Surprise team of the Valley in 2011/12?

[pafan]

I was going to say something similar. I think the "surprise" team this year will be the team picked to finish upper half that instead tanks and has to fight to avoid Thursday. I really don't see that happening to WSU or CU, but just abouut anyone else might get a top 5 pick and falter.

There's only one spot between "Top 5" and "Thursday". We call it 6th.

[sixth ace]

My first thought was UE, but once I thought more about it I can't go with UE. I think UE will be expected to be in the top half of the league. It's hard to be a surprisewith a top-5 expectation. UE would have to replace CU, WSU, or InSU in the top 3 for their season to even resemble a surprise.

Here is thought for you... UE beat ISUb twice in the season and was nano seconds away from eliminating them in the MVC tournament. The Aces lost little and replaced that with height and strength. 4 junior guards return that have played since their freshman years. 3 seniors in the paint Just Sayin

Not to mention that they have played Butler UNC and Indiana this past year and will this year also

[Aargh]

My first thought was UE, but once I thought more about it I can't go with UE. I think UE will be expected to be in the top half of the league. It's hard to be a surprisewith a top-5 expectation. UE would have to replace CU, WSU, or InSU in the top 3 for their season to even resemble a surprise.

Here is thought for you... UE beat ISUb twice in the season and was nano seconds away from eliminating them in the MVC tournament. The Aces lost little and replaced that with height and strength. 4 junior guards return that have played since their freshman years. 3 seniors in the paint Just Sayin

Not to mention that they have played Butler UNC and Indiana this past year and will this year also

I don't think UE is going to move into the top 3, but if they do, I won't consider it a "surprise". UE is in the best position they've been in for a lot of years.

If anything happens to Odum - injury, sophomore slump, scouting figures out how to D him - then UE could take InSU's spot in the top 3.

[BirdmanBB]

It's funny you say that because in my current preseason rankings I have Evansville finishing 3rd and ISU blue finishing right behind them in 4th. For the reasons that were mentioned above I don't think this would be a surprise though. Evansville is going to be a nice balanced team with another year of experience. I am fairly confident that ISUblues perimeter shooting is going to take a step back next season and their post play won't be able to bail them out.

[Khan4Cats]

My first thought was UE, but once I thought more about it I can't go with UE. I think UE will be expected to be in the top half of the league. It's hard to be a surprisewith a top-5 expectation. UE would have to replace CU, WSU, or InSU in the top 3 for their season to even resemble a surprise.

Here is thought for you... UE beat ISUb twice in the season and was nano seconds away from eliminating them in the MVC tournament. The Aces lost little and replaced that with height and strength. 4 junior guards return that have played since their freshman years. 3 seniors in the paint Just Sayin

Not to mention that they have played Butler UNC and Indiana this past year and will this year also

Your "3 seniors in the paint" run 6-4 180, 6-6 185 and 6-8 240 (though he only played in half of your games and averaged just over 4 mins a game). Not exactly a formidable front line to throw up against most of the Valley. At least von Tongeren had some length and could be mildly disruptive and Hopf had some bulk to bang with folks. I don't see on your roster where you've added strength, some height, but not real big (6-8 215, 6-7 230, 6-8 200). I think Marty will keep you guys scrapping but don't count on anything inside to carry the day for you.

Just Sayin

[sixth ace]

My first thought was UE, but once I thought more about it I can't go with UE. I think UE will be expected to be in the top half of the league. It's hard to be a surprisewith a top-5 expectation. UE would have to replace CU, WSU, or InSU in the top 3 for their season to even resemble a surprise.

Here is thought for you... UE beat ISUb twice in the season and was nano seconds away from eliminating them in the MVC tournament. The Aces lost little and replaced that with height and strength. 4 junior guards return that have played since their freshman years. 3 seniors in the paint Just Sayin

Not to mention that they have played Butler UNC and Indiana this past year and will this year also

Your "3 seniors in the paint" run 6-4 180, 6-6 185 and 6-8 240 (though he only played in half of your games and averaged just over 4 mins a game). Not exactly a formidable front line to throw up against most of the Valley. At least von Tongeren had some length and could be mildly disruptive and Hopf had some bulk to bang with folks. I don't see on your roster where you've added strength, some height, but not real big (6-8 215, 6-7 230, 6-8 200). I think Marty will keep you guys scrapping but don't count on anything inside to carry the day for you.

Just Sayin

While the new heighth is young, the Aces, in the paint stats for last year, were horrific. They still were headed for third before Harris suffered a concussion. Time will tell but this is very likely the year that the Aces will contend for the MVC title

[glm38]

Sounds like everyone is gonna be a surprise team this year. Makes you wonder who everyone thinks is actually gonna tank into the bottom 2 or 3 spots..

Based on where they're gonna be predicted, I think Illinois State is gonna surprise the most.

You make a good point. Every fan base probably tends to think their team is going to be the surprise if they aren't picked in the top few. I think that's partly because we all tend to over rate our recruits who mostly haven't proved themselves at the D1 level.

The MSU recruits all look wonderful on paper. If most of them pan out we'll be deeper than we ever have been. But that's a big if. And it doesn't take into account team chemistry when a team brings in a bunch of new players.

[pafan]

While the new heighth is young, the Aces, in the paint stats for last year, were horrific.

A highlight that I just noticed. UE's top rebounder, Kenny Harris, had about half the number of CU's McDermott. Note: McD played 9 more games than Harris.

[45otseoj]

Well.....we are hoping Jackie Carmichael had some sort of sophmore slump last year.

Common misconception. He drew more attention, so he didn't have as many high-flying plays. Carmichel's game improved immensely last season. If he continues to progress at the rate he is going, he should be looking at an average of 12-8. The only 3 players to averaged that in-conference last season were McD, Weems, and Creekmore.