January 15th, 2015
Ball State (7-7, 0-2 MAC) at Ohio (10-4, 2-0 MAC)
Ball State is 0-2 but we know they're better than this. They're rated 81 OVR (81 off/81 def/83 sht/82 reb). They have a talented starting 5 with no major holes. All 5 of them started last year, so they've got a ton of experience together, with only one underclassman on the floor. They've developed well from last year as well, with 4 of their players having gained 2 or 3 overall ratings points in the last ~12 months(looking back when we played them last January)
Scouting
PG Rod Rowe JR 74 OVR 86 speed/84 quickness. Above average handling and passing (88/81). 84 defense, quite good, and 81 steals, outstanding. 84 close/84 med/67 3. 84 off the dribble/77 in traffic. Looks like a very dangerous player on both ends of the floor. 9.5 ppg, 3
rd on the team.
SG Gary Edelin JR 82 OVR Edelin is a JC transfer so this is his second year. 88 speed/87 quickness, 83 defense, 87 steals(A-, very very good). 83 close/84 med/84 3. 84 off the dribble, an outstanding shooter and can create his own shot. He's only averaging 10 ppg so far this year. I noticed last year his shot tendencies are very low. I'm not sure if they develop, but only the drive tendency seems noteworthy at all.
SF Fab Minoff FR 76 OVR 6'9 - 81 defense, good for a SF, a solid post defender. 84 close/81 med/64 3(thank goodness). 82 in traffic and a decent dunker. Solid athletic skills, B- vert/B- str, B- hustle. 6.1 ppg/4.3 rpg, which is lower than last year and a bit of a surprise.
PF Herman Wheeler SO 70 OVR Not terribly experienced, average/above average most everywhere on defense. 78/83 on the boards(off/def). 77 post offense/72 defense. Good hustle/vertical/strength so he loks like a pretty good athlete. Only a 76 close range shot/85 in traffic. He doesn't seem like a scoring threat. Not a shot blocker either. 6 ppg/5 rpg
C Russell Kapono JR 79 OVR 7 feet tall with some talent, very scary. 81 on the boards(both off and def), 91post offense, 78 post defense. 92in close/85 in traffic, and he's a good dunker. Strength is 91, average shot blocker... an absolute monster inside. He leads the team with 21 ppg so far this year. This is well up from a 15 point average last season.
They've lost some depth. Last year they ran 9 deep with guys rated 67+. This year its only 8, and one of them is injured for this game(backup SF). So we have a bit of a depth advantage, espicially if we're able to get them in foul trouble.
Half
| Time
| OHIO
| BSU
| Notes
|
1
| 15:05
| 13
| 4
| Ball State is having a hard time getting good looks against us and is ice cold. We have a 3 from Cooper, a 3 from Murphy and 2 or 3 dunks by House and are off to a great start. Timeout Ball State.
|
1
| 13:30
| 19
| 8
| They hit 2 2's. We hit 2 3's. Timeout Ball State.
|
1
| 10:18
| 25
| 15
| We hit 2 more 3's. Edelin hits his 1st 3 to keep the lead down to 10 points. They're running a 3-2 defense which is absurdly easy to beat for 3 point shots if they're falling. And right now, for us, they're falling. Backups are finally in.
|
1
| 9:30
| 27
| 15
| Ball State is going to be out of timeouts by halftime at this rate.
|
1
| 4:30
| 36
| 17
| Man I love this team. Nearly 6 minutes, and we gave up 2 points. We can be explosive on offense but this is the first year where I have these long stretches of lockdown defense so often. Starters are back in.
|
| HALF
| 52
| 25
| WOW. They actually gained ground in the final minute, we had a 50-19 lead. House scored the first 9 points in a row after the starters came back in, and it was well balanced after that.
Rowe has 0 points. Edelin has 0 points. Minoff has 4, Kapono has 4. Edelin did pick up 2 fouls in 6 minutes of action and sat, but the rest all played 13-14 minutes.
On our end... Murphy is 3-6 from 3 and has 15 total points. House is 6-8 from the floor including a 3 and has 15 points. House is 2-4 from 3 and has 8 points. Keller leads the backups with 6.
|
2
| 15:40
| 59
| 33
| We got the lead up to 31, they cut it down to 24, we get it to 26 again and they call a timeout.
|
We score the next 4 and go up by 30. I sim the rest of the game.
Ohio 86
Ball State 67
Murphy: 19 points/3 assists
Cooper: 13 points
House: 27 points/4 assists
Bright: 2 points/5 boards
Watson: 2 points/8 boards
Keller: 9 points
Lamkin: 5 points
Grundy: 5 points
Solid. Very solid.