troutangler

17-7. I'm all for playing you guys next year, but it didn't work out. Like others said, you had the chance to sign a 4-year contract a few years ago and you dicked around and didn't do it. It's your fault we're not playing next year just as much as it is ours. It is too bad that we don't get to play a big East coast power like SLU next year though. I don't know what we'll do without that game on our schedule.

The SLU argument about "We're going to be loaded next year and MSU is going to be down, so that's why they're dropping us" is hilarious. I posted this the other day and I will again: WE PUT OUR WORST TEAM ON THE COURT IN 30 YEARS (SINCE GOING D1) THREE YEARS AGO AT HAMMONS CENTER AND STILL WON. We are 16-7 against you guys. Don't you think we were down at some point in this 23-game stretch? We weren't afraid to play you then, so why would we be now?

It's pretty bad when your chest-thumping win against us came from a (not) buzzer beater that was actually after the buzzer. At least our old arena that had been around for 30+ years had clocks that functioned correctly. You geniuses with that great SLU education can't even sync a basketball clock. And yes, SLU has used the "We have mostly freshman" excuse for four years now. It was the same way when they came here the last time three years ago in Barry's last season and we beat them with probably our worst team since we went D1.

For the record, that was a Mizzou fan who said that. Either way, I share his contempt for SLU. Yeah, your record against us has really proven that too. Well we aren't the most dangerous city in the U.S., but we try.

I guess we will see.

The biggest groups of MSU students are from southwest Missouri and St. Louis, so a large number do in fact live within an hour or so of Springfield. The student section was almost full last year on New Year's Day against Illinois State during Christmas Break, but that was partly because they sold tickets to the general public. The crowd as a whole shouldn't be weak. We're hoping it's our best crowd of the year since we haven't played anyone worth a damn at home yet this year and SLU is a regional rival.

Just an FYI...Fuehrmeyer isn't just the only senior who gets minutes, he is the only senior on the team. Hell, we recruited the JUCO national Player of the Year (Ricks, #2) to come here and play point guard and Fuehrmeyer is still playing more than he is. He doesn't really do much...usually gets 3-4 assists per game, 3-4 points, and turns it over a couple of times, all the while being poor defensively, but they still play him a ton.

Didn't we beat SLU two years ago at home, which was Barry's last year? That was a pretty subpar Bears team, and didn't you guys still have Lisch/Liddell, etc?

Well I was mainly pointing out that we're not inferior in size in the frontcourt, but okay.

I don't know who the Wiz is but SLU was a 1.5 point favorite last night. Now MSU is a 1 point favorite, probably because of Mitchell's injury.

You do realize we have three guys 6'9"-6'11", right? Obviously they don't all play at once, but we aren't a high school team. Actually you guys are 1.5 point favorites still, not the underdog.

If you're talking about Weems, I doubt that will happen.

His recruits at ISU were....ehhh. Even though they play a horrible non-conference schedule, Jank's talent level is better than Moser's was when he was there.

There's a difference: Cuonzo looks like he'll be a successful Valley coach, something that can't be said for Moser. He'll be back in the Big 10 or another BCS school before you have a chance at him.

The ball going out of bounds is a violation. Traveling is a violation. Excessively swinging the elbows while holding the ball is a violation. ("Clearing out" defenders) Article 1 that you reference is for personal fouls. Excessively swinging the elbows is a violation by the player holding the ball. If there was no contact and a foul was called, he missed the call. It should have been a no call or a violation for swinging the elbows. Throwing a punch would get you a flagrant personal (live ball) or flagrant technical (dead ball) foul. Anything deemed a flagrant foul is an ejection. That list that is posted above is for common fouls, not flagrant fouls. Throwing a punch and even missing would be a flagrant personal or technical foul. There is no such thing as a reach-in. An elbow thrown while holding the ball that makes contact is going to be a common personal foul 99% of the time. If not, it could rise to the level of an intentional foul. You guys need to brush up on your definitions.

NBA rules are waaaaaay different than high school or NCAA rules. NCAA rules are much closer aligned with high school rules than with the NBA. You might as well trash your NBA rules. Excessively swinging the elbows is a violation in high school, and I'm 99% sure it's the same under NCAA rules. If no contact is made, but a player "clears out" the opponent by extending their elbows, a violation (Not a foul) can be called.

Wow, how original. Did you get that from Mizzou or Tulsa? Maybe Wichita State?

A slow whistle is a good thing. When I look at whether or not referees did a "good job", the last place I check is the opinions of fans.

Roy, Missouri State University is done with finals today. All the players will be done by this afternoon if not earlier. "Super Bowl game" or not, we're still 15-7 against you guys. (16-6 if not for the clock malfunction)

This is simply not true. If a game is physical, and the whistle is blown often, players will adjust if they don't want to foul out eventually. If you clean up the "petty stuff", you can avoid the bigger crap later. The official at half court may have "overruled" the other official because the ball went out of bounds on his line, or because the official responsible for the line may have not seen it well.

They don't need to be closest to the play to see something that another official may not have seen. An official doesn't have to ask for help to get help from a partner either. I'm pretty sure they know when the blow the whistle and when not to better than you do. They may not be right every time, but I'll put my money on them being right far more often than I would on a fan being right. Not really. Bo Boroski has only worked 17 Valley games in his career. He primarily works in the MAC and Summit League. Jackie Sanders calls mainly in the A-10, MEAC, and some C-USA. Frank Spencer works mainly in the Summit League and MAC now. He used to do some games in the Valley several years ago, but did none last year, and only 8 between 2005 and 2008. Oddly enough, I don't see any Atlantic Sun officials like some of you have been claiming.

"Southwest Missouri" hasn't played any games yet this year. I'm not sure how they beat Tulsa.... Missouri State on the other hand did play those teams. Auburn was better than Eastern Michigan. Tulsa might be the best team in C-USA this year and beat OK State by 21. I'd say they would give you guys a pretty good test.

No, and neither do I. I do think there's a chance that Missouri State will go undefeated in non-conference play.

billiken roy, when are you going to answer my post about UNI and Rhode Island? Remember, you claimed that Rhode Island has been so much more successful than UNI over the past five years? I love how some of you pop off about the Valley and how bad it is, then show your ignorance about the teams in the league. The Valley had a down year last year, but to say it is trending down is ridiculous. It's most definitely on the way up this year.

1. I don't care if SLU joins the Valley. In fact, I don't even want them in the Valley. What I get tired of hearing is how prestigious the A10 is and how "podunk" the Valley is. 2. Whatever Porter Moser said is probably motivated by the fact that he was a sh*tty coach in the Valley and got pathetic results out of the talent he had. Barry Hinson outcoached that guy for Christ's sake. It can't get much worse than that. Huh...that's funny. UNI NCAA appearances this decade: 04, 05, 06, 09 Rhode Island NCAA appearances this decade: None (Last was in 99) And I'm the ignorant one here? Tell me again how much better Rhode Island has been than UNI the last five years..... I had a hunch that you clowns didn't follow anything outside of St. Louis and the A10, but this just confirmed it for me. Thanks! Then it looks like your fan base sucks. If we had an opponent an hour away in Joplin or Rolla that we played every year the place would be crawling with MSU fans.