MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[BillyRayJimBob]

Excellent win on the road 74-69 to complete the sweep of Ott and retake 1st place.  That was a heavyweight fight in Westerville.  Neither team led by more than 5 points at any point and most of the game was played in a one possession lead for one or the other.  Mount iced it with Casenhiser, Hamilton, Collier all knocking down both FT in the final minute to keep pushing it back to a 4-5 point lead.  17-19 at the line vs. 11-21 for Ott was a difference.  The scale tipped in the Cards' favor on turnovers though (15-7 edge).  I was slightly surprised Ott had a 14-8 offensive rebound advantage that resulted in +11 points.  Ott is a good team.  Clearly a tier above #3 IMO.

Farrington fouled out at the end, but he was huge today.  21 pts (7-10 FG), 15 reb.  When he can play as much as he did today (31 min) he's tough to deal with all day down low.  Vaden had 6 blocks.  Casenhiser had 18 and had 2 key buckets right before the aforementioned 6 FT streak.

Let me use more than one sports slang or descriptive term: gritty; big; poised (salute to Vince); focused; determined; unrelenting(?); aggressive; flexible(?); overwhelming (when need be); huge; and several others.
BUT...
I "never wanted to be a curmudgeon, but here I am KILLING it!!!"
The Otterbein announcer used the ONE word "go" in 99% of his descriptions of game shots ... "got it to go" ... didn't get it to go ... etc." Nothing more in the repertoire other than that? I understand that they are student announcers, and I appreciate that. Hopefully there is an academic review (i.e., a communications professor) that sits with them and reviews their performance.
Oh yeah ... "Pronunciation Guide 101" ... Casenheiser became Carsonheiser in the second half. And there must have been French influence in the pronunciation of Collier ... "Colly-aire."
Bottom Line:
Don't want to see Otterbein again. Should it be in the OAC tourney, hope it is on Mount's court.

[BillyRayJimBob]

I wish Baden were only a sophomore ... an additional year of Fuline tutelage/maturity.
He plays a bit undisciplined a bit (or a lot) ...and then shines. Love the guy, but...

[hsbsballcoach7]

What a nice, gutsy win for the Purple Raiders! With a tough environment, bad turnovers, and Hamilton being held all day, they pulled it out! Keep it up, earn the top seed for the conference tournament, and hopefully prepare for the NCAA tournament.

[raiderpa]

A classic in Westerville. A defensive masterpiece.  Both teams were aggressive, physical and left it all out on the court.  When the Raiders play this defense, they are tough to beat, but Otterbein was up to it. Refs let them play and the guards got mauled all day, but stayed strong.  I thought Ott did a fantastic job of taking away the "3" and we struggled to get an open trifecta. This kept them in the game. Not many subs for Mount, but those who played were excellent. Taylor is and will become more special in the future. His quickness is like a cobra, and he gets off the floor faster than anyone, with an amazing vertical. Collier has shown his value, Vaden makes a difference, and Dunbar plays his rear off with some amazing assists as well as a fine shot. I was remarking to one in the know about Mount's strong season and roster, and he said, "Just wait til next year."  WOW! The future is bright. I hope we are paying Fuline enough to keep him from looking bigger.

[D3fanboy]

Raiders hitting FT after FT to salt away a big win....what a change from the past couple of years

start designing the Fuline statue

Hamilton is the heartbeat of this team, call him grit, a dawg, etc, he's that dude

that little two game dip gives Fuline something to coach against, they can make a good run this year...and next year...oh boy

[hsbsballcoach7]

A classic in Westerville. A defensive masterpiece.  Both teams were aggressive, physical and left it all out on the court.  When the Raiders play this defense, they are tough to beat, but Otterbein was up to it. Refs let them play and the guards got mauled all day, but stayed strong.  I thought Ott did a fantastic job of taking away the "3" and we struggled to get an open trifecta. This kept them in the game. Not many subs for Mount, but those who played were excellent. Taylor is and will become more special in the future. His quickness is like a cobra, and he gets off the floor faster than anyone, with an amazing vertical. Collier has shown his value, Vaden makes a difference, and Dunbar plays his rear off with some amazing assists as well as a fine shot. I was remarking to one in the know about Mount's strong season and roster, and he said, "Just wait til next year."  WOW! The future is bright. I hope we are paying Fuline enough to keep him from looking bigger.

I feel like enjoy every year because you never know what happens with rosters and coaches each year... The starters have improved and their defense is what gets them going. The ball movement is so much better this year than last and different guys can hit a big shot. Vaden, Taylor and Collier (they butchered his name all game) have really stepped up this year into their roles and play those roles well. Taylor and Vaden make teams change their offense with how they affect shots. I'm other for Laurich to be effective on the floor, he HAS to keep his hands off guys and keep improving that mid range bunny shot (4-8 feet) bc teams will leave him open. Ball handling and free throws are noticeably better this year and all great teams must have those skills to go far.

[Dr. Acula]

Having your two primary ballhandlers both be excellent FT shooters is such a luxury we aren't accustomed to.  And Collier is basically automatic at the line also.  That nice lefty stroke is pure.

I will always worry about Fuline leaving, but he's so family focused.  It seems like he's happy with his situation.  Let's face it, at this point he's basically got a lifetime job if he wants it.  He's got the program humming along at a high level, he's had the same group of assistants for years, he recruits well and locally.  JCU left.  JVW left.  The foundation is there for prolonged success. 

[Dr. Acula]

I did not get a chance to watch the Mount game last night due to work obligations, but the stats look pretty much as expected.  Coast to an easy win, hold BW to 35% shooting, +10 on the turnovers.

What is going on with Muskie?  Cap almost rang up triple digits on them.  The Fish have come crashing down to earth after the red hot start.

Looking at the preseason coaches poll the biggest misses have been Etta (picked 2nd with a 1st place vote--currently 4-8) and ONU (picked 2nd to last--currently solidly 3rd at 9-3 only 1 GB of 1st).

[Dr. Acula]

I'm sure it's not even on his radar, but congrats to Coach Fuline on notching another 20 win season.  That's now 6 of the last 7 full seasons with 20+ wins.  The program is 130 years old.  It has nine 20 win seasons ever.  Fuline has eight of them.

[hsbsballcoach7]

I'm sure it's not even on his radar, but congrats to Coach Fuline on notching another 20 win season.  That's now 6 of the last 7 full seasons with 20+ wins.  The program is 130 years old.  It has nine 20 win seasons ever.  Fuline has eight of them.

Wow... Great stat to share! I know one thing... They didn't win 20 games when I was in school at Mount... To be fair, those 1920's and 30's teams were barn burners with great records, but didn't get a chance to win 20 games bc they never played 20 games

[Dr. Acula]

Yesterday was pretty fun.  Muskie came out with a lot of energy.  Davis and Casenhiser were doing a lot of trash talking to each other from the jump.  The game definitely had a little juice to it.  Also seemed to lock in Casenhiser.  He was great shooting 9-11 FG with 24 pts.  But watching that game you knew as long as Mount's bigs didn't get in critical foul trouble early Muskie doesn't have the size to compete with them.  Vaden had 15 pts, 5 blk (7-10 FG), Farrington 14 pts, 10 reb, 3 blk (6-10 FG).  The defense locked in, Muskie wasn't hitting shots and Mount went to half up 39-23 after the Fish shot 30% for the half.

Something cool to keep an eye out for:  Vaden now has 71 blocks this season.  The season record is 72 by Parker in 2022-23.   

[BillyRayJimBob]

[quote Something cool to keep an eye out for:  Vaden now has 71 blocks this season.  The season record is 72 by Parker in 2022-23. 
[/quote]

Wow! I would not have tracked that! Mentioned in the same sentence with Christian Parker makes you special!
I was watching the game on my phone while working a local volunteer event at the firehouse, and every time, it seemed, that I had a moment to watch, Vaden was doing something "good." 15 points, I think, would be a career high for him. I think he has a bunch more in his tank ... this year and next. High on this guy! ... Good lookin' in Purple and White!!!

Flashback...
My Dad worked at Mount Union and was a big Purple Raider basketball fan. I went to many a game in the cold, dead of winter with him ($3.00 microwave burger at the concession stand). The player that I loved to watch was Zettie Simms. How he handled the ball ... moved to the basket .. and shot. Like he glided across the floor.

[raiderpa]

Vaden may have another year of eligibility.  I do not believe he played his freshman year at Mount.  Something to look into.. He has come a long way and if he keeps improving, he could get a look from some professional teams in Europe... That is a great mention that Fuline has 8 of the 9, 20 wins seasons in Mount history, and was the covid year 20 wins? They got pulled off the floor while warming up to play Wittenberg to go to the sweet 16.  THAT team could have won it all.

[Dr. Acula]

FWIW Vaden is listed as a junior this year.  According to their stats he did not appear in a varsity game prior to last season.  I also do not see him listed on the roster prior to last season.  He went from 5 min/gm last year to 15 min/gm this year and I bet that will go up again next year too.  He's continuing to earn more time each week and it's fun to see his confidence growing on the offensive end.  He's had career highs in points the last two games.

If we throw out the Berg game as an outlier since he only played 2 minutes, Vaden's blocks in his last 6 games that he played his standard amount his blocks are 5, 4, 2, 6, 6, 5.  4.7 blocks/gm in 18.5 min/gm over the stretch.  He's also scored in double figures in 3 of those 6 games.

[Patrick Coleman]

That is a great mention that Fuline has 8 of the 9, 20 wins seasons in Mount history, and was the covid year 20 wins?

Oh yes -- 27-3 that year.

https://d3hoops.com/teams/Mount_Union/men/2019-20/index