Lindys College basketball preview

by **glm38** » October 2nd, 2011, 12:22 pm

Glanced through a Lindys college basketball preview magazine today. Ratings of the top 25 players by position was interesting and had some MVC love. Kyle Weems was rated the #4 small forward in the nation. Doug McDermott was rated the #5 power forward. And Antoine Young was the #24 point guard.

Their preseason rankings had Creighton #1, WSU #2, and Indiana State #3. Similiar to our preseason poll. But after that the ratings looked pretty different. If I remember correctly (didn't buy the magazine) they had Evansville much lower than we did and Drake much higher. There was also mention that it looks like the MVC is on an upward path as far as talent and the strength of the conference.

Interesting too that they had the MVC listed with the "major conferences". Not with the mid majors.

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by **valleychamp** » October 2nd, 2011, 12:37 pm

I would agree that the MVC certainly "appears" to be on the upswing again. It sure seems like many MVC schools are doing a great job recruiting lately, and there is quite a bit of hype coming from some schools.

Hopefully that translates into some national success in the coming years. We need to get another long streak going of multiple bids as we had in the past.

by **FeartheQ** » October 2nd, 2011, 8:09 pm

I like to see the MVC get some pub and those 3 players are elite players at any conference level. Hopefully these guys can take it into their own hands and give the valley some much needed credibility in the non-conference

by **Aargh** » October 2nd, 2011, 9:28 pm

'Grats to CU for getting two guys mentioned in Lindy's listing of the top players at their positions. That's kinda special.

I suspect Joe Ragland will have that part of the article taped up somewhere in his locker.

Interesting that they put Young ahead of Odum.

by **Wufan** » October 3rd, 2011, 6:32 am

Aargh wrote:'Grats to CU for getting two guys mentioned in Lindy's listing of the top players at their positions. That's kinda special.

I suspect Joe Ragland will have that part of the article taped up somewhere in his locker.

Interesting that they put Young ahead of Odum.

I'm kinda suprised that Odum didn't get mention as well. I'll second the congrats to CU with Young and McD. They are certainly deserving. Also, Weems is the real deal and lead his team to a Conference championship last season!

Ragland might indeed tape those rankings to his locker, but he would be better served to simply make sure he does what is necessary to earn more PT (defense perhaps, or maybe a baton to Demetric Williams Achilles). While his production per 40 minutes was quite similar to Odum and Young, he onlys saw 2/3 as much court time. Not going to get a whole lot of recognition playing just 21 mpg.

by **SubGod22** » October 3rd, 2011, 7:43 am

His MPG were lower because of the beginning of the season when neither he or DWill stepped up and took the job. That put Murry running the point for much of the game. Rags isn't going to be mentioned because the first half of the season brings down what he did in the 2nd half. We know he's one of the top PGs in the conference because we've seen what he does. But on a whole, his first half was dissapointing. Granted, we don't have the easiest offense for a PG to pick up from what we've heard. It takes some time to learn for all. But he should start the season in pretty good shape and will lead the Shox to many victories.

by **LanceShock** » October 3rd, 2011, 9:47 am

SubGod22 wrote:His MPG were lower because of the beginning of the season when neither he or DWill stepped up and took the job. That put Murry running the point for much of the game. Rags isn't going to be mentioned because the first half of the season brings down what he did in the 2nd half. We know he's one of the top PGs in the conference because we've seen what he does. But on a whole, his first half was dissapointing. Granted, we don't have the easiest offense for a PG to pick up from what we've heard. It takes some time to learn for all. But he should start the season in pretty good shape and will lead the Shox to many victories.

In other words, Ragland had the kind of season you can reasonably expect from a juco transfer and his numbers for the entire season reflect that. First half of the season spent getting up to D1 speed followed by a second half more respresentative of the player's potential.

by **SubGod22** » October 3rd, 2011, 9:56 am

LanceShock wrote:
SubGod22 wrote:His MPG were lower because of the beginning of the season when neither he or DWill stepped up and took the job. That put Murry running the point for much of the game. Rags isn't going to be mentioned because the first half of the season brings down what he did in the 2nd half. We know he's one of the top PGs in the conference because we've seen what he does. But on a whole, his first half was dissapointing. Granted, we don't have the easiest offense for a PG to pick up from what we've heard. It takes some time to learn for all. But he should start the season in pretty good shape and will lead the Shox to many victories.

In other words, Ragland had the kind of season you can reasonably expect from a juco transfer and his numbers for the entire season reflect that. First half of the season spent getting up to D1 speed followed by a second half more respresentative of the player's potential.

Correct. We always hope that our JUCOs can come in and figure it out quicker. We NEED Hall to do that this year. But sometimes we fail to realize what a jump it is to D1 and the time it takes to figure it out. Maybe the depth and talent we have now will help speed up that process, but I do not know.

Rags should have a heck of a year and be considered one of the top PGs in the Valley. We're a very balanced team so some players won't stand out as much as they could, but he should still have pretty good numbers and could make his way onto one of the All Valley teams. Time will tell. But I'm glad we have him.