Prim and Mosley

[Blers42]

I've never thought he was a cheap shot artist at all. Actually find him pretty likeable as far as opposing players go. He just has a mean looking face sometimes

I just noticed Krutwig tried helping Prim up and he shrugged him off lol. He’s definitely frustrated from his team playing awful though.

Wasn't a cheap shot though. A cheap shot would have required effort....no effort put out today.

I never said it was, I can see why people don’t like him though.

[BEARZ77]

Thought Williamson did as good a job defensively as I've seen this year when matched on Mosley. Was physical and the help defense from the rest of Loyola completely frustrated Isiaih . Had never seen him miss some of the shots he did in those 2 games. Gaige was also frustrated especially with the officials, but Gaige gets that way, Isiaih doesn't easily. To Isiaih's credit he battled both games and will learn from this as he is now a marked man going into every game. Loyola just shot lights out and stomped our butts both games, not much more to say. What is really hurting the Bears right now is that both Ridder and Black [ who had gotten off to a great start this year] are both in shooting slumps that allows almost all the defensive focus to go on Prim and Mosley. Thankfully Sharp is getting adjusted to D-1 ball and is healthy now, he'll make us better as the year proceeds, but clearly we're a step down from the leaders and now we'll find out if we are just part of the typical mid pack jam in the MVC or can be legitimate threat with improvement over the last month.

[Blers]

Thought Williamson did as good a job defensively as I've seen this year when matched on Mosley. Was physical and the help defense from the rest of Loyola completely frustrated Isiaih . Had never seen him miss some of the shots he did in those 2 games. Gaige was also frustrated especially with the officials, but Gaige gets that way, Isiaih doesn't easily. To Isiaih's credit he battled both games and will learn from this as he is now a marked man going into every game. Loyola just shot lights out and stomped our butts both games, not much more to say. What is really hurting the Bears right now is that both Ridder and Black [ who had gotten off to a great start this year] are both in shooting slumps that allows almost all the defensive focus to go on Prim and Mosley. Thankfully Sharp is getting adjusted to D-1 ball and is healthy now, he'll make us better as the year proceeds, but clearly we're a step down from the leaders and now we'll find out if we are just part of the typical mid pack jam in the MVC or can be legitimate threat with improvement over the last month.

Williamson has to be a lock for DPOY at this point. Since Tyreke Key lit the team up for 30 in our loss to Indiana State the team has looked to match up Williamson with the opponents best player from the start of games and he's been outstanding. What makes life so hard on go-to guards like Mosley is that if Williamson needs a break, chances are he'll have Uguak switched onto him who may very well be the second best defender in the league right now (his improvement has been a great surprise). Uguak also gives a different look with his length, adding another wrinkle.

Prim definitely let the emotions get the best of him yesterday. I was worried he was going to break his hand after punching the floor like he did.

[BEARZ77]

Their [Loyola} help defense was what really made things difficult as it allows the main defender like Williamson to really play aggressive and physical. Isiaih was consistently attacked by a second and 3rd defender whenever he made a move. Just great team defense. Again though, we had open looks by other guys who just didn't produce.Not saying it would have impacted the outcome, but we had little chance the way Ridder/Black/Hervey shot and attacked . I've said all along I thought Loyola was the best team, has the most depth etc; but prior to this past week thought Drake was playing better. We could've/ [probably at least once] should've beat Drake, we were never in the games with Loyola.

[Blers42]

Thought Williamson did as good a job defensively as I've seen this year when matched on Mosley. Was physical and the help defense from the rest of Loyola completely frustrated Isiaih . Had never seen him miss some of the shots he did in those 2 games. Gaige was also frustrated especially with the officials, but Gaige gets that way, Isiaih doesn't easily. To Isiaih's credit he battled both games and will learn from this as he is now a marked man going into every game. Loyola just shot lights out and stomped our butts both games, not much more to say. What is really hurting the Bears right now is that both Ridder and Black [ who had gotten off to a great start this year] are both in shooting slumps that allows almost all the defensive focus to go on Prim and Mosley. Thankfully Sharp is getting adjusted to D-1 ball and is healthy now, he'll make us better as the year proceeds, but clearly we're a step down from the leaders and now we'll find out if we are just part of the typical mid pack jam in the MVC or can be legitimate threat with improvement over the last month.

Williamson has to be a lock for DPOY at this point. Since Tyreke Key lit the team up for 30 in our loss to Indiana State the team has looked to match up Williamson with the opponents best player from the start of games and he's been outstanding. What makes life so hard on go-to guards like Mosley is that if Williamson needs a break, chances are he'll have Uguak switched onto him who may very well be the second best defender in the league right now (his improvement has been a great surprise). Uguak also gives a different look with his length, adding another wrinkle.

Prim definitely let the emotions get the best of him yesterday. I was worried he was going to break his hand after punching the floor like he did.

Williamson and Uguak are the defensive glue for the Ramblers. The impact that they make defensively is going to be hard to replace if they both leave next year. Prim and Mosley got shutdown in game one, Mosley did better in game two and was able to get to the foul line but Prim once again was shutdown (foul trouble was a large factor in both games for him). You could definitely see the frustration from Prim, it looked like he let it get the best of him. It appears that the combination of Lucas and Uguak are capable of slowing down any guard in the country. We have such a deep experienced team, its hard to match the energy and fresh legs that Loyola is able to maintain by spreading out the minutes so well. Things are not looking good for Dana, he clearly can recruit but is lacking in the coaching department.

[BEARZ77]

I have my concerns about CDF, but I'm not ready to write him off. Look at most coaches in the league not names Devries and tell me which ones were winning championships in year 3. Took Porter time at Loyola and he already had been a coach in the league previously and not succeeded; look at Wardle at Bradley, still hasn't finished above 3rd in the league. Takes time for most coaches , but again, have always said next year is the big one for Ford's future. Think he needs some help on his staff, but I like the direction as far as players . We still need to fill depth wise , but we have 7-8 quality guys.

[Blers42]

I have my concerns about CDF, but I'm not ready to write him off. Look at most coaches in the league not names Devries and tell me which ones were winning championships in year 3. Took Porter time at Loyola and he already had been a coach in the league previously and not succeeded; look at Wardle at Bradley, still hasn't finished above 3rd in the league. Takes time for most coaches , but again, have always said next year is the big one for Ford's future. Think he needs some help on his staff, but I like the direction as far as players . We still need to fill depth wise , but we have 7-8 quality guys.

It's rough when he's doing such a great job recruiting, it puts the spotlight on him and leads to higher expectations that he has yet to live up to. Dana is now 0-13 against kenpom top 100 teams. That's the difference, Porter and most other coaches were not recruiting at that level early on in their career. I agree though, I think next year is crucial for Dana.

[BEARZ77]

I kind of think that's an exaggerated perspective [ not yours, just overall] about Ford and recruiting. He's done a solid job identifying talent but I don't think anything heads and shoulders above the norm. Made a splash with lots of transfers, but as he found last year and Wardle found this year, that can be a mixed bag . I give him a break on that , he tried a quick fix and found some real problems in that approach, but to his credit, made a significant change in how this team is constructed. The year of extra eligibility for some might help him overcome that lost year quicker, but of course, all teams get that advantage. He's probably done his best work getting high level jucos; Cook, Prim, Sharp were all impact type adds from the juco ranks.

To that end, Gaige Prim did announce on local radio this week that he plans to return next year, so that's big. He's the only real senior that plays, so not like a couple other teams that might get 2-4 guys back, but still big news . When you can start with he and Mosley , that assures a level of competitiveness.

[BEARZ77]

Gaige had his best game as a Bear last night vs SIU. He went for 29 pts on 13/19 shooting, added 21 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blks [ although I had him for 5 blks]. His was the 1st 20/20 game for a Bear since Alize Johnson did it in 2018; you don't see too many of those. Gaige is so much quicker and more bouncy than last year with his leg issues under control and having dropped 15-20 lbs. Can't remember the league having as many teams with quality bigs when you look at Krutwig, Prim, Phyfe, Brodie, Krikke, and even younger guys like Williams, Mast, Filewich are better than most years.