Official MVCfans.com Prediction - 1st Place

[SirShoxAlot]

I think Williams gets the nod at PG this year. I think the last 5 games of the regular season or so are more accurate to take stats from. He really didn't come into his own until the very, very end of the season and in the Valley Tournament. And it wasn't his stats that were impressive, it was his intangibles. Man, did he become a sparkplug! He is best in transition, and there were times last year that when subs were made, I thought, "Good. Demetric is in."

Maybe I'm the only one, but I think DW will take the PG role just fine. Not to take anything away from Hannah, but I have only a few doubts about DW.

[Shockerfan13]

I wonder how WSU will play as the favorite also. I think Marshall does a good job of getting his guys to play with a chip on their shoulder and us against the world mentality, but I'm not sure how that will work when everyone is trying to knock off the preseason pick.

HCGM seemed to do pretty well starting from the front at Winthrop.

At Winthrop he had to play:

Charleston Southern
Coastal Carolina
Gardner-Webb
High Point
Liberty
Presbyterian
Radford
UNC Asheville
VMI

...In front of an average of 1428 fans.
http://www.bigsouthsports.com/fls/4800/STATS/MBB/2009-10/confldrs.htm

Just saying.

And Marshall wasn't able to recruit at the level he is now either. So he did it with less talent....just saying. Even Marshall has said that he's never had the amount of talent and athleticism he has the last couple of years at WSU. While he had to play those teams, he had to play it with less talent. So that argument is pretty weak.

[TylerDurden]

At Winthrop he had to play:

Charleston Southern
Coastal Carolina
Gardner-Webb
High Point
Liberty
Presbyterian
Radford
UNC Asheville
VMI

...In front of an average of 1428 fans.
http://www.bigsouthsports.com/fls/4800/STATS/MBB/2009-10/confldrs.htm

Just saying.

And Marshall wasn't able to recruit at the level he is now either. So he did it with less talent....just saying. Even Marshall has said that he's never had the amount of talent and athleticism he has the last couple of years at WSU. While he had to play those teams, he had to play it with less talent. So that argument is pretty weak.

Until you consider that that talent he's now competing against is also better.

WSU may very well have an outstanding, run-away-and-hide season atop the MVC, but nothing happens in a vacuum.

The fact is that HCGM has never done what he did at Winthrop while he's been at WSU. He might, but hasn't yet.

[Shockerfan13]

At Winthrop he had to play:

Charleston Southern
Coastal Carolina
Gardner-Webb
High Point
Liberty
Presbyterian
Radford
UNC Asheville
VMI

...In front of an average of 1428 fans.
http://www.bigsouthsports.com/fls/4800/STATS/MBB/2009-10/confldrs.htm

Just saying.

And Marshall wasn't able to recruit at the level he is now either. So he did it with less talent....just saying. Even Marshall has said that he's never had the amount of talent and athleticism he has the last couple of years at WSU. While he had to play those teams, he had to play it with less talent. So that argument is pretty weak.

Until you consider that that talent he's now competing against is also better.

WSU may very well have an outstanding, run-away-and-hide season atop the MVC, but nothing happens in a vacuum.

The fact is that HCGM has never done what he did at Winthrop while he's been at WSU. He might, but hasn't yet.

I agree with that. I also don't think WSU will run away with anything this year. I think it's gonna be quite a heated race, which is a good thing IMHO. I was just saying it's hard to compare him at Winthrop with him at WSU (in any form). It's almost an apples/oranges thing because the conferences are on 2 different levels. Just like WSU fans can't effectively use what he did at Winthrop as a valid argument anymore either. He's been at WSU long enough now that his results here are all that matter. So far I'm pleased with what he has put together. FWIW I think he'll get it done this year, if not then he may never get it done. Too much talent on this team to not make some noise.

[beatingrillz]

Its funny that the nevada game is brought up cause wsu lost to them 3 weeks after msu beat them the bears are bringing back more imo but the game is played on the court not in a message board

[WSUbballer]

Its funny that the nevada game is brought up cause wsu lost to them 3 weeks after msu beat them the bears are bringing back more imo but the game is played on the court not in a message board

Nevada was an ok team, but not a great team last year. If you're gonna do any comparing between the two teams from last year, you might as well compare the teams head-to-head. WSU won all 3 meetings. It's debatable whether MSU brings back more or not than WSU this year. But yes, the games will play out, despite who pick's who on an internet message board poll.

[Bearvision]

Voting with my head, I'd say WSU probably wins it this year, as much as I loathe them.

Voting with my heart is more fun though, so I'll say MSU, because a vote on a message board matters not in the final standings. MSU has a couple of freshmen who should play quite a bit, and maybe all 3 of them. The two I saw over the summer seemed talented, but Cooper looks to be a year away from being a real impact player. Scheer will play a ton as a freshman, and most likely the all-Valley freshman team. Kid can shoot, and has the size to play the wing when needed.

It's the athleticism in the post that worries me. MSU doesn't match up overly well with WSU, and that's where I think the edge was had last year. On paper, it doesn't appear MSU has done much to close that gap, but we'll see how their returning bigs have developed. On the otehr hand, WSU has to answer questions at PG, where a more experienced Ricks should give MSU an edge.

Should be a fun year, and let's go Bears!

[TNMSUFAN]

I think Williams gets the nod at PG this year. I think the last 5 games of the regular season or so are more accurate to take stats from. He really didn't come into his own until the very, very end of the season and in the Valley Tournament. And it wasn't his stats that were impressive, it was his intangibles. Man, did he become a sparkplug! He is best in transition, and there were times last year that when subs were made, I thought, "Good. Demetric is in."

Maybe I'm the only one, but I think DW will take the PG role just fine. Not to take anything away from Hannah, but I have only a few doubts about DW.

OK then...in the Valley tournament game against the Bears Hannah had 15pts 4ast while Williams had 9pts 2ast

Last 5 games of the season stats...Hannah 11.4pts 4ast...Williams 8.4pts 2ast...better but still no

The last 5 games for Nafis Ricks 11.4pts 4.4ast

[Aargh]

If I may quote myself:

..there was no longer a huge gap between DWill and Hanna

I thought I might emphasize the part that DOES NOT say there wasn't much difference.

I watched DWill all season, and the player who ended the season didn't resemble the player who started the season. DWill may never have Hannah's stats, but his ability to run the offense looked pretty good by the end of the season.

Toward the end of the season, Kyles was injured and that contributed to the Shox dropping off some.

I've noticed MSU fans are pulling out Fr as players that probably need to contribute. At WSU, we've begun to expect that Fr will red shirt.

With Stutz, Durley, Ellis, Blair, Hatch, and Smith (JuCo) at the 3,4, and 5 spots, WSU is in a great position to wear down and possibly dominate Valley front court players. WSU is likely to have a significant rebounding advantage in most games.

WSU may not have the scoring punch from the perimeter they had last year, but the front court scoring should be improved. Hannah was not a great defender, so there's not really any loss in that area. Other teams perimeter players are going to have Murry and Hatch guarding their top perimeter scorers. Those two are among the most tenacious defenders in the league.

WSU is going to play a possessions game (rebounding) and tough D. Then try to get the ball inside to Stutz or Durley (who both have some shooting range). The game plan is obvious.

[Zardoz]

"With Stutz, Durley, Ellis, Blair, Hatch, and Smith (JuCo) at the 3,4, and 5 spots, WSU is in a great position to wear down and possibly dominate Valley front court players. WSU is likely to have a significant rebounding advantage in most games."

Aargh is forgetting some people at the 3,4, and 5. red-shirt freshmen Richardson and Hamilton and red-shirt sophomore EO. Another 3,4, and 5. I don't expect them to see much court time but they are there.