1st of 6

[The Wiz]

The Valpo game should be the first of at least 6 wins in a row. Valpo was a decent team ... They have a B rating.

For those tracking teams we have lost to ....they stand as follows

KU....A+

UW...B+

SC....C+

And we have clawed our way back to A-.

[wgstl]

The Valpo game should be the first of at least 6 wins in a row. Valpo was a decent team ... They have a B rating.

For those tracking teams we have lost to ....they stand as follows

KU....A+

UW...B+

SC....C+

And we have clawed our way back to A-.

right on, but maybe a solid B for UW, 2 point win over cal Fullerton last night

[Tonka]

Our RPI as of today is 30 from what I could see. Others understand the RPI a lot more than me, but I would imagine playing some bad teams at home in December will make our RPI drop significantly. New Mexico has an RPI of 4 so other than that game, we should really drop until conference play.

I know RPI doesn't mean a whole lot this early on, but the soft games coming up will kill it. The good news is that we need some easy games to heal. Carter was dressed out. KM was in a boot, but I imagine that is only to protect him from getting stepped on. GG was out of his sling, not sure about his recovery.

I thought somebody on this board said North Texas would not be a really easy win, but after seeing Wiz's point spread and seeing they are 3-5 with a pretty soft schedule, they seem like a sub par team.

[slu72]

I thought I'd read they have a lottery pick type playing for them? A big? If that's their record the other 5-8 guys in their rotation must suck big time.

[ACE]

Our RPI as of today is 30 from what I could see. Others understand the RPI a lot more than me, but I would imagine playing some bad teams at home in December will make our RPI drop significantly. New Mexico has an RPI of 4 so other than that game, we should really drop until conference play.

I know RPI doesn't mean a whole lot this early on, but the soft games coming up will kill it. The good news is that we need some easy games to heal. Carter was dressed out. KM was in a boot, but I imagine that is only to protect him from getting stepped on. GG was out of his sling, not sure about his recovery.

I thought somebody on this board said North Texas would not be a really easy win, but after seeing Wiz's point spread and seeing they are 3-5 with a pretty soft schedule, they seem like a sub par team.

The reason North Texas has been feared is they have a future NBA player, perhaps even a lottery pick. They haven't played well and we certainly should win. Hopefully our Santa Clara game was a one time deal and will serve as a wake-up call for our remaining non-conference home games. Play with intensity and play some D like yestersday and we'll be fine.

[Taj79]

People rave over 6'8" forward Tony Mitchell. Rammer called him "an NBA player" on last night's game feed. I think he was supposed to go to Mizzou originally. They are young with Mitchell only a sophomore and three others in double figures --- two more sophomores and a junior. Typically, 6'8" mobile bigs give us fits. Delray James at Rhode Island comes to mind. The only real person available to cover Mitchell is Evans and we'll be giving away three inches or so there. Alzee Williams and Jordan Williams are listed as 6'4" and 6'6" guards. Matchup problems seem to be looming.

[SLU_Nick]

The Valpo game should be the first of at least 6 wins in a row. Valpo was a decent team ... They have a B rating.

For those tracking teams we have lost to ....they stand as follows

KU....A+

UW...B+

SC....C+

And we have clawed our way back to A-.

Waiting for MB73 to come in here and debate this. I would say we are an A- with a healthy KC and maybe even KM.

We did look much better defensively against Valpo but our great advantage should be the wave of good guards we have to throw at teams. Currently it looks like Jett and McCall are conserving energy out there knowing that they have to play 30-35 mins a piece. I personally, cant wait till we have a true 4 guard rotation and they can just bust their butts knowing that, when they get tired, they can rest and have a capable replacement coming in.

Looks like we are taking full advantage of the "weak" schedule everyone, myself included, was complaining about back in Sept...

-Nick

[AMDG]

People rave over 6'8" forward Tony Mitchell. Rammer called him "an NBA player" on last night's game feed. I think he was supposed to go to Mizzou originally. They are young with Mitchell only a sophomore and three others in double figures --- two more sophomores and a junior. Typically, 6'8" mobile bigs give us fits. Delray James at Rhode Island comes to mind. The only real person available to cover Mitchell is Evans and we'll be giving away three inches or so there. Alzee Williams and Jordan Williams are listed as 6'4" and 6'6" guards. Matchup problems seem to be looming.

Cody Ellis matches up well in size. I'll be looking for Cody to get Tony Mitchell in foul trouble early with his ability to draw the charge.

[kshoe]

Our RPI as of today is 30 from what I could see. Others understand the RPI a lot more than me, but I would imagine playing some bad teams at home in December will make our RPI drop significantly. New Mexico has an RPI of 4 so other than that game, we should really drop until conference play.

I know RPI doesn't mean a whole lot this early on, but the soft games coming up will kill it. The good news is that we need some easy games to heal. Carter was dressed out. KM was in a boot, but I imagine that is only to protect him from getting stepped on. GG was out of his sling, not sure about his recovery.

I thought somebody on this board said North Texas would not be a really easy win, but after seeing Wiz's point spread and seeing they are 3-5 with a pretty soft schedule, they seem like a sub par team.

You are definitely correct that our RPI will drop this month as we play the soft belly of non-con but given our injuries I'm glad we get to play that soft schedule and hopefully avoid any more losses.

I'd also argue that our RPI right now is over-inflated because some of our opponents (Texas A&M and SIU primarily) haven't lost besides to us and their RPIs are way too high. A&M currently is 19th, ahead of teams like Kansas. That fact alone probably says all you need to know about how valuable the RPI is 6 or 7 games into a season.

[pretty_ricky]

People rave over 6'8" forward Tony Mitchell. Rammer called him "an NBA player" on last night's game feed. I think he was supposed to go to Mizzou originally. They are young with Mitchell only a sophomore and three others in double figures --- two more sophomores and a junior. Typically, 6'8" mobile bigs give us fits. Delray James at Rhode Island comes to mind. The only real person available to cover Mitchell is Evans and we'll be giving away three inches or so there. Alzee Williams and Jordan Williams are listed as 6'4" and 6'6" guards. Matchup problems seem to be looming.

I'd like to see JM come in and match up on him, at least for a little bit (or maybe just in theory). I thought he looked significantly better defensively against Valpo

[slufanskip]

I'd like to see JM come in and match up on him, at least for a little bit (or maybe just in theory). I thought he looked significantly better defensively against Valpo

You want Manning to man up their 6'8" NBA athletic forward? Seriously?

[pretty_ricky]

You want Manning to man up their 6'8" NBA athletic forward? Seriously?

yea i'm serious. I know he looks like RL but he sure as hell doesn't move as slow as Rob. He's got pretty quick feet and underratedly quick hands. I'd like to see how he does down low at least.

[jbizzle09]

yea i'm serious. I know he looks like RL but he sure as hell doesn't move as slow as Rob. He's got pretty quick feet and underratedly quick hands. I'd like to see how he does down low at least.

Tony Mitchell isn't a 'down low' player. He is a versatile, athletic forward that shoots over 3 treys a game and likes to drive to the hoop from the perimeter. There is no way a center like Manning can hope to guard him effectively. It will most likely fall to Evans and Ellis to defend him.

[NH]

Tony Mitchell isn't a 'down low' player. He is a versatile, athletic forward that shoots over 3 treys a game and likes to drive to the hoop from the perimeter. There is no way a center like Manning can hope to guard him effectively. It will most likely fall to Evans and Ellis to defend him.

Don't be surprised to see Jordair get some time against him.

[Cowboy]

-out of a time out i would not have a problem seeing JM guard tony mitchell depending on what other matchups are available, yesterday we looked totally confused when valpo went trap out of a time out, perhaps the green team would panic as well

-for me the excuses for JM not getting time are done, he is either in our rotation for every game or he sits, match up, familiar defense, i don't care abut the excuses, for me he needs to get minutes, if he plays like crap, sit him the rest of that game but he gets back at it the next game (unless some team or school issue, of course)

[cheeseman]

yea i'm serious. I know he looks like RL but he sure as hell doesn't move as slow as Rob. He's got pretty quick feet and underratedly quick hands. I'd like to see how he does down low at least.

Quick hands? Apparently ;you did not see him play against Valpo - JM looked like he would drop a handshake. He muffed virtually every ball that came to him or if he was by it. I was really disappointed with his sheer lack of any agility in that game.

[pretty_ricky]

Quick hands? Apparently ;you did not see him play against Valpo - JM looked like he would drop a handshake. He muffed virtually every ball that came to him or if he was by it. I was really disappointed with his sheer lack of any agility in that game.

i meant defensively. I never said soft hands

[RiseAndGrind]

Quick hands? Apparently ;you did not see him play against Valpo - JM looked like he would drop a handshake. He muffed virtually every ball that came to him or if he was by it. I was really disappointed with his sheer lack of any agility in that game.

I can't tell if JM or JB will become the new Kyle Cassity

[Clock_Tower]

A few thoughts as to us playing Valpo:

1. Our D was pretty good and maybe the best this year -- but only for long stretches of the game. There were significant periods of time where we just played bad. If I recall correctly, we played for nearly 7 minutes with our score hovering around 50 points. And in the first half, both teams were equally futile -- I'm thinking of the score being 20 to 16 (them leading) before JJ converted the really nice traditional 3 pt play. My own 9 year old daughter commented about how low scoring the game was -- and she was right!!

2. Valpo pretty much played worse than us at key moments of the game which allowed us to separate from them. Still, had Valpo simply got hot shooting the ball the last 5 minutes of the game, we could have lost this game.

3. Maybe it was b/c we are short-handed at guard, but did anyone else notice DE posting up most of the entire second half down low? Often DE started at the wing with CE down low but then the two switched and DE played mostly with his back (as a 4) to the basket while CE played facing the basket (as a 3). Now on defense, DE clearly guarded the other team's 3 with CE guarding the other team's 4.

4. CR played rather good defense and clearly blocked and altered shots. No one else on this team can or does do this.

5.

[billiken_roy]

the real problem in this debate is not manning. the truth is he is still shakey at best and has a lot of learning to do. that said, he looked better than what loe has the entire season. the real problem is loe. it is time for rob loe to have some sort of come to jesus meeting with himself or sit and let manning learn on the job. but folks if that happens, dont expect john manning to be our answer to the inside immediately. he isnt ready and shouldnt be expected to be the man. the more he plays the more his shortcomings will be exposed.

[billiken_roy]

A few thoughts as to us playing Valpo:

1. Our D was pretty good and maybe the best this year -- but only for long stretches of the game. There were significant periods of time where we just played bad. If I recall correctly, we played for nearly 7 minutes with our score hovering around 50 points. And in the first half, both teams were equally futile -- I'm thinking of the score being 20 to 16 (them leading) before JJ converted the really nice traditional 3 pt play. My own 9 year old daughter commented about how low scoring the game was -- and she was right!!

2. Valpo pretty much played worse than us at key moments of the game which allowed us to separate from them. Still, had Valpo simply got hot shooting the ball the last 5 minutes of the game, we could have lost this game.

3. Maybe it was b/c we are short-handed at guard, but did anyone else notice DE posting up most of the entire second half down low? Often DE started at the wing with CE down low but then the two switched and DE played mostly with his back (as a 4) to the basket while CE played facing the basket (as a 3). Now on defense, DE clearly guarded the other team's 3 with CE guarding the other team's 4.

4. CR played rather good defense and clearly blocked and altered shots. No one else on this team can or does do this.

5.

likely because we really dont have a consistent outside threat beyond mccall.

[jbizzle09]

Quick hands? Apparently ;you did not see him play against Valpo - JM looked like he would drop a handshake. He muffed virtually every ball that came to him or if he was by it. I was really disappointed with his sheer lack of any agility in that game.

You do realize that Manning caught a pass from Jett and dunked it home and then later caught another pass by Jett and took it up for a layup. So, obviously, he didn't muff virtually every ball that came his way. And the dunk and layup showed at least some level of agility, as did his blocked shot.

[Littlebill]

Mitchell's stats:

http://statsheet.com...4-tony-mitchell

He doesn't look like anything TOO special according to these stats, but he will beat us if we let him. He is one of the most athletic players in the nation, with a decent jumper. He isn't afraid to shoot the three, but hasn't exactly shot lights out this year, 29%. I think Evans is the clear favorite to guard him, but Remekun and maybe Ellis could also. His athleticism and length are the only problem, as he probably won't beat us from outside. They are much more balanced than one would think, as he has only played 28.9 min/game. Should be an interesting matchup.

[Clock_Tower]

Sorry, hit the wrong key. My post continues:

5. JM played very well down low. Hopefully, Crews keeps playing him alot these next 5 games so that JM keeps developing, keeps gaining confidence and hopefully provides the interior threat we need as I just don't see CR, RL and CE stepping up to do so and I see DE trying but being too small.

6. We have very little outside shooting. And relying upon RL, CE and JB to do so will not be pretty. Hopefully, the biggest improvement caused by the return of KM will be that MM can be freed up to provide the outside shooting we desparately need -- which in turn, will help open things up for the bigs.

[eastsidejoe]

the real problem in this debate is not manning. the truth is he is still shakey at best and has a lot of learning to do. that said, he looked better than what loe has the entire season. the real problem is loe. it is time for rob loe to have some sort of come to jesus meeting with himself or sit and let manning learn on the job. but folks if that happens, dont expect john manning to be our answer to the inside immediately. he isnt ready and shouldnt be expected to be the man. the more he plays the more his shortcomings will be exposed.

The coaching staff should work about a week with Loe on how to set a legitimate screen for Pete's sake. Worse than a grade schooler