Basketball Fever Spreading Through Oxford

I'm throwing it out there already. After 4 games, here it comes. Miami is going to roll through the MAC this season and make the Dance. You can have your Jeremiah Wood's, your Kasheif Payne's, your Leon Williams, even your Mike Scott's. It doesn't matter. No one boasts a duo as potent as Michael Bramos and Tim Pollitz.

This Miami team is really good. No one else in the conference will be able to boast the quality wins of a Xavier and a Mississippi State (hell, Akron and OU probably aren't even playing anyone in the RPI top 200!) with the potential for a couple more large wins before conference play. The Redhawks are back. It took 8 years PW (Post Wally), but they are back and better than ever.

How do you defend this team? Want to sag on the best player in the MAC, Tim Pollitz (he was hands down the MVP in the conference last year but was shafted by the overrated Romeo Travis)? OK, Mike Bramos, Kenny Hayes, and Alex Moosmann will bury you from beyond the arc. Want to play zone? No problem there, Pollitz and the vastly improved Tyler Dierkers will pick you apart with their great court vision and ability to find wide open cutters.

And don't forget the Charlie Coles style of play either. He will always force our tempo on you. Miami has not allowed a team to hang 70 points on them in 38 games and counting. This is not a trend, it's a way of life. The team defense concept is something that after a decade of playing it, MAC opponents are still trying to figure out how to beat it. There just aren't enough opportunities to score.

Like always, it's damn near impossible to win in the comfy confines of Millett Hall. Even when the Redhawks have been weak over the past few years, you could always count on a win when we took the court at home. Now that the talent is there, I don't see that changing. Not this year. I'll be pissed if we lose ANY home game this year (that includes you on Wednesday, Dayton Flyers).

The only, and I mean ONLY, thing that could derail this team from a 20 win season is an injury. Tim Pollitz has a gimpy knee but the coaching staff won't force him to play/practice on it to keep him fresh for the stretch run. This could also be a benefit as limiting Timmy's minutes could improve the growth of young big man, Dwight McCombs.

I know I shouldn't be doing this because bad things happen to people who are too cocky, but the MAC title goes through Oxford this season. Good luck trying to win down there.