SIU NOT one of the best teams in the country

[DoctorB]

(this is a re-post from another thread but I am interested in others' opinions about SIU--not flames or smack, but actual, honest evaluations. If there are any honest, semi-objective SIU fans, please comments. if you are just another flamer, please go home)

SIU is a solid team, and perhaps a tournament team, and my hat's off to them for a solid victory. But they are not one of the best teams in the country, as one poster put it, and as many SIU fans seem to think. I already had this argument the other day, on the long drive back, so I have been thinking about it.

They may sneak into the top 25 at some point this year, but in my opinion, there are a lot of teams that can beat SIU, especially on neutral or home courts.

On a good day, we might even be one of those teams, but we were certainly not on Saturday. It was fair and square; some said the refs affected the game but in my view that is just not accurate. They beat us, and are better than us right now. We were especially pathetic on the boards, and were exposed by athletic guys beating us for rebounds and actually making free throws. (ps: I was surprised to see in the stats later that we shot a better field percentage.)

I just do not want to exaggerate how good they are.

In addition, this actually makes our loss even more painful--much more painful than the Texas A&M game, which I would actually judge to be "one of the best teams in the country." Texas A&M would whoop on SIU, in my opinion.

PSS--this is not meant to be a sour grapes post. But I am annoyed by the smack on here, and the many posters from SIU who are deluded about their team's prowess, and the prowess of the MVC. Ranking the MVC as highly as some have put it (above the Big Ten or Big East, for example) is really bad judgment, in my opinion.

SIU would be in very, very big trouble against a top 10 team, home or on the road. (so would we, at the moment) -- I am thinking Florida or UNC, for instance.

[UIalum]

Yes I do think that SIU will be a tourny team this year. They have the same team as their last years tourny team but only 1 year more experienced. They have two starting seniors instead of zero from last year. The problem is a lack of offense at times, which shows every game. SIU has a kid by the name of Bone who ironically has a broken bone in his foot. He is a pure shooter much like your Lisch. If he were to get healthy in the middle of the season and be able to make an impact SIU has a legit shot against anyone. SIU's defense showed against SLU which is why they had so many turnovers, missed bunnies, and missed free throws. No one on here has given them any credit for it either. To anyone claiming the refs made an impact then they must have not watched the game.... 10 minutes into the second half SIU had 10 fouls to SLU's 4.

On the other hand I thought that SLU had a rather good team. I think that you guys were better than Arkansas who beat us earlier on a neutral floor. Good luck with UNC we will be behind you

[aj_arete]

Didn't he say that he thought SIUC would go deep in the tournament? Does that mean 1 and done or do you think he was implying that they could be a Sweet 16 team?

Look at what Wichita State did to Syracuse, a top 20 team, ON THE ROAD. We'll see during MVC conference play, but I'll be surprised if Wichita State lapped the field. They might win it, but SIUC could, too.

I really think the MVC is underrated and they never get to prove it because most coaches, like Gary Williams, avoid them at all costs. Now after this year, I think the MVC will fall off, but not this year.

[kshoe]

Its a common sense thing to do because:

- if they lose then they lost to a real good team

- if they win then they beat a real good team

Penders and Lowery did for on the Bills. Brad has said very nice things about A&M, Houston, Loyola and SIU. Lou Holtz used to say it about every team he ever played while at ND. Maybe they mean it, maybe they don't but an opposing coach talking about his opponent, before or after the game, needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

I agree that the Valley is a very good conference right now. I was blasted on this board just a week ago for saying such things. This weekend only proves how good it really is. That being said i don't know how underated it is as it currently sits at 3rd in the RPI and even guys like Doug Gottlieb on CBS were talking about the Valley during halftime of the UNC-Carolina game. He said he considers Wichita St. a dark horse for the final four...and that was before they beat Syracuse.

[DoctorB]

maybe. . . . maybe, maybe.

Wichita may be a great team this year. Have not seen 'em yet. but I saw SIU with my own eyes 2 days ago, and they are not among the top teams right now, in my opinion.

anyway: what did Coach S. actually say? That they might go deep in the tourney?

Big deal. We might, also. That does not make us a top team. We might not, too. They might not, either -- probably won't, unless their injured guys are able to bring some shooting and penetration to the table.

[aj_arete]

without saying they're tourney-bound. However, I will check into what you said and monitor Brad's comments about future opponents. I guess I'll start with Western Illinois. I wonder how Brad will talk up that opponent.

By the way, I wonder how many opposing coaches that SLU was tourney bound in the past. I can't recall any in recent memory.

[kevinfootes]

Doc, SIU is certainly not Kentucky. However, they've been better than SLU for a few years now. They've been a top 50 team of late.

Despite Biondi's pledge, SLU has only been in the top 50 about 3 times in the last 40 years. Why would you make a post to take a shot at them?

I don't know who started what, but one of our regulars made a ridiculous post about how SIU sucked, etc. 2 or 3 days before the game. It looks to me like it's gone both ways and it's all really dumb.

[pompeytir]

Agree about the dumb smack talk, which was started (initiated) by a SLU fan (somewhere there is a village missing their idiot). After the loss to SIU, according to this board, SLU was dominated, needed to burn down the house, fire the coaches and quit the season. Either they were really outplayed by a better SIU team or they lost to a bad team. Personally, I think SIU is a damn good team and they have a chance to go far in the tournament (they shoot the 3ball and play defense like a whirling dervish). The whole smack that SIU is not a top team is bogus; who really is day in and day out in college basketball these days? (Kansas lost to Oral Roberts) With the way they play defense and play within themselves along with having an identity (hard nosed defensive team) they have a chance to beat any team in college basketball; as for where they are now, I have no doubt that they wouldn't lose by 30 points if they played A&M in College Station.

Listen to Brad's show, SLU still needs some work. 5-2 is where I had them with these loses...doesn't mean they are not going to be a tournament team.

[kshoe]

He talked about how their record is deceiving and that every game they lost was by 2 or fewer points and they could very easily be undefeated at this point. He talked up the Vashon kid there and basically said it will be a tough game. Of course he isn't going to predict an NCAA birth for them but he certainly talked them up.

[aj_arete]

Saying that Western Illinois might be a tough game is equivalent to opposing coaches saying that SLU is a NCAA-bound tourney team and SIU would go deep in the NCAA.

Give yourself a pat on the back...(sarcasm dripping)

[DoctorB]

Hello; I do not think my question was "smack" at all. It was a genuine, serious attempt at fairly objective basketball talk. (Maybe you were not thinking of me in using the term "smack")

I wrote in the first sentence:

SIU is a solid team, and perhaps a tournament team, and my hat's off to them for a solid victory. But they are not one of the best teams in the country,

I showed respect and I agree, they are a good team and think they are ahead of us at the moment. And MVC is better right now than the A10. These judgments do not require rocket science.

But I stand by the spriti of my post: by top team I am thinking top 10 or 15, final-4 type candidates, and I personally just do not see SIU in that category with the UCLAs, Floridas, Dukes or UNCs. Feel free to disagree but we are just disagreeing about what I would describe as levels of success and prestige.

and when I say "final-4 type candidates", spare me the list of darkhorses of recent days. Nobody in their right mind would choose SIU this week to make the Final 4, would they? Granted they might win a game, maybe even 2. But are you predicting them for the Sweet 16? I'm not.