Flying High - Legacy of Coach Bird [CH 2K8]

[RussellBird]

Group A Results

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Illinois State 82, Xavier 60

THIRD PLACE GAME

#7 Indiana 58, Kent State 54

Group B Results

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Southeast Missouri State 84, UNC-Wilmington 78

THIRD PLACE GAME

Coppin State 93, Longwood 76

[RussellBird]

NCAA HOOPS IN REVIEW - NOVEMBER 26TH, 2012

NCAA Hoops Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Nov 26, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	RECORD
1	2	Wisconsin Badgers	5-0
2	1	Duke Blue Devils	4-1
3	4	North Carolina Tar Heels	4-1
4	3	Louisville Cardinals	4-1
5	15	Oregon Ducks	6-0
6	11	Kentucky Wildcats	5-1
7	18	Gonzaga Bulldogs	6-0
8	13	Pittsburgh Panthers	3-1
9	7	Indiana Hoosiers	3-1
10	9	UCLA Bruins	4-1
11	19	Memphis Tigers	2-1
12	10	Maryland Terrapins	3-2
13	6	Ohio State Buckeyes	3-2
14	20	Tennessee Volunteers	4-1
15	23	Florida Gators	3-2
16	17	Marquette Golden Eagles	4-1
17	12	Arizona Wildcats	2-2
18	NR	Ole Miss Rebels	3-0
19	16	Texas A&M Aggies	4-1
20	14	Syracuse Orange	3-2
21	5	Kansas Jayhawks	2-2
22	22	Utah State Aggies	6-1
23	NR	Clemson Tigers	4-0
24	24	Georgetown Hoyas	2-1
25	NR	Connecticut Huskies	6-0

[RussellBird]

Redhawks Shoot 60% from Field, Crush Louisiana Tech 87-54



@

Ruston, LA - Once again, Southeast managed to start a game hot. For the first time ever, though, they managed to keep it going throughout the entirety of the game. On both sides of the ball, it seemed like the Redhawks could do no wrong. It was just their night to prove they could be consistently good. Going into the game, many thought Louisiana Tech would hand them another loss. With their fairly good defense, the stars seemed to align. A chance to dethrone a streaking Southeast team. It just seemed that the fast paced play from the Redhawks was just too much for the Bulldogs to handle.

When starting players get to rest for almost the entire second half, you know it's a good game. Marland Smith was absolutely lights out from behind the arch. Hitting the teams first four points to start the game. The whole team just seemed like they couldn't miss a single shot. "I told the guys to always look for open sites. If there's some pressure, don't even try it. Shooting percentage means almost everything to me. Taking those open shots only improve the chance for scoring and keeps the lead growing," responded Coach Bird to reporters questioning his team's style of play.

Like most teams, Louisiana Tech fell into the trap of shooting threes against Southeast. With a fantastic perimeter defense, it's nearly impossible to make any of those shots against them. Teams just seem to forgot this as they play them and continuously miss threes. Allowing Southeast to either climb back or run away with the game. If teams would merely stick to working the ball inside and drawing falls, it would be much easier keeping them contained. Even then, the only true hope is that Southeast doesn't keep hitting big shots down the stretch. Defense seems to collapse late in the game. Giving the Redhawks big chances to win games. Speed does, in fact, kill. Especially defenses who can't keep up.

After taking out Louisiana Tech on the road, Southeast travels back to Illinois to take on Bradley before conference play starts. With this hotstreak Southeast has been riding, they are the obvious favorites against a seemingly mediocre Bradley team.

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Nov 28, 2012	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Southeast Missouri State (4-1)	50	37	87
Louisiana Tech (3-1)	31	23	54

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Nick Niemczyk	18	4-8	4-5	2-2	2	7	3	0	1	14
Marland Smith	13	6-8	6-8	1-2	1	0	0	0	0	19
Lucas Nutt	17	1-2	1-1	0-2	2	6	2	0	2	3
Tyler Stone	7	6-8	0-0	0-0	1	2	1	2	0	12
Nino Johnson	12	5-8	0-0	0-0	10	0	0	0	0	10
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Michael Porter	18	4-7	0-0	2-2	1	4	2	0	0	10
Corey Wilford	15	3-5	1-2	0-1	2	1	0	0	1	7
Colin Ferguson	15	4-6	0-0	0-1	6	1	0	0	0	8
A.J. Jones	13	1-3	0-0	1-2	3	1	0	0	1	3
Jacob Tolbert	12	0-2	0-0	1-2	4	1	0	0	0	1
TEAM TOTALS		34-57	12-17	7-14	32	23	8	2	5	87

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Raheem Appleby	22	5-15	2-8	1-4	0	3	2	0	2	13
Alex Hamilton	21	2-2	0-0	1-2	1	3	0	1	0	5
Brandon Gibson	21	6-17	1-7	0-0	6	4	1	0	1	13
Cordarius Johnson	17	4-6	1-1	0-0	2	1	0	0	1	9
Isiah Massey	21	3-4	0-0	0-0	6	0	0	0	0	6
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Michale Kyser	11	0-1	0-0	2-2	5	0	1	0	0	2
Kenyon McNeall	10	2-7	0-5	0-0	1	1	0	0	1	4
Demetrius Moore	6	1-1	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	0	1	2
Kenneth Smith	4	0-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stojan Gjuroski	4	0-1	0-1	0-0	1	0	0	0	1	0
J.J. Lewis	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	3	1	0	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS		23-55	4-23	4-8	27	13	4	1	8	54

Bird's Nest - Welp, I think we may have won that game. Seriously, no one expected that. Of course, we always go into the game thinking the best. But beating a team by that much? Amazing. Proudest day as a coach by far. This beats winning the DD Challenge by quite a bit. Sure, winning a tournament is always a good thing, but how many times will we dominant a team EQUAL to us by this much? We were firing on all cylinders. Calling it now. We're going to have a very good year against conference opponents.

Like, I really don't know what to write about for this week's edition. I mean, we utterly destroyed them. People were hitting shots. Defense was hassling them. Without a doubt, we're going to be looking at this game if we ever lose. And I stress the word "if". Conference play will be daunting, sure, but we showed we can beat those equal to us with ease. Well, people equal to us on paper. We've already beaten a talented Xavier team albeit not by a lot, but what's to stop us from doing it again. Absolutely nothing.

Player of the game honor goes to Nino Johnson. Hard to really pick one out this week, but he pulled in a double-double with a lot of his time spent on the bench. Love not having to play the starters for the full game. Allows them to get even more rest in going into the next game. Much prefer to have them on the bench then risking any injuries. Too much chemistry with the starting five to have any of them sidelined. Our bench has some talented players. Very talented, but nothing beats a healthy starting five that gets along. Especially with such a dominant frontcourt. Heck, the whole team is dominant.

Once again, we head out to face yet another team in the battle of the Valley conferences. Gonna take this Bradley team very seriously. They may not look like too much, especially with their record, but we've already fallen to a MVC team this year. Not letting this happen again. Hopefully, you all can head out to Peoria and watch as keep this streak alive!

[RussellBird]

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 2012/13 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Nov 10	at Xavier Musketeers	Won, 86-82
Nov 14	at Illinois State Redbirds	Lost, 80-69
Nov 20	vs Evansville Aces	Won, 99-89
Nov 23	at Coppin State Eagles (Deep Dish Challenge Semifinal)	Won, 81-70
Nov 24	at North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks (Deep Dish Challenge Finals)	Won, 84-78
Nov 28	at Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	Won, 87-54

Next Five Games
12/1 - @ Bradley
12/6 - Tennessee State
12/8 - Tennessee Tech
12/18 - @ Samford
1/20 - @ Jacksonville State
Italicized denotes neutral arena games
Red denotes conference games

[RussellBird]

Braves Unstoppable from the Field, Dominate Southeast 86-71



@

Peoria, IL - For the second straight game, Southeast was involved in a blowout. They just happened to be on the other site of it this time. From the start, it appeared nothing was going right for SEMU. Shots simply weren't falling, and any hope for winning was dwindling quickly. After the demolishing of Louisiana Tech, the Redhawks were in high spirits. Believing themselves capable of taking on just about any opponent. Bradley sent those dreams packing in the first three minutes of the game. Taking a 13-2 point lead either, despite their best efforts, Southeast just could not get it into gear and continued to fall further and further behind.

Walter Lemon, Jr., just seemed to be unstoppable. Defenders unable to figure out how to shut him down. Hitting 8 of his 13 three point shots, the kid just could not miss. When asked about Lemon, Coach Bird didn't exactly praise him. "It was a fluke. Simple as that. This whole game, Lemon's performance. A fluke. He's not really that good. Just got lucky that we were fatigued from playing so many games on the road. In a rematch, we'd beat Bradley. No doubt in my mind. Just look at the Louisiana Tech game, then this one. We were tired. Simple as that. No way this would happen again"

Both of Southeast's losses have come by way of double digits. This one just seems to sting a bit more, as it ends a winning streak that had started to make people think the Redhawks could handle their conference schedule with ease. With a tough team like Murray State in the Ohio Valley, it might just be a glimpse that Southeast's future lies not in the NCAA tournament but staying at home during March Madness. Something that first year coach Russell Bird aims to keep from happening. But the road to the NCAA tournament will not be an easy one especially with an inconsistent team like the Redhawks.

For the first time in four games, Southeast Missouri State will finally return home to start conference play. Their opponent will be a struggling Tennessee State team who likes to finally get momentum going forward.

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Bradley Braves
Dec 1, 2012	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Southeast Missouri State (5-1)	32	39	71
Bradley (3-4)	51	35	86

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Nick Niemczyk	22	4-12	2-6	0-0	0	1	2	0	1	10
Marland Smith	21	3-13	1-6	4-4	1	2	1	0	3	11
Lucas Nutt	18	2-3	0-1	0-0	0	3	0	0	1	3
Tyler Stone	20	6-11	2-2	5-8	7	2	2	1	1	19
Nino Johnson	19	4-7	0-0	0-2	9	3	3	0	3	8
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Corey Wilford	13	2-5	1-2	0-2	1	0	1	0	1	5
Michael Porter	12	1-2	0-0	2-2	1	0	4	0	1	4
A.J. Jones	10	3-5	0-2	2-3	0	2	1	0	0	8
Colin Ferguson	3	0-1	0-0	2-2	1	0	1	1	0	2
Jacob Tolbert	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		25-59	6-21	15-24	21	14	15	2	11	71

Bradley Braves
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Walter Lemon, Jr.	22	12-19	8-13	2-2	1	0	2	0	2	34
Dyricus Simms-Edwards	17	2-4	0-1	0-0	1	5	0	0	3	4
Jake Eastman	22	5-6	1-2	4-6	3	3	1	0	2	15
Shayok Shayok	21	7-11	1-4	0-1	5	3	3	0	3	15
Jordan Prosser	21	1-4	0-0	0-0	13	2	1	3	3	2
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jalen Crawford	13	3-5	1-2	0-0	0	4	1	0	2	7
Tyshon Pickett	13	2-3	0-0	0-0	8	0	0	0	2	4
Milos Knezevic	7	1-1	1-1	0-0	1	0	0	1	0	3
Nate Wells	4	0-1	0-0	2-2	3	0	0	0	0	2
TEAM TOTALS		33-54	12-23	8-11	35	17	8	4	20	86

Bird's Nest - Seriously, I stand by my original statement. This was a fluke. We were dominated on the boards and were just lazy with our shots. That's just not the way we've ever played. Try playing so many straight road games and see what happens. Players get tired from all the constant travel. We were the better team out there. The scoreboard may not have shown it, but, had our team actually had something left in them, we would have won this easily. Bradley should be happy they actually got a win. Won't ever happen again against us. 1-2 against Missouri Valley teams. Annoying.

Another edition where I'm just not sure what to say. Two different results, same lack of words. It's one of those games we come out of devastated by the loss. Only thing we can do is dust ourselves off heading into conference play. We shouldn't have such a stretch of road games coming up again anytime soon. Traveling from Illinois, back to Missouri, to Louisiana, and then returning to Illinois can put some serious fatigue on a team. Showcased brilliantly by this game. Winning on the road is never easy for a team. Especially when they have to do so four times in-a-row.

Tyler Stone looked pretty good in a loss. One of the more salvageable things from that game. He showed a new look to his offense. For the past couple of weeks, he'd been working on hitting the three point shot. Something that I've strongly encouraged. We're a team that wants nothing more than to dominate from beyond the arch. It wins games. While we may try to incorporate his new found long range shooting, we're going to make sure he sticks to dominating in the paint. Not many people can defend him, and I think he can easily make short work of any defense in the OVC.

Recruit signing period starts tomorrow. I've been silent about recruits, as I feel no real need to talk about them. Don't want people knowing where I'm going or who I'm going after. Somethings are better left unsaid. If we do sign any recruits over the week, I'll be sure to keep you all informed. We have a total of four scholarships, and we're hoping we can get some of the big targets we've been looking at. Make sure to watch as we take on Tennessee State in the conference opener. Should be another good one! Well, better than this one anyway.

[RussellBird]

NCAA HOOPS IN REVIEW - DECEMBER 3RD, 2012

NCAA Hoops Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Dec 3, 2012
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	RECORD
1	1	Wisconsin Badgers	7-0
2	5	Oregon Ducks	7-0
3	4	Louisville Cardinals	5-1
4	7	Gonzaga Bulldogs	8-0
5	6	Kentucky Wildcats	7-1
6	8	Pittsburgh Panthers	5-1
7	3	North Carolina Tar Heels	5-2
8	9	Indiana Hoosiers	6-1
9	2	Duke Blue Devils	4-3
10	11	Memphis Tigers	3-1
11	14	Tennessee Volunteers	6-1
12	21	Kansas Jayhawks	4-2
13	16	Marquette Golden Eagles	5-1
14	23	Clemson Tigers	6-0
15	20	Syracuse Orange	5-2
16	22	Utah State Aggies	7-1
17	10	UCLA Bruins	5-2
18	12	Maryland Terrapins	4-3
19	UR	Iowa State Cyclones	6-0
20	15	Florida Gators	5-3
21	13	Ohio State Buckeyes	4-3
22	UR	Air Force Falcons	7-0
23	10	Texas A&M Aggies	5-2
24	UR	Texas Tech Red Raiders	7-1
25	17	Arizona Wildcats	3-3

[Deuce2223]

Good luck with recruiting. When at a small school even those 3* guy's look pretty nice

[RussellBird]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

Good luck with recruiting. When at a small school even those 3* guy's look pretty nice

I'm normally pretty terrible when it comes to recruiting. Hopefully, my fortunes have changed since I last played.