3star_recruit

In an ideal world you want your losses to be in Q1 games so your NET doesn't take as much of a hit. Doesn't really matter this year because we were not healthy to start the season and thus never the team we envisioned. But there was no way of knowing that when you scheduled the games.

Excellent point. If the top rated A10 teams in the NET aren't also in the top 3 in the conference play, 2 is the most we can get.

The good MTE automatically upgrades us.

We already know that SLU's schedule next year is tougher than this one. If there are any fans of other A10 teams lurking maybe they can tell us if there are any schedule upgrades planned for next year.

UMass-Lowell, Jackson State and Chicago St. are all low-major schools. The last two schools are winless so they are probably those ones that Coach Schertz is talking about.

I'd be happy with the teams we already have in the A10 getting better. The conference needs to string together a few seasons that start like this one. Of course I'd like us to eventually be part of that handful of teams that are piling up wins in November and December.

Yep. It's pretty common for 3 star big men on unranked teams to struggle against stacked teams. They don't get much of an opportunity to go against that speed and size in their regular high school schedule.

All I've ever wanted is for us to consistently finish top 3 in the conference. If we could do that, the other stuff will take care of itself.

The most critical investment was made in Josh Schertz's track record. Having Avila and Swope is a nice addition. But Coach Schertz will have to rebuild next year whether we catch lightning in a bottle this year or not. That was known by every MBM when he was hired. Quick fixes are a best case scenario. They are never the reason to hire people to long-term contracts, in any industry.

Every sports message board has the same issue. When the team is struggling, a handful of posters become really active giving the impression that the whole fan base has become unhinged. Nah, it's a handful of posters. They just have a reason to post now. This phenomenon is why the block feature is a thing on so many message boards.

If Coach Schertz could turn Indiana State into a winner in 3 years, there's a good chance he can accomplish the same thing here. He didn't suddenly forget how to coach. Message boards thrive on emotional extremes. Everything is awesome or the sky is falling. There is no in between.

A key player's progress has been stunted by illness/injury for the past five years. That train is never late.

nm

That's really the formula for any guard near the bottom of the rotation to get on the floor.

The talent on St. Mary's was worse in Yuri Collins' senior year. Didn't stop him from being their best scorer AND great at point guard. Because he is what he is. I think BBE would have been better off this summer if they would have unleashed Zyree the scorer rather than being someone he's not.

I love Zyree Collins' game. But he plays more like Swope than a true point guard. Still a good thing but doesn't solve the point guard issue. Schertz is the same guy who put together's last year's Indiana State team. The two point guards he recruited for this team have had injury setbacks. Tough break. Hopefully he'll have better luck with the next point guard(s) he recruits.

The 6'6/6'7 guys with guard skills are still being recruited out of high school. That's why McCottrey is here. It's the smallish combo guards that are being neglected. That size player has to be top 150 to grab the attention of a high mid-major.

You replace Swope with an experienced guard from the portal. There are small high scoring guards out there every year who transfer from low major to mid major. The top mid-majors aren't recruiting them of high school anymore. That's how Swope ended up at Indiana State - Coach Schertz pulled him from Southern Indiana.

I've given up rating teams in November. Most teams are still trying to figure it out just like we are.

Six games into the season the offense and the defense are about what I expected. We can score on anybody but we also can't stop anybody. The guys who anchored ISU's defense are playing for Texas right now. The guys who are best suited for that role on this team are not healthy. Hopefully that changes in the next couple of weeks.

I think all SLU-level mid-majors are following similar logic. You can always get a proven 6-0 combo guard through the portal. Why roll the dice on that player as a freshman? How does he get on the floor? McCottry's size and disruptiveness on defense are the primary reasons he's seeing PT right now. If the portal didn't exist, I have no doubt that Zyree would be a priority right now. Smallish players have been the high school players most impacted by the new college basketball landscape.

Same problem he had last year.

I'm beginning to think there isn't much difference between a top 10 D2 team and a top 100 D1 team.

Dayton's Enoch Cheeks, a 6-3 guard who averaged 8.1 ppg and 4.7 rpg last year is playing out of mind. He's averaging 15.0 ppg and 8.3 rpg playing the same amount of minutes as last year. And he's turned into a ball hawk, racking up 3.3 steals per game. I guess the Conklin summer has expanded to Ohio.

Parker's coming off the bench because he's coming off of shoulder surgery and wasn't cleared to play until mid-September. Will Wade stated at the time that the plan was to limit his time early and ease him into play. He's 2nd in scoring on the team at only 20 min a game. I'll be surprised if he's not starting soon. Parker's a bonafide scorer who has had some bad luck with injuries. And our team defense was horrible, with or without him in the lineup. Good luck to him.