Pretty good ball by the Panthers tonight. I need to see the score box to make a final decision about their play as a whole. Bosley is the best player on the court. Some other players may not want to hear that, but I stated at the beginning of the season that this was his team. When they need him, Bos comes through.
We do have some good post players, and Happy used them well. I don't think the game was ever in question as far as the Wesleyan players were concerned. Wayne State had some good shooters, but they got beat on the boards by KWC.
I thought all the KWC players did some good things, but Jacks is not 100%. I tell you one thing, you better be ready to bring it down low against Wesleyan. Looked like a nice atmosphere and UK played this evening. Tomorrow night's game will be more well attended. They look like they are coming around, but they definitely have some kinks to work out. They don't have a lot. Mostly just confidence and some real swagger.
So far, of the transfer players, Bennett is having a greater impact than Morlan. Bennett - started both games, 22 min avg, 11.5 pts avg, 7 rebound avg. Morlan - came off bench both games, 13 min avg, 4.5 pts avg, 3 rebound avg.
Next up for CU: 4 consecutive games against GLIAC schools: Walsh, Northwood, Ferris St., Findlay
Findlay travels to Fairmont State tomorrow night in a very pivotal OOC game for both teams.
If Findlay were to beat Fairmont, that would be a big win as they will get a road win over a team that will likely finish with over a 75% winning percentage. Fairmont should realistically only be beat by West Liberty, Wheeling and IUP the rest of the way and they are likely going to beat some from that bunch. Nice early season matchup.
Really rough start for CU women this year. The CU women have been a good team of late (even securing a tournament bid in 2015, prior to the auto-bid), but this year looks like it will be full of challenges. In addition to a new coach (Kari Hoffman, taking over from Kirk Martin - the winningest coach in the history of Lady Jacket basketball.), the top three scorers from last season are gone (including junior guard Abby Wolford, who will redshirt following a knee injury). So far, the ladies got smoked by Ashland 45-91 and ODU 35-67. They try to right the ship tomorrow against Tiffin.
I did not know about Wolford. A really big loss. I think most teams are getting better. Ursuline is loaded. Wesleyan has a good team but just not much size. Seems each team they play has a 6'2" 200 lb center that breaks her point record as our 5'9" gets knocked down.
CU Men:
I was actually fairly happy with what I saw to date. Then, I saw that schnautza has CU tied with 0-2 Oakland City in his ratings. Buzz kill.
1-1 against the GLVC, 1-1 against the GLIAC. The next two games will be tough (Ferris, Findlay). I will be happy if CU can win one of them. After that, two NAIA games and then another stretch of 4 GLVC/GLIAC opponents. I continue to like the two additions - however, Morlan is not playing as much as I thought he would. I haven't been able to watch too much so far this year (Its HS soccer season in FL and I have 2 daughters on the HS team and one on the MS team. Between them, they had 7 evening games last week). I should have more time to watch CU as the holidays approach.
CU Women:
Still rough sledding, but the ladies seem to be finding themselves a bit. The injury loss of Abby Wolford was very last-minute (she was in the team picture and on the initial roster). So, that was a wrench in the engine. Then, they got thrown right into the fire with games against very good Ashland and ODU teams. They looked better against Tiffin, and then won a well-placed-under-the-circumstances game against NAIA Cincy Christian. The next few games (CSU, Ohio Christian, Wilberforce) don't seem as daunting as the opening, so hopefully they can gel a bit before the schedule gets more difficult again.
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