Horizon league tournament

[Wonderball]

Popsicle:

If you would have watched the game ...you would have seen how upset Weber was & Slocum patted him on the back and sent him back out. CLEARLY he had no intention of making the shot; at least the second. Now maybe he thought that if he made the first, he would try to make the second (getting a 3-point lead) ...I don't know and would not agree with such a strategy. In either case he wanted to miss the second shot & Slocum is aware of this. Now was I listening ...no, but let's assume there was some strategy involved.

I was at the game and clearly you are mistaken. Weber was upset that he did not hit both shots and was never intending nor told to miss either shot.

I am sure their strategy was to have as much gap as possible no matter how much time was on the clock.

[popsicle]

   Wonderball........you must have been at the game, like myself! Weber's disappointment was in fact due to his missing the 1st FT. That is not a belief or opinion, it is the fact. As for Coach Slocum patting Weber on the back, as IAA stated, that is correct as well. Now, my question is this? How many games do you all attend in person! Have you ever seen Coach Slocum's first reaction to a player, doing something contrary to his direction, be a positive, reinforcing gesture such as a pat on the back? It is amazing how much more insight one gains while watching a game in person. You are able to see all the different dynamics that play out, not just the one given by the current camera angle!
   As for Coach Slocum's inability to recruit a big man? I don't think he intentionally tries to not get them. Good, big men are a rare breed today, as is the case in high major D1 ball. And the fact that you may get a kid on campus for a home game, and he sees what the attendance really is doesn't help matters any.
   
   

[YsuPride]

Then facts are facts when it comes to Slocums record here as our coach.  Every team we play has more size so please lets end this topic because we are not going to get any better under his piss poor guidance.    Now lets concentrate on spring football. 

[Dmorton]

I don't think people on this board are considering how close this team was to having anywhere from 22, 24 -26 wins. Not saying we would have won every game. But,  I counted eleven games where one, YSU should have won because of blown leads in the second half, and losing by a couple of points; or coming down to the last couple minutes of play simply because of blown turnovers,  poor defensive rebounding or as in the Oakland game or just pure boneheaded play.  Could have, should have beat APU, MISS-KC, Kent State. Valpo twice and Oakland all three times, and couple of other games.  The point is after watching MIlw. beat Grn-Bay. in the Horizon semifinal we were not that far away from the other teams in the league.  Why we fold in the second half of season continues to baffle me.  But, the mental and physical toughness has got to get better to take the next step for this team and for the program to compete in this league, or we'll continue to watch the same choke job in the second half of the season every year.  Translation, we need a couple of physical enforcers in the middle (etc; Liby(Milw) Grady (Cle St) to take the next step.

[ValleyTalk]

YSU has for sure beat two NCAA tourney teams already. Eastern Kentucky has already won the OVC and the Horizon League title is UWM vs. WSU, who would have thought that!? In addition, Robert Morris is in the NEC title.

[Dmorton]

It's just sad this season ended up the way it did, when YSU had one of its' best teams ever put on the floor, and we could do is win just enough games to be a non-factor.  Not saying we could have won all the games I listed, but half of them would have got us 20 wins, and atleast something to look forward to for next season.  I hope we can win as many next year as we did this year, but I fear the team will be extremely you, and we'll be bottom feeders again!  Any thoughts!

[ucfpengbuck]

Dmorton, Like you I also look at all the very close 1 pt or ot losses we had and would like to think what the Penguins could have been.   I also know that we tied for 2nd to last place in the Horizon.   In my opinion this is was separates a wining team from a non-wining team is its ability to win a close game.          Having the best player in the league and finishing 2nd to last doesn't make me feel any more optimistic about the future of YSU basketball.

[Lets_Talk]

YSU had no inside game on offense, and got very little production off the bench. Hard to have a winning season when needing to rely on KP to score 25-30 points every night. Then add that KP was the teams best defender, and it put even more pressure on him.

I'm NEVER going to buy the argument YSU cannot recruit solid players for the 4/5 position. Notice I did not say GREAT. I said solid. All of the other teams in the HL are able to do this. And, when looking back at the coaches between Rice and Slocum, YSU had several players that would  be solid(not great) players in the HL at the 4/5 position.

Here is something I wonder about. YSU's coaching staff under Slocum has been made up almost entirely of guys that played guard in high school/college. Not that a person has to play inside to be effective coaching/teaching a player at the 4/5 position. But, it really helps when a staff has someone with playing experience at the 4/5, coaching the "bigs". Also, other schools in the HL seem to do a much better job at getting their "diamonds in the rough" at the 4/5 positions to become decent to solid players in the HL. Alec Brown is a perfect example. He was not very good as a Frosh. If he had been, then he would not have ended up at GB.

Again, I m NOT expecting YSU to get a kid who is 6'9" or taller, with muscle that can come in as a frosh and tear it up. Not even expecting such a player to be a starter his 2nd year. But, there are plenty of guys out there in the 6'5" - 6'7"/6'8" range, with some muscle that end up at schools like YSU, and have very good careers. The so called "tweeners". And, every so often, a school like YSU get's a guy who is close to 7'0", very raw, but over the course of 5 years(redshirting as a Frosh) becomes a solid player at the mid-major level. I have NO DOUBT about the coaching staff looking for the kind of player I'm talking about at the 4/5 positions. My question is, why do such players seem to shy away from YSU? Especially when Slocum and staff have had success at recruiting players for the guard and wing positions.

Here are guys recruited since Mike Rice left in 86-87 whi I know would be solid players for YSU in the HL. A few of these guys actually were solid players for Robic, and or Robic/Slocum

Jerome Simms
Tim Jackson
Marcus Cullver
Derick Simmons
Edgar Ward
Adam Baumann (was a solid player for Robic)
Dwight Holmes (got in Robic's "doghouse", then was a solid player for Slocum)
Desmond Harrison
David Brown - his range was about 5 feet at most on offense. But, he was 6'9", very active and alot like Eargle when it came to defense and rebounding. He also could run the floor, which would make him a great fit for playing with the kind of gurads and wing players Slocum has been able to recruit

John Barber - recruited by Robic, and had solid career at YSU under Robic/Slocum
Brian Radakovich
Anthony Camuso - was solid player, but poor academics ended his YSU career