Next season

[Blers]

It's pretty reasonable to read that post as a good bye. I believe the Bradley fans "in the know" who are saying he's gonna stay. But it was a bizarre thing to post for someone who's staying put.

[scotte101]

I think anytime a mid-major lands a 7'1" guy, fans get unreasonably excited. It was the same way with Nate Wells a few years back. Boya will need to adjust to the speed of D1 ball. He fouls at way too high a rate...7.2 fouls/40 minutes. A lot of that is reacting late to developing plays. I still see Koch Bar getting the majority of the minutes at the 5 next year. I think you'll also see some smaller lineups with Henry and Childs at the 4/5 as well.

Heck, I remember when Missouri State got a guy who was 6'11" and I got unreasonably excited and then he did basically nothing as a Bear. So I feel you on this one.

Caleb Patterson?

I was excited about him too. He was 6'11" and had some skills. Smooth shot, good hands, etc. But he was so laid back and just seemed disinterested in basketball.

I assume he means McCollough.

[Sir Sci]

Heck, I remember when Missouri State got a guy who was 6'11" and I got unreasonably excited and then he did basically nothing as a Bear. So I feel you on this one.

Caleb Patterson?

I was excited about him too. He was 6'11" and had some skills. Smooth shot, good hands, etc. But he was so laid back and just seemed disinterested in basketball.

I assume he means McCollough.

I was definitely talking about McCollough, but I remember Patterson as well. Man, I feel like he slouched so much that it negated two or three inches of his height.

[achrist70]

I am biased as all fans are but here is how I would predict the finish.

1. Northern Iowa- If UNI plays to their potential and plays as well as they did in February into March then I see them winning the league, getting Phyfe back is huge, the game will slow down for Green which I think is scary for the rest of the league, Pickford hopefully will be healthy, Berhow will be better. However, the biggest X factor for UNI may be Tray Croft, if eligible (and all signs point to this happening) he could be huge for UNI being the slasher that they need.

2. Bradley- I have no problem with people who put the Braves above UNI as they return their top two players and just like UNI figured it out a little too late to win the title this year. The only thing holding them back for me is a few more question marks about who might be leaving or not leaving, to me that makes me question the overall health of the program.

3. Loyola- Krutwig and Williamson are as good of a 1-2 punch as there is in the league but I don't know what fills in around them, yes Kaifes had a nice year, but I still think he has plenty of room to grow, Uguak is a nice role player but I don't think he strikes fear in anyone though, and that is kind of the same with all of the other pieces they currently have on their roster.

4. Missouri State- As it has been said year 2 is harder then year one, and while I don't think Missouri State will take a huge step back I don't see them having that break out year either, with the talent they have back I think this is a good spot for them.

5. Illinois State- This could be a case of addition through subraction, truly the loss of Fayne is the toughest one for me, a lot of question marks, but Illinois State always competes so I like them in this spot.

6. Drake- Similar to Missouri State, but I feel with less talent coming back but possibly a slightly better coach (time will tell). I think the Bulldogs avoid Drake Night for the third year in a row though.

7. Indiana State- With what they return they should be higher, but I am not sure that Lansing can get them above a 7th place finish anymore, if they get hot though they could be a tough matchup on any night.

8. Evansville- I think that McCarty will get things turned in southern Indiana but it is going to take time, there will be improvement but not huge gains.

9. SIU- Mullins will be good at SIU but the cupboard is bare, I could see sort of a Drake turn around with transfers, but until the roster changes happen this is where they need to be.

10. Valpo- When you lose your top 2 returning players from a team that already played on Thursday night, I don't see anyway that you put them anywhere but in the 10 spot.

[Blers]

1. Northern Iowa- If UNI plays to their potential and plays as well as they did in February into March then I see them winning the league, getting Phyfe back is huge, the game will slow down for Green which I think is scary for the rest of the league, Pickford hopefully will be healthy, Berhow will be better. However, the biggest X factor for UNI may be Tray Croft, if eligible (and all signs point to this happening) he could be huge for UNI being the slasher that they need.

What are the actual expectations for Phyfe from UNI fans? I'm glad he's healthy! But from the outside the hype has been confusing to me for someone who has averaged 3 points per game. What's the inside scoop? I've never really seen him play.

[Kip Dynamite]

4. Missouri State- As it has been said year 2 is harder then year one, and while I don't think Missouri State will take a huge step back I don't see them having that break out year either, with the talent they have back I think this is a good spot for them.

Its not who Missouri State has coming back as much as it has who they have coming in. They're going to have play makers up and down the lineup and will more than likely be picked as the preseason favorite going in.

[BEARZ77]

1. Northern Iowa- If UNI plays to their potential and plays as well as they did in February into March then I see them winning the league, getting Phyfe back is huge, the game will slow down for Green which I think is scary for the rest of the league, Pickford hopefully will be healthy, Berhow will be better. However, the biggest X factor for UNI may be Tray Croft, if eligible (and all signs point to this happening) he could be huge for UNI being the slasher that they need.

What are the actual expectations for Phyfe from UNI fans? I'm glad he's healthy! But from the outside the hype has been confusing to me for someone who has averaged 3 points per game. What's the inside scoop? I've never really seen him play.

Yeah it's hard for me to see UNI jumping to the top after another so-so season. I know they played better down the stretch, but that hot Feb/March was just 7-5 with that last win a narrow victory over a vastly depleted Drake squad, so essentially their hot months were .500. Jake is Jake, but his roster remains less than others. Loyola and Bradley play the same game as UNI but have better talent to do it [ barring roster changes] . I think anyone picking the Bears is a year early; talented but a lot of roster churn. They'll be in the hunt but probably more a 3-4 type finish. Drake is the biggest wild card for me; I know they lost important pieces, but after seeing what Devries did last year, I'll wait and see if he can't repeat that before I pick them too far from the top. Illinois State will also be a team to watch as they have talent but a lot of moving parts just like MSU.

I'm not sure on an order of things yet, but that's some of my early thoughts.

[achrist70]

1. Northern Iowa- If UNI plays to their potential and plays as well as they did in February into March then I see them winning the league, getting Phyfe back is huge, the game will slow down for Green which I think is scary for the rest of the league, Pickford hopefully will be healthy, Berhow will be better. However, the biggest X factor for UNI may be Tray Croft, if eligible (and all signs point to this happening) he could be huge for UNI being the slasher that they need.

What are the actual expectations for Phyfe from UNI fans? I'm glad he's healthy! But from the outside the hype has been confusing to me for someone who has averaged 3 points per game. What's the inside scoop? I've never really seen him play.

I think UNI fans understand what the potential with him is, 3.2 ppg as a freshman back up behind our leading scorer isn't as bad as it may seem. He is a very high basketball IQ kid with good feet, size and a decent shot. Plus he can play inside or out. If you look at what UNI had at the "5" spot this year, you had McDonnell who weighs less then most 7th graders, Goldman who is essentially a very tall 2 man, and Dahl who is big an strong, but with terrible foot work, no touch and is overall just awkward. Phyfe sort of takes what those 3 all could kind of do well and puts it into one package. He's a 10 and 8 sort of guy but matches up much better with people like Krutwig. If you look at UNI's season they were 16-18 but really only completely out of 4 games (Utah State, South Dakota State, Iowa, and @Indiana State) with a healthy Phyfe I am confident in saying UNI's record is somewhere around 23-11 to 25-9.

[Kyle@MOState]

4. Missouri State- As it has been said year 2 is harder then year one, and while I don't think Missouri State will take a huge step back I don't see them having that break out year either, with the talent they have back I think this is a good spot for them.

Its not who Missouri State has coming back as much as it has who they have coming in. They're going to have play makers up and down the lineup and will more than likely be picked as the preseason favorite going in.

I am obviously excited about next season, getting Tulio a full season at his natural position will be huge. Incoming freshmen class and Gage Prim will be interesting. The one thing lost in the frey is Jared Ridder, and how he does in year two. His freshman season was a little underwhelming for the hype that he received. Hopefully he takes a huge leap forward, and I suspect he will. That being said, there are a lot of chips to fall before they make picks before 19-20 season. I suspect that Bradley may get the nod at 1 just because of all the returning talent. I suspect that Loyola will see the boost from the recruiting from their final four run last year. They are probably the 2 if not 1. I see the Bears at 3, but hopefully they surprise a lot of people... But considering I have seen a few people already have the Bears as the preseason favorite, my guess is that they aren't going to really "surprise" anyone.

[jackwagon]

Msu frontcourt should he best in the league with ridder,silva,prim, hall, muhammad, and cook. My big question is how do you replace the 3 guard lost to graduation? I think 3rd or 4th is fair. On the flip side a team like indiana state who will have a deep and talented guard group yet unproven bigs. Interested why there are so many 8th and 9th place predictions for them. Lansing has not always had much experienced talent, but when he has with odum they finished well. Next year is his make or break year imo