MVC Preseason Poll

by **shocktheheart** » October 29th, 2012, 9:06 am

No real suprises here in my opinion except that Creighton wasn't unanimous.

http://www.kansas.com/2012/10/29/254936 ... eason.html

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by **valleychamp** » October 29th, 2012, 9:09 am

I am surprised that Ill St got the nod over UNI for the 2nd spot. I would have thought losing the PG and head coach would have cost them that spot in most people's eyes.

Other than that, the poll is right in line with my thinking thus far. I think that WSU and UE are the most "movable" teams in the poll.

by **DoubleJayAlum** » October 29th, 2012, 9:25 am

valleychamp wrote:I am surprised that Ill St got the nod over UNI for the 2nd spot.

It shouldn't be that surprising. We even had the same results in our online poll here...

(I'd say its probably a toss-up, with either result not being a surprise)

by **Wufan** » October 29th, 2012, 11:14 am

Kinda surprised that Brown is not included as an HM.

by **2livewu** » October 29th, 2012, 11:56 am

Let's look at the 2 teams:

PG - ISU - Anthony Cousin vs. UNI - Deon Mitchell This is pretty much a push. Cousin has shown more (in my eyes) and Mitchell might have a little more upside.

SG - ISU - Tyler Brown vs. UNI - Anthony James No push here. Brown is the superior player. Big edge to ISU.

SF - ISU - John Ekey vs UNI - Marc Sonnen No push again here. Ekey has more game. Edge ISU

PF - ISU - John Wilkens vs UNI - Jake Koch Don't see a push here either. Edge ISU

C - ISU - Jackie Carmichael vs UNI - Seth Tuttle Edge ISU.

We can look at the bench if you want, but UNI isn't going to see any advantage to overcome, on paper, the advantage ISU enjoys.

Now if you want to claim that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, okay, but that's a tough argument to make. If you want to argue that Jake is just that superior of a coach to overcome what is an obvious deficiency of talent, well then that's an easier point to make.

Personally I can't see a reasonable & objective person putting UNI ahead of ISU.

by **valleychamp** » October 29th, 2012, 12:10 pm

Individual match-ups are your opinion. UNI has some good players, and so does ISU. Though, one can easily debate any of your analysis--Deon Mitchell put up similar, if not better numbers than Cousin last year as a freshman (is Cousin even ISU's starting PG?), John Ekey and Marc Sonnen don't even play the same position so thats a rather pointless debate, and Koch/Wilkins and James/Brown put up eerily similar numbers when you compare them.

I very well could argue that the "sum of the parts is greater than the whole" as you put it, because that is how UNI has always played basketball. I really like ISU's starting 5, but I am not well educated on what they have on the bench. I know UNI expects to have a very deep bench this year.

You can't compare coaching because ISU's coach has NEVER coached a game before. It could be a rough transition for a first year coach, or it may very well be an upgrade from Jankovic, who knows. But I do know that Ben Jacobson has already proved to be one of, if not the, best coaches in the league.

Personally I can't see a reasonable & objective person putting UNI ahead of ISU.

How so? They both had the same exact record last year, and ISU lost their starting PG and head coach. Its perfectly reasonable to have either team slotted in the #2 spot. But, I don't see any way that you can argue that ISU is clearly superior to UNI.

by **DoubleJayAlum** » October 29th, 2012, 12:15 pm

2livewu wrote:Let's look at the 2 teams:

PG - ISU - Anthony Cousin vs. UNI - Deon Mitchell This is pretty much a push. Cousin has shown more (in my eyes) and Mitchell might have a little more upside.

SG - ISU - Tyler Brown vs. UNI - Anthony James No push here. Brown is the superior player. Big edge to ISU.

SF - ISU - John Ekey vs UNI - Marc Sonnen No push again here. Ekey has more game. Edge ISU

PF - ISU - John Wilkens vs UNI - Jake Koch Don't see a push here either. Edge ISU

C - ISU - Jackie Carmichael vs UNI - Seth Tuttle Edge ISU.

We can look at the bench if you want, but UNI isn't going to see any advantage to overcome, on paper, the advantage ISU enjoys.

Now if you want to claim that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, okay, but that's a tough argument to make. If you want to argue that Jake is just that superior of a coach to overcome what is an obvious deficiency of talent, well then that's an easier point to make.

Personally I can't see a reasonable & objective person putting UNI ahead of ISU.

You are underestimating the power of tattoos.

by **Red** » October 29th, 2012, 12:28 pm

I think we ended the season stronger including a head to head win in St Louis and that was probably enough to get 2nd. Not that it matters though. What I don't understand is how James could be honored and not Tyler Brown.

by **C0|db|00ded** » October 29th, 2012, 2:17 pm

I heard that cheers rang out from the Shocker locker room when the OFFICIAL MVC PRESEASON POLL was released because they were expecting to be picked 9th.

T

... :cool:

by **CaseyGarrisonforPrez** » October 29th, 2012, 2:27 pm

C0|db|00ded wrote:I heard that cheers rang out from the Shocker locker room when the OFFICIAL MVC PRESEASON POLL was released because they were expecting to be picked 9th.

T

...

Laugh it up. You'll finish closer to 9th than where you were picked. If South Dakota State can work you over behind closed doors then I think the league will be mighty tough for the boys from Sedgewick County.