CBS Sports has named 10 possible cinderella teams “you may be talking about during March Madness.” Ball State is one of them along with Middle Tennessee, Illinois State, Monmouth, Yale, St. Bonaventure, Iona, Montana State, Oakland, and Florida Gulf Coast.
Ball State and Western should both be good in the West.. I think Buffalo is probably the best in the East
(10-16-2017 03:53 PM)BullBoy Wrote: [ -> ]Ball State and Western should both be good in the West.. I think Buffalo is probably the best in the East
Need at least two more teams to join that group ... Ohio??? ... Toledo???... BG??? ...Eastern??? ... Kent State??? ...
Who you got.
Miami isn't in that group, but it feels good to have some optimism about basketball for once. Owens pulled in a great recruiting class considering the state of the program and how late of a hire he was, even if it probably won't pay off right away.
(10-16-2017 03:53 PM)BullBoy Wrote: [ -> ]Ball State and Western should both be good in the West.. I think Buffalo is probably the best in the East
(10-16-2017 05:04 PM)cleveland Wrote: [ -> ] (10-16-2017 03:53 PM)BullBoy Wrote: [ -> ]Ball State and Western should both be good in the West.. I think Buffalo is probably the best in the East
Need at least two more teams to join that group ... Ohio??? ... Toledo???... BG??? ...Eastern??? ... Kent State??? ...
Who you got.
I expect Kent State is be strong this year. We only graduated 2 guys who played a lot of minutes, Jimmy Hall and Deon Edwin. Edwin should be replaced by Des Ridenour and transfer Taishaun Johnson (12 ppg as a true freshman at South Alabama).
It's harder to replace a 1st team All-MAC, but to replace Jimmy Hall we signed JUCO players Jonathan Nwankwo (9.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg in JUCO, formerly signed with Minnesota and VCU) and Akiean Frederick (22 ppg at Sinclair in Div II NJCAA), plus I expect last year's freshman Danny Pippen and this year's recruit BJ Duling to step up.
Edwin had 13 ppg as a guard but his biggest contribution was on defense, where he has frequently assigned to defend a forward. With the extra depth at forward this year, that wouldn't be needed.
And I'd expect Jaylin Walker to be at least 2nd team All-MAC this year, and with all the turnover in the MAC, he might be 1st team.
Hard to envision Toledo doing that with few bigs and a roster of wing players
(10-17-2017 07:15 AM)indianasniff Wrote: [ -> ]Hard to envision Toledo doing that with few bigs and a roster of wing players
Not for me it isn't.
(10-17-2017 09:36 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote: [ -> ] (10-17-2017 07:15 AM)indianasniff Wrote: [ -> ]Hard to envision Toledo doing that with few bigs and a roster of wing players
Not for me it isn't.
Positionless basketball is the new thing ... Toledo ahead of the curve in the MAC???...
well Toledo does have a pretty good 6-11 guy, and the best wing players are in the 6-5 to 6-8 range. kent represented the league in the NCAAs last year with a squad that at times only had 1 guy over 6-2 on the floor. Make shots, play hard, be tough in crunch time. Size in today's game isn't that important
(10-17-2017 07:15 AM)indianasniff Wrote: [ -> ]Hard to envision Toledo doing that with few bigs and a roster of wing players
I say the same thing about Ball State... and recruiting for the next few years shows more wings. I really like the players that the Cards have, but would really value another couple bigs to provide rebounding and defensive presence. That all being said, I'm as optimistic about this team as I've been in a long while. Which, of course, means (much like this football season) that a couple players are prime for season ending injuries any time now... That would be so Ball State. Cards gotta card...