ISUr

[Khan4Cats]

Like I said, this game against UNI in the opener should be very telling. Yes I do think this team is much better than last years and can win against the top half on a good night. Jank also seems to be coaching much better and making better adjustments in game and at the half.

Maybe Jank wasn't used to the valley. He locked us into those dumb world vision tournies for 3 years instead of real ones. I hope he has learned his lesson by the 4th year. We will see on the 29th, but I think we have a good shot at winning that one at home especially if we continue to shoot well from the outside which sounds like UNI has trouble defending.

Prior to the Ohio game, we were second in the conference in defending the 3. Slipped to 5th at .333 with that game. Slightly worse than ISU's .317. Of course we still connect at a .409 clip slightly above ISU's .381.

Plus the fact we have only played one team with an RPI higher than 200 and you have only beaten 1 team with an RPI lower than 200.....

A week to get healthy and see where we are at.

[BirdmanBB]

Like I said, this game against UNI in the opener should be very telling. Yes I do think this team is much better than last years and can win against the top half on a good night. Jank also seems to be coaching much better and making better adjustments in game and at the half.

Maybe Jank wasn't used to the valley. He locked us into those dumb world vision tournies for 3 years instead of real ones. I hope he has learned his lesson by the 4th year. We will see on the 29th, but I think we have a good shot at winning that one at home especially if we continue to shoot well from the outside which sounds like UNI has trouble defending.

Prior to the Ohio game, we were second in the conference in defending the 3. Slipped to 5th at .333 with that game. Slightly worse than ISU's .317. Of course we still connect at a .409 clip slightly above ISU's .381.

Plus the fact we have only played one team with an RPI higher than 200 and you have only beaten 1 team with an RPI lower than 200.....

A week to get healthy and see where we are at.

and on the road.......

As far as RPI goes, it depends on who's calculations you are looking at. I'm not saying we are going to win, I am just saying at home, this year, we have the ability to beat UNI unlike in previous ones. We are less relient on one guy as we have been in the past. You could limit osiris in the past or negate dinma with egleseder, but this year we have 3 guys averaging in double figures and two more that are darn near close to it. It's going to be a much different team than you are used to seeing. We have way more options this time around.

Will our schedule have prepared us.....that remains to be seen. I think we have played much better in tougher games this year and on the road than last year and are shooting/defending much better. Our games have mostly been very close and this time I think we finally have what it takes to get over our losing streak against UNI.

[jwa123]

You know I really don't care what everyone thinks of Jank. My feelings are mixed but more positive than negative. Maybe ya'll think ISUr will finish 10th which is fine by me but you are deluding yourselves if you really believe that. Is the SOS crap??? Sure is and as Birdman can tell you, the new AD knows in no uncertain terms how we the fans feel about it. Even with a mediocre SOS I am telling ya'll this isn't the Redbirds of last year. That's the only point I am trying to convey. They're much improved.

[45otseoj]

(peeks head out from bomb shelter)

...

(sees other bird fans milling about)

...

"Is it safe to come out?"

...

Woo! Hoo! The Birds are back!

Nic Moore gon' tear y'all up.

[45otseoj]

Take one of your signature wins, and compare the starting lineup against WSU, Creighton, and UNI?

Birds wouldn't need to beat any of these teams to finish in the top half.
It's like a leper colony down here.
Someone has to win these games...

[Ali]

You know I really don't care what everyone thinks of Jank. My feelings are mixed but more positive than negative. Maybe ya'll think ISUr will finish 10th which is fine by me but you are deluding yourselves if you really believe that. Is the SOS crap??? Sure is and as Birdman can tell you, the new AD knows in no uncertain terms how we the fans feel about it. Even with a mediocre SOS I am telling ya'll this isn't the Redbirds of last year. That's the only point I am trying to convey. They're much improved.

I think Illinois State is better than they were last year and I agree that you have reasons for optimism. If you look at how some of the other league teams are struggling, I would bet that ISUred stays out of Thursday night this year.

[MoValley John]

I don't think it's much of a leap to say the Redbirds won't finish tenth, that spot has been reserved for SIU.

[DoubleJayAlum]

IlSU's problem last year was that they had no PG. Putting a solid PG on a team will usually provide a noticable change in the w/l record.

I watched them play in their MTE and they looked really good. I thought their size and athleticism would be tough match-up for others in the conference.

Of course, as soon as I got on the bandwagon, they dumped a game to a really bad team.

Honestly, I can't figure out this IlSU team. Usually when a team looks really good on some nights and really bad on others, it is a coaching issue.

[pafan]

I don't think Jankovich is sitting in a heated leather seat. So he must not be a terrible coach.

But really, if I had to pick the bottom three coaches in the Valley:

8. Jankovich
9. Phelps
24. Lowery (ranking behind bunches of the assistants)

[Aargh]

Phelps > Jank

IlSU was my second-favorite team in the Valley. Then they hired Jank and he scheduled nothing but junk. Then his teams started playing to the level of his scheduling.

I seriously think switching from Moser to Jank was a downgrade.