What's up with the Valley - slow start??

Maybe it's just a fluke, and they're off to a slow start, or maybe the Valley is way worse that most thought.


There are a lot of bad losses and bad performances thus far, let's summarize...


BU - I don't think a lot of people expected BU to win at BYU, but we had a chance and maybe Taylor Brown would have made the difference. But we didn't play all that well and there were obvious parts of our game that needed improvement. Then we won vs. Idaho State, but again didn't defend well. Today will be another test, but at least to this point BU has no BAD losses.



Creighton - the Bluejays also don't have a bad loss, but they did miss a chance for a signature win at Dayton. Their only win over Florida A&M and their game today vs. UALR are not signature wins. You've got good games coming up Bluejays - get hot and win!


Drake - A couple early season games that should have been wins, are embarassing losses. IUPUI & Akron. Then a blowout loss against an Iowa State team that has been handled easy by several Valley teams the past couple years. Really no chances for a good win anywhere else until almost Christmas, unless you want to count Iowa. They're using the haggard old excuse of too many young players, but oddly, their top 9 guys in their playing rotation include a 5th year guy, FOUR 4th year guys, a 2nd year guy and 3 first year guys.


Evansville - The Aces had a chance yesterday against Butler, but now their only wins are SIUE and a D-II. they were 10 points down to Butler with 1:11 left and narrowed it to just 4 but the game wasn't really that close.It does sound like Butler got some breaks from the stripes - going to the FT line 44 times!!!!Butler made only 14 baskets in the game (14-50) but was 31-44 from the line.


ISU - not much chance of either a good win or even a loss of any kind with this schedule.They do have to visit Utah but not 'til they will be 9-0 and unchallenged.. AND thus far Utah looks bad..losing to Idaho and barely limping to a one pt. win over Utah State.Yesterday, playing lowly North Florida, another D-I wannabe, they still drew only 5K and played them mostly even except for 23 Osprey turnovers. The Redbirds allowed 49% shooting from the floor and 50% from the arc and only outrebounded the Ospreys by one, so someone PM me and tell me just what this game proves?Their schedule is killing their attendance but it's also killing their credibility. Oh, and one more time, someone try again to convince me that ISU's home attendance is reported as butts in the seats.They claimed 5000 but I still don't buy it, check out the pics of all the empty seats.


Indiana State - The Sycs have a few wins but beating Nebraska-Kearney & UWM doesn't impress. But perhaps the closest thing to a GOOD win so far in the entire valley is InSU's narrow 65-60 win at home vs. Colorado State (picked to finish next to [B]last [/B]in the MWC just barely ahead of Air Force who haven't beaten a DI and lost 70-46 to Northern Colorado.)


Missouri State - wow, headed into today's game vs. Eastern Mich., their wins over Auburn, Maryland Eastern Shore, and Citadel mean they're undefeated at least.But Auburn will be the worst team in the SEC and will end up with a 250 RPI, so unfortunately not much glory there.


Northern Iowa - sad story here - as these guys are the top rated Valley team by everyone, and so far they look weak.After strugging and barely beating Denver, they lost to a bad DePaul team then struggled again to barely beat East Carolina.Their stats after 3 games are revealing...-shooting 34.9% from 3-pt but allowing their opponents thus far to shoot 47.9%!-Yikes....they've got the best front line in the Valley with 7-1 Eglseder, Koch, O'Rear, etc and yet on the season so far they've been OUTREBOUNDED!-Their starting center Eglseder is hitting only 40% from the field and those are all layup attempts!!-their two "designated" 3-pt shooters, Moran & Dunham, are 9-34 from beyond the arc.-even against their soft early season opponents, their starters are accounting for 85% of everything...they're getting nothing from the bench.


SIU - two wins over cupcakes (D-II Indianapolis & Tenn-Martin) but now an apparent breakthrough...last night SIU beat UNLV! -- at least that's what their web page says...Check this link out...

http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/silu-m-baskbl-sched.html


It's their schedule page and it says...

"Nov. 21, 2009 at UNLV W, 78-69"



and in the popup box...

"at UNLV W 78-69"


But, the sad truth is...they DID NOT beat UNLV!!

Their web page is either lying or wishful thinking...They lost 78-69...they shot terribly (19% on 3's and only 1-13 in the 2nd half), and were badly outrebounded despite having a 7-footer starting at center and the 29th rated player in his class coming out of HS at starting PF!Those two guys combined accounted for 2 rebounds!Booker as a starter was 0-1, no rebounds, no blocks, no steals, no assists, and a couple fouls. he may have just played himself out of a starting spot...and Carlton Fay will start the next game!


Wichita State - 2-0 but they've beaten Fairleigh Dickinson & D-II Arkansas Monticello...they have a shot at a decent win Monday vs. Pitt...but Pitt is rebuilding and isn't the team they've been in past years.Pitt was almost upset on their home court by today's BU opponent Wofford.