27 Feb
February ’09 Blog Notes
* February 27th
- For the first time this season Ohio did not have one player attempt more than nine shots in the ballgame. You want balance—there’s your balance.
- Imagine if freshman Steven Coleman played like he did last night all season long. This would be a 20-win team already. It’s going to be a treat for Bobcat fans get to see him develop over the next 3+ seasons.
- Props to Evan Shaw and company for an outstanding production in the pre-game lineups video. Goosebumps.
- Really, the athletic department as a whole should be commended for last night. A turnout of 7,231 fans on a Thursday night is fantastic, and Ohio pulled out all the stops. Hopefully we see more lights out pre-game videos, a bigger band more often and a loud O-Zone in the near future.
- Which game was more enjoyable to attend: Ohio’s come-from-behind Bracketbusters victory over George Mason or last night’s thumper over Miami (OH)?
- Brian and I will be joined by classmate and Ohio University women’s basketball player Allie LaForce on “The Sears Sports Fan” tonight. We will share some great audio from the always entertaining Charlie Coles, too.
- Speaking of Semeka Randall’s squad, it’s good to see the club start to raring to go. After losing three of four to begin the second month of the calendar year, the Lady ‘Cats have won three straight—and they are doing it with a very young club from top to bottom.
- Sports Illustrated has listed Western Michigan safety Louis Delmas as its 7th best defensive back prospect in the draft. See Story. Delmas had 111 tackles and 4 interceptions this season. He tied a team-high with 8 tackles against Ohio in the Broncos’ 41-20 victory in Kalamazoo.
- More to come.
* February 18th
- An article out of Parkersburg on Jim Schaus.
- Did you know: Russ Eisenstein and Toledo play-by-play voice Mark Beier share the same birthday? Furthermore, both were behind he mic for the Rockets-Bobcats Feb. 14 contest at The Convo.
- Russ and Rob joined Brian and me on “The Sears Sports Fan” tonight from 6-6:30. Podcast is worth a listen.
- Tommy Freeman has six single digit scoring outputs his last seven games.
- Is he getting enough looks? The sophomore sharp shooter is hoisting up one shot for every 4.8 minutes played this season. Steven Coleman (3.8), Justin Orr (2.87) both have higher ratios in that department.
- Freeman has taken 16.3% of Ohio’s shots. Compare that to Jerome Tillman (28.2%), Orr (27.1%), Coleman (20.5%) and Devaughn Washington (18.7%).
- Coleman, by the way, has 18 turnovers over his last five ballgames. Like most of his misfortunes, mark it down to inexperience, which fans should have expected.
- Jerome Tillman ranks 16th in the nation in fouls drawn per game at seven, according to kenpom.com. He ranks below the likes of Blake Griffin (Oklahoma), Tyler Hansbrough (UNC), Matt Howard (Butler), James Harden (Arizona State) and Stephen Curry (Davidson).
- On the flip side, KVK and Washington are committing 7 and 6.1 fouls per 40 minutes played.
- Lamar, whom Ohio lost to at the Marques Maybin Classic in December, is 12-12 overall and just 3-7 in the Southland Conference.
- Ohio should have an scouting advantage this Saturday when the ‘Cats head to Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky. Assistant Jamall Walker held the same position at Murray State last season. The Racers, however, fell to EKU twice.
- More to come.
* February 15th
- The decision to move the Ohio-Buffalo contest from 2 p.m. to 12 p.m. to accommodate ESPNU is a debatable one for many, sure, but given the lack of TV exposure for not only Ohio but the rest of the conference this season, it’s a no brainer. Hopefully the athletic department will think of a few creative ways to wake the O-Zone up early for the contest. Pancake breakfast tailgate, anyone?
- Former Ohio offensive coordinator Greg Gregory is the new offensive coordinator at South Alabama. Gregory coached in Athens from 2001-03 and spent the last two seasons at South Florida.
- Something needs to be done about the paintball-plastered cement wall on the south side end zone of Peden Stadium that faces the Hocking River. The structure that reads “Ohio University 1804” is visible coming in to town from Route 682, and has been defamed with black and orange coloring for weeks now.
- Ohio football will release its non-conference football schedule through 2015 by the end of the month.
- Somewhere John Groce had to have been smiling after seeing his recruit and former Ohio State standout Daquan Cook win the three-point shootout competition during the NBA’s All-Star weekend.
- After an upset filled Sunday in the league, I challenge anyone to accurately predict the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
- More to come.
* February 8th (8:30 p.m.)
- Back with the Bobcat Blog, which admittedly has been way too quiet thus far in 2009 for a variety of reasons. Maybe the new website photo will make me a better writer/broadcaster/reporter. Doubtful.
- If you haven’t noticed by now, I left my position at The Athens NEWS last month. I enjoyed the roughly 16 months I spent working for editor Terry Smith, who gave me my first opportunity on campus before I had even taken one class in August 2007. Now I’m moving on to other journalism-related endeavors. Britton Dove has signed on to cover sports at the A-NEWS, and he has already produced some truly entertaining pieces for the paper.
- Great job by Evan Shaw producing the Ohio-Toledo Feb. 14 promo. The way KVK is playing right now, he’ll have no problems finding a valentine come next Saturday.
- What was the over/under on games it would take John Groce to receive his first technical? I definitely didn’t think it would take 22 games.
- I think it is fair to assess Ohio football’s 2009 recruiting class as a bit less prized than the 2008 class, but that was probably to be expected going in. Ohio took fewer JUCO players this spring, which will in all likelihood mean fewer impact guys right away this fall.
- It is interesting to note that Solich did not sign a kicker/punter. That means one of two things—redshirt-freshman Matt Weller has looked that strong this off season or were just so many other needs to be filled at other positions.
- If Ohio drew the right side of the coin (literally) and was able to snag West Virginia LB Taige Redman and could have gotten the state’s top ranked quarterback in Patrick Nicely (who landed at Akron) it would have no doubt been the league’s top recruiting class.
- Who will be this year’s Travis Carrie? Who will be this year’s Patrick Tafua? Who will be this year’s Brandon Weaver? Those are the questions I’m looking forward to answering from this 2009 class.
- I feel good about new recruiting coordinator Scott Isphording, the former Eastern Michigan coordinator. His youth and familiarity with both Solich and new defensive line coach Pete Germano will help out, and his in-state ties cannot go unnoticed. Plus, at Ypsilanti he was just a few miles away from a Big 10 powerhouse. That won’t change too much in Athens, just south of Buckeyes country. I expect a seamless transition. But, the bottom line is winning will bring in better recruits. We all know this.
- This discussion keeps coming up every recruiting season, and it still baffles some fans. The question is always asked: why did Ohio only get X amount of in-state recruits? Folks, remember whom Ohio is competing with across the state—the two top teams in the state (UC and OSU) went to BCS Bowls. And remember Ohio went just 4-8 last season, further complicating the matters. Ohio coaches must get clever, and keeping the Nebraska pipelines going, taking a few academic risks and pounding away at the Maryland and Pennsylvania states is a necessity.
- Speaking of football, head coach Frank Solich is scheduled to be a guest on “The Jim Schaus Show on The Sears Sports Fan” this Thursday from 6:30-7 p.m. Get those questions in right now for Frank: sports@970WATH.com. Or, even better, give us a ring live on Thursday and ask Frank on the show.
- Yes, that was referee Ed Hightower doing a MAC game today (WMU at Akron). Speaking of the Zips, don’t look now but they’ve won six straight. Still, I have a hard time believing UA can win the tournament with a freshman point guard that tries to do too much. As good as Humpty Hitchens will be, the kid just needs time.
- By the way, who’s your MAC freshman of the year? Ball State’s Jarrod Jones or NIU’s Mike DiNunno?
- Senior guard Justin Orr played just six minutes and took just one shot in the second half against EMU Saturday. Freshman Steven Coleman played 15 minutes in the second stanza.
- Freshman PG Frankie Dobbs has played 13 and 15 minutes respectively over the last two games. This coming after Dobbs had failed to reach double figures in minutes played over five of the previous seven games. I like he and senior Mike Allen on the floor simultaneously, and I hope coach Groce goes with that smaller but tempo-pushing duo more often down the stretch.
- One note on Allen: In two seasons at Ohio, he has only eight games in which he recorded more turnovers than assists.
- More to come.