Order of finish with Murray & Valpo included

[uniftw]

The valley is most certainly not a big mans league. I can only think of one team that made the tourney with a true big man in the last ten years. Tuttle and the UNI team where he was able to play point forward and the offense flowed through him. The rest of the really good teams have been guard and wing dominant.

Hmmm....


UNI 08/09 and 09/10 was anchored by Koch/Koch/Egleseder/O'Rear
UNI 10/11 was going to be a tournament team until a post player - O'Rear broke his ankle
UNI struggled from that point through Tuttles JR year due to lack of a post player.

That's 4 teams, right there, that were taken to the post season by post play.

That's not a well thought out post.

[jackwagon]

The big man-Egleseder- was like the 5th best player on that team. Guards like Ali and Kwadzo were the reason that team was special outside of A.Koch

[goramblers2011]

That is most likely the worst pre season prediction I've seen yet Loyola is easily top 3 team while you have UNI and ISUR rosters vastly overvalued. ISUR loses 5 of their 6 best players on a team that wasn't deep to begin with. Evans is out the entire off season with injury. A couple JC's and two transfers will not be enough to keep them on top. UNI has solid PF and C play with depth to boot. Nobody to even sniff all conference at the 1,2, or 3 for next season. Mccloud was a big letdown last year and the ultimate swiss army knife player already left town and his name was Morgan. Lohaus is a decent 1st guard off the bench on a contending team and he will be counted on to carry the load in the back court- not good. ISUB will not finish in the cellar with what they have coming in plus a returning Scott. Evansville roster is awful and their recruiting class is the poorest in the valley, maybe save Drake. Not clear if Gibson comes back either.

Give me a basketball reason why Loyola is top three in the league. This is a team that lost to Drake last year and Southern Illinois three times.

The MVC is a big man's league. And UNI and ISUr have the best front-lines of anyone in the conference.

Hmmm..maybe because they finished 5th last year and will be a better team this year. They return that entire squad minus Milton but plus the top recruiting class in the conference (http://www.verbalcommits.com/conference ... uri-valley) that includes two 3* big men and a 7 foot transfer.

Oh, and your contention that they give up a whole bunch of points...they were 4th in the Valley last year in PPG against and 2nd in PPG.

I don't see how you can rationally think they will be the 9th best team in conference...

[ahunte1]

Give me a basketball reason why Loyola is top three in the league. This is a team that lost to Drake last year and Southern Illinois three times.

Loyola would have been third last year had we won at SIU on the last day of the season (two point loss). We lose Doyle, but bring in arguably the best recruiting class in the league.

The MVC is a big man's league. And UNI and ISUr have the best front-lines of anyone in the conference.

...which is why the conference player of the year is almost always a big man. Oh wait.

I would say that I await your response, but I'll be blocking you. Enjoy bashing Loyola.

[BEARZ77]

The MVC is a big man's league. And UNI and ISUr have the best front-lines of anyone in the conference.

Wow , this is getting kinda fun; even if I truly thought the league was a " big man's league" , last time I looked Alize Johnson [ you know, the 6'9 double-double machine] Obediah Church [ league leader in blocked shots, .648 fg%] and Reggie Scurry [ another 6'8 double-double juco guy with more offense than Church] aren't at UNI. I like UNI's frontline so listing them as a strength is understandable, but given how inconsistent Carlson has been and the overall lack of athleticism on that frontline, that statement just seems like perhaps a tad bit of a reach me thinks.

[Khan4Cats]

The big man-Egleseder- was like the 5th best player on that team. Guards like Ali and Kwadzo were the reason that team was special outside of A.Koch

Eglseder was the front runner for Player of the Year until his late season suspension.

[RoyalShock]

The valley is most certainly not a big mans league. I can only think of one team that made the tourney with a true big man in the last ten years. Tuttle and the UNI team where he was able to play point forward and the offense flowed through him. The rest of the really good teams have been guard and wing dominant.

You're right that the MVC has been a guard's league for a long time, but I'll list a few other teams that made the tourney with a legit big man:

2012 WSU with Garret Stutz
CU with Echinique

Going an extra year back to 2006
WSU with Paul Miller
Bradley with Patrick O'Bryant

[BirdsEyeView]

The valley is most certainly not a big mans league. I can only think of one team that made the tourney with a true big man in the last ten years. Tuttle and the UNI team where he was able to play point forward and the offense flowed through him. The rest of the really good teams have been guard and wing dominant.

You're right that the MVC has been a guard's league for a long time, but I'll list a few other teams that made the tourney with a legit big man:

2012 WSU with Garret Stutz
CU with Echinique

Going an extra year back to 2006
WSU with Paul Miller
Bradley with Patrick O'Bryant

All these references (including the UNI one from late 00's to early 10's) were back then. Nowadays, it's driven by really good point guards. Shamet, FVV, Lee, Washpun, etc.

This league is a point guard driven league.

Also, LOL LOL LOL to UNI finishing first. People are drunk on Jacobson. He is a great coach, but his players must be good enough to win the league, he can't play. They were rather poor last year and lost by far their best player Jeremy Morgan.

[UNIFanSince1983]

The MVC is a big man's league. And UNI and ISUr have the best front-lines of anyone in the conference.

Wow , this is getting kinda fun; even if I truly thought the league was a " big man's league" , last time I looked Alize Johnson [ you know, the 6'9 double-double machine] Obediah Church [ league leader in blocked shots, .648 fg%] and Reggie Scurry [ another 6'8 double-double juco guy with more offense than Church] aren't at UNI. I like UNI's frontline so listing them as a strength is understandable, but given how inconsistent Carlson has been and the overall lack of athleticism on that frontline, that statement just seems like perhaps a tad bit of a reach me thinks.

While I am not in agreement with anyone who is currently picking UNI to win the league. And I am having a hard time saying it is a big mans league. I mean UNI is very reliant on great big men as has already been pointed out, but most teams in the league are not big men oriented. The main thing I have is always this "UNI won't be good they aren't athletic enough." Which is just a false statement. We have been damn good for the past decade with players you wouldn't normally refer to as athletic. Especially our big men. Grant Stout, Adam Koch, Egelseder, Jake Koch, Tuttle etc. Sure they weren't overly athletic, but no doubt they were great players in this league. In fact two of them were MVP of the league.

Athleticism is very very overrated in basketball. Sure it makes things look great, but you can be a great player without being the most athletic. Like I mean sure Russell Westbrook looks more impressive, but Steph Curry or James Harden are just as good. (Yes I know they are are all athletic, but I think you should get the point)

[uniftw]

The big man-Egleseder- was like the 5th best player on that team. Guards like Ali and Kwadzo were the reason that team was special outside of A.Koch

If not for a DUI in Feb he wins POY that year.

You clearly know jack s*** about the MVC