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I love our guys but I am not sure we are the favorite to win the Valley right now. Drake is a problem-we’ve got to find a way to turn up our defense and rebounding.
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houstonbrave -
Bennett Stirtz hit a 3 with 4 seconds to go in overtime and survived a potential tieing 3 at the buzzer to win 73-70 to go to 10-0. This was a 1 possession game for the last 11 1/2 minutes of the 2nd half as neither team could get any kind of run going.K State had a chance to win it in regulation but took too long to get the play going and could only put up a contested 3 which they air balled. In OT Drake got the lead to 70-64 with 2:00 to go but K State scored 6 straight, with former Illini Coleman Hawkins making a 3 with :13 left to tie it at 70. Drake didn't take a timeout and Stirtz brought the ball up the court and made his only 3 of the night to win it. Hawkins led K State with 16 points, had 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals but was just 3-8 from the FT line. Not quite sure how Drake is doing it as they don't go more than 6-7 deep. In fact Stirts has played every minute in 8 of their 10 games. He had 22 points on 8-13 shooting. Mitch Mascari, who has played every minute in 6 of their 10 games, was an unreal 8-10 from 3 and Isiah Jackson, while 0-6 from 3, had 8 rebounds and 8 assists. They are constant motion on offense and play real physical which we have had issues with in our 2 losses this season so we better be ready to bring it.Comment
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Drake was out of timeouts at that point, but it worked out ok for them.Originally posted by bigjimmy View Post
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There may be a little bit of bias in this but the teams Drake has beat especially the power conference teams have not been impressed with them when I've watched (especially Miami and was not impressed with K state, have watched them play other games) can't speak much to Vandy. I think they have played a somewhat easy schedule although I'm very impressed with stirtz he is a damn good playerComment
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Will Stirtz be a one-and-done in MVC. There is a lot of money in college basketball.Comment
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He is a junior at Drake, having spent 2 seasons at Northwest Missouri State. So he'll have only 1 season of eligibility remaining after this year. He's a nice player, but I don't see him getting drafted or playing at a high pro level anywhere. So you are right that he would be better off staying at Drake for his final year.Originally posted by LongTimeFan View PostComment
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I don't think he means pro ball - but he'll get offers and go Hi-Major for NIL money. Look what such a move did
for Dalton Knecht. Graduated high school 2019 with hardly any college interest. Went to junior college for 2 years
and was really good but STILL didn't get much DI interest! He settled on Northern Colorado and averaged 9 ppg.
But then his senior year averaged 20 ppg, and got the chance to transfer to Tennessee & get big NIL $$.
Then in his 5th year, started to get attention for National Player of the Year. Drafted and now stars for the Lakers.
I doubt he'd have even gotten a mention for the NBA had he stayed at Northern Colorado. Most mid-major stars are gonna
follow the money.
BTW- their other big guard, Mitch Mascari, is averaging 13.5 ppg and hitting 52.2% on 3-pointers. He had 25 pts against Kansas State,
on 8-10 from 3-pt range. His lawyer is probably working on joining a lawsuit to make non-DI years not count against DI eligibility.Comment
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A potential suit might complicate next year's recruiting. Of course, if players graduated in that period, they might want to move on with their lives, especially if they have married.
I did not mention moving up to another college by Stirtz but that was what I was thinking. The MVC lost a lot of players last year. I do not know how the players taken from the valley last year are doing at other schools. Their success will probably have an impact on the number of players taken from valley teams next year.Comment
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You are right LTF. Last season, 12 of the 16 players on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd All-MVC teams transferred elsewhere to play.
Of the remaining 4 All-MVC players, three others ran out of eligibility (Xavier Johnson, Malevy Leons, and Darnell Brodie). And, has been noted before, only one returned to play in the MVC (Duke Deen).
So it is pretty likely that there will be players who leave after this season to seek greater NIL money.
Drake's Bennett Stirtz will probably make it on one of this season's All-MVC teams, so there could be offers for him. Would he trade being a front-line player on a good team like Drake for a likely reserve role and a bit more NIL money elsewhere?
I was curious how some of last year's All-MVC players who transferred are doing -
1st team All-MVC-
Robbie Avila at St. Louis (6-6, NET 189)- 18.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg
Tucker DeVries at West Virginia (9-2, NET 29)- 14.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg (currently out indefinitely and may seek red-shirt)
2nd team All-MVC-
Ryan Conwell at Xavier (8-5, NET 67)- 16.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg
Ja'Kobi Gillespie at Maryland (10-2, NET 8 )- 14.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 4.1 apg
Jason Kent at Texas (10-2, NET 35)- 6.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, (played in only 4 games off the bench)
Isaiah Swope at St. Louis (6-6, NET 189)- 18.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 5.2 apg
Cade Tyson at North Carolina (7-5, NET 33)- 3.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg, playing 9.6 mpg off the bench
3rd team All-MVC-
Malik Dia at Mississippi (11-1, NET 30)- 6.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg
Connor Hickman at Cincinnati (10-1, NET 25)- 5.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg
Nate Heise at Iowa State (10-1, NET 6)- 4.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 19.0 mpg (has not started any games)
Julian Larry at Texas (10-2, NET 35)- 6.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 4.4 apg, 22.8 mpg (has not started any games)
Alston Mason at Arizona State (9-2, NET 48 )- 11.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.5 apg
All of the MVC transfers are playing for pretty good teams, with the exception of the 2 who transferred to St. Louis.
The 1st team transfers (Avila & DeVries) are both doing very well at their new schools, though DeVries' season may be over due to injury.
Jayson Kent and Cade Tyson from the 2nd team are not playing much, but the other 3 (Conwell, Gillespie, Swope) are doing very well.
Alston Mason and Malik Dia are the only two from the 3rd team who are now starting, and only Mason is putting up double-digits.Comment
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BU vs Drake Jan 8th at 6pm at Carver has potential to be a quad 1 game if Drake keeps winning. There are still 3 games between now and then, but sue me...I'm thinking about it now and I'm sure coaches are too.
Can we program some small-to-big DHO and somebody tell our bigs to drive the ball against Stirtz and Mascari please?! Gotta get them in foul trouble and force the bench to play. Can't let 6 guys beat us.
I just watched the Kstate/Drake game last night and I was not impressed with state. They didn't look like they'd beat the top 3 or 4 MVC teams this year.
Gotta go over the top on every screen for Mascari. Can't be playing "prove you can make it" defense for the first 5 minutes...that's part of the reason K-state went down big early.
Stirtz is a good facilitator and playmaker but not a true PG. Gotta speed him up and keep him uncomfortable and should lead to late shot clocks and bad passes.
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