SB Nation - Bryan Hall

Battle of the AFC North: Defensive Line

Rebecca Rollett — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 19:30:10 -0000

This is the eleventh article in the series, after a rather-too-long hiatus. But, as my momma always says, better late than never. Links for the earlier posts can be found at the end of this article.

The AFC North is divided not just by our loyaties but by our defensive schemes. The Steelers and the Ravens run a 3-4, the Browns and the Bengals run a 4-3. This makes it somewhat of a challenge to compare players, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. So each team will have either a three-man or a four-man line, depending.

This is an appropriate point to repeat my disclaimer—I’m entirely dependent upon unofficial online depth charts, as the teams themselves have generally not committed to a depth chart for the upcoming season, even at this point. So if those of you from other fanbases have more accurate information, please do leave a comment to elucidate.

Let’s begin with the 3-4 defenses this time, and check out the Ravens:

The Ravens, as usual, make life difficult for everyone, because Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano has not been at all averse to throwing out a 4-3 look when he feels like it. While we don’t know whether the new DC, Dean Pees, will continue this, it would be rather surprising if he didn’t, as he was promoted from his former position as the Ravens’ linebacker coach. But I’m going to write them up as if they are a standard 3-4.

DT Haloti Ngata is a beast. Just ask Ben Roethlisberger. I expect his nose still twinges when the wind shifts after Ngata converted it from cartilage to, as the surgeon described it, cornflakes. Ngata came to camp this season ten pounds heavier than last year and promptly tweaked his hamstring during a conditioning run, but he's off PUP now, and presumably set for the season. Hali is backed up by Bryan Hall, a 2011 UDFA.

The LDE is Arthur Jones, the Ravens’ 2010 fifth-round pick, and 2010 second-round pick Terrence Cody is the NT. Cody is backed up by none other than the older brother of the Steelers’ former left guard, Ma’ake Kemoeatu. Jones is backed up by 2011 fifth-round pick Pernell McPhee. (This is curious, BTW, as McPhee looked distinctly better than Jones in the rankings I saw. Any Ravens fans have thoughts on this?)

This season the Steelers have gotten a makeover on the defensive line. It has long been the quiet repository for arguably the best front three in the league, Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton, and Brett Keisel. But age catches up to us all. Aaron Smith, after two seasons in which he sat on the bench with major injuries more than he played, has retired. Casey Hampton is still on the team, and will probably remain there for this season, but how much of the time he will actually play is a big question mark. The only real starter this season from the Steel Drapes, if you will, is Brett Keisel. And although Keisel is the youngest of the three, Father Time is catching up to him as well. His beard-growing abilities, however, seem to be, if anything, enhanced by the passing years. So whatever the various depth charts on the web may say, the starting line is almost certainly Ziggy Hood at LDE, Steve McLendon at NT, and Brett Keisel at RDE. Keisel may well share snaps with his backup, 2011’s first round pick Cameron Heyward. Hood is backed up, at least at the moment, by Al Woods, and McLendon will share snaps with Hampton when Hampton is fully recovered. They are backed up by 2012 fourth-round pick Alameda Ta’amu.

Now for the 4-3 teams:

The Browns have the first rookie lineman we’ve seen, RDT John Hughes, their third-round pick. His opposite number is Ahtyba Rubin, the Browns’ 2008 sixth-round pick. They are backed up by another rookie, 2012 sixth-round pick Billy Winn and Scott Paxson. The Browns picked up Paxson at the beginning of 2011 after the Steelers waived him the previous fall.

On the outside are Frostee Rucker, who the Bengals originally picked up as a UDFA. He became a UFA at the beginning of this year and was signed by Cleveland, although the Bengals supposedly wanted to keep him. His backup is Emmanuel Stephens, who the Browns picked up on waivers after he was released by the Falcons. AT LDE is Jabaal Sheard, the Browns’ 2011 second-round pick. He is backed up by Jaqua Parker, who the Browns picked up after he became an UFA (Eagles.)

Finally, the Bengals:

On the inside are Domata Peko and Geno Atkins. I seem to hear those two names a lot when the Steelers play the Bengals, and not in a good way (at least for a Steelers fan.) Peko was the Bengals’ 2006 fourth-round pick, and Atkins was their 2010 fourth-round pick. They are backed up by a couple of rookies, Devon Still (second round) and Brandon Thomas (round three.) Pat Sims is actually the backup to Peko, but as far as I can tell is on the PUP list.

On the outside are Carlos Dunlap, the Bengals’ 2010 second-round pick, and Michael Johnson, their 2009 third-round pick. Dunlap is backed up by oldie-but-goodie Robert Geathers, and Johnson by Jamaal Anderson, a 2008 UDFA pickup by the Falcons who the Bengals signed this March after he was cut by both Atlanta and Indianapolis.

We have a rookie to look at first, John Hughes of the Browns. Let’s see what a scouting report said:

Cincinnati Bearcats defensive tackle John Hughes excels as a run defender and has limited upside as a interior pass rusher. Hughes plays with a very nice pad level that helps him overtake ground in the trenches and gain position.

When double-teamed, he can hold his ground and not get pancaked. Doesn't have very long arms, but uses leverage to his advantage at all times. Plays a very cerebral game from play to play. Hughes plays with a chip on his shoulder and would be an ideal fit in rotation that only keeps him on the field on first down and other run situations.

If he adds bulk to his lower half, he could improve his explosion off the line which is inconsistent at times.

Interestingly, Walter Football’s Consensus Rankings (in which they add up the main big boards to get an average number predicting where each player is expected to be drafted) had Hughes as 29 out of 30 DTs ranked. Hughes was expected to go in the seventh round or go undrafted by most pundits, so a lot of heads were shaken when the Browns took him in the third round. He was expected to merely provide depth behind Rubin or 2011 first-round pick Phil Taylor, but got pushed into a starter slot when Taylor went down with a torn pectoral muscle. Taylor is expected to be out for most of the season.

Now for the veterans. First, the NFL stats:

As usual, raw numbers don't necessarily tell us much, but they are a place to begin. Now, the ranking by Advanced NFL Stats. They don't rank every player, so a few are missing. This is a ranking, so lower is better. They separate the players (somewhat arbitrarily, I might add) into DTs and DEs. First, the DTs:

Here's the DEs:

Now let's take a look at the Pro Football Reference AV. As usual I give the personal best for each player. Interestingly, in every case but one the players had (or matched) their best season in 2011:

Finally, Pro Football Focus. In an article earlier this summer profiling Ziggy Hood I pointed out the widely divergent ratings he received in various discussions. PFR gives Hood a respectable (if not terribly impressive) AV of 6. Pro Football Focus considers him to be the worst DE to ever walk the face of the earth, at least during 2011. Odd, that:

It's time to man up and look at the data. (Or in my case, woman up.) I have to admit I wasn't expecting the Steelers to look so very weak in relation to the other teams. I don't believe they will be, either, but since I'm basing my assessments off of last year's data for everyone, so be it.

Let's break it down according to the various ratings first. Advanced NFL Stats doesn't rank everyone, so we'll have to work around it. If you take the average of ranked players in both categories (DT and DE) and add them together, here is how it comes out: (NB: Despite the fact Haloti Ngata was ranked as a NT by Adv. NFL Stats I've calculated him as a DE for the purpose of this exercise.)

Cincinnati

Baltimore/Cleveland

Pittsburgh

In case you're wondering, I assumed unranked players, unless there was reason to believe otherwise, were near the bottom of the list of 77 players ranked by Adv. NFL Stats. I assumed a rookie projected as a seventh-round pick or UDFA is probably far weaker than any of the veterans as of last year (although, of course, this may not be the case next season.) What it really boils down to is none of the teams have three or four really strong players on their defensive line, according to last season's production, so awesomeness by, say, Haloti Ngata is balanced out by not-so-awesomeness by Arthur Jones. Cincinnati blew everyone else out of the water, even with an unranked player (Carlos Dunlap.)

Now let's see how everyone looked according to Pro Football Reference. Since everyone (except the Cleveland rookie) appears on their rating, it makes life easier. I added the scores and divided by three for PIT, BAL, CLE (since they only had three ranked) and by four for CIN:

Baltimore

Cleveland

Cincinnati

Pittsburgh

Finally, let's see what PFF thinks:

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Baltimore

Pittsburgh

Honestly, I think the first ranking is probably closest to the mark. Whether Cleveland looks better or worse than Baltimore is going to depend almost entirely on whether their rookie plays well or not. So I put them about equal, and feel Cincinnati has, based on last's year's performance, by far the best line.

I have high hopes for the newly energized Ziggy Hood—I'm hoping he will at least not be the VERY worst DE on the PFF ratings, and perhaps even "above the line." McLendon/Hampton is going to be an interesting duo to watch next season. (For what it's worth, Hampton ranked in about the middle of the pack last year.) And if Keisel has got another great year in him, that will help a good deal.

That's all for now. We're on the home stretch. It may be difficult to rank kick teams, since BAL just cut Billy Cundiff and who knows what other changes are in store? Special teams is also tricky. And after the Michael Lombardi ranking of coaches, I'm tempted to try my hand as well. At any rate, I will put out a snapshot next week as to where each unit is now, after cuts, IRs, and so on, and see whether it changes the picture for 2012.

Here are the links for the other articles in the series:

OLB

ILB

Taking A Shot At Ravens 53-Man Roster

Bruce Raffel — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:39:20 -0000

We will know soon enough who will be among the 53 players that will make up the Baltimore Ravens roster, but lets take a shot at it now, before they play their final preseason game tonight at the St. Louis Rams. Don't expect to see many, if any, of the starters, other than perhaps the kickers, their holders and snappers. However, the others will all be fighting for the few priceless roster spots available on this veteran-laden team.

By position, here are my locks for the 53-man roster, with the final position battles noted afterwards:

OFFENSE:

QB: Joe Flacco (Position Battle: Tyrod Taylor vs. Curtis Painter) - Total spots: 2

RB: Ray Rice, Bernard Pierce, Bobby Rainey (Bubble: Damien Berry) - Total spots: 3

FB: Vonta Leach - Total spots: 1

WR: Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones, LaQuan Williams, Deonte Thompson (Bubble: Tandon Doss) - Total spots: 5

TE: Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta, Billy Bajema - Total spots: 3

OL: Matt Birk, Marshal Yanda, Bobbie Williams, Michael Oher, Bryant McKinnie, Kelechi Osemele, Gino Gradkowski (Bubble: Jah Reid, Ramon Harewood, Justin Boren, Tony Wragge) - Total spots: 8

(Click on the 'Jump' to read my shot at the defense and Special Teams)

DEFENSE:

DL: Haloti Ngata, Terrence Cody, Arthur Jones, Pernell McPhee, Ma'ake Kemoeatu, Bryan Hall - Total spots: 6

LB: Ray Lewis, Jameel McClain, Paul Kruger, Albert McClellan, Courtney Upshaw, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Dannell Ellerbe, Sergio Kindle (Bubble: Chavis Williams, Nigel Carr - Total spots: 8

CB: Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, Cary Williams, Corey Graham, Danny Gorrer, Asa Jackson (Bubble: Chykie Brown)- Total spots: 6

S: Ed Reed, Bernard Pollard, Christian Thompson, Omar Brown (Bubble: Sean Considine) - Total spots: 4

SPECIAL TEAMS:

PK: Justin Tucker

Punter: Sam Koch

LS: Morgan Cox

Total spots: 3

PUP LIST: Terrell Suggs, Tommy Streeter (Not counted against 53-man roster)

That's a current total of 49 spots, meaning there are still four more to be named. I could see one player added in the following positions: OL, DL, LB, CB. That would add up to the maximum of 53 players. Of course the last one or two spots would still be in jeopardy as the Ravens are sure to sift through the trash heap from the cuts around the rest of the league to perhaps add a player or two. The addition of Steeter to the PUP List is a prediction, not anything definitive.

Let the debate begin.

Ryan McBean Injury Opens Door For Brian Hall

lastcallbmore — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 11:00:25 -0000

Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Brian Hall spent more time at the Ravens team facility than any other player this off season. Even so he was a long shot to make the team due to the fact that He plays the same position as All Pro Haloti Ngata and newly signed tackle Ryan McBean.

Hall is currently listed third on the depth chart behind Ngata and McBean but with McBean's injury in the first preseason game of the year Hall now may find himself as the primary back up to Ngata.

standing 6'0" and weighing in at 291 lbs. Hall is not an imposing figure for a defensive lineman but his work ethic and team first attitude have brought him to the attention of the coaching staff here in Baltimore. Listed just behind Hall on the depth chart is rookie undrafted free agent from Kent state Ishmaa'ily Kitchen. Kitchen could prove to be Hall's biggest competition barring any late free agent signings made by the team.

McBean was scheduled to miss the first 3-4 games of the season due to a violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy. Rumors are currently circulating that he may now miss the entire season but the Ravens have not made an official statement yet. The starting defensive line was one of the areas of concern after the first preseason game and with the loss of Terrell Suggs, Michael McAdoo and now McBean any warm body will be a welcome addition to preseason practices.

Here is what BR.com has to say about Hall:

TRANSACTIONS
Bryan Hall signed with the Ravens as a rookie free agent on 7/28/11

COLLEGE CAREER
A three-year starter, he was named a first-team All-Sun Belt honoree in 2010…Recorded 125 tackles (71 solo), 27.5 TFL and 17 sacks in his career at Arkansas State…Accrued 45 tackles (29 solo), including 10 TFL, 3 FF and 1 FF as a senior…Led his team in TFL by making 3 in one contest against Western Kentucky…Ranked second on the team in tackles (30), posting 11 TFL, 1 FF and 1 blocked kick in 2009…Set a career high against Iowa, registering 5 tackles and 2.5 TFL… Named a second-team All-Sun Belt selection in 2009…Posted a career-high 5 tackles in four different games (Texas A&M, Memphis, Alabama and North Texas)…Notched a TFL in eight games, giving him the second-most TFL among defensive linemen in the Sun Belt Conference in 2008…Also registered his first-career interception against North Texas…Finished the season with 39 tackles (21 solo), including 10 TFL, and 6 sacks…Saw action in 10 of 12 games in 2007 and posted 10 tackles (5 solo)…Redshirted in 2006…Majored in accounting at Arkansas State

HIGH SCHOOL, PERSONAL
Attended Tilghman (Paducah, KY) HS where he was a two-time All-Conference pick as well as an All-State honoree …Also participated in wrestling and track and field.

Ravens Potential Roster Cuts: Defense

Bruce Raffel — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:00:44 -0000

In the previous post, we discussed and listed the possible players that could be the one to be visited by the dreaded "Turk," which is the nickname given to the guy who must call on the player to follow him to the coach's office along with his playbook for that unfortunate final conversation.

Let's list the defensive and Special Teams players who might get the notice that their time as a member of the Baltimore Ravens has come to an end:

CB: Talmedge Jackson, Danny Gorrer

DT: Bryan Hall, Derek Simmons

LB: Chavis Williams, Josh Bynes

S: Nate Williams

LS: Patrick Scales

There are a bunch of other guys, both rookies and veterans, on the defense who will not make the final roster, but their day is coming at the end of the week and thus are not on my list for the next cut, due tomorrow.

MAC Tournament Preview: (10) Northern Illinois at (7) Bowling Green

Matt Sussman — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:00:35 -0000

7:00 PM EST, Anderson Arena
Bowling Green: 13-18 (8-8), Northern Illinois: 9-20 (5-11)
TV: BCSN; Radio: WFRO 99.1 FM Fremont, WLBK 1360 AM DeKalb
Winner plays (2) Western Michigan at Quicken Loans Arena

They're just never going to shut down Anderson Arena, are they? They made a whole big deal about it Saturday, and even did a ceremonial "door closing" after the game. Now they have to unceremoniously re-open the doors and usher people in for a big tournament game. Now watch them get some random tournament bid and host another game. The building will never die!

Their First Meeting: Bowling Green couldn't hold onto a last-minute six-point lead but prevailed in overtime in snowy DeKalb, 73-70. About eight people saw it happen.

Keys for Bowling Green: Put one guy on Silas, just in case. Even though he's not in town, he could still sneak into the building and get about 20 second-half points. Take no chances! But this is game is so favorable for the Falcons. They have everybody healthy (a plus!), so now they just need to ensure no lapses in athletic endeavor allow them to blow leads and/or turn big leads into teensy tiny ones. This is what they do. A`uston Calhoun will create from inside, and Jordon Crawford will be the sparkplug who sets everything up. Senior role players Joe Jakubowski and Mike Dabney may be called upon to hit some baskets, and if Dee Brown can draw some fouls, there's some free points. They don't shoot the 3-ball well, but they don't really need to in this game.

Keys for Northern Illinois: See if anybody else on the football team wants to suit up for a game. It worked for DeMarcus Grady. Does Chad Spann have any eligibility left? Can he just bulldoze through some guys, perhaps injuring them? That'll level the playing field. Not only is Xavier Silas out of the game, but point guard Bryan Hall for whatever reason. Also ailing are Nate Rucker and Michael Patton, and that leaves about four players by my count. Well, the two that count are the bulky Tim Toler and feisty Jeremy Landers. Anyone else? The next guy in line will be Antone Christian, whose play has been improving all year. I honestly don't know what their plan is should half their guards aren't available to play.

Likely Final Score: Bowling Green 63, Northern Illinois 50

MAC Basketball Review: And We're Back To Knowing Nothing

Matt Sussman — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 05:00:21 -0000

You're now reading a MAC sports blog, perhaps with the undying hope that I will tell you about MAC basketball and what the heck is going on. You are going to leave this post disappointed, friend and/or stranger. There was a glimmer of light from Saturday, but nope. We're back to mayhem. The state of the conference is such that we're about to declare Robot Police Law just to keep from the looting to happen. Meanwhile, robots already have commandeered our trivia games. They might as well oversee basketball operations.

But we'll start with what we have confirmed at Hustle Belt HQ. While subject to change, this seems pretty bedrock:

• Kent State is the best team.

• Toledo is the worst team.

• There are, I think, 10 other teams in the conference.

You see, Bowling Green is cooling down as they lost at home to Akron by 35. Likewise, Buffalo was ousted by OHIO at home, and Western Michigan maintains a close pace in the West thanks by virtue of Xavier Silas scoring only seven points, even though half of "Flenmetrius" went down with a bendy-wendy ankle.

The shakeup now means the following: BG, Akron, and Buffalo are in a three-way orgy for third place, with OHIO a single game back. Miami will remain a game up after tomorrow's loss to Kent State. WMU still has this doggone half-game lead on Ball State, and that's a race to keep one of your retinas on. CMU and EMU play tomorrow and will actually break a tie in the standings, rather than create another one. Unless they somehow end the game in a tie, which is impossible according to the the rules of NCAA basketball, but I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE ANYMORE.

Statistical morsels from tonight:

• Bowling Green lost by 35, yet only had eight total turnovers.

• Meanwhile, Toledo's Malcolm Griffin had eight turnovers on his own against Ball State.

• Akron made 16 3-pointers, which is 16 more than Bowling Green made.

• Akron also has won eight straight games in BG's Anderson Arena, and will never lose their again as they move to a different stadium next year.

• This was the fourth game in which Xavier Silas was not NIU's leading scorer. With only seven points, he fouled out with about five minutes to play. Nate Rucker led the way with 11 tonight. (The other times: Bryan Hall once and Tim Toler twice.)

• Silas was also the most inefficient shooter on the night: 0.63 PPS (11 shots to score 7). The next worst was Buffalo's Byron Mulkey, coming off the "ESPN.com Feature Natural High" with a 0.81 PPS (13 points on 16 shots).

• The best efficiency, strangely enough, came from Toledo's Reese Holliday: 3.0 PPS (18 points on just six shots from the floor.)

• OHIO-Buffalo had seven official dunks. DeVaughn Washington had three of them.

The Hustle Five:

D.J. Cooper, OHIO: 24 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals
Ivo Baltic, OHIO: 24 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
Mike Douglas, WMU: 16 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds
Reese Holliday, Toledo: 18 points (6-6 FG), 10 rebounds
Chris Bond, Ball State: 18 points (8-12 FG), 10 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 assists

Know Your "Wait, We Have a Game Tomorrow?" Rival: Northern Illinois

Bill C. — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:00:40 -0000

LEAVE YOUR TRIFECTA PICKS IN COMMENTS.

There is snow on the ground, the students are still very much out of town, and half the fanbase probably doesn't even realize Mizzou has a basketball game tomorrow night. I predict a ... less than intense Mizzou Arena atmosphere. We'll see what kind of hangover Mizzou has following the great Braggin' Rights win. They can afford to play less than their best against visiting Northern Illinois, but ... let's put this one out of reach early anyway, okay?

Northern Illinois: 3-6

	NIU	Opp.
Pace (No. of Possessions)	69.2
Points Per Minute	1.79	1.91
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.04	1.11
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.27	1.33
2-PT FG%	45.5%	52.8%
3-PT FG%	34.0%	32.9%
FT%	74.0%	66.7%
True Shooting %	53.1%	55.7%

	NIU	Opp.
Assists	12.8	13.8
Steals	6.3	6.2
Turnovers	14.8	13.4
Ball Control Index (BCI) (Assists + Steals) / TO	1.29	1.49

	NIU	Opp.
Expected Offensive Rebounds	12.8	12.2
Offensive Rebounds	12.8	12.9
Difference	+0.0	+0.7

For the most part, Northern Illinois is just good enough to not get blown out too much. Only two of their six losses have come by more than 12 points, and looking at the above stats, you can see why. They are good at nothing (other than free throw shooting) and decent at just about everything. They break even on the boards, their ball control skills are decent, they get to the line a lot. There's really just one thing at which they stink ... I can't quite put my finger on what it is ... hmm ...

...oh, right. Defense.

Ken Pomeroy Stats

NIU Offense vs MU Defense Ranks
	NIU Offense	MU Defense	Advantage
Efficiency	171	55	MU big
Effective FG%	232	147	MU
Turnover %	200	12	MU big
Off. Reb. %	91	247	NIU big
FTA/FGA	62	182	NIU big
MU Offense vs NIU Defense Ranks
	MU Offense	NIU Defense	Advantage
Efficiency	16	329	MU big
Effective FG%	39	301	MU big
Turnover %	29	297	MU big
Off. Reb. %	101	320	MU big
FTA/FGA	277	287	push

Where the Huskies are weakest

There are few teams in the country who play worse defense than Northern Illinois. They allow open shot after open shot, they don't force turnovers/steal the ball (278th in Def. Steal%), they give you at least one more chance on virtually every miss, they don't block shots (289th in Def. Block%) ... they really seem to just try to get you to score so they can get the ball back.

Oh, and they're not tall (288th in Effective Height). There is but a slight difference between the physical makeup of the last Illinois team Mizzou played (U of I) and the next one (NIU).

Where they are best

Their offense is pretty good, especially considering they don't shoot the ball particularly well. The entire team hits the offensive glass pretty well (only one player has an Off. Reb. % of over 11%, but they rank in the Top 100 overall), and they get to the line. A lot. They also make their free throws (they rank 33rd in FT%). Stud small forward Xavier Silas shoots nine free throws per game and makes 90% of them. Meanwhile, freshman Charles Barkley clone Nate Rucker averages almost five attempts per game himself.

Also: either by necessity or design, they are deep. Eleven players average at least nine minutes per game, and they rank 23rd in the country in Ken Pomeroy's Bench Minutes measure.

NIU's Season to Date

Wins (Team Rank is from KenPom.com)
No. 237 Illinois-Chicago, 80-78
at No. 338 Maryland-Eastern Shore, 86-80
Cardinal Stritch, 81-57
Losses
at No. 29 Temple, 74-84
No. 53 Northwestern, 78-97
No. 92 Boise State, 51-80
at No. 149 Southern Illinois, 49-61
at No. 154 Bradley, 63-66
at No. 179 DePaul, 84-86

The Huskies have played three teams ranked in the Top 148 of Ken Pomeroy's rankings, and they are 0-3, having averaged 19-point loss. They played Temple close in Philadelphia, and all three of their other road losses have been competitive, but still. They are 0-6 against Top 225 teams. There is no positive spin for that one. Like I said, they are good enough to avoid blowouts for the most part, but they are not nearly good enough to pose a serious threat.

NIU Player Stats

Player	*AdjGS/Gm**	GmSc/Min	Line
Xavier Silas (6'5, 198, Sr.)	25.2	0.78	32.1 MPG, 26.2 PPG (43.2% 3PT, 90.1% FT), 4.6 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.2 SPG, 4.3 TOPG
Bryan Hall (6'1, 168, Jr.)	7.6	0.34	22.1 MPG, 5.2 PPG (47.7% FG), 3.4 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.6 TOPG
Nate Rucker (6'6, 245, Fr.)	6.8	0.30	23.1 MPG, 7.2 PPG (51.4% FG), 4.4 RPG, 2.0 TOPG
Jeremy Landers (6'2, 185, Sr.)	6.5	0.46	14.0 MPG, 6.1 PPG (48.8% FG), 2.3 RPG
Tim Toler (6'7, 270, Jr.)	5.1	0.22	22.9 MPG, 7.1 PPG (41.7% FG), 3.3 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.8 TOPG
Tony Nixon (6'4, 200, So.)	5.0	0.28	17.8 MPG, 6.5 PPG (32.3% 3PT), 2.0 RPG
Lee Fisher (6'5, 212, Jr.)	4.6	0.29	15.9 MPG, 2.6 PPG (38.1% 2PT), 4.1 RPG, 1.1 APG
Aksel Bolin (6'7, 200, Fr.)	3.9	0.33	11.9 MPG, 3.3 PPG (37.5% FG), 1.5 RPG
Antone Christian (6'2, 189, RSFr.)	3.1	0.33	9.4 MPG, 2.5 PPG (23.8% FG), 2.3 RPG
Michael Patton (5'10, 189, Sr.)	1.1	0.08	12.6 MPG, 3.2 PPG (34.8% 3PT), 1.6 APG, 1.4 TOPG
Cameron Madlock (6'9, 215, Jr.)	-0.4	-0.03	13.1 MPG, 0.9 PPG (14.3% FG!), 2.7 RPG

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It redistributes a team's points based not only on points scored, but also by giving credit for assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls. It is a stat intended to determine who had the biggest overall impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

Highest Usage%: Silas (37%), Landers (21%), Nixon (21%)
Highest Floor%: Hall (43%), Landers (43%), Silas (42%)
Highest %Pass: Hall (71%), Patton (63%), Fisher (60%)
Highest %Shoot: Nixon (47%), Madlock (44%), Christian (41%)
Highest %Fouled: Rucker (34%), Bolin (26%), Silas (19%)
Highest %TO: Rucker (20%), Silas (11%), Toler (11%)
Few dominate the ball like Xavier Silas. He is fifth in the country in Usage%, but for the most part, positive things happen when he has the ball in his hands. He ranks seventh in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes and, since he makes almost all of his free throws, he ranks 20th in the country in True Shooting%. He is a highly efficient scorer who could get both Kim English and Matt Pressey into foul trouble rather quickly, he pulls down a few boards, and he makes a few nice passes. Granted, he also turns the ball over a ton, but that's as much because of how much he controls the ball as anything else. (Then again, against DePaul and their pressure defense, he turned the ball over eight times. And DePaul's not even very good at the pressure defense. Hmm.)
Fun tidbit about Bryan Hall: he is a 6'1 point guard who, in 199 minutes, has yet to attempt a 3-pointer. Play ten feet off of him -- he won't make you pay.
Nate Rucker is an intriguing player. As with Ricky Kreklow (NOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!), something is always happening when Rucker touches the ball. He's either shooting, getting fouled, or turning the ball over. He does all three in droves. His %Pass: 6%.
This is mean, but I'm not sure you'll see a less-impressive stat line than what Cameron Madlock has put together so far. In 92 total minutes (over two full games), he has shot 2-for-14 from the field and 2-for-4 from the line. Oh, and he has committed 20 fouls, meaning he would foul out in just over 20 minutes of action. He has blocked five shots, and his defensive rebound rate isn't atrocious, but ... yikes.

Keys to the Game

Don't Let Silas Score Over 30. Silas has scored 34 or more points four times this season, and the Huskies are 3-1 when he does (the one loss: a 2-pointer to DePaul). Let's see ... quick math ... that means they're 0-5 when he doesn't erupt. Sometimes when a player dominates the ball to Silas' degree, it's to the team's detriment. With Silas, it is a necessity. In NIU's 'biggest' win (if you can call it that), against UIC, Silas scored 40 points -- 8-for-18 from the field, 22-for-24 from the line. If he doesn't score in droves, they don't win. Simple.
Show Up. Rebound. Make your open shots (of which there should be plenty against this terrible defense). Don't be careless with the ball. Do these things, and you win by 20. NIU can only win if Mizzou isn't motivated.
Ricardo Ratliffe. Sure, Ratliffe isn't the best dunker you've ever seen, but that's alright; the guy has lovely touch around the basket and has provided an undeniable lift to the Mizzou offense. But his positive impact on Mizzou's overall rebounding has regressed as the season has unfolded, and that needs to change. No better time than tomorrow.

Prediction

Mizzou Arena will not be rocking for this one, but it wasn't for Central Arkansas either. If MIzzou is motivated, this one gets out of hand. If not, if they are a step slow on defense and let Silas and Rucker make homes at the free throw line ... well, they will still probably win, but it won't be enjoyable. As the perpetual optimist, I say Mizzou shows up ready to roll, and roll they do: Mizzou 92, Northern Illinois 66.

Boise State 80, Northern Illinois 51: Or, HUMANITARIAN BOWL PRECURSOR

Matt Sussman — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 06:08:21 -0000

I still have no empirical proof that all the bowls (tied together by the Underworld Bowl Federation) will agree to put NIU and Boise in the same bowl game for my pure enjoyment, but at least they played in basketball in DeKalb. But it was all Broncos. In fact, it was so much Broncos ... Xavier Silas only finished with nine points. I know!

Bryan Hall had 10 for the Huskies in just 19 minutes to lead the MACsters, but once BSU went up by 12 points with 7:37 left in the first half, they never relented a double-digit lead. The Broncs shot 57.1 percent, the Huskies 30.2. There you go.

That's gotta suck to be Boise State basketball. I mean ... anytime you have a great football school, hoops gets overshadowed. At least Auburn's hoops team is atrocious this year ... but Boise basketball is 6-0 in the early season against weak competition. But they are pummeling everyone. I don't think Idaho is ready for another dream season just yet. They're still getting over this nightmare.

But back to NIU hoops: this is just about what I expected out of this team when Silas had a C-minus game. And, look, college kids are going to have these types of nights. There's really nobody else on the team that can step up and dump 20 into the rim. But they have to figure out how to make sure that games like these don't get out of hand. They need higher percentage shots — the guards were trying to create things, and it looked like the tall guys weren't involved enough.

NIU is demoted to 2-3, and their next game is Sunday (11/2) at 1-4 DePaul.

A game that Bradley didn't win, but NIU lost

Mike Breese — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 05:30:33 -0000

Hooooly cow. The Huskies take a double dip of basketball while we wait patiently to play Ball State and don't fail to spurn us all for the second straight game.

Well, let's get right to it then.

NCAA Basketball

See that tiny gray line at the bottom? Oh yes, NIU had a 7-point lead with 9:55 left in the game. Pretty much the opposite of what happened vs. Northwestern. But then it seemed that the players realized that they were playing for Northern Illinois under Ricardo Patton and all of a sudden collapsed and never regained the lead after 7 minutes were left in the game.

Positives (we always start with positives)

Insane rebounding. This was the most improved thing since the first game. The Huskies had 46, including 13 on the offensive end. Four Huskies had at least 6 rebounds in this one. Bryan Hall had 4 offensive boards, that's going after the ball.

Free throw party. The Huskies got to the line 19 times and made 16 baskets. That's 84.2%!

NCAA Basketball Stats

Negatives

Turnovers. 20 turnovers? Really? The big men Tim Toler and Nate Rucker had 9 combined. Just ridiculous. These guys should just be standing under the basket dunking, not getting the ball taken away from them.

Again with the perimeter D. For the second straight game, NIU came ahead in FG% and still lost the game. The difference? Bradley was 10 for 27 from three and NIU was only 5 of 19.

Individual Performances

Xavier Silas had a tremendous outing scoring 22 and shooting 63.6%. Nate Rucker had the double-double with 14 pts and 10 rebounds, but also turned the ball over 5 times. He did play 36 minutes though.

Michael Patton was 0 for 5 with 4 of those being longballs, but also had 4 assists. Bryan Hall isn't an offensive threat at all and had 4 turnovers. Kyree Jones should be seeing a lot more than 21 minutes at the point. Tim Toler was 2 for 8 and shot 2 three pointers.

MAC Basketball Season Preview: Northern Illinois Huskies

Matt Sussman — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:00:31 -0000

An extensive if not comprehensive look at all 12 Mid-American Conference college basketball teams. The opening game is November 10, so we better get started.

Last year: 10-20 (6-10), 5th MAC West; lost to Eastern Michigan in MAC tournament first round; no postseason tournament

This year: Picked 5th in MAC West (2 of 24 first-place votes)

Coach: Ricardo Patton enters his fourth season at NIU. His record: 26-61.

First Game: Friday, November 12 vs. Northwestern

Can a husky dribble a basketball? It can barely play fetch with a basketball. Mostly because your dog is out of control. But you should see the way our dog dribbles its squeak toy rubber ball. It's precious!

Northern Illinois Huskies Basketball Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Askel Bolin	32	G	-	200	6-7	freshman
Antone Christian	3	G	-	189	6-2	freshman
Lee Fisher	30	F	-	212	6-5	junior
Bryan Hall	1	G	-	168	6-1	junior
Kyree Jones	55	G	-	205	6-2	freshman
Jeremy Landers	24	G	-	185	6-2	senior
Cameron Madlock	23	F	-	215	6-9	junior
Tony Nixon	25	G	-	200	6-4	sophomore
Michael Patton	4	G	-	189	5-10	senior
Nate Rucker	12	F	-	245	6-6	freshman
Xavier Silas	13	G	-	198	6-5	senior
Tyler Storm	44	F	-	217	6-7	junior
Tim Toler	5	F	-	270	6-7	junior

Departures

Darion Anderson (transferred to Iowa State)
Sean Kowal (transferred to somewhere that has a theology program)
Mike DiNunno (transferred to Eastern Kentucky)
Michael Fakuade (transferred to Illinois Springfield, Division II)
Najul Ervin (graduated)
Ante Dzepina (graduated)
Keith Smith (transferred to Illinois-Springfield, Division II)

Returning Award-Winners

Xavier Silas (All-MAC Honorable Mention)

Big Nonconference Games

12/12 vs. Northwestern
12/18 @ Temple
12/27 @ Missouri
1/3 @ Iowa State

A Paragraph of Thought on Northern Illinois Basketball

'10 Northern Illinois is '09 Western Michigan. This might be unfair to one of those entities, but basically Silas is the known commodity and their horse by which they will try to ride certain individual games. This will not necessarily result in a fruitful number of conference wins — five? — but with an inordinate number of upperclassmen, perhaps I'm being too hard on them. Maybe they're the team nobody is looking at seriously, given all the key departures, that is going to shimmy their way up the MAC East power-struggle. But with the way their football team is playing — and mind you, schools are allowed only one charmed sport per year — it's probably not the year to get behind NIU hoops.