Creighton @ Drake & ISU @ Missouri State

[Nacho]

I wish I had an answer for any of your questions T... most ISU fans are asking the same questions... we just cannot put it all together in the last 4 games.

Ekey not starting isnt a suprise (at least to me)- he really has struggled recently. But maybe sitting him lit a fire under his arse, as he came out and scored 8 points in the 1st half. I think Muller was just trying to shake things up due to the recent struggles. We finally get a good game out of him, Jackie, and Hill, then Tyler Brown scores ZERO. Unacceptable. Defense has been awful. The man to man D has been so bad, Muller said we were forced to play a zone to just try to keep people in front of us on D. That has been the practice focus recently. It does seem there may be turmoil, but no one really knows what it is. The GAllen arrest could have something to do with it. No clue but it is frustrating as all hell- that's about all I know.

And for a change, I don't have much of an argument when really anything you said (excuse me while I go puke after saying that ).

Edit- the only disagreement I have is about Johnny Hill. Him and Kaza and both played fairly well at the guard spot. Each of them have had their moments (positive and negative) but I think Johnny has exceeded expectations at the PG spot... I see them both on the floor together alot next year, but one or both can knock down the occassional outside jumper

[Future Walk-On]

When Bradley finishes 15-3 in conference play, next two losses @CU then a random.... we will be crying for an at large bid... until we all remember how we lost to a TERRIBLE Portland team in Vegas. That loss right there ended our at large bid aspirations.

[LittleBrave]

They have the guy who would be Player of the Year in almost any other year.... a rare ISU NBA-potential guy - Jackie Carmichael
something they haven't had since they had John Wilkins' father some 35 years ago.

What about Rico Hill in the mid-late 90s? And he was an all-around better hoopster than Carmichael, and more consistent.
Rico went out in the draft after his junior season and most thought he was ready for the NBA. I didn't question that either after being named POY in the MVC.
He was a raw talent on a team with talent.

Call me a trader, but back then, I was not as anti-Redbird as I am now.
I rooted for ISU-red in the 90s when they weren't playing BU. Guess since my father attended ISU, it was in my blood...now I'm trying to rid that bad-bird-blood from my system...still hard, but 7 consecutive losses to them makes it a quicker process.

I've always liked Muller though, and will take a lot to change that.

[Da Coach]

I recall a lot of people, myself included, as well as a lot of ISU people who did not think Rico Hill was ready for the NBA, and some who thought he was crazy. But the year he was eligible (1999) was not a good or a deep NBA draft pool, so maybe it was his best chance to go into the NBA draft. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1999 NBA draft (31st pick). He was selected by the woefully bad LA Clippers, who had won only 9 games the previous season, and who's lineup featured a bad collection of players. If there was ever an NBA team he should have had a good chance to make, it was that awful Clippers team. But he got cut early, and never made it to the start of the season, and has never gotten any closer

Rico was a tough matchup for teams in the MVC, but he was only listed as 6'6" by ISU, and power forwards who are 6'6" (some NBA predraft sites even reported his height to be 6'5"), just don't stand a chance in the NBA. After being cut by the Clippers, he played a couple years in the CBA, then had some success playing in Europe.
Here is an article about his career.-

http://www.videtteonline.com/index.php?id=34607:catching-up-with-former-redbirds-rico-hill&option=com_content&catid=38:sportsbasketball&Itemid=55

BTW- what is strange is that Hill left ISU after his junior season in 1998, but it was too late to declare for the 1998 NBA draft. So he could have stayed and played his senior season at ISU, but instead, he played a season with a lower level European team, then entered the 1999 draft. There were several rumors of why he did not choose to play his final year at ISU, but he has never spoken much about this.

[tornado]

Rico was just like Eric Coleman and a few others in the Valley - big & strong enough to be dominant but simply not Charles-Barkley -dominant and wasn't seen as NBA talent -
but I would sure love to have 2 or 3 Rico Hills right now to help us out when Tyshon gets in foul trouble

[PTownHawkeye]

...then Tyler Brown scores ZERO. Unacceptable.

I see the inconsistency of Brown and Allen as a huge issue. Brown averages nearly 17ppg, then puts up a goose egg on 2 shots. Allen is even more of an anomaly. He scores 46 pts in 2 games (16 and 30) in November, and it takes him 8 games (the entire month of December) to equal that total.

It's perfectly normal to have variations in scoring game-to-game, but those two have each scored 30+ in a game, and 0 in a game. I'd venture to guess that no other team in the country has 2 players who have scored 30+ and 0 in separate games.

I originally picked ISU 6th in the conference, but raised that to 3rd after their great pre-season efforts vs Louisville and @Dayton. It will be interesting to see how they respond to this adversity.

[Tulsa Brave]

I see the inconsistency of Brown and Allen as a huge issue. Brown averages nearly 17ppg, then puts up a goose egg on 2 shots. Allen is even more of an anomaly. He scores 46 pts in 2 games (16 and 30) in November, and it takes him 8 games (the entire month of December) to equal that total.

It's perfectly normal to have variations in scoring game-to-game, but those two have each scored 30+ in a game, and 0 in a game. I'd venture to guess that no other team in the country has 2 players who have scored 30+ and 0 in separate games.

I originally picked ISU 6th in the conference, but raised that to 3rd after their great pre-season efforts vs Louisville and @Dayton. It will be interesting to see how they respond to this adversity.

Well it looks like Brown will finally be consistent now for awhile...consistently absent...