[Ill flame]

We're not gonna win many games with 20 turnovers.

[Tothehoopyall1]

Was Blake Preston at the game tonight?

[Golden Eagle]

Good luck the rest of the season! It was great to see two players like Max and Darius go back and forth. Rooting for the Flames in the ASUN and beyond!

I hope this series will pick up sometime in the future!

[olldflame]

We're not gonna win many games with 20 turnovers.

Nobody is, unless they are extremely up tempo and force just as many or more.
If Ritchie and the guys can't correct this problem, it's going to be a long season. What makes it even more frustrating is that Darius continues to be the biggest offender. It's a problem he has always had, and he cited a desire to improve in that area before going pro as one of the main reasons he returned. Instead, he seems to be regressing.

[LUOrange]

Not sure what happened with our boys in the 2nd Half other than the obvious- ORU made adjustments and we didn't. I thought McKay waited way too long to make some substitutions (around 13 minute mark) when the starters were struggling offensively. It was interesting that in the 1st half the Refs let the Boys play, then called everything under the sun in the 2nd.

Hopefully, McKay can make some adjustments for Bryant and Grambling otherwise it could be a long ASUN season. 1-4 vs. quality opponents is not a good sign.

[ballcoach15]

We are "offensively challenged", other than McGee. He gets his 20+ points a night. We need at least 3 others to step up and score in double figures. Basketball is an offense driven sport.

[prototype]

Good luck the rest of the season! It was great to see two players like Max and Darius go back and forth. Rooting for the Flames in the ASUN and beyond!

I hope this series will pick up sometime in the future!

Good luck to you guys too. Hopefully we can meet in the Final 4 this year again (I'm just joking)(I know we probably won't make the Final Four this year) (or possibly even the tournament, unless we can get a big to score at least double digits each game).

[Chippy]

We are "offensively challenged", other than McGee. He gets his 20+ points a night. We need at least 3 others to step up and score in double figures. Basketball is an offense driven sport.

Remember not too many years ago when McGhee was the 4th-5th option on offense. Homesley, James, Cuffee, Pacheco-Ortiz. Any one of them could have put up 20 any given night.

Another point is ORU had transfers from Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Arizona State and Oklahoma that made a huge difference talent wise.

[flameshaw]

When you only have 1-2 guys who can score, and none of them are "bigs", it is going to be a looooooong season. Same problems as last year.

[paradox]

Gaurd situation has vastly improved. Peebles, Warfield, Venzant have sharpened their skills. And Porter is a significant upgrade. Take advantage of strengths. Put Kyle in high post w/4 guards.

[paradox]

We are "offensively challenged", other than McGee. He gets his 20+ points a night. We need at least 3 others to step up and score in double figures. Basketball is an offense driven sport.

Remember not too many years ago when McGhee was the 4th-5th option on offense. Homesley, James, Cuffee, Pacheco-Ortiz. Any one of them could have put up 20 any given night.

Another point is ORU had transfers from Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Arizona State and Oklahoma that made a huge difference talent wise.

Everyone always forgets Lovell Cabbil. Big time underrated. Arguably our best clutch scorer ever. Top defender. Solid playmaker. We had two best players that year: Cabbil and Homesley.

[LUOrange]

Good luck the rest of the season! It was great to see two players like Max and Darius go back and forth. Rooting for the Flames in the ASUN and beyond!

I hope this series will pick up sometime in the future!

Good luck to you guys too. Hopefully we can meet in the Final 4 this year again (I'm just joking)(I know we probably won't make the Final Four this year) (or possibly even the tournament, unless we can get a big to score at least double digits each game).

Some games our only real big guy barely sees the floor, just like last night. Makes no sense to me.

[LUOrange]

We are "offensively challenged", other than McGee. He gets his 20+ points a night. We need at least 3 others to step up and score in double figures. Basketball is an offense driven sport.

Remember not too many years ago when McGhee was the 4th-5th option on offense. Homesley, James, Cuffee, Pacheco-Ortiz. Any one of them could have put up 20 any given night.

Another point is ORU had transfers from Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Arizona State and Oklahoma that made a huge difference talent wise.

The upside is that we only lost because we were really sloppy. So we can still right the ship.

As far as the recent nostalgia, another huge problem is that we're still missing the leadership and calming influences that Cabbell, Cuffee, Myo, and Georgie brought to the team. Hopefully, our Boys will really step up like they're capable of doing.

[stokesjokes]

Yeah, love Darius, but he doesn’t seem to be that guy. When we need someone to slow things down and run our offense, Darius usually starts forcing things. Sometimes it works, but mostly it ends in either turnovers or contested/off-balance shots. He makes them sometimes, but it’s not good offense.

[ALAFlamesFan]

When you only have 1-2 guys who can score, and none of them are "bigs", it is going to be a looooooong season. Same problems as last year.

This.

We are in for a long season. Hope I am wrong and things start clicking but Darius can't carry this team alone. If he was 6'8" I don't think it would be that much different. We other guys who can find their own shot or consistently beat their guy to the rim. Also, our D is not up to our usual standard.

[LUalum12]

We are in for a long season. After watching this team, I do not think they will win the ASUN. There are a few teams in the conference that are playing much better and have more talent on their roster. Seems like we are severely lacking talent in the front court and lack consistency on the offensive side. McGhee is a great player but he cannot carry the team and the team be successful. Just my opinion.

[Tothehoopyall1]

I agree in that we could be in for a rough season. I’m still not sold on Porter but it Seems like he is highly favored by the coaching staff. I’m going to make a prediction. -I think in time his playing time will fade and I'm not totally sure he plays 4 years here. If we land a 6’3 - 6’4” point guard (oh to have another Georgie Pacheco) that can handle it and put up 12 points a night I don’t see how Porter gets on the floor very much . I’ve also never seen a D1 player like Preston look so lost at times. He appears intimidated in some games. I hope we can get it together this year. I really do.

[ballcoach15]

We must so much emphasis on defense, that our offense suffers.
Golf is only sport that I'm familiar with, in which "lowest score wins". No matter how good our defense plays, we still must out score opponent. That's where we are challenged.

[Purple Haize]

We must so much emphasis on defense, that our offense suffers.
Golf is only sport that I'm familiar with, in which "lowest score wins". No matter how good our defense plays, we still must out score opponent. That's where we are challenged.

Coaches worry about defense
Fans worry about offense

[jinxy]

Were the same offensively that weve always been. The difference is our defense has stepped back 3 straight years and we dont have anything at all inside. Also as good as darius is Homeseley was the only guy weve had that can flat out get you a bucket when you need it.

All all that up and you get what weve seen the last 1.5 years.

[Ill flame]

The following is our Ken Pom ratings from the last few years. The first number is the rating with a score of 100 being average. Lower number for defense is better. Numbers in parentheses are rankings.

2022: +6.44 (98)
Offense- 107.5 (77)
Defense- 101.0 (139)

2021: +3.83 (124)
Offense- 104.9 (138)
Defense- 101.1 (139)

2020: +8.60 (98)
Offense- 109.8 (58)
Defense- 101.2 (153)

2019: +9.68 (79)
Offense- 106.1 (107)
Defense- 96.4 (69)

2018: +11.54 (58)
Offense- 111.1 (54)
Defense- 99.6 (87)

The jury is still out on this season. Our offense seemed to get worse as the season went on last year once teams figured out we were a 1 man offense. Hopefully we maintain our offensive efficiency and improve the defense but I'm not optimistic.

Unfortunately we've been trending the wrong direction for awhile. We haven't been top 100 on both sides of the ball since the 2018-19 season. More concerningly for a defensive minded coach, we haven't had a top 100 defense in 4 years. This trend is troubling and makes me wonder if coach McKay will win enough to keep his job in a much tougher conference. I really like coach McKay and believe he should be given every chance to right the ship but right now the ship is taking on water.

[tyndal23]

We have never been “athletic” under Ritchie, but we were “physical” in 18-20 with James and Bell - both knew how to use their butts, and block out for rebounds or face up and force tough shots inside the perimeter ( and offensively for that matter - both knew how to finish inside and or get to the line ). You can rely on KenPom stats all you want, but we haven’t been physical since those 2 left and we have been “soft”, undisciplined in turnover’s, and not moving the ball near enough on O ever since. ( this coming from a wrestler and football player who last played hoops in 8th grade, but prove me wrong

[JK37]

We have never been “athletic” under Ritchie, but we were “physical” in 18-20 with James and Bell - both knew how to use their butts, and block out for rebounds or face up and force tough shots inside the perimeter ( and offensively for that matter - both knew how to finish inside and or get to the line ). You can rely on KenPom stats all you want, but we haven’t been physical since those 2 left and we have been “soft”, undisciplined in turnover’s, and not moving the ball near enough on O ever since. ( this coming from a wrestler and football player who last played hoops in 8th grade, but prove me wrong

We may not have been an athletic team, but we’ve had athletes under Ritchie. Homes key was long athletic and skilled. That’s player makes Ritchie offense look unreal - makes anyone’s look great for that matter. But that’s the hardest trifecta to get.

[JK37]

The other things you mentioned are true as well. The ball doesn’t move nearly as much now as it did in 18, and the metrics back that up. We had better athletes, but seemingly smarter players too. You talked about using their butts; there’s a high element of IQ in that. There was just maturity and confidence about that group when they played. This group is young. And we lack leadership. Seems to me, that’s all.