Lindy's Sports 2013-14 Preview

[glm38]

Creighton is not winning that conference. No way in hell.

Next year? With the likely Big East Player of the Year not even taking up a scholarship?

Of course they can.

Nope. Is not happening.

I think it depends on their defense. Echenique was the heart and soul of their defense and they will REALLY miss him. Artino looked pretty good at times but hes not nearly the physical presence big E was. I'm afraid they wont be good enough on that end to win the conference or make an NCAA run.

[Wufan]

I see AT LEAST 5 losses to ISUb, UNI, and WSU...

That would mean LU would have to go 9-3 against the rest of the conference to finish 4th or 5th based on previous years. I don't know that I see that happening

Well, if you give them 4-0 against Drake and SIU, that means 5-3 against IlSt, MoSt, Bradley, and Evansville.

I could see 5-3 out of that. I could also see 2-6, though.

Drake and SIU are good for f****** someone season up...it's what they do.

MSU is a wild card

Evansville and Il St are likely pretty bad

Bradley could be decent.

I see

0-2 against UNI, WSU, and ISUb
1-1 against Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, MSU
2-0 SIU

ish.

I see 6-7 wins for them.

I see Drake and SIU as on the upswing,but being poor this year.

Too little is known about ISUr and Loyola. I'll downgrade them to Thursday night based on the unlikelihood that they will be good.

MSU and Bradley were bad last year, but they have known talent and this could be the start of something.

UNI and Evansville were good last year and have some talent returning, but lost the majority of their studs. Neither is Likely to be as good as last year, but it's hard to know if they will fall back far enough that the Bears or the Braves will catch them.

Ind. St. Returns virtually everyone on a pretty good team. The question is how good can they be?

WSU loses Armstead and Hall but returns Early and a healthy Baker. Tons of depth prevails at the wing and a JUCO AA and transfer center are ready to play the post. This team will have a different look than the F4 team, but should win the Valley by 2+ games.

[rlh04d]

Creighton is not winning that conference. No way in hell.

Next year? With the likely Big East Player of the Year not even taking up a scholarship?

Of course they can.

Nope. Is not happening.

I wouldn't put money on it, but saying there is no chance in hell is just biased bitterness.

And your thinking that says more about what you think of the Valley than of Creighton.

[uniftw]

UNI and Evansville were good last year and have some talent returning, but lost the majority of their studs. Neither is Likely to be as good as last year, but it's hard to know if they will fall back far enough that the Bears or the Braves will catch them.

Jake is going to be a big loss for us. He was extremely under-appreciated by UNI fans because they wanted him to be Adam and he just wasn't. He was better...seriously, in every stat except points he was better. However, Adam showed a ton of emotion and Jake didn't, and that made fans think he didn't care.


Sonnen will be tough to replace from the leadership side of things. His shooting was clutch, but Matty Bo is every bit the shooter Marc was.

AJ is the one everyone thinks we will miss the most, yet most of the UNI fans that really follow the team don't agree. He was a detriment to the team quite frequently during his time at UNI. He tried to do what Kwadzo did, but he just wasn't Kwadzo. When he was on he was one of the best in the league...the problem was he always thought he was on and got tunnel vision frequently. He lead the team in scoring...but he also led the team in shots taken by 100...yes I said 100...while having the second lowest shooting % on the team at 42.7. He also had strong knack for missing every free throw he ever took in clutch situations. Tremendous talent BUT won't be the big loss most think.




Deon and Tuttle really were the driving force for the team late in the season. With the backcourt talent we have coming back/coming in I'm not worried about our guard play at all. HOWEVER, I am worried that we don't have another post player to go with Tuttle established and it's probably going to be a freshman with a limited offensive game.

[BCPanther]

UNI and Evansville were good last year and have some talent returning, but lost the majority of their studs. Neither is Likely to be as good as last year, but it's hard to know if they will fall back far enough that the Bears or the Braves will catch them.

Jake is going to be a big loss for us. He was extremely under-appreciated by UNI fans because they wanted him to be Adam and he just wasn't. He was better...seriously, in every stat except points he was better. However, Adam showed a ton of emotion and Jake didn't, and that made fans think he didn't care.


Sonnen will be tough to replace from the leadership side of things. His shooting was clutch, but Matty Bo is every bit the shooter Marc was.

AJ is the one everyone thinks we will miss the most, yet most of the UNI fans that really follow the team don't agree. He was a detriment to the team quite frequently during his time at UNI. He tried to do what Kwadzo did, but he just wasn't Kwadzo. When he was on he was one of the best in the league...the problem was he always thought he was on and got tunnel vision frequently. He lead the team in scoring...but he also led the team in shots taken by 100...yes I said 100...while having the second lowest shooting % on the team at 42.7. He also had strong knack for missing every free throw he ever took in clutch situations. Tremendous talent BUT won't be the big loss most think.




Deon and Tuttle really were the driving force for the team late in the season. With the backcourt talent we have coming back/coming in I'm not worried about our guard play at all. HOWEVER, I am worried that we don't have another post player to go with Tuttle established and it's probably going to be a freshman with a limited offensive game.

The thoughts on James are dead on. We're a better team with him gone.

I really think UNI is going to be better than people think. Just wait until you get to see Jeremy Morgan, kid is special...

[valleychamp]

I wouldn't put money on it, but saying there is no chance in hell is just biased bitterness.

And your thinking that says more about what you think of the Valley than of Creighton.

Huh? I said they wont win their conference and its biased bitterness? How does that make any sense? Maybe youre the one thats bitter, idk.

The fact is they lost 5 games in the Valley last year with a better team. They lost their center (who was hugely important), and they are in a tougher conference facing ALL new, unfamiliar opponents.

If my opinion makes me bitter, then so be it. I didnt know you were such a Jays fan.

[Aargh]

UNI and Evansville were good last year and have some talent returning, but lost the majority of their studs. Neither is Likely to be as good as last year, but it's hard to know if they will fall back far enough that the Bears or the Braves will catch them.

Jake is going to be a big loss for us. He was extremely under-appreciated by UNI fans because they wanted him to be Adam and he just wasn't. He was better...seriously, in every stat except points he was better. However, Adam showed a ton of emotion and Jake didn't, and that made fans think he didn't care.


Sonnen will be tough to replace from the leadership side of things. His shooting was clutch, but Matty Bo is every bit the shooter Marc was.

AJ is the one everyone thinks we will miss the most, yet most of the UNI fans that really follow the team don't agree. He was a detriment to the team quite frequently during his time at UNI. He tried to do what Kwadzo did, but he just wasn't Kwadzo. When he was on he was one of the best in the league...the problem was he always thought he was on and got tunnel vision frequently. He lead the team in scoring...but he also led the team in shots taken by 100...yes I said 100...while having the second lowest shooting % on the team at 42.7. He also had strong knack for missing every free throw he ever took in clutch situations. Tremendous talent BUT won't be the big loss most think.




Deon and Tuttle really were the driving force for the team late in the season. With the backcourt talent we have coming back/coming in I'm not worried about our guard play at all. HOWEVER, I am worried that we don't have another post player to go with Tuttle established and it's probably going to be a freshman with a limited offensive game.

The thoughts on James are dead on. We're a better team with him gone.

I really think UNI is going to be better than people think. Just wait until you get to see Jeremy Morgan, kid is special...

A couple of years ago I compiled a stat that was points scored per shot taken. Of players getting 10 minute or more, James was something like last in the league in that stat. That resulted in about 2 pages of posts telling me my stat was flawed, miscalculated, biased, inaccurate, too small a sample size, and every other excuse that could be made for a poor shooter when the fans still thought he was the reincarnation of Pete Maravich.

Glad to see that James' actual performance has been recognized. He hit a lot of key shots and he scored a lot, but with the number of shots he took, that was nearly inevitable.

[agrinut]

UNI and Evansville were good last year and have some talent returning, but lost the majority of their studs. Neither is Likely to be as good as last year, but it's hard to know if they will fall back far enough that the Bears or the Braves will catch them.

Jake is going to be a big loss for us. He was extremely under-appreciated by UNI fans because they wanted him to be Adam and he just wasn't. He was better...seriously, in every stat except points he was better. However, Adam showed a ton of emotion and Jake didn't, and that made fans think he didn't care.


Sonnen will be tough to replace from the leadership side of things. His shooting was clutch, but Matty Bo is every bit the shooter Marc was.

AJ is the one everyone thinks we will miss the most, yet most of the UNI fans that really follow the team don't agree. He was a detriment to the team quite frequently during his time at UNI. He tried to do what Kwadzo did, but he just wasn't Kwadzo. When he was on he was one of the best in the league...the problem was he always thought he was on and got tunnel vision frequently. He lead the team in scoring...but he also led the team in shots taken by 100...yes I said 100...while having the second lowest shooting % on the team at 42.7. He also had strong knack for missing every free throw he ever took in clutch situations. Tremendous talent BUT won't be the big loss most think.




Deon and Tuttle really were the driving force for the team late in the season. With the backcourt talent we have coming back/coming in I'm not worried about our guard play at all. HOWEVER, I am worried that we don't have another post player to go with Tuttle established and it's probably going to be a freshman with a limited offensive game.

The thoughts on James are dead on. We're a better team with him gone.

I really think UNI is going to be better than people think. Just wait until you get to see Jeremy Morgan, kid is special...

The one thing I think the Panther's will miss about James is his ability to get his own shot. Deon can do that to an extent but anytime the Panthers needed a bucket they went to James.

[NEI Panther]

I have bit my tounge on the Jake Koch thing for long enough, I don't post here often or on PantherNation.

We are only going to miss Jake Koch's post defense. Beyond that, I think we can replace him on the offensive side.

He shot 42.8% last year and was 25% from 3 point land (100 shots). These are just terriable numbers. 2011-2012 was much worse. I really believe that Jake was an example of a big guy putting on bad weight. If Jake was going to sit outside the three point line and shoot 37% of his shots from there, he needed to stay lighter and be able to drive once in a while. With the ankle problems he had, he lost anykind of explosivness that he had as a freshman.

I agree with your assessment on James. I believe we well miss Sonnen's defense the most.

[glm38]

I have bit my tounge on the Jake Koch thing for long enough, I don't post here often or on PantherNation.

We are only going to miss Jake Koch's post defense. Beyond that, I think we can replace him on the offensive side.

He shot 42.8% last year and was 25% from 3 point land (100 shots). These are just terriable numbers. 2011-2012 was much worse. I really believe that Jake was an example of a big guy putting on bad weight. If Jake was going to sit outside the three point line and shoot 37% of his shots from there, he needed to stay lighter and be able to drive once in a while. With the ankle problems he had, he lost anykind of explosivness that he had as a freshman.

I agree with your assessment on James. I believe we well miss Sonnen's defense the most.

Agree. I don't care if his stats were as good as Adam's - Jake was nowhere near the player Adam was. Adam was a stud. Tough on defense and always seemed to hit the big shots.