Defense Matters at Eastern Michigan
By: Robert Banas
College basketball is officially back, and everyone has watched presumed top teams like Duke, Michigan State, and Kentucky get upset early on this season. This article will prepare you for a team you probably have not even heard of or watched yet this season but has the potential to be a huge upset team this year: The Eastern Michigan Eagles. Eastern Michigan, coached by Rob Murphy, has come out of the gate as one of the hottest teams in the nation, cruising to a 6-1 start. The Eagles of Ypsilanti, Michigan are fresh off early season tournament victories in the Jamaican classic, beating out UMBC and North Carolina A&T. In the teams 6 wins, they have beaten their opponents by an average of over 22 points per game. The scoring has been balanced throughout their team, reflected by their top scorer, Yeikson Montero, averaging 11.5 points per game. The key to the team's early success, however, has not been on the offensive end of the floor. Their vigorous, 2-3 zone defense has been one of the top defensive units in the nation, and if they can sustain their defensive metrics, they could have the opportunity to win the MAC division, and sneak into the NCAA tournament, something they’ve only done 4 times in school history. I had the pleasure of interviewing Coach Rob Murphy, discussing the team’s early achievements. We covered a range of topics including the team’s early success on defense, their offensive scheme, rebounding mentality, conference competition and upcoming opponents, player personnel, and even Rob Murphy’s newly released autobiography “Deep”.
The Top Defensive Team in the Nation?
Here are some jaw dropping stats that Eastern’s defense has done this year.
Equal Opportunity Offense
As previously mentioned, Eastern is extremely balanced on offense. Their top 3 scorers are averaging 11.5, 11.2, and then 10 points per game respectively. This is because the Eagles implement a motion offense in which there is no top scoring option. The team spaces the floor, and everyone has an equal opportunity to shoot the ball. The offense is based on letting the players utilize their high basketball IQ and letting them read and react on the floor. If somebody is hot, they’ll feed him the ball and let him get his 15-20 points. The next game, someone else will take the scoring load. A lot of their points come off of easy fast break points due to the insane amounts of steals they get. The team is not particularly good at shooting threes (34.2% from deep as a team) but guard Chris James has been lighting it up, shooting 68.8% from 3 early on. This equal opportunity offense shows how much character the players on Eastern have. They are unselfish and have great chemistry and synergy together on the court.
Machines on the Offensive Glass
For a team that is not particularly big besides 7’ center Boubacar Toure and 6’10” forward Jalen King, the Eastern Eagles have been DOMINATING on the offensive glass. The team is currently in the top 10 in offensive rebounds per game in the nation, snatching around 14 offensive rebounds per game. Coach Murphy and I discussed about how rebounding is a mindset and how he preaches this to his players. Rebounding is not about how skilled a player is because whoever wants it more is usually the guy who gets the rebound. Eastern Michigan does not have a lot of great shooters, but the team acknowledges that fact and turns a weakness into a strength by crashing the glass, so the team can get a lot of second chance points. Another reason why Eastern Michigan has been successful on the offensive boards is because they have been getting stops and steals on defense, leading to more shots on offense, leading to more rebounding and second chance opportunities.
The Competition
As of now, Eastern is sitting at the top of the Mid-American West division. Kent State is sitting atop of the MAC East with a 5-1 record. When asked about who could be in the running with them to win the MAC, Coach Murphy thinks that Kent State or Buffalo are most likely to win the East, and Toledo and Ball State will make some noise with them in the West. Eastern is battle tested, and if they continue to fight every game and keep doing what they’ve been doing on defense, look for them to win the MAC for the first time since 2012, and possibly even the MAC tournament which is something they have not done since 1998.
The Eagles first loss of the season came at the hands of a 30+ win, NCAA tournament team (last year), UC Irvine. They played well in the first half and kept it close, but UC Irvine pulled away in the second half and won the game. Looking at the upcoming schedule, Eastern plays Valparaiso, Detroit Mercy, and North Eastern… all winnable games, which could put them at 9-1! Coach Murphy is excited about this and explains that if their 2-3 zone continues to give opponents fits, they will be hard to beat.
All of this accumulates to their biggest game of the year. Their true test will come December 21st against Michigan State at the Breslin Center. Coach Murphy emphasizes that Mid-Major teams like Eastern relish the opportunity to come in and upset top ranked teams. If their zone can continue its’ dominance, I believe the Eastern Eagles can upset MSU and force Cassius Winston into one of his toughest chess matches all season.
Key Contributors
At the end of last year, Eastern had 4 seniors graduate and 4 players transfer. They only had 3 guys on the roster coming into this year. However, all the new players have come in and bonded together during summer. This is not surprising when you realize Eastern recruits high character student athletes that have high IQ on and off the court. They recruit coachable team players, and more importantly, good people. Murphy emphasizes it’s easier to win when you have good people on your team. Coach Murphy says the two leaders on the team are guard Noah Morgan and hometown hero, forward Ty Groce. These two guys are top 2 in minutes played per game, have been getting steals, and are both top 3 scorers on the team. 7-foot center Boubacar Toure, however, has been the anchor on defense. He is the middle guy on the backside of the dominant 2-3 zone. He grabs rebounds off of missed shots, contests drives in the paint, and has been getting tons of deflections. The most surprising breakout player on the team this year has been freshman Chris James. Coming all the way from Long Beach, California, the freshman is shooting over 52% from the field as a guard! He barely turns over the ball, plays good defense even though he is a skinny 170 pounds, and is shooting an absurd 68.8% from 3! Though this shooting production is unsustainable, if some of his teammates pick up some of his hot shooting touch, the Eagles will be even harder to beat.
Deep
Coach Murphy is the perfect guy to lead this team. How do I know? Just read his autobiography Deep. It took him 4+ years to write and is mainly about the challenges he faced growing up and how he became a coach. Rob Murphy is an inspiration to his players as he is the 1st person in his family to graduate high school and college. His main message to readers, with a target of young underprivileged kids, is that no matter what circumstances you come from, you can defy the odds and be successful. You don’t have to let the environment you grew up in, hold you back. You can become a leader if you take accountability for your actions, be resilient, and persevere. That’s what Rob Murphy did, which explains why he has an impressive resume which includes, winning a High School State Championship and recruiting Carmelo Anthony to Syracuse.
As can be seen, Coach Murphy is an excellent role model for his team. Under the direction of his motivation, positivity, and upper echelon coaching, there is no reason why the Eagles cannot continue their early success. If the 2-3 defense continues to step on their opponent’s necks, look for them to be a possible Cinderella story when March Madness comes around.
The Top Defensive Team in the Nation?
Here are some jaw dropping stats that Eastern’s defense has done this year.
- Eastern Michigan is currently one of the top 5 best teams in points allowed per game.
- Eastern Michigan is leading the nation in steals right now
- Eastern Michigan is 2nd in the nation in forced turnovers so they aren’t just getting lucky
- Eastern Michigan is 4th in Defensive Field Goal Percentage in the nation
Equal Opportunity Offense
As previously mentioned, Eastern is extremely balanced on offense. Their top 3 scorers are averaging 11.5, 11.2, and then 10 points per game respectively. This is because the Eagles implement a motion offense in which there is no top scoring option. The team spaces the floor, and everyone has an equal opportunity to shoot the ball. The offense is based on letting the players utilize their high basketball IQ and letting them read and react on the floor. If somebody is hot, they’ll feed him the ball and let him get his 15-20 points. The next game, someone else will take the scoring load. A lot of their points come off of easy fast break points due to the insane amounts of steals they get. The team is not particularly good at shooting threes (34.2% from deep as a team) but guard Chris James has been lighting it up, shooting 68.8% from 3 early on. This equal opportunity offense shows how much character the players on Eastern have. They are unselfish and have great chemistry and synergy together on the court.
Machines on the Offensive Glass
For a team that is not particularly big besides 7’ center Boubacar Toure and 6’10” forward Jalen King, the Eastern Eagles have been DOMINATING on the offensive glass. The team is currently in the top 10 in offensive rebounds per game in the nation, snatching around 14 offensive rebounds per game. Coach Murphy and I discussed about how rebounding is a mindset and how he preaches this to his players. Rebounding is not about how skilled a player is because whoever wants it more is usually the guy who gets the rebound. Eastern Michigan does not have a lot of great shooters, but the team acknowledges that fact and turns a weakness into a strength by crashing the glass, so the team can get a lot of second chance points. Another reason why Eastern Michigan has been successful on the offensive boards is because they have been getting stops and steals on defense, leading to more shots on offense, leading to more rebounding and second chance opportunities.
The Competition
As of now, Eastern is sitting at the top of the Mid-American West division. Kent State is sitting atop of the MAC East with a 5-1 record. When asked about who could be in the running with them to win the MAC, Coach Murphy thinks that Kent State or Buffalo are most likely to win the East, and Toledo and Ball State will make some noise with them in the West. Eastern is battle tested, and if they continue to fight every game and keep doing what they’ve been doing on defense, look for them to win the MAC for the first time since 2012, and possibly even the MAC tournament which is something they have not done since 1998.
The Eagles first loss of the season came at the hands of a 30+ win, NCAA tournament team (last year), UC Irvine. They played well in the first half and kept it close, but UC Irvine pulled away in the second half and won the game. Looking at the upcoming schedule, Eastern plays Valparaiso, Detroit Mercy, and North Eastern… all winnable games, which could put them at 9-1! Coach Murphy is excited about this and explains that if their 2-3 zone continues to give opponents fits, they will be hard to beat.
All of this accumulates to their biggest game of the year. Their true test will come December 21st against Michigan State at the Breslin Center. Coach Murphy emphasizes that Mid-Major teams like Eastern relish the opportunity to come in and upset top ranked teams. If their zone can continue its’ dominance, I believe the Eastern Eagles can upset MSU and force Cassius Winston into one of his toughest chess matches all season.
Key Contributors
At the end of last year, Eastern had 4 seniors graduate and 4 players transfer. They only had 3 guys on the roster coming into this year. However, all the new players have come in and bonded together during summer. This is not surprising when you realize Eastern recruits high character student athletes that have high IQ on and off the court. They recruit coachable team players, and more importantly, good people. Murphy emphasizes it’s easier to win when you have good people on your team. Coach Murphy says the two leaders on the team are guard Noah Morgan and hometown hero, forward Ty Groce. These two guys are top 2 in minutes played per game, have been getting steals, and are both top 3 scorers on the team. 7-foot center Boubacar Toure, however, has been the anchor on defense. He is the middle guy on the backside of the dominant 2-3 zone. He grabs rebounds off of missed shots, contests drives in the paint, and has been getting tons of deflections. The most surprising breakout player on the team this year has been freshman Chris James. Coming all the way from Long Beach, California, the freshman is shooting over 52% from the field as a guard! He barely turns over the ball, plays good defense even though he is a skinny 170 pounds, and is shooting an absurd 68.8% from 3! Though this shooting production is unsustainable, if some of his teammates pick up some of his hot shooting touch, the Eagles will be even harder to beat.
Deep
Coach Murphy is the perfect guy to lead this team. How do I know? Just read his autobiography Deep. It took him 4+ years to write and is mainly about the challenges he faced growing up and how he became a coach. Rob Murphy is an inspiration to his players as he is the 1st person in his family to graduate high school and college. His main message to readers, with a target of young underprivileged kids, is that no matter what circumstances you come from, you can defy the odds and be successful. You don’t have to let the environment you grew up in, hold you back. You can become a leader if you take accountability for your actions, be resilient, and persevere. That’s what Rob Murphy did, which explains why he has an impressive resume which includes, winning a High School State Championship and recruiting Carmelo Anthony to Syracuse.
As can be seen, Coach Murphy is an excellent role model for his team. Under the direction of his motivation, positivity, and upper echelon coaching, there is no reason why the Eagles cannot continue their early success. If the 2-3 defense continues to step on their opponent’s necks, look for them to be a possible Cinderella story when March Madness comes around.