College Sports Madness Top 144 Countdown

[tornado]

just a little factual comparison..

as I have said, ISU's starting 5 are very strong and if they all stay healthy, ISU will be hard to beat. It is their depth that comes into question regardless of what Dan Muller spins..

From 2017-18- not a single MVC team relied so heavily on their starters as ISU ....
in games where even ONE of their "BIG THREE" starters sat out, they were just 3-4 vs. DI's with all 3 of those wins very close - two in Overtime

-ISU starting 5-- 76.1% of scoring
ISU subs -- 23.9% of scoring

-Bradley starting 5- 68.6% of scoring
Bradley subs -- 31.4% of scoring

-Loyola starting 5- 68.8% of scoring
Loyola subs -- 31.2% of scoring

-Valpo starters- 61.7%
subs................38.3%

-UNI starters- 61.7%
subs.............38.2%

time will tell...but I expect their big 3 will all play heavy minutes and they will struggle whenever all 3 of them are not on the court

[Da Coach]

Copeland will play a major role. Don't be surprised when he leads the team in scoring in several contests. Idowu is physically ready and will play. Jefferson is a little bit of an unknown. There will have to be some serious issues for them to be playing on Thursday. Depth is not an issue.

Well, I am sure ISU fans are hopeful they will, and maybe this time it won't be hyperbole.
But your comments about Copeland are the same things that were said last year about Tinsley- that he was a great shooter, and capable of being a prolific scorer. Yet neither turned out to be the case.
And I recall similar superlatives to your claim about Idowu that were heaped on Jamaal Samuels when ISU landed him. He also turned out to be a dud.

[tornado]

yeah - talk of domination by Tinsley, Bruninga & Clarance never materialized..

[Mikovio]

Depth is a huge issue lol. It's laughable this ISU fan is boldly proclaiming Copeland with no D1 experience will lead them in scoring some games-- ahead of Yarbrough, Fayne and Evans.

I don't think anyone on here is debating that they have three all Valley capable players, but who else do they have that's proven besides maybe Tinsley? Sure these newcomers could come in and dominate but you could make that case for plenty of other guys in the conference. At least the Yarbrough hype was backed up by A-10 honors. ISU will challenge IF the trio stays healthy and out of jail.

[tornado]

Copeland will play a major role. Don't be surprised when he leads the team in scoring in several contests.....

you must have known something was coming...



except then you said this...

Depth is not an issue.

[tornado]

Saint Louis is #53
picked to win the Atlantic 10

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16586

[Chico]

Nobody wants Bradley to come in ahead of isu more than me. But let??™s stop saying how bad they are gonna be until things change. And the sooner the better.

[tornado]

I think this is surprisingly low...

LOYOLA comes in at #52

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16593

but they do make some glaring errors..

one comment "Junior college transfer Tate Hall could fill that role.." (fill in for the loss of Donte Ingram)
..but Tate Hall is NOT a junior college transfer - he is a 4-year college transfer from DII University of Indianapolis, and he will have to sit out this year and won't play at all.

[bradleyfan124]

Saint Louis is #53
picked to win the Atlantic 10
http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16586

I wish St. Louis was in the MVC!

[tornado]

Bradley opponent New Mexico comes in at #48

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16598

[tornado]

despite massive player turnover, they have Wichita State at #46, 4th in AAC

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/16600

[tornado]

...Depth is not an issue.

I know the exhibition games start in 5 weeks, but revisiting the depth issue...
the Pantagraph says this...(with my editing for simplicity)

"The Redbirds have .... a roster of 16 players

- four players who have transferred .. but not play
- One of those, guard Jaycee Hillsman, is out indefinitely after hip surgery
- Two other players were wearing protective boots and not available..Bruninga is recovering from a stress reaction in his left foot ..Ndiaye, who is an academic redshirt ..has a stress fracture in his right shin
- Matt Chastain ...suffered a second ACL tear..ISU will monitor how much Chastain practices ..He will not go full ...."

OK, 16, minus 4 transfers who will not play - one of whom is injured and can't practice, then minus one academic redshirt who is injured and can't even practice, then minus two more who are injured and cannot go fully in practice (Bruninga & Chastain)...

so 7 of their 16 can't fully practice and/or play, plus of the 16 total --three are walk-ons (Donnelly, Chastain, Gassman) and one more is a former walk-on (Hein got his scholarship back) and one more is a freshman that has never played...and one more juco kid that hasn't played since 2016-17..

They still have several experienced and talented guys but their depth of fully healthy & available players who played college ball last year ON scholarship is NOT deep...just Yarbrough, Tinsley, Fayne, Evans...then newcomer juco Jefferson
Just sayin' (predicting) - watch for all the excuses & alibis if one of them gets injured (we sure heard that last year) ....and if any of them get arrested again don't expect any suspensions

[Chico]

Go BU BRAVES. This is a BRADLEY board so why so much about isu?

[kds]

Go BU BRAVES. This is a BRADLEY board so why so much about isu?

+1000 really getting old

[tornado]

FWIW- 97 or 98 of the last 100 threads on this forum have nothing to do with ISU even tho they are a major rival in our conference. Almost always they are clearly noted - like with "ISU" in the title of the thread should you care to ignore.