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Post by Commissioner on Jan 24, 2021 12:16:03 GMT -5
It would be nice if Tony Paul would do his job and be more objective, in the "olden" days each team would have a beat reporter. Since they don't do that anymore a reporter, reporting on the game should report it and not opinionize it. If he wants to give his opinion he should do in in a second piece. I thought it was a pretty good article. What exactly do people think was wrong with it? I mean, if I were writing it, 1. I think the lead would be "Detroit stops OU's 10 game win streak in the series. I might emphasize that by noting how long it's been since Detroit last won. 2. Then I think I'd probably quote Coach Davis on the importance of the victory. In which, btw, he says something many of us have said on these boards for some time: Detroit doesn't seem to care as much as OU about this game, and that has to change. 3. Then he puts the win in the context of Friday's almost amazing comeback, and notes that Detroit kept up that pace in the early going of Saturday's game. That seems a logical way to go with the report. 4. Then he talks about the role of our star, Antoine Davis, and Davis's post-game reaction. Where's the problem here? 5. Then he talks for a paragraph about Waterman (all positive); and a paragraph about Rose and Kuol (all positive); 6. Finally, in the 15th paragraph, he talks about OU, for the 1st time in the piece, noting the performance of Williams and Moore. 7. Then a paragraph about the game's final 8 or so minutes: What's wrong with that? One might read an implication that he thought Johnson fouled Moore on that late defensive play (and frankly, I could have seen that call--it was a close one), but c'mon. He's not a paid Titan PR man. 8. Then he notes the technicals (certainly worth mentioning in the article) and (this strikes me as pro-UD) notes that the Titans probably would have won anyway. 9. Then he quotes Kampe for the first time (mainly talking about how good UD is) (and by they way, if we had coaches who were as open with the press as Kampe, don't you think they'd get quoted more?); and finally 10. He summarizes the rivalry. That's pretty much how I would have written the story. A very good report, balanced, fair, hit all the key points. I don't quite know what some of you guys think Paul should write. By comparison, here's the AP report: www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=401258474.
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Post by Commissioner on Jan 24, 2021 12:31:51 GMT -5
I just read the print edition of the freep, and no article or summary about the game. Odd considering it was two local schools. Alas how we’ve fallen off the radar. The kampe/Moore technicals were odd, mostly because the game was still in doubt (we were up 4 with minute to go, and just got the ball back), and the play that we got the ball back didn’t seem wildly controversial. I think Moore perhaps we just frustrated losing the ball, but then evidently they both stepped over the line. I’ll take it, but that’s on them for losing their cool at that point. Someone noted the guys who stepped up, and it’s accurate. I also would say guys played within themselves on the offensive end. Waterman was typically wide open for his 3s, and drained them. They weren’t low percentage shots. Similarly, rose and Fraser had open looks at 3s (their D was hanging way off them), but instead of being tempted to shoot they would get a higher % shot by driving or by stepping into nice mid range jumper (rose did this 2 or 3 times). Davis and kuol take more contested shots, but they also can hit them. Long story short...really nice job especially on offensive end by the guys to play smart ball. A tribute to coaching and to the guys. The lineup and minutes is interesting - Willy didn’t play much, Brandon didn’t either but largely due to picking up fouls quickly. Koka never saw the floor. So perhaps we’ve found the guys and lineups to carry us at this point, after taking a few weeks to get the kinks out. Rose has really blossomed nicely (sorry for pun) as a tough as nails glue guy who does a little of everything out there. Tribute to him for how he’s elevated himself, and I hope he keeps it going, it’s a big reason why we won yesterday - plus some added swagger (hopefully you all get to see his dunk he threw done while getting fouled). So yeah - our rag tag collection of Titans had a real nice win. Let’s enjoy it, and hope coach Davis has found his lineup and the spark to finish off the season with some real momentum. Kampe and Moore must have directly insulted the refs (quite likely with with foul language), because those were really quick "Ts," and it's not like Kampe had been on the edge with the refs all day. Waterman has a beautiful stroke. When he gets that open look the ball barely even touches net. Fraser is not a 3 point shooter, period. In 3.5 years of college ball, he has taken 33 three point shots, making 4. He knows he can't hit that shot and won't take it even if open. If Fraser could knock down threes, he'd be a real star. But he can't, and he does what he can do and does it well. Rose is more interesting. He's a pretty good three point shooter--41.7% for his career (just 48 attempts), 44.8% last year, 33% this year (15 attempts, so if he makes his next he'll be back at 40%). But he's smart enough only to shoot it when he's really wide open and has a lot of time to get set. Even then, he'd prefer to drive. He also doesn't like to take it except from the corner. I think he probably should take that open three a bit more often. But that said, Tarheel is right--it's nice to see guys know their limitations and go for the high percentage play. Taking it to the hoop, as both Fraser and Rose do, has other pluses. Both are solid free throw shooters (Rose 72%, Fraser 79% this year), and drawing fouls on the other team's bigs is a real plus. It also keeps the other side's bigs from straying too far out to guard Waterman, Kuol, and Davis. I was surprised by how little Isiani and Koka played yesterday (Koka, of course, not at all). I thought they'd want the bulkier body on Oladapo. But their forwards, especially Oladapo, didn't do much damage, so it seemed to work.
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Post by ptctitan on Jan 24, 2021 12:43:31 GMT -5
Koka was held out for conditioning reasons. He hadn't played much in the past 2 years and then he lost practice and conditioning time due to the quarantine required after our staff member tested positive.
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Post by motorcitysam on Jan 24, 2021 12:56:34 GMT -5
Davis said a week ago that Koka had an injured ankle and "might" play against Oakland. My guess was that he wasn't sufficiently healed, but it could be a conditioning issue.
I mainly have two issues with Tony Paul.
1. The way he swallowed and reported a story based completely on a made up rumor on this message board makes me question his judgment and professionalism. I don't believe anything that only he is reporting.
2. His contention that Greg Kampe had the best resume of a group of coaches that includes Mike Davis. That's either bias or ignorance, two characteristics I don't like in journalism.
Other than that, I don't really think about him one way or the other.
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Post by calihanmole on Jan 24, 2021 13:05:17 GMT -5
I’m warming up to Tony Paul. He followed me on Twitter. If you want to get the funniest tweets regarding the Detroit Mercy Titans and Horizon League basketball, follow the Calihan Mole @ calihanmole
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Post by upbasketballfan on Jan 24, 2021 13:52:31 GMT -5
I just read the print edition of the freep, and no article or summary about the game. Odd considering it was two local schools. Alas how we’ve fallen off the radar. The kampe/Moore technicals were odd, mostly because the game was still in doubt (we were up 4 with minute to go, and just got the ball back), and the play that we got the ball back didn’t seem wildly controversial. I think Moore perhaps we just frustrated losing the ball, but then evidently they both stepped over the line. I’ll take it, but that’s on them for losing their cool at that point. Someone noted the guys who stepped up, and it’s accurate. I also would say guys played within themselves on the offensive end. Waterman was typically wide open for his 3s, and drained them. They weren’t low percentage shots. Similarly, rose and Fraser had open looks at 3s (their D was hanging way off them), but instead of being tempted to shoot they would get a higher % shot by driving or by stepping into nice mid range jumper (rose did this 2 or 3 times). Davis and kuol take more contested shots, but they also can hit them. Long story short...really nice job especially on offensive end by the guys to play smart ball. A tribute to coaching and to the guys. The lineup and minutes is interesting - Willy didn’t play much, Brandon didn’t either but largely due to picking up fouls quickly. Koka never saw the floor. So perhaps we’ve found the guys and lineups to carry us at this point, after taking a few weeks to get the kinks out. Rose has really blossomed nicely (sorry for pun) as a tough as nails glue guy who does a little of everything out there. Tribute to him for how he’s elevated himself, and I hope he keeps it going, it’s a big reason why we won yesterday - plus some added swagger (hopefully you all get to see his dunk he threw done while getting fouled). So yeah - our rag tag collection of Titans had a real nice win. Let’s enjoy it, and hope coach Davis has found his lineup and the spark to finish off the season with some real momentum. Kampe and Moore must have directly insulted the refs (quite likely with with foul language), because those were really quick "Ts," and it's not like Kampe had been on the edge with the refs all day. Waterman has a beautiful stroke. When he gets that open look the ball barely even touches net. Fraser is not a 3 point shooter, period. In 3.5 years of college ball, he has taken 33 three point shots, making 4. He knows he can't hit that shot and won't take it even if open. If Fraser could knock down threes, he'd be a real star. But he can't, and he does what he can do and does it well. Rose is more interesting. He's a pretty good three point shooter--41.7% for his career (just 48 attempts), 44.8% last year, 33% this year (15 attempts, so if he makes his next he'll be back at 40%). But he's smart enough only to shoot it when he's really wide open and has a lot of time to get set. Even then, he'd prefer to drive. He also doesn't like to take it except from the corner. I think he probably should take that open three a bit more often. But that said, Tarheel is right--it's nice to see guys know their limitations and go for the high percentage play. Taking it to the hoop, as both Fraser and Rose do, has other pluses. Both are solid free throw shooters (Rose 72%, Fraser 79% this year), and drawing fouls on the other team's bigs is a real plus. It also keeps the other side's bigs from straying too far out to guard Waterman, Kuol, and Davis. I was surprised by how little Isiani and Koka played yesterday (Koka, of course, not at all). I thought they'd want the bulkier body on Oladapo. But their forwards, especially Oladapo, didn't do much damage, so it seemed to work. Oakland on Friday was beating us to most of the free balls. Long shots create long rebounds. Isiani and Koka had problems closing out at the corners in the bottom of the zone. So Davis made the proper correction. I have wondered for years why Kampe can be on the floor during play and never get called. He spends 30% of the game on the playing surface and seldom gets a warning.
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Post by Commissioner on Jan 24, 2021 14:39:15 GMT -5
Davis said a week ago that Koka had an injured ankle and "might" play against Oakland. My guess was that he wasn't sufficiently healed, but it could be a conditioning issue. I mainly have two issues with Tony Paul. 1. The way he swallowed and reported a story based completely on a made up rumor on this message board makes me question his judgment and professionalism. I don't believe anything that only he is reporting. 2. His contention that Greg Kampe had the best resume of a group of coaches that includes Mike Davis. That's either bias or ignorance, two characteristics I don't like in journalism. Other than that, I don't really think about him one way or the other. That's all fine, but people were complaining about yesterday's article, which I thought was perfectly fine. Good coverage, in fact.
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Post by Commissioner on Jan 24, 2021 14:44:00 GMT -5
Kampe and Moore must have directly insulted the refs (quite likely with with foul language), because those were really quick "Ts," and it's not like Kampe had been on the edge with the refs all day. I have wondered for years why Kampe can be on the floor during play and never get called. He spends 30% of the game on the playing surface and seldom gets a warning. I hadn't thought of that, but that probably was the reason for the quick T. He was waaaaay out there on the floor.
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Post by upbasketballfan on Jan 24, 2021 15:05:33 GMT -5
Our coach is also on the floor way too much and when he starts his finger pointing and getting in the face of the Refs. with his announcers mask on he gives me the impression of Scrooge McDuck.
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Post by rc on Jan 24, 2021 16:46:28 GMT -5
Maybe this belongs in the branding thread. Quote from Coach Davis in the Detroit News article by Tony Paul"This game means a lot to the fans, and if you're going to be a Detroit Titan, then you have to understand what it means to play in this game." Every time I read and article on this series it feels like Kampe wrote it. I just read it and don’t agree. If anything Paul seems a bit of a homer for the Titans. Anyway, ding dong, the streak is over and it’s time to get on a roll here. So happy that Antoine has found his shot seemingly. Let’s hope that continues but also nice with Waterman and Kuol we have options this year as well.
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Post by ptctitan on Jan 24, 2021 19:20:50 GMT -5
When he saw Matt Johnson make two great defensive plays in a row and then knew he was going to lose, Kampe got mad, stepped out on the floor, and tried to stop our fast break with a technical. Just file that moment away for the next time we are in a close game with them and have the upper hand late in the game. There is a mental chink in their armor ...
I agree with rc. We've won 3 of our last 4 games. Let's keep it going at Youngstown State this coming weekend.
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Post by udballer on Jan 24, 2021 22:17:01 GMT -5
There is a mental chink in their armor ... There are tons of chinks in their armor. Oakland is not a good team. I look forward to many more wins against them... especially when they're down.
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Post by kirky313 on Jan 26, 2021 17:02:42 GMT -5
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Post by rc on Jan 26, 2021 17:18:15 GMT -5
Thanks for this update Kirby, and for the Mark Montgomery information.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2021 17:23:43 GMT -5
Good read, thanks for posting. Who could have possibly seen this as a possibility?? I can confirm Mark Montgomery, the former Northern Illinois Head coach and Michigan State assistant, was on the Titan bench this weekend actively coaching players. I have no clue if he was added to the staff full time, but he was 100% there. He would and should be a tremendous addition to the staff.
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