SalukiWorld wrote:I’m wondering if playing a gimmick team like Greenville is even beneficial to Division 1 teams. Yeah it’s fun to score 170 points and get on SportsCenter but it seems like it could lead to bad habits in the short term. I looked at the 3 teams that beat Greenville and all 3 teams lost their next game including Murray State who got blown out by a weak Middle Tennessee team. I guess we’ll see how the Redbirds respond, granted their next scheduled game isn’t for 10 days
I agree that it is definitely not a traditional basketball game that helps you improve a teams game but I do think there are a couple of benefits to playing a game like this, especially this year.
In 2020, there are no external team building activities that you usually have. No trips to foreign countries, no team dinners, no going out on road trips, no bowling nights, or whatever else teams do to build chemistry. This game allows teams to take their hair down and just have fun. Everyone gets involved and no one plays selfish. It's good for the comradery.
Second, for Illinois State, they've got a young team that got destroyed at Ohio State and clearly wasn't ready for a real basketball game. They got a nice win over Umass Lowell, but still, there was hesitancy and nerves when trying to score. I believe this game built up the confidence of the team, but worry about exactly what you point out, a let down after putting up 177.
For the Redbirds' next game, it seems they'll either be playing a D1 on the road or a non D1 at home. I'd prefer a D1 game to get more experience before conference with only Ball State and Chicago State on the schedule, but I would be fine with a D2. Playing a D2 would allow them to get back into the flow of a 1/2 court basketball game, hopefully, without shaking their confidence going into finals week.
Does any team's fundamentals get better playing this type of game, unlikely. Can it grow confidence and comradery? Absolutely. This will probably be a game a lot of these kids look back on and felt it was special. They set NCAA records together. Though, if Greenville keeps playing D1s (which they probably will because they get a paycheck and no one knows if D3 is going to keep playing), these records will probably be short-lived.
Apparently Bradley is now scheduled to play Greenville. Why, what is the purpose.
