MVC Games Week 15

[SalukiWorld]

All times Central

Tuesday, February 14th:
Southern Illinois @ Valparaiso 6:00 PM ESPN+

Wednesday, February 15th:
Evansville @ Belmont 6:30 PM ESPN+
Indiana State @ UIC 7:00 PM ESPN+
Murray State @ Illinois State 7:00 PM ESPN+
Missouri State @ Bradley 7:00 PM ESPN+
Drake @ Northern Iowa 8:00 PM ESPN+/Ballys Sports

Saturday, February 18th:
Illinois State @ Indiana State 1:00 PM ESPN3
Northern Iowa @ Missouri State 3:00 PM ESPN3
Evansville @ Murray State 3:00 PM ESPN3

Sunday, February 19th:
Bradley @ Southern Illinois 1:00 PM ESPN2
Belmont @ Drake 2:00 PM CBS Sports Network
Valparaiso @ UIC 2:00 PM ESPN+

[tribecalledquest]

I watch Missouri State and just cannot understand what is happening there. I'm sure some of it is on Dana but it's like getting the same guys to play hard/well on consecutive nights is impossible. They took 32 threes tonight vs Bradley? Huh? And many of those were wild as hell. The entire offense is a one on one possession once the shot clock gets under 10.

I really like NJ Benson. Why doesn't he play more often? The Bears still do play hard - I give them that.

Bradley was never going to lose the game tonight. It got ugly in the second half but the Braves made plays when needed. It's a pretty deep team. Darius Hannah provided some offense tonight off the bench - as did JaShon Henry. It's a game a good team wins - and they did.

[ValleyFAN]

I watch Missouri State and just cannot understand what is happening there. I'm sure some of it is on Dana but it's like getting the same guys to play hard/well on consecutive nights is impossible. They took 32 threes tonight vs Bradley? Huh? And many of those were wild as hell. The entire offense is a one on one possession once the shot clock gets under 10.

I really like NJ Benson. Why doesn't he play more often? The Bears still do play hard - I give them that.

Bradley was never going to lose the game tonight. It got ugly in the second half but the Braves made plays when needed. It's a pretty deep team. Darius Hannah provided some offense tonight off the bench - as did JaShon Henry. It's a game a good team wins - and they did.

And you've just accurately described why a majority of the Bears feel like it's time to move on. There is no measurable pattern to the substitutions and rotations. A lot of talent thrown on the court at random. There is no scheme there. If guys can get hot and make some shots, the Bears can win. If not? Good luck. It's why every game they play is fairly close. They play hard and have talent, so they can hang around...but they also cant blow most people out either.

NJ Benson is a good prospect but he's had some rough stretches with turnovers, his free throw shooting has been horrendous, and he is often out of position defensively. Last night was about the best I have seen him play in awhile. With the MVC being a more guard oriented league, and Mogbo playing well most nights, minutes have been sparse for NJ. Mogbo has some nights where he just seems off (last night was one of those nights) so it was a good time to see what Benson could do.

[Adunk33]

It's just another Dana team....he probably has the most talent roster in the MVC...problem is, he very likely recruited most of the dudes by telling them that they will be THE guy at MOST just to get there and find out he told 13 other guys the same thing. He's a very good recruiter but has struggled with X's and O's his whole career. His best year at Tenn St, he tied for 2nd in the OVC. Then won 17 and 15 games before being pulled to MoSt. They'll win some games with talent alone, but I'd be interested in what he has done in close games (2 possessions or so) against Jake, Devries, and Moser.

[DUBulldog]

It's just another Dana team....he probably has the most talent roster in the MVC...problem is, he very likely recruited most of the dudes by telling them that they will be THE guy at MOST just to get there and find out he told 13 other guys the same thing. He's a very good recruiter but has struggled with X's and O's his whole career. His best year at Tenn St, he tied for 2nd in the OVC. Then won 17 and 15 games before being pulled to MoSt. They'll win some games with talent alone, but I'd be interested in what he has done in close games (2 possessions or so) against Jake, Devries, and Moser.

He’s beaten DeVries twice this season in one possession games.

[Adunk33]

It's just another Dana team....he probably has the most talent roster in the MVC...problem is, he very likely recruited most of the dudes by telling them that they will be THE guy at MOST just to get there and find out he told 13 other guys the same thing. He's a very good recruiter but has struggled with X's and O's his whole career. His best year at Tenn St, he tied for 2nd in the OVC. Then won 17 and 15 games before being pulled to MoSt. They'll win some games with talent alone, but I'd be interested in what he has done in close games (2 possessions or so) against Jake, Devries, and Moser.

He’s beaten DeVries twice this season in one possession games.

Well....that is unfortunate for my theory....

[ValleyFAN]

It's just another Dana team....he probably has the most talent roster in the MVC...problem is, he very likely recruited most of the dudes by telling them that they will be THE guy at MOST just to get there and find out he told 13 other guys the same thing. He's a very good recruiter but has struggled with X's and O's his whole career. His best year at Tenn St, he tied for 2nd in the OVC. Then won 17 and 15 games before being pulled to MoSt. They'll win some games with talent alone, but I'd be interested in what he has done in close games (2 possessions or so) against Jake, Devries, and Moser.

He’s beaten DeVries twice this season in one possession games.

Well....that is unfortunate for my theory....

It's gets lost on people because Drake has ousted the Bears from Arch Madness two consecutive seasons, but over the past couple years the Bears have swept Drake in 4 regular season matchups. For whatever reason the Bears tend to matchup well with whatever it is that Drake does. The Bulldogs have won some close matchups in STL though.

[BEARZ77]

It's just another Dana team....he probably has the most talent roster in the MVC...problem is, he very likely recruited most of the dudes by telling them that they will be THE guy at MOST just to get there and find out he told 13 other guys the same thing. He's a very good recruiter but has struggled with X's and O's his whole career. His best year at Tenn St, he tied for 2nd in the OVC. Then won 17 and 15 games before being pulled to MoSt. They'll win some games with talent alone, but I'd be interested in what he has done in close games (2 possessions or so) against Jake, Devries, and Moser.

The strange thing is Ford has a winning record against almost every Valley coach ; Jake is really the only one who has had his # consistently as Ford is 2-7 vs Jake. Ford has winning records vs Wardle & Mullins, he's 5-7 vs Devries winning 4 of the last 5, but losing the two important games in STL. He was 4-4 vs Moser and split last year with Valentine. He dominated Lansing and Muller, and also Lottich. I think people forget he's finished 3,6,3,2 in his 4 years. This was not supposed to be a good year, he had 14 new players to start the year. I'm not trying to defend his coaching style, he drives me nuts to. But if he is as bad as people think, then the Valley has a lot of bad coaches .

[tribecalledquest]

It's just another Dana team....he probably has the most talent roster in the MVC...problem is, he very likely recruited most of the dudes by telling them that they will be THE guy at MOST just to get there and find out he told 13 other guys the same thing. He's a very good recruiter but has struggled with X's and O's his whole career. His best year at Tenn St, he tied for 2nd in the OVC. Then won 17 and 15 games before being pulled to MoSt. They'll win some games with talent alone, but I'd be interested in what he has done in close games (2 possessions or so) against Jake, Devries, and Moser.

The strange thing is Ford has a winning record against almost every Valley coach ; Jake is really the only one who has had his # consistently as Ford is 2-7 vs Jake. Ford has winning records vs Wardle & Mullins, he's 5-7 vs Devries winning 4 of the last 5, but losing the two important games in STL. He was 4-4 vs Moser and split last year with Valentine. He dominated Lansing and Muller, and also Lottich. I think people forget he's finished 3,6,3,2 in his 4 years. This was not supposed to be a good year, he had 14 new players to start the year. I'm not trying to defend his coaching style, he drives me nuts to. But if he is as bad as people think, then the Valley has a lot of bad coaches .

Good points.

[Saluki 4 Life]

It's just another Dana team....he probably has the most talent roster in the MVC...problem is, he very likely recruited most of the dudes by telling them that they will be THE guy at MOST just to get there and find out he told 13 other guys the same thing. He's a very good recruiter but has struggled with X's and O's his whole career. His best year at Tenn St, he tied for 2nd in the OVC. Then won 17 and 15 games before being pulled to MoSt. They'll win some games with talent alone, but I'd be interested in what he has done in close games (2 possessions or so) against Jake, Devries, and Moser.

The strange thing is Ford has a winning record against almost every Valley coach ; Jake is really the only one who has had his # consistently as Ford is 2-7 vs Jake. Ford has winning records vs Wardle & Mullins, he's 5-7 vs Devries winning 4 of the last 5, but losing the two important games in STL. He was 4-4 vs Moser and split last year with Valentine. He dominated Lansing and Muller, and also Lottich. I think people forget he's finished 3,6,3,2 in his 4 years. This was not supposed to be a good year, he had 14 new players to start the year. I'm not trying to defend his coaching style, he drives me nuts to. But if he is as bad as people think, then the Valley has a lot of bad coaches .

I think he has a typical issue for some coaches. He is a great recruiter, he is not a good coach. He wins on the talent he acquires. The team he has right now has more recruiting stars than most teams in the league, a 6th place finish with P5 3 and 4 star transfers is hardly a glowing endorsement of Ford. When you are running iso ball for Donovan Clay, your X's and O's are not quite up to snuff.