Official MVCfans.com Prediction - 9th place

by **MVCfans** » August 16th, 2010, 6:23 am

Each week we will open a poll for users to predict the end of season finish for the MVC 2010-2011 basketball season. We will work in reverse order, concluding with the predicted MVC champion chosen by our users between the last two teams remaining in week 9 (just in time for MVC media days).

Evansville was selected as the 10th place finisher (results: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=39&start=30)

Week 2 - Who will finish in 9th place during the 2010-2011 MVC mens basketball season?
-You are choosing the team that you believe will finish in 9th place for this regular season. Poll open until the evening of Friday 8/20.

Official MVCfans.com - Predictions:
10th Place - Evansville
9th Place - .....

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by **WuDrWu** » August 16th, 2010, 10:26 am

I would like to select a team other than SIU, but it seems too clear the Salukis are headed in the wrong direction for 2+ years now and that little if anything is being done to change course.

I still think they will finish ahead of Evansville. They haven't dropped to D2 status yet, but they are challenging for the lowest rung amongst the SIUs with Edwardsville coming up hard on the outside.

by **RoyalShock** » August 16th, 2010, 11:20 am

PricklyPete wrote:I could be way, way off, but I think Illinois State is going to struggle more than others might think. Jank loses his best players and he couldn't get it done with Osiris, Dinma, Phillips. To me, this is the team that falls furthest.

I'm starting to think you're right. Though I'm not prepared to drop them to 9th. Maybe eighth.

by **SubGod22** » August 16th, 2010, 12:36 pm

RoyalShock wrote:
PricklyPete wrote:I could be way, way off, but I think Illinois State is going to struggle more than others might think. Jank loses his best players and he couldn't get it done with Osiris, Dinma, Phillips. To me, this is the team that falls furthest.

I'm starting to think you're right. Though I'm not prepared to drop them to 9th. Maybe eighth.

I wonder if they won't fall off as much as some think because they won't be relying on some of those guys to do it all. There are times when losing top players can make the team better. Who knows if this will be the case but I think the Birds still have enough talent to stay away from Thursaday. I'd have to go over the roster closer to get a better feel but I think they'll be ok.

by **45otseoj** » August 16th, 2010, 3:14 pm

SubGod22 wrote:
RoyalShock wrote:
PricklyPete wrote:I could be way, way off, but I think Illinois State is going to struggle more than others might think. Jank loses his best players and he couldn't get it done with Osiris, Dinma, Phillips. To me, this is the team that falls furthest.

I'm starting to think you're right. Though I'm not prepared to drop them to 9th. Maybe eighth.

I wonder if they won't fall off as much as some think because they won't be relying on some of those guys to do it all. There are times when losing top players can make the team better. Who knows if this will be the case but I think the Birds still have enough talent to stay away from Thursaday. I'd have to go over the roster closer to get a better feel but I think they'll be ok.

Very young; very talented.

by **BirdmanBB** » August 16th, 2010, 3:30 pm

Tony Lewis and Carmichael will probably handle a bulk of our scoring down low (I am sure Jank will want to play to our strengths). However, we have Trey Blue who is coming from Fordham and had some good minutes there against some of the tougher A10 teams. John Wilkins will have a 5 game suspension for playing with a German? pro team when he was 15!, but from what I have heard (not seen yet), he has NBA potential. We also return Aaron Hill who showed sparks of being a top player last year at the end of the season. Justin Clark could be a solid 3pt shooter, but had a rough start last year. Kellen Thornton is a tall kid they tried to work down low, but now they are putting him on the wing where he is most confortable.

There are quite a few unknowns on our team like 45 said, however, you can't teach height and you can't teach speed. 2 things that this young team has a ton of. I am not expecting a ton out us, but an NIT birth would be a successful season in my eyes. I would honestly look for this team to be back in top three form next season and probably favored to win it all the following.

by **ilstu2013** » August 16th, 2010, 6:52 pm

SubGod22 wrote:
RoyalShock wrote:
PricklyPete wrote:I could be way, way off, but I think Illinois State is going to struggle more than others might think. Jank loses his best players and he couldn't get it done with Osiris, Dinma, Phillips. To me, this is the team that falls furthest.

I'm starting to think you're right. Though I'm not prepared to drop them to 9th. Maybe eighth.

I wonder if they won't fall off as much as some think because they won't be relying on some of those guys to do it all. There are times when losing top players can make the team better. Who knows if this will be the case but I think the Birds still have enough talent to stay away from Thursaday. I'd have to go over the roster closer to get a better feel but I think they'll be ok.

Yeah, Dinma, Osiris, and Lloyd really carried us last year and provided most of the scoring, but I still think we have enough talent returning and with the new guys coming in to at least stay out of the bottom of the MVC standings. I also would pick SIU to finish 9th in the MVC.

by **Shockerfan13** » August 16th, 2010, 6:57 pm

I think Illinois St still has enough talent to finish 5th-7th

by **BirdmanBB** » August 17th, 2010, 7:37 am

We will most likely start off pretty slow, but if I were in contention, I wouldn't want to be playing us down the stretch.

by **hot nuts** » August 17th, 2010, 7:28 pm

BirdmanBB wrote:We will most likely start off pretty slow, but if I were in contention, I wouldn't want to be playing us down the stretch.

This year Redbird fans will find out if Jankovich can coach. A strong indicator of a coaching staff's worth is their team's improvement over the course of a season. This team is gonna look rough early...might still win games over cupcakes but it won't be pretty.