2008-2009 MVC team previews

[Da Coach]

PTTB is a member of this board, but he is a UNI Panther fan.
He has been working on his previews of each MVC for next season.
He has done a great job, so I'll link them here.
If you note any necessary changes or additions, PM him.

To PM PTTB (Panthers to the bone)

http://www.panthernation.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31

click on 2008-09 Basketball Sneak Peak parts I through IV

Part I- Bradley and Creighton--

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=17535

Part II- Creighton and Drake--

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=17661

Part III- Evansville, Indiana State, and Illinois State--

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=17761

Part IV- Missouri State, and Northern Iowa--

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=17770

Part V is still pending with Southern Illinois University and Wichita State.

Great stuff, PTTB, thanks.

[dogsrus]

PTTB is a member of this board, but he is a UNI Panther fan.
He has been working on his previews of each MVC for next season.
He has done a great job, so I'll link them here.
If you note any necessary changes or additions, PM him.

To PM PTTB (Panthers to the bone)

http://www.panthernation.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31

click on 2008-09 Basketball Sneak Peak parts I through IV

Part I- Bradley and Creighton--

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=17535

Part II- Creighton and Drake--

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=17661

Part III- Evansville, Indiana State, and Illinois State--

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=17761

Part IV- Missouri State, and Northern Iowa--

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=17770

Part V is still pending with Southern Illinois University and Wichita State.

Great stuff, PTTB, thanks.

Austin will NOT start....I would be surprised if Roberts does also.

[Stryker]

I wouldn't say that Austin has no chance at starting. He very well could depending on where Les wants Thompson and if Collins progresses or not.

[Da Coach]

Here is a summary of the 8 teams PTTB has profiled so far (plus some quick calculations for SIU and WSU)--

Team...Points returning...% of points lost...% of minutes lost
BU..........41.3................43%............... ..40%
CU..........52.2................28%............... ..29%
DU..........40.6................44%............... ..45%
InSU........46.9................28%............... ..27%
IlSU.........36.0................45%.............. ...49%
MSU.........23.2................65%............... ..58%
UNI..........34.3................43%.............. ...38%
UE...........52.3................12%.............. ...17%
SIU..........27.0................52%.............. ...59%
WSU........16.5................74%................ ..59%

It would appear that Creighton has an advantage in production returning. Evansville has even more production returning, and will likely climb a little from where they finished this year.
There are just 3 teams that lose less production than Bradley's 43% (Creighton, Evansville, and Indiana State).

[Da Coach]

Austin will NOT start....I would be surprised if Roberts does also.

PTTB is just projecting starters based loosely on what knowledge is available now. Austin is the center returning with the most time played this past year. And Chris Roberts is the incoming juco guard with the highest scoring numbers in juco.
Obviously, a lot could change, and don't hold him too strictly on those starting projections.

[Rusty 54]

Austin will NOT start....I would be surprised if Roberts does also.

If not Austin and Roberts, then who? AT and TCS?

[dogsrus]

If not Austin and Roberts, then who? AT and TCS?

DC and DD......like I said ROberts could but I/we have NO idea how he will play against D1 competition. I'm not down on Austin...I just think we saw enough from DC the last few games that will get him the starting spot. JMHO.

[PTTB]

Thanks for posting that Da Coach. I will be releasing the last two later this week. Some of the numbers will change slightly, as some teams have lost/added players since the previews began to come out. IMO, Creighton has the most back, in addition to being deep. The bottom line is that every Valley school is losing starters, except for Evansville I believe. This should be another unpredictable year in the Valley. Does WSU losing so much from a team that wasn't as good as predicted equal improvement or cellar dwellar? Does UNI losing 3 starters and a tied for 5th place finish equal a dive to the bottom, or do 3 point guards coming in/returning from RS smooth things out? Each team has these questions, and it should be fun to watch over another exciting year of MVC basketball!

[ph]

DC and DD......like I said ROberts could but I/we have NO idea how he will play against D1 competition. I'm not down on Austin...I just think we saw enough from DC the last few games that will get him the starting spot. JMHO.

We might be OK if DC starts, and AT logs heavy minutes. (Or AT has a good 3 point shot and starts with DC or possibly even RA)

If (no matter what is said about which big man is dominating who in practice) RA starts and TW is our 4, we will be doomed to be no better than this year. Book It.

I am making that statement just because I believe AT has the highest ceiling, DC#2. And "As good as this season" has a lot of wiggle room as at points while healthy we enarly played as a top25 team.

[Bpositive]

We might be OK if DC starts, and AT logs heavy minutes. (Or AT has a good 3 point shot and starts with DC or possibly even RA)

If (no matter what is said about which big man is dominating who in practice) RA starts and TW is our 4, we will be doomed to be no better than this year. Book It.

I am making that statement just because I believe AT has the highest ceiling, DC#2. And "As good as this season" has a lot of wiggle room as at points while healthy we enarly played as a top25 team.

I feel like a lot of people are creating unfair expectations of AT. I'm not knocking AT at all, but it seems folks have built him up to be this frontcourt savior and I don't want to have to read all the "bust" rants when he doesn't start or log heavy minutes right away. There was a reason he redshirted last year, he was the guy Coach Les felt was least likely to contribute. There's no reason to believe that he will suddenly lunge ahead of guys like Austin, Collins, and Singh for minutes at the 5. I think he'll get his opportunities next year to show how well he can run the floor, get up on the rim, and finish around the basket....but I certainly don't think Bradley's success depends on whether he can start and log heavy minutes.

I think in the next few years the SM, WE, and AT trio are going to make a lot of BU fans happy......but it's frustrating to see so many unfair expectations placed on these kids this early.

[ph]

I feel like a lot of people are creating unfair expectations of AT. I'm not knocking AT at all, but it seems folks have built him up to be this frontcourt savior and I don't want to have to read all the "bust" rants when he doesn't start or log heavy minutes right away. There was a reason he redshirted last year, he was the guy Coach Les felt was least likely to contribute. There's no reason to believe that he will suddenly lunge ahead of guys like Austin, Collins, and Singh for minutes at the 5. I think he'll get his opportunities next year to show how well he can run the floor, get up on the rim, and finish around the basket....but I certainly don't think Bradley's success depends on whether he can start and log heavy minutes.

I think in the next few years the SM, WE, and AT trio are going to make a lot of BU fans happy......but it's frustrating to see so many unfair expectations placed on these kids this early.

Is it really an unfair expectation on AT when the head coach said in Feb. that AT, offensively, "is the 2nd best big man he's ever coached"? Our coach mentioned that AT needed to redshirt to establish footwork (needed by most bigmen out of HS), he did that and is now "impressive" (Not my words, but MVC analyst Spoonhour) in practice.
To be fair, I will not expect immediate big numbers from AT in anything other than minutes. I will expect the coaching staff to give AT a good amount of playing time to finish developing.