FLINT, Michigan — I ran into Mott assistant coach Yusuf Harris at Barnes and Noble yesterday and talked to him briefly about the Bears’ game against South Suburban, one of the top JUCO programs in the Midwest, tipping off that night. He told me he was sure that Doug Anderson would have a big game.
Why?
“He loves the lights — the big stage,” he said.
He wasn’t kidding. Anderson was a one-man wrecking crew in crunch time in Mott’s 83-70 win. Anderson scored 12 of his game-high 25 points after South Suburban had fought back to tie the game. He shot 11-for-13 from the field including 4-of-5 from the perimeter.
(Oakland University head coach Greg Kampe was in attendance. Based on Oakland’s disinterest in recruiting JUCOs, I tend to think he may be worried about his job. The Grizzlies are very average.)
South Suburban went 0-for-2 on its Michigan road trip, losing to unbeaten Henry Ford by 28 on Tuesday night. That game is a little deceiving, however, since SSC suspended three starters for the game after an incident against Triton College.
You think Oakland U is very average? They are in the mid-major Top 25, beat a Top 25 ranked Tennessee team, came within 2 points of beating MSU, hung in there with Purdue and Illinois.
That was written a year ago, Jeff.
But to answer your question, yes. You’re telling me that they almost beat an 8-4 team, were competitive with some good teams and beat a team that everyone is beating. You can try to hang your hat on that, but you’ll find it on the floor.
Jared, will you eat your words when OU makes a sweet 16 run? Highest scoring team in the country. They have an NBA lottery pick in Benson. They are also 3rd in the country in FG percentage. 8th in in the country in blocked shots. Kampe has done a hell of a job turning a shitty D2 school into a Mid Major power. Oakland has lost two leage games in the last 2 years. Top winning percentage in the country.
Listen, I don’t have a problem with Oakland. They have a nice program. The problem is that they play in arguably the worst D-1 conference in the nation.
I don’t know Jared…these days the MAC may give the Summit a run for that title…
Jared
While the Summit League has its issues, its nowhere near the worst conference in D-1. Its ranked 21st out of 32.
http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_conf_Men.html
It was a good year for the conference and it was ranked 21st. It’s a goofy conference. That’s a fact.
Where have you seen Benson listed as a lottery pick? DraftExpress, ESPN and NBADraft.net all have him projected as late first to early/mid second.
As far as Kampe’s job being in jeopardy, well thats proof you don’t really know a thing about Oakland. He’s been there 27 years and just took his team to 2 straight NCAA tourneys. No other coach in Michigan outside of Izzo has done that. In fact, no other coach in the state of Michigan has more job security than Izzo and Greg Kampe .
With all due respect, Oakland never wins big games outside of conference.