ISUr

[45otseoj]

Phelps > Jank

2-4 in favor of Jank

I seriously think switching from Moser to Jank was a downgrade.

Moser: 22-50
Jank: 39-33

[Wufan]

I like the Ill St starting line-up. Moore, Brown, Wilkins, Ekey, and Carmichael are all good players that would easily find themselves in the rotation or starting on any Valley team. Cousin and Threloff are nice players and Threloff has some potential down the road. That's kinda where it ends...Wilkins causes some match-up problems, but he allows some as well. The quicker 6-4 type wings drive past him. He is a mediocre rebounder for his size, and his shot can disappear. Moore is good, but as a freshman he will have some struggles with physical Valley play. Brown, Carmicheal, and Ekey are the real deal! They can't do it for 40 minutes 2-3 nights a week however. There's just no depth at ISUr. I don't see Moore fairing well against Odum or Wilkins and Brown versus Murry/Kyles/Smith or Carmichael/Ekey vs Gregg E/Doug McD/Wragge. There are just too many ways to beat the Redbirds.

I expect the birds to be a dangerous team that finishes between 5th and 9th. Drake and Evansville will give ISUr a run for their money. Bradley will beat some teams, but has even less depth than Ill St. MSU is too good to fall out of the top 6 and could finish as high as 3rd. The good news for the Redbirds is that they have no seniors and will return a VERY good starting line-up...NEXT YEAR. Add in a guard that can shoot and develop Threloff and the birds will be back to contender type team.

[BirdmanBB]

I'm actually kinda surprised that you think our depth is weak WuFan. Besides the starters of Moore, Brown, Ekey, Wilkins and Carmichael we have Threloff, Upshaw and Cousin that make us a pretty deep team opposed to others in the MVC.

Upshaw has proven to be very dependable in the short amount of time given and has hit some critical shots in our games against Illinois and at Morehead St. Threloff has the ability to step in to give Carmichael a blow and be a solid rebounder/scorer and Cousin has improved at the point this year where he is actually starting in many games alongside Moore. He's been very capable at running the point in a backup role and has limited the turnovers that plagued him last season.

Jank likes to run an 8-9 man rotation on any given night. That leaves us with the freshman Johnny Hill who has great upside, a PG transfer from Minnesota in Bryant Allen who as the ability to be a defensive stopper, Tre Blue who has had good experience in the A10 and MVC and finally Darious Clark (who I think is getting the short end on minutes).

No one that is going to blow you away night in and night out, but we don't really have anyone we are playing that is going to be a liability. This redbird team really likes to share the ball so we aren't at the mercy of one guy (osiris) every night in order to get a win. On any given night, any one of our starters can step up and be the guy. Basically we will take what the defense gives us.

I think the start of our schedule in MVC play looks to be pretty kind to us and we will continue to improve as the season goes along. I think we finish the season anywhere from 10-8 to 8-10 in conference play.

[hot nuts]

Honest question: Are you ready to play valley ball? Do you really think you are ready to play the upper half of the valley after playing the 326th best schedule? Take one of your signature wins, and compare the starting lineup against WSU, Creighton, and UNI? Compare team intangibles as well. Do they have a deep bench or did they play 7 guys? Do they run and gun or play defense or both? Were they on the road for 3 weeks straight when you played them?

If you are prepared, great. I would be shocked, but great. If you are not prepared, you should be calling for Jank's head.

Yeah! Screw you idiot Redbird fans for being optimistic and thinking you won't just be a pile of puke again! Just stop logging on here and expressing your optimism. I don't even know why you waste $5 to goto games when you are irrelevant.

[TylerDurden]

Phelps > Jank

2-4 in favor of Jank

I seriously think switching from Moser to Jank was a downgrade.

Moser: 22-50
Jank: 39-33

Let's be fair here about the two records. These guys came into two totally different situations.

Moser inherited an 8-21 team that finished in 8th place, improved the overall record two straight years, stepped back one year then Osiris came in and had them right back in the mix.

The MVC record wasn't good, but he had last place talent and had to try to sell that against a strong MVC field that was earning multiple bids every year.

Jank inherited the best player in the league (arguably) and road him for three years against a comparatively week MVC - one bid every year he's been there. Jank's players, so far, haven't been nearly as good as Moser's.

That said, I can see ISUR staying out of Thursday.

CU, WSU, UNI, ISUB and MSU seem like the top five at this point, but UE, DU, BU, SIU and ISUR are what's left.

I like the fight in UE (at times) and BU (most times) and DU is an odd team, but I think ISUR has more depth than any of those teams. It would be great theater to see ISUR and BU battling to stay out of Thursday on the last day of the season.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Honest question: Are you ready to play valley ball? Do you really think you are ready to play the upper half of the valley after playing the 326th best schedule? Take one of your signature wins, and compare the starting lineup against WSU, Creighton, and UNI? Compare team intangibles as well. Do they have a deep bench or did they play 7 guys? Do they run and gun or play defense or both? Were they on the road for 3 weeks straight when you played them?

If you are prepared, great. I would be shocked, but great. If you are not prepared, you should be calling for Jank's head.

Yeah! Screw you idiot Redbird fans for being optimistic and thinking you won't just be a pile of puke again! Just stop logging on here and expressing your optimism. I don't even know why you waste $5 to goto games when you are irrelevant.

Wait just a second..... it only costs $5 to go to Redbird games?

[hot nuts]

I actually got in free 2 nights ago. Normally $11 for upper bowl.

[BirdmanBB]

I agree. Feb. 25th at Bradley could be an interesting game. The time is TBA as most valley games are because it is wild card weekend and has the opportunity to be picked up by TV. Blackhawks have a game at 7pm that day (no bulls), but I could see comcast picking it up at an earlier timeslot or possibly on CSN+ if they are able to pick it up.

[Wufan]

Phelps > Jank

2-4 in favor of Jank

I seriously think switching from Moser to Jank was a downgrade.

Moser: 22-50
Jank: 39-33

Let's be fair here about the two records. These guys came into two totally different situations.

Moser inherited an 8-21 team that finished in 8th place, improved the overall record two straight years, stepped back one year then Osiris came in and had them right back in the mix.

The MVC record wasn't good, but he had last place talent and had to try to sell that against a strong MVC field that was earning multiple bids every year.

Jank inherited the best player in the league (arguably) and road him for three years against a comparatively week MVC - one bid every year he's been there. Jank's players, so far, haven't been nearly as good as Moser's.

That said, I can see ISUR staying out of Thursday.

CU, WSU, UNI, ISUB and MSU seem like the top five at this point, but UE, DU, BU, SIU and ISUR are what's left.

I like the fight in UE (at times) and BU (most times) and DU is an odd team, but I think ISUR has more depth than any of those teams. It would be great theater to see ISUR and BU battling to stay out of Thursday on the last day of the season.

I think Drake is one of the deeper teams in the Valley...could use another PG, but a lot of guys that can contribute at a high level.

[WSUbballer]

Phelps > Jank

2-4 in favor of Jank

I seriously think switching from Moser to Jank was a downgrade.

Moser: 22-50
Jank: 39-33

What's the average SOS between the 2?