Hello, thought I'd drop by and say hello before our teams meet up tomorrow night. I don't know much about your team, but I will give you a little info about the Dawgs though. We run a 3-gaurd motion offense and play strictly man defense. Our record is 11-2 I think (what a great fan I am I don't even know our record). The only opponent that we have in common that I know of is Vanderbilt, whom we beat on neutral court. Our only other "notable" wins are against UTEP and Wyoming. Our two losses came at Hawai (by 2), and at Arkansas Little Rock (that one hurt). Our offense works best when we are on top of our game defensively. We have been pretty good in transition so far this year. We try to make teams start their offense well beyond the 3 point arc by constantly putting pressure on the ball. The Saluki's have never been a prolific scoring team, but our defense usually makes up for it. Currently we are averaging in the mid 60's in ppg. Our best player both offensively and defensively is Darren Brooks. He was both offensive and defensive player of the year last year in the MVC. You may laugh when you see him play because he is not super quick or athletic, but he is a stat stuffer. Last year he led the team in points, assists, steals, and rebounds. He is a text book slasher and deceptively quick. He shows no emotion, he just plays. Our gaurds are our strength because all of them could start. Our frontcourt has been suspect at times, but they are improving every game. The big guy to watch is Randal Falker (6'7, 225). He is a redshirt freshman who has already exceeded excpectations. He comes off the bench, but is easily our best big man. If your team plays any zone and your coach saw our latest game tape, I would be looking for you to play zone the whole game. We struggled very hard against Drake's zone even though we won. Anyway, I could go on and on. If you don't mind, how about a little inside info on your team. Good luck tomorrow.

To be honest, there is only 1 name you need to know: Tiras Wade. He's a transfer from East Tennessee State and is our best player. We had our best player go down with a fractured leg about 4 weeks ago (Orien Green), so Tiras has been our go to guy. He plays hard every play. Also, Dwayne Mitchell is an explosive fast break player. He's a transfer from Auburn and in case you missed it, you can catch him on ESPN's Play of the Day. I can't find the clip on the athletic website anymore, but if you'd like to view it, let me know. It's a pretty sweet alleyoop.

Our season has been up and down. We have a new head coach, not really new, but its his first year. He's been an assistant with the program for 9 years, so he knows the program better than anyone else. We played in an in-state tourney to start the year, beating LA Tech and losing to LSwho. We then beat Rice, which is ranked in the top 25 in the RPI right now. We also got blown out by Kansas (same team O Green got hurt in) and had NC State on the ropes, only to lose by 6. This team is a close knit group. They tend to play up to the competition, but down to their opponent. So for this week, I expect them to play up to the competition as you guys have a solid program there.

Anyway, good luck tomorrow night. I will be heckling the crap out of your players and coach, but after the game, we do wish them well on their ride home and for the season (hey we need help with the RPI for seeding in the Big Dance). Feel free to come back often and chat with us. This board is fairly new and I'm trying to get others to come over to the good side.

GEAUX CAJUNS!!!

Do you guys play much zone? Seriously, that is our achiles heel right now. We never play it, so when they use it in practice it's not like seeing a real zone. We haven't proven ourselfs on the road yet. The only true road win we have so far is against Southeast Missouri, but there were just as many Saluki fans there as Semo fans. Don't get me wrong, I think our team has a legitimate shot, they just haven't played with the intensity Saluki fans have been used to seeing. If you guys take care of the ball, I doubt our shooting will be able to carry us, but you never know. All of us in Saluki nation are looking at this game to see just what kind of team we have. Oh, and I would like to see that high-light link if you can post it.

Oh yea, feel free to stop by http://www.salukitalk.net anytime. Most of us are civil folk and love to hear opposing teams point of view.

What's your email address? I have the video file on my computer at home, so I can attach it to an email and send it to you.

The play happened during our semifinal game against Middle Tennessee in last year's Sun Belt Tournament (which we won ). It's an alleyoop from PG Orien Green (who is hurt now) to Dwayne Mitchell. The man got some ups on that one.

Saluki, you guys have an amazing team. It's been a while since we have lost a home game and you guys almost did what some teams have rarely done. You guys have nothing to hang head your heads about. Keep em up, SIU will be a force come tourney time.

A lot of your fans are disappointed, but we may be the best 6-6 team in the country because of the schedule we played and the injuries that have hurt us along the way.

Good luck to you guys the rest of the way. We need the RPI help! :D

This team can play with anyone on a good night like tonight when we beat SIU and they beat Vanderbilt, but we couldn't beat Vanderbilt. This team has a lot of heart but doesn't play consistent. I hope we can start to play good basketball all the time. I hope when Greene gets back he'll help stablize this team.