St Louis favorite....

[Guinness]

This is a little bit off topic, but I think it is sports news...

The St. Louis Sporting News,
known recently as The Sporting News, is now leaving St. Louis behind and moving all operations and offices to Charlotte, NC

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5927820&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

They have been in operation since 1896, but they are suffering like many dailies and weeklies because of the number of people who now get their news and sports online and no longer buy publications.

Its warmer. I dont blame them.

[J Money]

My concern is the Braves getting worn out going only 8 deep!

I don't think fatigue will be an issue for the Braves unless we play ISU in the championship. Obviously with a week to rest they will be ready for Creighton. Playing Saturday shouldn't be an issue either because if you can't get up and be ready to play Drake in the tournament semi's you need your pulse checked. If we play ISU on Sunday, though, they could run us to death and really wear on our frontcourt. SIU should be easier to handle because we could sit back in a zone a little more and not worry about sprinting all over the floor in transition.

[BradleyBrave]

I don't think fatigue will be an issue for the Braves unless we play ISU in the championship. Obviously with a week to rest they will be ready for Creighton. Playing Saturday shouldn't be an issue either because if you can't get up and be ready to play Drake in the tournament semi's you need your pulse checked. If we play ISU on Sunday, though, they could run us to death and really wear on our frontcourt. SIU should be easier to handle because we could sit back in a zone a little more and not worry about sprinting all over the floor in transition.

I agree, but ISU is also playing a man short. Even if Dom Johnson is able to play, he's going to be very limited. Unfortunately ISU would have the advantage in having the best post player on the floor (Slack) and best overall player on the floor (Eldridge). We would have to hope that collectively our guards would be better than their one star and a bunch of role players in the backcourt.

[Majik45]

I think we may struggle if we get to Sunday just because we're an outside shooting team and we don't have a huge amount of depth. Let's just get a win on Friday to start though.

[amckillip]

I agree, but ISU is also playing a man short. Even if Dom Johnson is able to play, he's going to be very limited. Unfortunately ISU would have the advantage in having the best post player on the floor (Slack) and best overall player on the floor (Eldridge). We would have to hope that collectively our guards would be better than their one star and a bunch of role players in the backcourt.

I still disagree with you here. OE is the best player on the court? I don't see how we can have a Pre-Season AA candidate and a person who gets much more respect nationally in Daniel Ruffin and still have OE as the best player on the court. He is the best scorer, but those are two totally different statements. IMO King O is much more worried about getting his than the W, and that is a weakness I think we can and will exploit given the chance. If we get him out of rythm we can get him taking lots of bad shots and really slow down ISU.

[BradleyBrave]

I still disagree with you here. OE is the best player on the court? I don't see how we can have a Pre-Season AA candidate and a person who gets much more respect nationally in Daniel Ruffin and still have OE as the best player on the court. He is the best scorer, but those are two totally different statements. IMO King O is much more worried about getting his than the W, and that is a weakness I think we can and will exploit given the chance. If we get him out of rythm we can get him taking lots of bad shots and really slow down ISU.

I would think that following BU and other mid-majors, you'd have learned by now that preseason accolades and hype mean absolutely nothing. Yes, OE is the best player on the court every time he steps on the court in the MVC. Josh Young maybe has an argument, but that's about it. As far as King O being only worried about offense, I would ask if you have seen Daniel's defense this year? Have you seen all of the players who've gone for career highs against him? OE also rebounds at about twice the clip that DR does, and rebounding is as big of a part of defense as any. Remember, OE is only a sophomore. By the time he's DR's age, he'll have his share of preseason AA accolades as well. However, I am talking about the here and now, and presently Osiris Eldridge is the best player in the MVC.

[J Money]

As much as I hate "Kind O" and it pains me to say it...you're probably right. At least Daniel keeps a respectable haircut though.

[tornado]

Even if Dom Johnson is able to play....

from what I am hearing, if Dom Johnson plays, it may hurt the team, as he is still not well.
If they make the NCAA, then there'll be enough time for him to recover more.

[BradleyBrave]

from what I am hearing, if Dom Johnson plays, it may hurt the team, as he is still not well.
If they make the NCAA, then there'll be enough time for him to recover more.

Man, that stinks. ISU or not, you hate to see any kid, let alone a senior, go through that.

[tornado]

There was some talk that maybe Dom could be back for the tourney in St. Louis,
but apparently on his radio show and in a newspaper interview, the coach said
he isn't optimistic about Dom's ability to play.

Here is a thread on the redbird board that mentions this.

http://redbirdfan.com/msgforum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9201&p=112048&hilit=dom#p112048

and this link is to the audio interview where Jankovich talks about it.

http://www.wjbc.com/wire2/podlaughid/00376_jankovich_104218.htm