Drake

[Newt99]

Drake 75, Indiana St. 50 (tonight)
Indiana St. 74, UNI 56 (last Saturday)

Wow. I mean, wow.

Until now I really wasn't sure Drake was for real. Now they have my attention. It doesn't matter how hot or cold any team was shooting, how well or poorly either team played in each of those games. This is a huge statement for the Bulldogs.

Alarming stats:
ISU shooting vs. UNI -- 51.0 FG%, 13-24 on 3-pters (54.2%)
ISU shooting vs. Drake -- 29.1 FG%, 5-25 on 3-pters (20.0%)

As a Des Moines area alum, I usually look forward to the game at the Knapp Center each year, a chance to see the Panthers without the road trip to Cedar Falls that we make so many times a year already. Now I am really starting to worry about it. Unless we shape up in the next couple weeks, that could be a very long night. I will still be there though, hoping for the best and cheering until I lose my voice!

FYI -- According to the Drake ticket office, the single game tickets for the UNI game go on sale at noon this Saturday. Up until now they have only been available through season ticket and multi-game packages. If you are planning on going, I would suggest getting them ASAP after they go on sale. This game sold out last year when Drake wasn't any good!

[joecooll6]

Re: Drake

I went to the Drake game and they looked really good but Josh Young got hurt early in the second half and it looked like it could be serious. He went in the locker room and came back out a while later with a very heavy duty cast on his leg. I dont know the extent of the injury but it didnt look good.

[Khan4Cats]

Re: Drake

Drake is playing with a lot of confidence. They believe in their system, they believe in each other, and they expect to win. They have definitely developed an attitude at home that will make them tough to beat at Knapp.

That said, I don't think they are without holes. They don't have a true post player. They rely heavily on the outside shot, though they are capable of driving, their forte is from deep, and they have not extablished dominance away from Knapp.

This is not to say that UNI will beat Drake, we have traditionally struggled against teams that press and play a zone against us. We have also tended to play to Drake's line-ups. We did best the last few years when Keita was in because then there was a true post to match up with. This year there really isn't anyone that either Jordan or EC matches up well with defensively. We could end up seeing Koch at the 5 with Dunham at the 4 on Korver.

The other thing to remember or take from last night's game is that Indiana State has not lost this year at home (7-0) and have only won once on the road (at Evansville) and not only that, asides from Evansville, their closest road score was a 9 point loss to North Texas.

In all not a terribly surprising result. Drake is very good at home, Indiana State not so good on the road. All the more reason we have to protect our home court.

[DRAKELAWPANTHER]

Re: Drake

I agree with 2317. With a couple losses, the "magic" may suddenly wear off, and Drake could start to cool off - much like we did last year. And without Young, that "magic" may wear off much more quickly...

That being said, WITH Josh Young, Drake is ridiculous good. Obviously games at Creighton and ISU will be a better gauge of just how dangerous they are - but last night they made Indiana State look like a high school team (granted it was a home game). Heemskirk and Cox have developed their inside game, they're all good passers, they've got slashing capabilities when the 3 is covered up, and obviously they can shoot the rock.

So, while I'm sure I'll be accused in the next couple posts as "blowing Drake" again, this team is very good, and will create some huge matchup problems for UNI...Just my two cents...

[ceaser150]

Re: Drake

Their schedule so far has not been overly difficult (Ind St. has won only one road game all season). It gets really difficult in a hurry. After MSU at home, they go to Bradley, then a stretch where they play UNI, Creighton, and Ill St. all twice with a trip to Ind St. in between. If they have to face that stretch w/o Young or w/o him at full strength it could get ugly.

[joecooll6]

Re: Drake

Young apparantly has a sprained ankle. It is doubtful whether he will play Saturday against MSU. I think thats promising that theres even a question as to whether he will play, cause at the game it looked pretty bad. He had a very heavy duty cast.

I hope Drake continues to do well and Ill be rooting for them all the way with the exception of 2 games of course.

[DRAKELAWPANTHER]

Re: Drake

How cool would it be if the two MVC teams to make the NCAA tourney were both from Iowa...

[joecooll6]

Re: Drake

Speaking of that, right now, Drake is certainly off to a good start for a chance at the NCAAs. We are in position to have a shot at the NIT as is Iowa State. I doubt Iowa will be participating in the postseason this year with the exception of the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

[06panther10]

Re: Drake

Amazingly, They briefly discussed Drake this morning on ESPN's First take during their bracketology segment. They mentioned how Drake has not been to the tourny since '71, ouch. Still cool that they are getting talked about for the tourny on espn though. Will be a great win for us when we beat them.

[unigriff]

Re: Drake

last years game at the knapp may have sold out of tickets, but like our arena...it was no where close to full
i had two and half rows of empty seats within my area and i was near the floor.

[Newt99]

Re: Drake

For those who are saying that Drake's schedule hasn't been that strong and that Indiana State is a poor road team, you may be partly right, but I think you're missing the point.

No one here believes that Drake is going to roll through the MVC undefeated. If the strong Saluki and Bluejay teams of recent years couldn't do it, I don't think we'll see it happen anytime soon. The point is that the Bulldogs are playing a heck of a lot better than us right now, and we only have two weeks to remedy that problem.

As for the Indiana State comparison, one game is not enough to paint a complete picture. But here are a few other examples to help establish the pattern.

UNI @ UW-Milwaukee 73-66
Drake @ UW-Milwaukee 80-59

UNI @ Iowa State 61-48
Iowa State @ Drake 44-79

Iowa @ UNI 62-55
Drake @ Iowa 56-51

Evansville @ UNI 51-64
Drake @ Evansville 71-68

Beating the Hawkeyes at Carver while UNI couldn't beat them at home really stands out to me. All this said, it doesn't mean we can't go into the Knapp Center and knock them off. It just means that we need to improve a lot and in a hurry if we want to be up to the task.

[Khan4Cats]

Re: Drake

PS: Newt...I love your signature from Major League. "Whoa! Amigo, you just can't take...go ahead."

Even better, since then Cerrano has gone on to be President in 24, a kick-a$$ commando in The Unit, and of course, we're always in good hands with All-State

[Newt99]

Re: Drake

PS: Newt...I love your signature from Major League. "Whoa! Amigo, you just can't take...go ahead."

Thanks, you'll probably see me rotate a few quotes like that throughout the year, since I could probably perform the entire script of Major League completely from memory.

As for the score comparisons, I'm hardly saying that we should just forfeit the game based on these prior results. I was mostly just trying to give Drake some long overdue credit, as I was one of their biggest doubters until the last two weeks or so. Five common opponents is a pretty good sample size, and they have continually proven that they are playing quite a bit better than us so far.

I just hope Young is completely healthy for the UNI game. I don't want them to have any excuses when we come into their house and take them down!

[Back2BackCats]

Re: Drake

Newt, your right about the excuse but we don't have Kwadzo either, on the other hand Young is also fun to watch.

[Matt Trump]

Re: Drake

Drake is about to win again at home vs MSU