Our RPI #272 Apps (6-18, 4-9 SBC) are in Texas for an 8:15 PM ET tip-off against the RPI #98 Tx-Arlington Mavericks (16-7, 7-5 SBC) in a re-match of an early January game played at HCC. In that game, the Apps shut down Arlington's leading scorer and rebounder, Kevin Hervey, but still fell five points short of a win. This time, Hervey will be on the Maverick's bench nursing a season-ending ACL/MCL injury. Even so, the Apps will be *gulp* 28 point 'dogs according to RealTimeRPI.com.

An upset win would be nice, but it's a delusional thought. Arlington is 8-1 at home this season--with it's only loss coming in a recent game with league-leader UALR.

The Mavericks average just over 80 points per game and employ a smothering man defense. That makes for a tough assignment for Jim Fox's young Apps.

This group will surprise us sometimes when they play up to their abilities and play a complete game. It also is apparent that Frank Eaves is struggling with his shot. I would think for us to have a realistic chance Frank has to find the range again.

USA won tonight and if the Apps don't prevail we will be 2 games out of 8th place. Last place Troy also won tonight and a loss will only put us a game out of the bottom. The good news is they both beat teams higher up the standings, so maybe we can keep up the trend.

Apps trail 35-13. Nuff said.

In the midst of this five game losing streak, Frank Eaves is shooting 22.9% (17-74) from the field and 12% 93-25) from three. Seems like we really need him to get out of his funk.

Final 91-60.

As this game slipped away, I started thinking about next year and wondering how we compare with the rest of the SBC in terms of returning talent.

App State has 5 seniors leaving that account for 53.3% of our scoring
Little Rock has 4 seniors leaving that account for 36% of their scoring
ASU has 5 seniors leaving that account for 36.8% of their scoring
Ga Southern has 1 senior leaving that accounts for 5.6% of their scoring
Georgia State has 4 seniors leaving that account for 42.5% of their scoring
ULL has 5 seniors leaving that account for 49.6% of their scoring
ULM has 5 seniors leaving that account for 69.3% of their scoring
USA has 2 seniors leaving that account for 14.9% of their scoring
UTA has 2 seniors leaving that account for 7.9% of their scoring
TxSt has 3 seniors leaving that account for 49% of their scoring
Troy has 1 senior leaving that accounts for 14.9% of their scoring

The top 3 scorers are seniors--Eaves, Long, and Deng

Ga Southern, USA, UTA, and Troy would seem to have the most talent returning.

hapapp wrote:In the midst of this five game losing streak, Frank Eaves is shooting 22.9% (17-74) from the field and 12% 93-25) from three. Seems like we really need him to get out of his funk.

Final 91-60.

Personally, I think Eaves has given up and needs to be benched.

You don't go from leading scorer in conference averaging 20pts or so a night to missing everythig including layups overnight. That's Chuck Knoblochesque.

Eaves has had a roller-coaster career. He went from sixth man yelling at Capel for two years to team leader for a year and a half and now he's a liability.

The team, IMO, had to go 4-4 down the stretch to make the tournament. It's still possible, but I don't know how they do it. They sure as heck have to beat Troy and USA at home next weekend.

Eaves is like most of the Capel players. Show signs of promise and fall back to Earth. He has been playing with significantly less effort the past few weeks. If I were Fox I would bench him along with others and play the younger players. Why not give those guys the minutes?

This team really needs to win a close game down the stretch to help them going into next season. Losing those games without any triumphs becomes mental.

Everyone seems to suggest that Frank hasn't been giving the effort that he has in the past. I'm not in position to know if this is true. My question is why he would at this point in his final season as the league's leading scorer? What's the evidence that he is not giving the same effort?

hapapp wrote:Everyone seems to suggest that Frank hasn't been giving the effort that he has in the past. I'm not in position to know if this is true. My question is why he would at this point in his final season as the league's leading scorer? What's the evidence that he is not giving the same effort?

My thoughts, too. Why blame the player who has been one of the bright spots over the past couple of years when his production drops off? If you look at the last five losses, he had two games in which offensive production was very low (2 and 4 points), but in the other three he was the number one or number two scorer for our team (behind Shabazz when he was #2). Perhaps he is struggling to find his shot, but why does that mean he is no longer trying? Any evidence?

tjpappy wrote:

hapapp wrote:Everyone seems to suggest that Frank hasn't been giving the effort that he has in the past. I'm not in position to know if this is true. My question is why he would at this point in his final season as the league's leading scorer? What's the evidence that he is not giving the same effort?

My thoughts, too. Why blame the player who has been one of the bright spots over the past couple of years when his production drops off? If you look at the last five losses, he had two games in which offensive production was very low (2 and 4 points), but in the other three he was the number one or number two scorer for our team (behind Shabazz when he was #2). Perhaps he is struggling to find his shot, but why does that mean he is no longer trying? Any evidence?

The only evidence needed is to recognize the fact that Eaves is no longer getting the job done. Fox may or may not know why his player is struggling; but with five straight losses he has to think about his team's best chance to make the tourney field. Only six games remain and one is a highly probable "L" to UALR. If we win four of the remaining six (and that's hard to fathom at this snapshot in time), we'll still need some help from our conference mates. A fancy graph isn't needed to see the hole our team is mired in.

http://sunbeltsports.org/standings.aspx?path=mbball

asu66 wrote:

tjpappy wrote:

hapapp wrote:Everyone seems to suggest that Frank hasn't been giving the effort that he has in the past. I'm not in position to know if this is true. My question is why he would at this point in his final season as the league's leading scorer? What's the evidence that he is not giving the same effort?

My thoughts, too. Why blame the player who has been one of the bright spots over the past couple of years when his production drops off? If you look at the last five losses, he had two games in which offensive production was very low (2 and 4 points), but in the other three he was the number one or number two scorer for our team (behind Shabazz when he was #2). Perhaps he is struggling to find his shot, but why does that mean he is no longer trying? Any evidence?

The only evidence needed is to recognize the fact that Eaves is no longer getting the job done. Fox may or may not know why his player is struggling; but with five straight losses he has to think about his team's best chance to make the tourney field. Only six games remain and one is a highly probable "L" to UALR. If we win four of the remaining six (and that's hard to fathom at this snapshot in time), we'll still need some help from our conference mates. A fancy graph isn't needed to see the hole our team is mired in.

http://sunbeltsports.org/standings.aspx?path=mbball

Chuck, no argument that his productivity is down but that doesn't necessarily mean his effort isn't there.

hapapp wrote:

asu66 wrote:

tjpappy wrote:

hapapp wrote:Everyone seems to suggest that Frank hasn't been giving the effort that he has in the past. I'm not in position to know if this is true. My question is why he would at this point in his final season as the league's leading scorer? What's the evidence that he is not giving the same effort?

My thoughts, too. Why blame the player who has been one of the bright spots over the past couple of years when his production drops off? If you look at the last five losses, he had two games in which offensive production was very low (2 and 4 points), but in the other three he was the number one or number two scorer for our team (behind Shabazz when he was #2). Perhaps he is struggling to find his shot, but why does that mean he is no longer trying? Any evidence?

The only evidence needed is to recognize the fact that Eaves is no longer getting the job done. Fox may or may not know why his player is struggling; but with five straight losses he has to think about his team's best chance to make the tourney field. Only six games remain and one is a highly probable "L" to UALR. If we win four of the remaining six (and that's hard to fathom at this snapshot in time), we'll still need some help from our conference mates. A fancy graph isn't needed to see the hole our team is mired in.

http://sunbeltsports.org/standings.aspx?path=mbball

Chuck, no argument that his productivity is down but that doesn't necessarily mean his effort isn't there.

Recently, the games where he has scored in double digits is because of FT's. Those have hidden just how bad his shooting has been. The way I see it, if you are shooting so poorly - get the ball to someone who is scoring rather than taking 15 - 20 shot attempts from the field / game and missing all but 2 or 3. Taking those shots when they are not falling to me is giving up. The effort to find someone who has the "hot hand" isn't there.

As an example in the last 3 or 4 games, Burgess and O'boyle have been hot from the 3 in the second half. They hit several
In a row then Eaves misses on two or three consecutive trips and kills the momentum. Keep feeding the hot hand.

App is going to have a tough time getting back into the groove of things, especially at home. With such lackluster attendance, high-quality recruits are going to shy away from playing in Boone in front of an audience of 500. While that falls on the heads of students, locals, and nearby alumni, none of those average fans will make their way to Holmes Convocation without a quality team. No fan wants to watch their team lose. No fan wants to travel through subzero temperatures to watch their team get beat.

Until something miraculous happens on either side (in the stands or on the court), App will likely continue to struggle. It's sad that this is what has happened.

AppDawg wrote:

hapapp wrote:

asu66 wrote:

tjpappy wrote:

hapapp wrote:Everyone seems to suggest that Frank hasn't been giving the effort that he has in the past. I'm not in position to know if this is true. My question is why he would at this point in his final season as the league's leading scorer? What's the evidence that he is not giving the same effort?

My thoughts, too. Why blame the player who has been one of the bright spots over the past couple of years when his production drops off? If you look at the last five losses, he had two games in which offensive production was very low (2 and 4 points), but in the other three he was the number one or number two scorer for our team (behind Shabazz when he was #2). Perhaps he is struggling to find his shot, but why does that mean he is no longer trying? Any evidence?

The only evidence needed is to recognize the fact that Eaves is no longer getting the job done. Fox may or may not know why his player is struggling; but with five straight losses he has to think about his team's best chance to make the tourney field. Only six games remain and one is a highly probable "L" to UALR. If we win four of the remaining six (and that's hard to fathom at this snapshot in time), we'll still need some help from our conference mates. A fancy graph isn't needed to see the hole our team is mired in.

http://sunbeltsports.org/standings.aspx?path=mbball

Chuck, no argument that his productivity is down but that doesn't necessarily mean his effort isn't there.

Recently, the games where he has scored in double digits is because of FT's. Those have hidden just how bad his shooting has been. The way I see it, if you are shooting so poorly - get the ball to someone who is scoring rather than taking 15 - 20 shot attempts from the field / game and missing all but 2 or 3. Taking those shots when they are not falling to me is giving up. The effort to find someone who has the "hot hand" isn't there.

As an example in the last 3 or 4 games, Burgess and O'boyle have been hot from the 3 in the second half. They hit several
In a row then Eaves misses on two or three consecutive trips and kills the momentum. Keep feeding the hot hand.

also, teams have found ways to contain Eaves a little more, quite possibly. UT Arlington is really good in some areas, if you look at NCAA stats. They are highly ranked in several sort of overlooked areas, such as offensive rebounds, defensive field goal percentage, forced turnover, etc. Little Rock is way up there in some areas, with one of the best defenses in the country. Also, ULL is ranked in the top 30 in some areas. Sun Belt basketball isn't too shabby this year, judging by some of the statistical areas....but it's mainly 3 teams, UALR, UTA, and ULL.

The SBC is the 18th ranked conference by Realtime RPI. The SoCon is 19th.

Our SOS is the toughest in either conference.