2023-24 Around the League and Other Games of Interest

[Username]

strength of schedules, opponents rankings, and quadrants could move around as well which are under no control of the team

But yes, I’d imagine win=Bye in this scenario

[SteinPizza]

Adam Emenecker is on KXNO. Garland, Drake’s backup PG, went down last night and it looks serious. Adam said Garland’s loss will hurt as he’s one of Drake’s best guys at setting up teammates on offense and a great on ball defender. He said Drake could now have more problems against teams with multiple guards who can score. He mentioned Indiana State, Bradley, and UNI specifically.

The guy is a really good analyst and knows MVC basketball as well as anyone. Good to hear him on KXNO a couple of times a week on different shows. His appearances are sponsored too, so must be at least some demand.

[BCPanther]

Drake had no depth anyway and now you lose Garland, played a 3OT game last night and have a grinder with Bradley coming Sunday.

Not a great spot to be in.

[UNIChippewa]

So I see in the first game of this season's MVC tournament that Missouri State is absolutely boat racing Murray State.

Despite the end of his time in Ames I still like Steve Prohm, but man alive...what is going on down there?

[UNIAlum95]

So I see in the first game of this season's MVC tournament that Missouri State is absolutely boat racing Murray State.

Despite the end of his time in Ames I still like Steve Prohm, but man alive...what is going on down there?

Only so much you can do with shooting like that. It's not like they didn't have open looks. Missouri State didn't play lights out defense. That is just some amazingly bad shooting by the Racers.

[UNIAlum95]

Belmont is getting a scrimmage before we play them tomorrow.

[BrockLesnar2]

Belmont 48 Valpo 22 at the half.

[clenz]

So I see in the first game of this season's MVC tournament that Missouri State is absolutely boat racing Murray State.

Despite the end of his time in Ames I still like Steve Prohm, but man alive...what is going on down there?

The simple answer? Those Murray teams from his first stint were good but there's a reason they made 1 NCAA tournament and played more CIT games than NCAA tournament games on a roster that had Ja'Morant.. If Murray can't out-athlete their opponent they aren't going to win. It's why they dominated that OVC like they did. Sure, they had good players, but they just were bigger, faster, stronger, and better athletes than the OVC. They didn't have to actually be a good basketball team. They were playing very bad programs.

Look at their records, even when in the OVC, against the MVC OOC. They were .500 (if even) and they weren't playing high end valley teams. They were playing SIU, ISUb, Evansville, etc.

Yes, they caught us in a bad way this year, but their other wins were Valpo, MOSUx2 and then loss today, Evansville x2, UICx2, and then Bradley in December when Bradley was a mess.

Go to OOC and their wins were against (Torvik) 347 and 270 - plus the conference wins of 291 148 x2 228 x2 177 x2

The fact they beat MOSU twice comes down to the fact Dana is somehow worse than Prohm is at getting actual basketball players to match their athletic ability.


Go back to last year and their wins were
290
290
290
352
297
127
145
285 352
331
307
300
297
Non D1

with a few outliers like TAMU in game 3 and Bradley who was 92

Prohm isn't a good coach and he sure as hell can't coach X and O. He can't just out-athlete the MVC. Even if they have "more athletes" what the Valley has is still good enough that you need to know what the hell you're doing as a coach to win.

So against the Valley, by standings, he has
3 wins vs12th place
3 wins vs 11th place
6 wins vs10th place
4 wins vs 9th place
1 win vs 6th place
1 win vs 5th place
2 wins vs 4th place (UNI and Belmont 22/23)
1 win vs 3rd place (Bradley)
1 win vs 1st place (Bradley in their 4th ever MVC game after needing OT to beat ISUr and Valpo then beating Valpo before it)

Basically, once they have to play someone that isn't a bottom 4 team they struggle, hard because they can't just do what they want.

Prohm is in so far over his head outside of the OVC - or that level - but no one wants to say it because "he's a good guy" or "He won so many games his first time around with MUSU"...which was in the OVC whhich is the thesis of my post.

[orangetennis]

Belmont 48 Valpo 22 at the half.

Great, they'll have momentum and be rested. Thanks Valpo.

[Username]

Great, they'll have momentum and be rested. Thanks Valpo.

Well.... as much momentum as a Valpo win can give you lol

They still had to spend time this week preparing for Valpo, while we likely spent our time prepping for Belmont.

I will say I wasn't ultra concerned about the difference between a 4 and a 5 given Valpo, but a 6 would have sucked given UIC has played competitively this year and Bradley is obviously tough.

[Khan4Cats]

Well.... as much momentum as a Valpo win can give you lol

They still had to spend time this week preparing for Valpo, while we likely spent our time prepping for Belmont.

I will say I wasn't ultra concerned about the difference between a 4 and a 5 given Valpo, but a 6 would have sucked given UIC has played competitively this year and Bradley is obviously tough.

Have to beat the team they put in front of us to move on. I am happier playing in the 4/5 game because of the turnaround to Saturday, but have to win to get there. Odd season match-up as we both got the other on the road. They're coming in hot, having won 8 of 9, though I would say only 2 of those games were against teams in the top 6 of the conference (beat SIU, lost to Drake). We're playing well but have to keep the same intensity we have shown the last two weeks.

[BrockLesnar2]

Great, they'll have momentum and be rested. Thanks Valpo.

We're gonna need to bring it.

[BrockLesnar2]

Number 10 Evansville over the Redbirds.

[Username]

Have to beat the team they put in front of us to move on. I am happier playing in the 4/5 game because of the turnaround to Saturday, but have to win to get there. Odd season match-up as we both got the other on the road. They're coming in hot, having won 8 of 9, though I would say only 2 of those games were against teams in the top 6 of the conference (beat SIU, lost to Drake). We're playing well but have to keep the same intensity we have shown the last two weeks.

We’ve gotten 6 of our last 8 including wins over Drake, Bradley, and SIU on the road so it’s not as if we’re playing our worst ball

Having to play Belmont is not ideal, but it’s not as if any of the teams above are going to be easy contests, either.

Gotta put up a good fight, that’s all we can ask for

[BrockLesnar2]

UIC 11 SIU 8, early in the game.