Dark Horse in Valley

[glm38]

But saying "top half finish" is safer..... Seriously though I expect us to finish at about 4. Could be higher depending on some things going right. Our problem is we have a lot of unknowns. New players and Gulley coming back from such a severe injury. Not to mention a still unproven coach.

Haha. I know it's safer

Seriously, how many wins? If you disagreed with my statement of who you would win/lose against as to Indiana State and UNI, you're predicting no worse than 10-8. Do you actually expect to split with Illinois State, Loyola, Evansville, and Bradley? Indiana State returns everyone from a very solid team; Illinois State returns no one. Surely you expect to sweep Illinois State if you expect no worse than a split with Indiana State?

I think 10 to 11 wins is realistic. If Gulley is back anywhere close to normal. How about your Shox? I would guess 15 wins.

[Wufan]

But saying "top half finish" is safer..... Seriously though I expect us to finish at about 4. Could be higher depending on some things going right. Our problem is we have a lot of unknowns. New players and Gulley coming back from such a severe injury. Not to mention a still unproven coach.

Haha. I know it's safer

Seriously, how many wins? If you disagreed with my statement of who you would win/lose against as to Indiana State and UNI, you're predicting no worse than 10-8. Do you actually expect to split with Illinois State, Loyola, Evansville, and Bradley? Indiana State returns everyone from a very solid team; Illinois State returns no one. Surely you expect to sweep Illinois State if you expect no worse than a split with Indiana State?

I think 10 to 11 wins is realistic. If Gulley is back anywhere close to normal. How about your Shox? I would guess 15 wins.

I'd bet on 15-3 for the Shockers in 2013-14.

[rlh04d]

I think 10 to 11 wins is realistic. If Gulley is back anywhere close to normal. How about your Shox? I would guess 15 wins.

I'm predicting 16-2. Give or take one win, if healthy. If we're missing multiple starters during the conference season again, it'll depend on who we're missing.

11-7 would have been third place last year. And could be this year, as well.

[Aargh]

I think the Shox chances of going 18-0 are about the same as the Shox going 15-3. I think it's more likely that the Shox go 18-0 as opposed to 14-4 or worse - barring injuries.

Last year we had the "What If Your Best Player Got Hurt" thread. The Shox best player and at one time 5 of the top 6 were beat up or out of action.

Cotton was nursing a back injury at the beginning of the season. Orukpe was at 50% or so for about 1/3 of the Valley season. Hall missed 7 games. Baker missed everything up until the post-season. Wessel, a starter when Cotton was beat up, was lost for the entire season.

All that happened in what some thought was going to be a rebuilding year. The "rebuilding" Shox - decimated by injury - got a F4 banner to hang.

One of the big differences between the Shox in Valley play and in post-season play was getting one of their 2 best 3-point shooters back. With Baker back in the lineup, Cotton healed up, and VanVleet showing some confidence, the Shox (in post-season play) were a deadly outside-shooting team That's the opposite of what they were in Valley play when everybody ran zone against the Shox.