Today's Games (11-17)

[Redbirdfan21]

Northwestern, on the other hand, is in the bottom of the Big 10 barrel. The sad thing is Illinois State will still likely get steamrolled by them.

[Play Angry]

What sort of expertise do you have to make such profound criticisms? Are you a college coach an athletics director or a sportswriter? So far it sounds like you are a tool who has no basis for making such statements. Try earning a little credibility on this site before you make such statements.

Brilliant counterargument. Only sportswriters and AD administrators are allowed to have opinions on here.

I think I'll let your record and attendance speak for itself as this season progresses. It doesn't take John Wooden to recognize that Muller has taken your program from anticipating an at-large bid before 2012-13, to massively underachieving that season and running off half the roster, to potential cellar dweller in 2013-14.

But you seem to like the trendline so enjoy these last 18 months of King Dan's reign. You're the only one who will.

[ilstu2013]

What sort of expertise do you have to make such profound criticisms? Are you a college coach an athletics director or a sportswriter? So far it sounds like you are a tool who has no basis for making such statements. Try earning a little credibility on this site before you make such statements.

Brilliant counterargument. Only sportswriters and AD administrators are allowed to have opinions on here.

I think I'll let your record and attendance speak for itself as this season progresses. It doesn't take John Wooden to recognize that Muller has taken your program from anticipating an at-large bid before 2012-13, to massively underachieving that season and running off half the roster, to potential cellar dweller in 2013-14.

But you seem to like the trendline so enjoy these last 18 months of King Dan's reign. You're the only one who will.

A low-tier MVC team is not expected to even beat a Big Ten team like Northwestern, even if they end up finishing at the bottom of their conference. Last year, Northwestern finished in last place in the Big Ten, but ISU still lost to them. ISU beat Northwestern this year and we're supposedly worse than last year. I'd say this is a pretty good accomplishment for a team that lost by nearly 40 to VCU and lost to Drexel at home. It gives hope for avoiding Thursday and possibly doing even better than that.

[Snaggletooth]

A low-tier MVC team is not expected to even beat a Big Ten team like Northwestern,

Loser mentality. When the MVC was good, even the low-tier MVC team was a threat to beat anybody they played.

[ilstu2013]

A low-tier MVC team is not expected to even beat a Big Ten team like Northwestern,

Loser mentality. When the MVC was good, even the low-tier MVC team was a threat to beat anybody they played.

Ok, well it's the truth. First off, look at the betting line on the first page of this thread. Northwestern was favored by 9.5 points. So it would be a lie to say ISU was expected to win the game when the betting line did not indicate as such and also statements made my others such as Black that can be seen below.

Northwestern, on the other hand, is in the bottom of the Big 10 barrel. The sad thing is Illinois State will still likely get steamrolled by them.

[MVCfans]

Indiana State's win didn't surprise me a fraction as much as Illinois State's did. Great day for the Valley.

[Bmarq04]

ISUr really is a terrible, poorly coached team that plays without an ounce of discipline. This is a pretty miraculous road win for them.

Really good day for the MVC going 2-1 on the road against the BCS.

I get that you don't like ISU or have any respect for Muller, but you're not giving any credit to the amount of improvement with a brand new team in 3 games together.

Granted, there was nowhere to go but up after VCU. However, if you watched all 3 games (I'm willing to bet you did not), you would easily see a team that has vastly improved their intensity on D, execution on both O and D, committing less and less "bad" fouls, winning the rebounding battle against two bigger/more experienced teams, cutting way down on turnovers, etc.

The reality is, they are not playing without an ounce of discipline and they are not a terrible, poorly coached team. You can have you're opinion, that's fine. But I hate when people can't give even the slightest credit. They do have a ton of improvement left and need to get more consistent to stay out of Thursday night, but they are not what you say by any means. The guards do still get a little outta control going to the hoop and there are a lot of "rookie" mistakes, but what is to be expected when there are 5 new guys for most of the game.

Appreciate the kind words from the WSU fans who can actually be respectful and congratulate a win without having to bash it. I realize that its very much the minority that have no respect for even a decent win. Much like the majority of ISU fans actually have respect for what WSU has done.

[Bmarq04]

40-22 ISUr at the half. They need to finish this one. Also call me crazy, but ISUr doesn't look that bad, good athletes. They may just be playing out of their mind right now, I'm not sure.

You're right all around here. We aren't that bad. I'd be willing to bet in terms of pure athleticism, we are one of the top 3 teams (I realize that doesn't necessarily translate to high IQ ball). And, I think there was a little "playing out of their mind" for a couple stretches. I think this will be typical of a lot of games this year. Today, they looked like a top 4 team, against VCU we looked like a high school team. I'm willing to bet as the season averages out, it will be somewhere in the middle. They have the ability to stay out of Thursday, but they'll need more consistency and still more improvement.

[BEARZ77]

I don't know whether Muller will prove to be a good coach or not, although his background would suggest he stands a good chance to turn things around. But I do know it takes many coaches 3 yrs or more to get things going as PlayAngry seems to be conveniently avoiding looking at when Turgeon and then Marshall took over WSU, and these were established D-1 coaches, not a guy with his 1st gig. Now I don't know that I would have gone as heavy juco as Muller did this quickly, but he had a lot of turnover to deal with, so he went a route that he hoped would have him competitive by MVC season start. Time will tell, but It won't surprise me to see the Red Birds have some games where all that juco talent plays in sync and bites someone unexpectedly.

[Black]

My apologies. Illinois State is really good. It's nice seeing the Redbird fans come back over again. I sure missed their thoughts on the game before it was played. I guess it's easy to criticize after the fact.