Any doubt Toledo is the play here? EARLY GAME 10:00AM EST Monday

[ZZZSpeedster]

Toledo has played a pretty tough sched. and won at home against Nevada...They lost their road games so far, but lost them all on their opponents home court. Wright State, Duke, Vanderbilt, East Carolina(they lost by 2)

Middle Tenn State has played most of their games at home, and against MUCH lesser competition. http://www.goblueraiders.com/?go=Schedule&Sport=Men's+Basketball&Season=2004

Toledo has the nations 11th toughest sched..and Keith Triplett leading the way...and he is LEGIT...

I see the spread so far at about -1 1/2 Toledo and it opened at a PK??


Any thoughts?

 

[docmercer--banned]

Remember, the game is in PR ...

10:00 AM ET W / L H A N CONF AF AA
Middle Tennessee 5-2 5-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 76.1 61.9
Toledo 1-4 1-0 0-4 0-0 0-0 65.8 75.4

MTSU COMING IN OFF A 4 GAME WINNING STREAK, TOLEDO OFF OF A BLOW OUT LOSS TO DUKE.

EACH TEAM WILL BE WELL RESTED AS FINALS CONCLUDED.

MTSU AVERAGES 71.5 POINTS PER GAME, WHILE ALLOWING 60.0

ABOUT MTSU: The Blue Raiders are off to their best start since 1997 after posting a 17-12 mark and finishing second in the Sun Belt Conference's East Division last year. MTSU is 5-0 at home this season and led offensively by seniors Mike Dean (18.3 ppg) and Michael Cuffee (13.4 ppg).

TOLEDO, OH - After opening the season with four of its first five games on the road, Toledo will have a chance to play its next three contests on a neutral court when it participates in the San Juan Shootout on Dec. 20-22.

The Rockets are coming off an 82-54 setback at No. 9 Duke and have already faced three teams that reached the Sweet 16 of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

UT will open play against Middle Tennessee State followed by contests vs. Delaware and Auburn. The field was originally scheduled to include at least two more teams but tournament organizers were unsuccessful in their attempts.

The pre-season favorites in the Mid-American Conference, Toledo will be looking to turn around a disappointing start to the 2004-05 campaign. The conference season is just around the corner and the Rockets hope to generate some momentum prior to their MAC opener at Eastern Michigan on Jan. 2.

"This tournament is an opportunity for us to play well and get back on track," Head Coach Stan Joplin said. "All three teams we're facing are pretty athletic and everybody will be in the same boat as far as playing on a neutral court with different officials."

Joplin hopes his team continues to improve in several areas during the tournament, most notably on defense.

"It would be nice to get a good start and gain some energy from our defense in order to build confidence," Joplin said. "One thing I would like to see is everybody play better as a team instead of having one or two guys playing well at a time."

Toledo is led offensively by senior G Keith Triplett (13.4 ppg) and sophomore F Florentino Valencia (13.2 ppg). The Rockets are averaging just 65.8 points per game and shooting 41.3 percent from the field.

UT will be facing MTSU and UD for the first time. The Rockets defeated Auburn in their only previous meeting with a 95-90 (2OT) win at the 2000 Energia Systems Tournament in Kansas City.


TOLEDO AVERAGES 65.4 POINTS PER GAME, WHILE ALLOWING 75.4

 

[ZZZSpeedster]

Yes but remember the LEVEL of competition.
Toledo beat Nevada at home, while they lost to Duke (only down by 10 at halftime), Wright State, Vanderbilt.....all losses to "quality" schools as far as these teams go.

Midd Tenn State has played ALL poopoo teams...

 

[Coast2Coast]

Quality of opposition is one indicator but more important to me is how the teams performed against that opposition. Hard for me to trust a poor shooting Toledo team as chalk against a veteran MTSU team that so far has racked up some impressive defensive stats (36%, with 4 of 7 opponents shooting 33% or less). MTSU is an experienced bunch with three guys (Dean, Cuffee and Morrison) who could go off for 20 on any given night. These three guys (4 returning starters) were the nucleus of the MTSU team that came one possession away from going to the Big Dance last year (lost the Sun Belt final by 4 to ULL). Toledo will have its hands full defending these guys. Toledo's three guard lineup might have trouble matching up with MSTU in the front court. With this game starting at 10 am ET, it'll be awfully early for these boys. And playing in a strange gym in a strange place, I suspect the defense will awaken before the offense. With the way both of these teams are shooting under 40% away from their home gyms and with the way MTSU, in particular, has defended (36% against admittedly weak opposition), the under looks more appealing to me. But with Toledo liking to play pretty fast, their shot totals are too high for me to consider it at the posted number of 140. Good luck with your play.

 

[docmercer--banned]

Coast:

Good commentary

 

[docmercer--banned]

Blue Raiders regain the sevices of 6'9 Georgia transfer Stevie Thomas tomorrow. He has been sitting out awaiting the start of the 2nd semester which begins tomorrow. Middle is a senior dominated team ....

I lean to Middle in this matchup

BOL ...

 

[Ego74]

Toledo definetlely the play, imo. Middle has beenaway from home twice, and lost both times. Toledo is still one of the favorites in the MAC, tougher conf. than OVC. Toledo wins by double digits. Toledo's guard play will be the difference.

 

[ZZZSpeedster]

Thanks Guys.
Thanks to your excellent notes I was able to show some self-control (woke up late) and didn't play the game..Looks like it was a close one.
Thanks again