with less than 48 hours between tipoffs....TheEagleman doesn't like the afternoon starts in the 2nd games of these road trips as it's a serious disadvantage to the road team.....but at Mabee Center we play fair and schedule all night games....perhaps ORU should rethink that strategy since we always seem to get hosed on the road.....not an easy trip going from KC to Denver this week...... Denver actually opens at Omaha on Friday night, so they will have similar travel issues as ORU getting back home for the Sunday afternoon matchup. Obviously, it is still easier at home, but not as big of an advantage for the Pioneers due to the interesting travel schedule. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 This is an important game for ORU and needs a bounce back win after struggling before the break. The guys are rested and Miller should be back from his injury. I would expect a tough game from KC, as they want to crash the boards and turn the game into a backyard brawl. In the end the Eagles should have enough talent and made 3s to find a way to win. Eagles 72-68! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted December 27, 2023 Author Share Posted December 27, 2023 This is a game where we will miss Mwamba...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 I think this contest against Kansas City will tell us where we are - and therefore is an important game for league play. If we want to finish in the upper level in the conference, we need to win games like this. As OT has mentioned, our weak rebounding and surprisingly poor free throw shooting need to be addressed in order to win on the road. Kansas City is 5-8 on the season and are 4-0 at home (against weak competition) and 1-8 on the road. Their two 'good' wins were against OVC teams: SE Missouri at home (74-44) and at Lindenwood (72-67). The Roos shoot 42.2% from the field and 33.1% from 3-pt (24.6 attempts per game) - and 64.3% from the FT line. They average 13.2 turnovers per game along with 12.9 assists. They hold opponents to 42.7% shooting and 33.7% from 3-pt while outrebounding teams +6.7 per game. Top players: Jamar Brown (6'5" Jr. guard): 14.0 ppg (44.5% FG; 36.4% 3-pt) and 5.9 rebs and 1.3 assists Cameron Faas (6'6" Jr. guard): 11.1 ppg (42.7% FG; 43.8% 3-pt) and 4.7 rebs and 1.4 assists Anderson Koop (6'5" Sr. guard): 13.1 ppg (37.6% FG; 29.6% 3-pt) and 5.1 rebs and 3.2 assists Khristion Courseault (6'2" Sr. guard): 8.3 ppg (41.3% FG; 32.5% 3-pt) and 2.3 rebs and 3.1 assists Allen Mukeba (6'7" Jr. forward): 7.7 ppg (50.6% FG) and 5.0 rebs and 0.8 assists Melvyn Ebonkoli (6'7" Jr. forward): 4.3 ppg (51.1% FG) and 3.3 rebs and 0.4 assists They have 12 players with significant minutes. Their top six players are not tall - but they rebound well. I wonder if we will consider giving some minutes to Moore and/or Navarro in order to see if they can help grab rebounds. I have not been impressed by any of our big guys in that regard. They seem to stand around a lot instead of exerting effort to grab rebounds. We have to solve that problem and against a smaller opponent, maybe going a bit smaller with guys that block out and grab rebounds could work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 It is too bad the students are on holiday break for the KC game because in the past ORU bussed them up for the game. This gave the arena a neutral site feel to it. I am hoping the guys come out with some fire in their belly and want to start the conference season off right with a win. Why did guys like McBride, Thompson, and Weaver come back to the Eagles? They said to win another Summit League and go back to the Big Dance. Well the journey begins Friday night. The old saying goes: split the road games and win your home games and you have a chance to compete for a league title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted December 28, 2023 Author Share Posted December 28, 2023 Kansas City STINKS!!!...if ORU can't beat these guys then we are in BIG TROUBLE......when your signature win is Lindenwood...well....enough said....then again our signature win is TU.....so its a toss up...ESPN currently says there is a 53% chance we will lose.......no respect..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 1 hour ago, theeagleman5 said: Kansas City STINKS!!!...if ORU can't beat these guys then we are in BIG TROUBLE......when your signature win is Lindenwood...well....enough said....then again our signature win is TU.....so its a toss up...ESPN currently says there is a 53% chance we will lose.......no respect..... FWIW, KenPom has ORU a 59% favorite to win, by a final score of 74-71. So that spells ORU (-3) with a 145 total. We’ll see Friday morning if the Vegas consensus agrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 The Halsametrics site shows ORU winning: 73 to 70 link: Halsametric website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis 83 Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 As much as it pains me to agree with @theeagleman5 the Roos are not good. They are shooting .422 from the field and .331 from three. They average more turnovers than assists. They have been winning the rebounding battle thus far, but they're starting big man tomorrow night, Ebonkoli, is averaging 3.3 a game as you can see in @ORUTerry's game notes. I'm not predicting a win but I am saying this should be a very winnable game. If we are to have any aspirations for this season we can't drop a game like this on the road. Captain Obvious signing off. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted December 29, 2023 Author Share Posted December 29, 2023 ORU is -3.5 at Kansas City....that sounds about right....hopefully the Good Guys will be well prepared and ready to take on the below average Kangaroos....probably will be a sloppy contest but we find a way at the end... ORU 77 Kansas City 73.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 29, 2023 Share Posted December 29, 2023 The consensus Vegas line Friday morning has ORU a whopping (-5.5) favorite, with a total of 143.5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted December 29, 2023 Share Posted December 29, 2023 ORU has yet to win a road game. ORU has yet to lose a game when ORU is favored. One of these statements will still be true after tonight's game. I think it will be the latter. If ORU rebounds well, the Eagles could win by double digits. If ORU doesn't, the game will come down to the final two minutes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 Tony Rossi with the usual 30-second long Health Minute (lol) drops the following bomb: DJ Weaver tweaked his knee in practice and will not play in these two road games; hopefully may return for Montana State and Weber State next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 This is awful.......ORU getting blown out.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 Shocking how bad the Eagles look, not sure what happened over break but the team looks lost. It almost seems like they could care less. I have no answers. Just a loss for words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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