Rough night for the belt

[RaginDave]

Take aways from last night, as I watched most of all 3 games.

#1. I can't take anything away from the USM vs Lamar game, Lamar is a terrible basketball team. They have 1 D1 win over Lindenwood, who is in there first year of D1 basketball. Lamar is horrendously bad. I think USM is a quality club, but nothing can be taken away from beating a team like Lamar.

#2. Texas State is bad, really bad or at least poorly coached. They are way more athletic than MHB, but MHB outcoached them from beginning to end. Texas State held the lead in the game for all of 20 seconds late in the 2nd half. MHB was undermanned and under athleticized, but they are a very smart basketball team that outplayed and out coached Texas State. Texas State is going to struggle to win many games this year.

#3. Marshall is a quality team, they just got outplayed by UNCG last night who is a better team than their 4-6 record would indicate. Marshall is a little over rated from their 9-1 now 9-2 start. Their best wins are against a 5-4 Akron team and a 7-3 Duquesne team. Their two losses were to Queens who just bumped up to D1 this year and now UNCG. They have a tough game vs a 7-3 Toledo team Saturday which will tell us more about them. They have some really good athletes and players on this Marshall team, they will compete for the top half of the SBC.

[fanof71]

I also remember the Lamar players coming out displaying the #1 finger. We responded by displaying a single finger also but it was an entirely different finger.

And they could back it up...that was a great era of Lamar BB. Those games, both in Laf. and Beaumont were always balls to the wall good and close, and full of smack talk...

[RaginDave]

Take aways from last night, as I watched most of all 3 games.

#1. I can't take anything away from the USM vs Lamar game, Lamar is a terrible basketball team. They have 1 D1 win over Lindenwood, who is in there first year of D1 basketball. Lamar is horrendously bad. I think USM is a quality club, but nothing can be taken away from beating a team like Lamar.

#2. Texas State is bad, really bad or at least poorly coached. They are way more athletic than MHB, but MHB outcoached them from beginning to end. Texas State held the lead in the game for all of 20 seconds late in the 2nd half. MHB was undermanned and under athleticized, but they are a very smart basketball team that outplayed and out coached Texas State. Texas State is going to struggle to win many games this year.

#3. Marshall is a quality team, they just got outplayed by UNCG last night who is a better team than their 4-6 record would indicate. Marshall is a little over rated from their 9-1 now 9-2 start. Their best wins are against a 5-4 Akron team and a 7-3 Duquesne team. Their two losses were to Queens who just bumped up to D1 this year and now UNCG. They have a tough game vs a 7-3 Toledo team Saturday which will tell us more about them. They have some really good athletes and players on this Marshall team, they will compete for the top half of the SBC.

And by the way, the UMHB basketball team that Texas State lost to last night is D3. Not D2.

[ZoomZoom]

And by the way, the UMHB basketball team that Texas State lost to last night is D3. Not D2.

And yet, Texas State beat PAC-12 Cal.

[RaginDave]

And yet, Texas State beat PAC-12 Cal.

Yep, a Cal team that is 0-11, Yes, 0-11. Losses to UC-Davis, Kansas State, UC San Diego, Southern, Texas State, TCU, Clemson, USC, Arizona, Eastern Washington and Butler.

And while a few of these schools on here are traditionally very good teams, UC Davis, UC San Diego, Southern, Texas State and Eastern Washington do not scream as the pinnacle of D1 basketball. This is a bad Cal team, really bad. Cal currently has an RPI of 314, UC San Diego is 3-5, Southern is 2-6, EWU is 4-7, Southern beat them by 8. I would not be picking Texas State's victory over Cal as a high spot for TSU.

[CajunVic]

And by the way, the UMHB basketball team that Texas State lost to last night is D3. Not D2.

Same as Louisiana Christian . . . also D3

[RaginDave]

Sme as Louisiana Christian . . . also D3

Yes, and we beat them by 35, Texas State lost by 6. I realize that traditionally UMHB is a very good D3 team and LCU is not. But you should not lose to these guys. All that said at one point UMHB had an 18 point lead over TSU. They dwindled it down and actually took the lead for .20 in the 2nd half. But then UMHB put the game to rest by outplaying and outcoaching them easily down the stretch. Interesting fact, UMHB is the number one FT shooting team in the nation, not D3, but in all Divisions. The Crusaders shoot it at 81.1% from the FT line as a team. They have 2 guys on the team that shoot it over 90% and another who has shot the majority of their FT's Josiah Johnson that shoots it at 85.7%. They also run a traditional Bobby Knight motion offense and they ran it to perfection last night. They had so many easy layups in this game with backdoor cuts and screens that it was funny to see the Texas State defenders looking lost during the game.

[CajunVic]

No D1 should ever lose to a D3 team in any sport, period.

[Turbine]

No D1 should ever lose to a D3 team in any sport, period.

+1

[Cajunsmike]

Not excusing TX State performance but basketball is not football. Occasionally talent is not enough. That is because the game still comes down which club puts ball in basket more often. You never know when a team will get hot and everything goes in no matter their athletic ability. By the same token, a talented team can have a night when nothing drops in. Granted both situations are rare but they do occur a little more often than some realize. I know the Texas State loss is at least the third instance of a non D1 beating a D1 school so far this year.