by BEARZ77 » January 4th, 2021, 8:30 am
Important game for SIU tonite if they have any thoughts of challenging for a regular season title. Despite the scheduling oddities, I still think it'll take the normal 14-4 -16-2 record to win a championship, so starting 1-3 with a home loss already, really puts you under the gun. I think for a number of teams, bad games will now be bad weekends and really change the course of the race quickly at times. You can understand the 1-3 start for UNI, although you'd think they still have enough talent to be a challenger, Indiana State's 0-4 is less excusable given the high hopes and predictions coming into the season , but I've always seen Lansing as very Hinson-like and not likely to cash in on his talent. I have not been as much on the SIU bandwagon, feeling they were talented but young and probably a year away with still some rosters holes to fill. Obviously Loyola is Loyola, no reason yet to not think Bradley is legit contender, and Drake has clearly established themselves as legit as well. Evansville is a huge surprise with the road win at SIU being the stunner and now we have to wait and see if they can contend elsewhere on the road .
The Bears are about where I expected and still have a lot to prove. The road trip to Valpo is concerning in that we really played poorly against them last year , so I have to see if we've made some adjustments to their system and personnel. But I think we'll be competitive all year and be a handful in STL; Mosley is quickly establishing himself as an elite scorer and Prim is as good as anyone inside. The thing about both is they are both efficient scorers, not requiring 20 shots to do damage, and they also are both willing and excellent passers, making them double tough to defend. We're a bit weak at the power forward position as neither Ridder or Hervey have the strength or size to contend with some league players inside, but both also present some matchup issues as well . With Sharp now healthy , we have a solid backcourt rotation, and we have almost 21 feet of body and 15 fouls behind Prim in Tata/Carper/Scott. Like the fact we're under everyone's radar , but think we're still a work in progress , albeit one with lots of toys.
The Bear is the largest carnivore on the North American continent; beware the Bear!