SIU wins at Wichita State; Drake beats Creighton; Evansville beats UNI

[wily coyote]

As much as I dislike the guy, can you say Bobby Knight.

I hope my post wasn't taken wrong. I think Marty has done a great job and should be COY.
My dislike is for Bobby. Marty playe dfor Bobby and must have learned more then just playing the game. I wonder how much of the Generals priniciples he uses in the Evansville program. Great season Marty but I hope we put a loss on them SAt.

[AZ BU Fan]

I am not ready yet to concede this...as I think this reflects more the weakness in the lower 70-80% of the MVC than any strength in Evansville...

This is a team that lost to Middle Tennessee and Air Force...
They're also not really among the leaders among Valley teams in any stat category -- in the categories that reflect fundamentals...
they're 9th in FT% and 3-pt %, and 8th in other fundamentals stat categories like rebounding...

Even some of their defensive stat numbers are pretty bad such as overall scoring defense - 8th in the Valley, FG% defense - 10th in the Valley...

So I am no more inclined to jump on the Evansville bandwagon NOW, than I was inclined like a whole lot of people to jump on the Indiana State bandwagon about 2 weeks ago - before they lost 5 in a row, and the UNI bandwagon just a week ago before they lost their last TWO!

Personally I think the bottom 8 Valley teams are all playing about the same right now and every game is a pickem....it's going to be interesting on Thursday and Friday nights in St. Louis to see who's left...

What about the JL bandwagon



(Sorry T, that was just too easy! You put in on a batting tee for me!)


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[tornado]

He IS our coach and I AM on the JL bandwagon with no apologies...

[AZ BU Fan]

And the President Glasser and Dr Cross bandwagon too!

[Toyota12]

Transfer

I hope my post wasn't taken wrong. I think Marty has done a great job and should be COY.
My dislike is for Bobby. Marty playe dfor Bobby and must have learned more then just playing the game. I wonder how much of the Generals priniciples he uses in the Evansville program. Great season Marty but I hope we put a loss on them SAt.

He played one year for Bobby and transferred to Evansville!!

[Da Coach]

He played one year for Bobby and transferred to Evansville!!

Actually, he spent 2 years at Indiana under Bobby Knight- 1983-84 and 1984-85. He transferred after his sophomore season, then played 1986-87 and 1987-88 at Evansville.

http://gopurpleaces.com/coaches.aspx?rc=45

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Simmons

[45otseoj]

So I am no more inclined to jump on the Evansville bandwagon NOW, than I was inclined like a whole lot of people to jump on the Indiana State bandwagon about 2 weeks ago - before they lost 5 in a row, and the UNI bandwagon just a week ago before they lost their last TWO!

UNI's bandwagon lost a wheel when O'Rear went down. He was the only able defender against opposing 5s, and his screens were the reason for so much of their offense's success.

IMO his importance to his team is right up there with Warren to BU and Weems to MSU.

[LittleBrave]

I am not ready yet to concede this...as I think this reflects more the weakness in the lower 70-80% of the MVC than any strength in Evansville...

This is a team that lost to Middle Tennessee and Air Force...
They're also not really among the leaders among Valley teams in any stat category -- in the categories that reflect fundamentals...
they're 9th in FT% and 3-pt %, and 8th in other fundamentals stat categories like rebounding...

Even some of their defensive stat numbers are pretty bad such as overall scoring defense - 8th in the Valley, FG% defense - 10th in the Valley...

So I am no more inclined to jump on the Evansville bandwagon NOW, than I was inclined like a whole lot of people to jump on the Indiana State bandwagon about 2 weeks ago - before they lost 5 in a row, and the UNI bandwagon just a week ago before they lost their last TWO!

Personally I think the bottom 8 Valley teams are all playing about the same right now and every game is a pickem....it's going to be interesting on Thursday and Friday nights in St. Louis to see who's left...

Some of us were hammering EU before the season began. I even remember people wanting Evansville out of the Valley. You can throw all those statistical categories out the window - if they are that low statistically, and are still 8-6 in conference, that says a lot. I remember last season, we had 3 of the top 5 scorers (or something like that), and we finished 9-9. Stats only get you so far. Marty has found a formula this year that works...much like Les found in 2007 after losing a handful of good players. He may not have the best record or best players, but I've noticed that his guys are on the same page as Marty and play hard for him and very coachable. Maybe those are the kind of guys he recruits, but kudos to him for that.

You could say that Evansville underachieved last year, but it was mainly due to losing a couple really good guards and a dependable big man. It was kind of a rebuilding year. But this season, he has overachieved. Finishing in the top 5 is remarkable - I don't care about the rest of the Valley that is down. EU deserves some credit even if they finish 9-9. And Air Force is not a slouch. They're average, but not a bad team, so losing to them is not a bad loss. No, I don't think that EU has arrived as a contender, but they are at least pretty competitive, and they could knock off any contender on a given night.

I haven't seen Evansville play this year, so we'll see what they look like on Saturday. What is normally a win at Carver (vs. the Aces) will be much tougher to come by this year I think. Beating them tells me that BU is playing like a middle-pack Valley team instead of playing like a last-place team for the 1st half of the Valley season.

[wily coyote]

He played one year for Bobby and transferred to Evansville!!

You are correct just didn't mention the transfer.