MSU @ Drake (Feb 4 7PM)

[DUBulldog]

DUBulldog, I'm sorry to have forgotten, but besides the crippling losses to SVD and, to a lesser extent, RU, who was the 3rd person lost prior to Simons?

Btw, hope his absence isn't long term, he's an enjoyable player to watch.

The other guy was Frank Wiseler. He was a part time starter his sophomore year (2009-10) and showed some promise (had 9 points and 12 assists in Drake's home game with Wichita that season). He was expected to be the starter last year, but suffered a freak injury to his achilles tendon over the summer. He tried to come back too soon, which led to his being totally ineffective. After 12 games of the season, they discovered he also had a stress fracture in the foot, and he was shelved for the rest of the season. Still, he was expected to compete for the starting point guard spot this season. In the summer, Wiseler announced that his injuries had not healed properly and he would forgo his senior season.

As far as Uhlenhopp, his loss wasn't huge on it's own. But, once van Deest went down, the loss of Uhlenhopp became much more important. A team that was already short on interior players was missing 2 of them going into the season. Add in the potential starting point guard, and the Bulldogs started the season in a big hole. The Bulldogs (or any team in that situation) would have a hard time weathering any more losses, especially their best player.

Simons should be back at full strength next season, and should have a very good senior year. However, with mono, even if he's able to come back this season, I can't imagine him being anywhere close to 100%. Mono takes an awful lot out of you, and it probably takes 4-6 weeks to get back to normal.

[glm38]

MSU did not look all that good. I think they would have lost to most teams in the Valley playing the way they did tonight. Drake was unbelievably awful. They really need to get a coach.

Disagree. I thought we were only decent on offense but pretty darned good on defense. Pick really a number on Rice. He's got to be one of the better defensive players in the MVC.

[DUBulldog]

MSU did not look all that good. I think they would have lost to most teams in the Valley playing the way they did tonight. Drake was unbelievably awful. They really need to get a coach.

This stat says a lot about Drake's coaching...

In Phelps' first 4 years, Drake's record vs conference opponents the first time they meet in a season is 19-17. In the 2nd meeting between teams, Drake is 8-23.

[glm38]

Losing Simons was tough for Drake. But the Bears were without one of their key players (2nd leading scorer) too.

Here's the difference. Bulldogs were already missing 3 key players for the entire season before losing Simons. It's a lot easier to adjust to missing one of your better players when you're otherwise at full strength. When you're already down 3 players, it's a lot harder to adjust to your best player suddenly being gone.

Apples and oranges.

Yes it's apples and oranges if you are comparing what you have lost from the beginning of the year. But I was simply responding to the loss of Simons for this game. From that standpoint the loss of Patterson is entirely comparable to the loss of Simons (both 2nd leading scorers).

Wufan is right though the Bears are just deeper (partly because of Drake's earlier injuries) and better able to compensate for the loss. It doesn't mean it's not an apt comparison though.

[DUBulldog]

Losing Simons was tough for Drake. But the Bears were without one of their key players (2nd leading scorer) too.

Here's the difference. Bulldogs were already missing 3 key players for the entire season before losing Simons. It's a lot easier to adjust to missing one of your better players when you're otherwise at full strength. When you're already down 3 players, it's a lot harder to adjust to your best player suddenly being gone.

Apples and oranges.

Yes it's apples and oranges if you are comparing what you have lost from the beginning of the year. But I was simply responding to the loss of Simons for this game. From that standpoint the loss of Patterson is entirely comparable to the loss of Simons (both 2nd leading scorers).

Wufan is right though the Bears are just deeper (partly because of Drake's earlier injuries) and better able to compensate for the loss. It doesn't mean it's not an apt comparison though.

Exactly right. Because of those previous personnel losses, Drake is less able to compensate for Simons' loss than MSU is for Patterson's.

[Drakey]

Many Drake fans think the team is better with fewer players because it limits Phelps non-stop substituting. Most teams would not have performed this poorly with the loss of one player. This is the loss of one player from the team that beat WSU a week ago. Should it affect the team? Yes. Should it make the team totally inept? No.

[2livewu]

Is there any update on Simons' health? I'm hoping the kid will be back in short order....I don't like to see my team lose, but he's fun to watch anyway.

[DUBulldog]

Is there any update on Simons' health? I'm hoping the kid will be back in short order....I don't like to see my team lose, but he's fun to watch anyway.

He'll miss Wednesday's game at Illinois State....after that, it's anybody's guess. Mono can sap your energy for 4-6 weeks, so even if he plays, he probably won't be 100%.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Is there any update on Simons' health? I'm hoping the kid will be back in short order....I don't like to see my team lose, but he's fun to watch anyway.

He'll miss Wednesday's game at Illinois State....after that, it's anybody's guess. Mono can sap your energy for 4-6 weeks, so even if he plays, he probably won't be 100%.

Can't help but think that all of the running around in circles Phelps had him doing had to help wear him down and perhaps make him more susceptible to catching something (which, for college kids, always seems to be mono). When I watched him against Creighton, I thought, "there is no way this kid can make it through the season running like that for 30+ minutes every single game". There are probably members of Drake's track team that don't run as much as Simons was running under that goofy system!

[Jet915]

Is there any update on Simons' health? I'm hoping the kid will be back in short order....I don't like to see my team lose, but he's fun to watch anyway.

He'll miss Wednesday's game at Illinois State....after that, it's anybody's guess. Mono can sap your energy for 4-6 weeks, so even if he plays, he probably won't be 100%.

I think it was Dane Watt's for CU that got mono as well. He missed a couple games atleast and was ineffective for 3-4 weeks if I recall correctly. Lost alot of weight too. Hopefully Simon's comes back sooner....