The much anticipated season is upon us. Here are the Valley games this week. How will we fare? A couple pretty tough ones for sure. How does everyone feel about their teams at this point?
FRI, NOV 13TH
Indiana St (0-0) vs Nebraska Kearny - 6:05pm CST
UNI (0-0) @ Denver (0-0) - 8:30pm CST
Bradley (0-0) @ BYU (0-0) - 8:30pm CST
SAT, NOV 14TH
Creighton (0-0) @ #21 Dayton (0-0) - 12pm CST
Drake (0-0) vs IUPUI (0-0) - 1:05pm CST
SIU (0-0) vs Tenn-Martin (0-0) - 7:05pm CST
Evansville (0-0) vs Oakland City - 7:05pm CST
**I would love to see the Valley go 7-0....but with Carter possibly out for Creighton I just can't. I'm gonna go with 5-2 with both Bradley and Creighton losing. Sure would be nice to get ONE of those two though.
Also, any of these on National or Regional TV?
Well, its definitely hard to pick CU to win on the road against a top 20 opponent at this point. Injuries to Carter, Millard, and Harriman sick with hogflu makes our post position even thinner than it was.
Not sure how we'll fare, it could get ugly if the Jays don't communicate better on defense and if we aren't hitting shots on offense. We have lots of guys who can score but we haven't developed a focus for team defense that might keep us in the game if we aren't hitting. While I'll never count the Jays out, it is going to be a tall order at this point.
Positives for the Jays so far:
Antoine Young, while he needs to get more vocal, he has been steady at PG so far and 0 turnovers in 2 exhibitions is a good sign. He has been scoring and distributing and we're hopeful he continues to develop.
Juco newcomers, Wayne Runnels and Daryll Ashford look to contribute early to the team. Both guys are still learning the system but they have shown ability. Wayne has been playing the 5 at 6'7"ish. He is very active and seems to have a knack to get the ball and finish inside. He makes decisive moves when he gets an entry pass and just has a high motor. We'll see what happens against bigger guys, but he battles and seems to have the mentality and athleticism to compete inside. We will need him. Daryll is a 6'4" wing who came in with a reputation as a slasher and defender. The first exhibition he hit 4 from long range which was a nice surprise, not sure if he will be a 40% shooter but nice to know he can knock some outside shots down. He is long and smooth. Coach has nicknamed him Sleepy because he looks sleepy and he plays with kind of a fluidness that almost makes it seem like slow motion. He runs the break well and could really help at the 3 position once he is more aclimated to the system. If Young, Stinnet, and Ashford are on the floor together, the Jays will have probably the most athletic backcourt they've had in ages. This being said both Wayne and Daryll are still learning and we'll have to see how they do against better competition.
P'Allen has been good so far (outside 4 TOs yesterday). He has been productive, exerting more effort rebounding and defending, and generally playing well without issues. I think most Jays fans are hopeful he has matured a bit more, but we are wary of how quickly that can change based on his track record.
Also offensively we have been unselfish so far with 47 assists on 69 baskets. That wasn't always the case last year. Hopefully it continues.
Needs improvement/weakenesses:
Communication and leadership, I think this is where Carter's injury will hurt the most. We need someone to step up here and fill Dotzler's role.
Korver was rumored to have made some giant strides in the offseason and has been starting, but he hasn't yet shown big things on the court. He has been more willing to pull the trigger than last year, but I think we are hoping from more out of him.
Witter has to cut down on the TOs.
Overall toughness and focus need to improve especially on defense. We aren't switching well on screens or getting back from the press. We've had some problems with dribble penetration. That could be big trouble against Dayton.
Our freshman are freshmen, they are likely to be 10-15 min/game. Both have talent but probably need to mature a bit to really contribute
Pretty much a sure thing that Harriman will miss the Dayton game with pig flu.
Of course, Millard and Carter are out so the Jays have Lawson, Runnels and frosh Wragge as bigs along with 6'9 walkon Matt Dorwart who actually played well the last game and hit 2 3's. Having to even discuss Dorwart shows what shape we're in.
Our chances aren't good against the Flyers but if the Jays shoot the shat out of it, who knows.
(11-12-2009 06:43 PM)LJay Wrote: [ -> ]Pretty much a sure thing that Harriman will miss the Dayton game with pig flu.
Of course, Millard and Carter are out so the Jays have Lawson, Runnels and frosh Wragge as bigs along with 6'9 walkon Matt Dorwart who actually played well the last game and hit 2 3's. Having to even discuss Dorwart shows what shape we're in.
Our chances aren't good against the Flyers but if the Jays shoot the shat out of it, who knows.
It may be posted somewhere, but is this one on TV?
I know what you mean about thin in the post. Gabe Blair has been battling the flu which leaves the Shox with Durley, Stutz and Ellis as far as big men go if Blair isn't better by the time Sunday hits. And the other bigs are freshman Jerome Hamilton (redshirting so cannot play) and walkon Mason Felter (academically inelidgible).
And although Hannah isn't a big man, he's the one guy that the Shox can least afford to be without...so hopefully he can play again soon!
Luckily the Shox don't have to start out on the road against a top 25 team though!
And did I read that Antoine Young suffered a minor injury this week?
(11-13-2009 04:27 PM)RoyalShock Wrote: [ -> ]And did I read that Antoine Young suffered a minor injury this week?
Yes you did. Not good news. I usually can get the breaking CU news on SN first.
Keep up the good work
That is sick.....everyone is going to have something but this is a bit much.
Dude's a balla'.....hope the injury has no long lasting issues. The Valley needs more Antoine Young's.
(11-13-2009 04:34 PM)WuDrWu Wrote: [ -> ]That is sick.....everyone is going to have something but this is a bit much.
Dude's a balla'.....hope the injury has no long lasting issues. The Valley needs more Antoine Young's.
Yep, Harriman now in the hospital. Hopefully all of them will be back in a couple weeks. Carter's injury wasn't that bad, but they want to be carefull. Gotta have him vs the Shocks
Shocks --any word onwhat the mix up was with Hannah ?
Seem like a really weird situation. Did he play in some charity bball tourney or something?
We need Bradley to beat BYU this weekend, well we need all MC teams to represent, but BU has the highest profie opponent besides Dayton.
I'm afraid the Jays have a tall task with the short bench getting shorter. Maybe P will channel Ben Walker and Woodfox combined? Maybe AY will do a little Johnny Mathies? Mybe K Law will channel Tolliver(the Jr/Sr version)?
A guy can dream cant he.
Let's get it on MVC!
It seems that the paperwork to certify Hannah's amateur status was never filed with the NCAA. The NCAA apparently didn't notice this last year when they cleared him to play. It is not known whether the paperwork oversight was finally noticed by the NCAA or by WSU.
The word is still out on Hannah. All was supposed to be known by Friday - and this is Friday evening, so that didn't happen.
The best assumption at this point is that there has been a ruling and it's being appealed. That requires the further assumption that WSU has the ruling and did not release it.
Jays played generally well today but missed a couple front ends of 1n1's with about 3 minutes left the first of which would have tied the game and that led to a rather poor frenetic snowballing finish of "chase the Flyers".
New guys are a HUGE talent upgrade and leave me very excited. The injuries didn't help but didn't hurt nearly as much as I would have thought.
This team has a chance to be pretty good.
(11-14-2009 07:04 PM)LJay Wrote: [ -> ]Jays played generally well today but missed a couple front ends of 1n1's with about 3 minutes left the first of which would have tied the game and that led to a rather poor frenetic snowballing finish of "chase the Flyers".
New guys are a HUGE talent upgrade and leave me very excited. The injuries didn't help but didn't hurt nearly as much as I would have thought.
This team has a chance to be pretty good.
I watched a VERY little online. I did think the Jays did better than I thought. Nice job...we still need to pick up some of these wins as a conference though. Still some good chances coming up!
As a side note: The Shox play on ESPNU at 3pm against Fairleigh Dickinson (part of the CBE Classic) if anyone is interested. Gonna be interesting to see how well we take care of the ball without Hannah in there.
I thought the Jays would not be ready for this game with their problems but did look better than expected. For the few who do not think they will be in the title chase at the end (and there are some who are doubtful), this will probably change their mind.
Unfortunately for the status of the Valley and the Bluejays chances of an at-large selection, it is still an expected loss. It's not a real bad negative but positives are needed. Doing well at the Old Spice is important for the Jays and Valley status.
I thought Creighton showed a lot by going up early. They have a ton of talent. Unfortunately, so did Dayton, and they seemed to be fresher toward the end. While still a loss, I wonder how much BCS favor they will get being short-handed and still being in the game. Doubt it, but still a nice thought.
What did you think of UNI's performance? Many seem to think a 6 point win on the road @ Denver isn't up to par for a team predicted by many to win Valley and returning 5 starters.
(11-15-2009 12:53 PM)Downtown Shocker Brown Wrote: [ -> ]What did you think of UNI's performance? Many seem to think a 6 point win on the road @ Denver isn't up to par for a team predicted by many to win Valley and returning 5 starters.
Well, from what I heard, our offense struggled a little bit and some of our guys were a little tired because of the high altitude. It was the first game of the year and it was on the road so I'm thinking that we were just getting the jitters out at a tough place to play. Not to mention that Denver shot like 50% from the field so that's another thing that we had to overcome. On the flip side, last year's UNI team pulled so many games out of their ass that this isn't anything new to me anyways.
Bulldogs lost 88-82 to IUPUI. Drake played without Josh Young, but got off to a very fast start. Ryan Wedel, playing his first game for DU, scored 16 points in the first 4 minutes of the game. DU led almost the entire game, but IUPUI hit 16-21 from the field in the 2nd half and finally passed the 'dogs with about 3 minutes left. IUPUI shot 67% from the field for the game and 59% from 3-pt range.
Three IUPUI players scored 83 of their 88 points, yet Phelps never made any defensive adjustments at all.
All in all, I was very impressed with DU's offense. With only three returning players from last season, they still managed 82 points, shooting above 50% from the field and 13-26 from 3-pt land. Newcomers scored 58 of the 82 points, and three of the newcomers scored in double figures. Wedel scored 23, Ben Simons 12 and Seth Van Deest 10.
DU will be a pretty potent offensive unit this season, but the defense is extremely poor right now.
WSU beat Fairleigh-Dickinson, 80-64. It could have been a very large margin of victory, but bench-clearing and getting minutes for newcomers started in the first half.
5 players had at least 10 points, led by Murry with 16. Starting lineup was:
Durley
Ellis
Hatch
Murry
Demetric Williams (true Fr)
Rebounding was also spread out with Kyles leading with 7. Murry had 7 assists.
Everybody eligible played, except for the 2 likely Fr red shirts. I think all the scholarship players got at least 10 minutes. The towel boy would have gotten some minutes if they would have had a uni for him.