Basketball is here!

[Bigdaddyg1]

Brown is gonna hurt us if he doesn't improve at the line. He just throws it up there with no backspin rotation.

Mantis can fill it up

[311neers]

Mantis!!! On fire.

Doesn’t look like Wilson, Strothers or Greene are dressed out tonight.

[Bigdaddyg1]

Does Kendall get paid to say Holmes Convocation Center 25 times per game?

[proasu89]

Does Kendall get paid to say Holmes Convocation Center 25 times per game?

You betcha!

[311neers]

Greene is in! Good for him. Crowd favorite

[AppGrad78]

I believe the plan is to redshirt Wilson.

[appvette]

Does Kendall get paid to say Holmes Convocation Center 25 times per game?

You betcha!

Hahahaha

[311neers]

Would love to see Holmes Convo go with black seats and thicker borders on the court, especially along the baseline. Something small that can be done during an offseason and won’t break the bank.

Good win and it’s great to see a lot of guys play!

[Cro-Magnon App]

48% from the line.

I thought OC was in Atlanta.

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

It will be nice having Tate and Marsh running PG, think that will help Gregory with his offensive production. Tate had a sweet pass down low to Spiller who seems to have a good post presence. All the dunking was fun to watch as well. Looking forward to seeing how we do against real teams.

[MrCraig]

I loved seeing the pictures on Twitter of a well-populated student section. If they get that many people for the MIGHTY OAKS, Holmes will be rocking for some of the bigger opponents.

[Cro-Magnon App]

I don’t like the changes to the rule on taking a charge. The NCAA is going the way of the NBA = no defense allowed.

[AppOrange]

FT percentage sucks, do better, it’s the second easiest shot in the game.

Other than that, excited about this teams potential.

[appfanjj]

If we lose to Northern Illinois (or anyone else) by more than the number of free throws we miss that is a real issue. Suffered through this same deal last season. Can't leave those points on the floor. Need to get to the line a lot and make them. Kerns addressed it last night on the post game radio interview without the question even being asked.
Did not seem to see it as a concern at all. I am curious about that.

[appfanjj]

Since this thread is about SBC basketball I will say that JMU looks pretty darn good at this point. Poised against MSU.

[MrCraig]

If we lose to Northern Illinois (or anyone else) by more than the number of free throws we miss that is a real issue. Suffered through this same deal last season. Can't leave those points on the floor. Need to get to the line a lot and make them. Kerns addressed it last night on the post game radio interview without the question even being asked.
Did not seem to see it as a concern at all. I am curious about that.

I haven't ever done a deep dig about it, but I've heard some statistics that say free throws aren't THAT important, especially since they are only one point. I just looked real quick at FT% for NCAA tournament teams last year. Of the final four, Miami was #10 in FT% and UConn was #37. The other two teams weren't even in the top 75, unless I missed them. Meanwhile, the team with the best FT% in the nation, Texas A&M- Corpus Christi, was bounced in the first round. ON THE OTHER HAND, Fairleigh Dickinson had a FT% of 75.7% and upset Purdue in the first round by 5 points. 5 missed free throws and they might not have made history. So what's my point? I don't really know, but I'd trust Kerns that he knows what he's doing.

[appfanjj]

If we lose to Northern Illinois (or anyone else) by more than the number of free throws we miss that is a real issue. Suffered through this same deal last season. Can't leave those points on the floor. Need to get to the line a lot and make them. Kerns addressed it last night on the post game radio interview without the question even being asked.
Did not seem to see it as a concern at all. I am curious about that.

I haven't ever done a deep dig about it, but I've heard some statistics that say free throws aren't THAT important, especially since they are only one point. I just looked real quick at FT% for NCAA tournament teams last year. Of the final four, Miami was #10 in FT% and UConn was #37. The other two teams weren't even in the top 75, unless I missed them. Meanwhile, the team with the best FT% in the nation, Texas A&M- Corpus Christi, was bounced in the first round. ON THE OTHER HAND, Fairleigh Dickinson had a FT% of 75.7% and upset Purdue in the first round by 5 points. 5 missed free throws and they might not have made history. So what's my point? I don't really know, but I'd trust Kerns that he knows what he's doing.

Just seems like a big difference maker if a team loses by let's say 5 and misses let's say 10 free throws. I would love to know how many times we lost last year in games that we missed more than we lost by. I may be way off base but it just seems important if you are pretty even in every other stat.
Kinda like losing a football game by 5 and your kicker missed two pretty makeable FGs.

Close games late when free throws are invaluable worry me. Do you take Brown, with all he offers, off the floor in that situation?

[Bigdaddyg1]

Lots of stats can be important or less important depending on what happens to the other team. I've always thought sacks are way overrated especially if it's a 2 yard loss and the other team converts a first down after the sack. Turnovers in basketball might not be bad unless the opponent scores points off of them. If you go to the line 20 times and miss 12 and the opponent scores after the miss it's an important stat. If you shoot 8 FT's and miss 4 it's not a big deal. We shoot a lot because we shoot shots in the paint. I simply can't accept any notion that FT's are not important unless you blow out your opponents.

[MrCraig]

If we lose to Northern Illinois (or anyone else) by more than the number of free throws we miss that is a real issue. Suffered through this same deal last season. Can't leave those points on the floor. Need to get to the line a lot and make them. Kerns addressed it last night on the post game radio interview without the question even being asked.
Did not seem to see it as a concern at all. I am curious about that.

I haven't ever done a deep dig about it, but I've heard some statistics that say free throws aren't THAT important, especially since they are only one point. I just looked real quick at FT% for NCAA tournament teams last year. Of the final four, Miami was #10 in FT% and UConn was #37. The other two teams weren't even in the top 75, unless I missed them. Meanwhile, the team with the best FT% in the nation, Texas A&M- Corpus Christi, was bounced in the first round. ON THE OTHER HAND, Fairleigh Dickinson had a FT% of 75.7% and upset Purdue in the first round by 5 points. 5 missed free throws and they might not have made history. So what's my point? I don't really know, but I'd trust Kerns that he knows what he's doing.

Just seems like a big difference maker if a team loses by let's say 5 and misses let's say 10 free throws. I would love to know how many times we lost last year in games that we missed more than we lost by. I may be way off base but it just seems important if you are pretty even in every other stat.
Kinda like losing a football game by 5 and your kicker missed two pretty makeable FGs.

Close games late when free throws are invaluable worry me. Do you take Brown, with all he offers, off the floor in that situation?

I'd imagine FT% is also one of those stats where the difference between average and the best is small, but the difference between average and the worst is large. Like the difference between hitting 7/10 isn't that big of a difference over hitting 5/10 but it's a huge difference over hitting 2/10. So, an average FT shooting team is probably fine, while a bad FT shooting team will cost you games.

[Bigdaddyg1]

If we lose to Northern Illinois (or anyone else) by more than the number of free throws we miss that is a real issue. Suffered through this same deal last season. Can't leave those points on the floor. Need to get to the line a lot and make them. Kerns addressed it last night on the post game radio interview without the question even being asked.
Did not seem to see it as a concern at all. I am curious about that.

I haven't ever done a deep dig about it, but I've heard some statistics that say free throws aren't THAT important, especially since they are only one point. I just looked real quick at FT% for NCAA tournament teams last year. Of the final four, Miami was #10 in FT% and UConn was #37. The other two teams weren't even in the top 75, unless I missed them. Meanwhile, the team with the best FT% in the nation, Texas A&M- Corpus Christi, was bounced in the first round. ON THE OTHER HAND, Fairleigh Dickinson had a FT% of 75.7% and upset Purdue in the first round by 5 points. 5 missed free throws and they might not have made history. So what's my point? I don't really know, but I'd trust Kerns that he knows what he's doing.

Just seems like a big difference maker if a team loses by let's say 5 and misses let's say 10 free throws. I would love to know how many times we lost last year in games that we missed more than we lost by. I may be way off base but it just seems important if you are pretty even in every other stat.
Kinda like losing a football game by 5 and your kicker missed two pretty makeable FGs.

Close games late when free throws are invaluable worry me. Do you take Brown, with all he offers, off the floor in that situation?

I'd imagine FT% is also one of those stats where the difference between average and the best is small, but the difference between average and the worst is large. Like the difference between hitting 7/10 isn't that big of a difference over hitting 5/10 but it's a huge difference over hitting 2/10. So, an average FT shooting team is probably fine, while a bad FT shooting team will cost you games.

Only really matters if you shoot a bunch. I have looked at team stats and there can be a ton of teams between an 80% average and a 70% average. That might only come down to 3-5 misses or makes. Like I said if we beat teams by 20 it doesn't matter much but if we are in tight games and win by 5 it's important. Just hope we get the average up to a respectable number.