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Post by Blackbird on Dec 15, 2015 15:30:39 GMT -5
If we took Cumberland, Daniels, Hill-Mais, Olujobi, and Brechting and gave them their own team with walk-ons as backups, do you think they could get to 6th place in the conference pretty easily?
(In fairness, Cleveland State had that nightmare offseason with high-major senior defections that would take any team a year to recover from, and Northern Kentucky still has a few players they recruited before starting transition to D1. The other three get no sympathy.)
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Post by Chuck A on Dec 15, 2015 16:17:00 GMT -5
We don't need any sympathy. Yeah we've played like crap and are the rpi anchor again this season. But try coming in with 8 new players, a new system and then starting 4 freshmen and a sophomore! They're gonna take their lumps but are going to grow up fast doing so. The talent on this team is better than at any time since the 2004 Tourney team. They just aren't mature yet. By HL Tourney time, the Flames will be a different team. Not saying they're going to steamroll through, but they will be a much better team. It's a process.
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Post by Grizzfan1 on Dec 15, 2015 16:48:39 GMT -5
We don't need any sympathy. Yeah we've played like crap and are the rpi anchor again this season. But try coming in with 8 new players, a new system and then starting 4 freshmen and a sophomore! They're gonna take their lumps but are going to grow up fast doing so. The talent on this team is better than at any time since the 2004 Tourney team. They just aren't mature yet. By HL Tourney time, the Flames will be a different team. Not saying they're going to steamroll through, but they will be a much better team. It's a process. I will say this. At least you guys care about hoops. It may take a little time but you guys will be back in the thick of things in time. YSU I have no sympathy for because they CLEARLY do not care about hoops.
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Post by Blackbird on Dec 15, 2015 16:55:14 GMT -5
But try coming in with 8 new players, a new system and then starting 4 freshmen and a sophomore! You know, i think i spoke out of ignorance before. I had no idea UIC had that much turnover. I do know how much we struggled last November with 7 new players even with three returning starters, so i think we can all completely understand where you're coming from.
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Post by arsenal926 on Dec 15, 2015 17:20:26 GMT -5
Aside from YSU and maybe Wright State all the bottom half teams have legitimate reasons for struggling.
CSU- transfers( though at this point it's a pattern not an exception) NKU- still transitioning to D1 UIC- new coach and complete roster overhaul
Wright State needs to figure out what they want to do with Donlon. They're clearly trending in the wrong direction and don't seem to have much upside this year.
YSU- you probably should have fired your coach 3 years ago.
It's just unfortunate that the league has so many down teams in the same year.
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Post by justducky on Dec 15, 2015 20:53:47 GMT -5
Aside from YSU and maybe Wright State all the bottom half teams have legitimate reasons for struggling. CSU- transfers( though at this point it's a pattern not an exception) NKU- still transitioning to D1 UIC- new coach and complete roster overhaul Wright State needs to figure out what they want to do with Donlon. They're clearly trending in the wrong direction and don't seem to have much upside this year. YSU- you probably should have fired your coach 3 years ago. It's just unfortunate that the league has so many down teams in the same year. All of these down programs have forced me to focus predominately on the top half and the trio of Valpo, UWM and Oakland could be the HL's best since 2010-11. At the end of that HL regular season Butler had 5 conference losses (on its way to their second NCAA title game) and an RPI of about 40. At the same moment CSU was around 48, Valpo 72 and UWM was in the 90 range. I know some of you question VU's at-large worthiness but I doubt that many would question their current top 50 status. My preseason opinion was that Oakland could finish in the 60 to 85 RPI slot and UWM could slip in at 90 as well. The recent play by Detroit now has me wondering if I might have totally overlooked them! Anyway your performance at Toledo was impressive and more in line with what I expected at Southern Illinois and Colorado St. Give em hell at Washington (VU won a CBI game there in 2008 with a weaker team than you have now), at Virginia and against MSU. In the excitement try not to forget about Chicago St.
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Post by Chuck A on Dec 15, 2015 21:00:46 GMT -5
That is the unfortunate part...so many teams down at one time. But in time, I do believe this league will be a top ten league again. NKU has a couple of 3-star players coming in next season. I've seen them play a few times and they are well coached. Like us, they haven't beaten a D1 team, but they don't get rattled. UIC has an ESPN 4-star recruit coming in (K.J. Santos) This season we have 3 3-star players. It's taking some time, but there is some progress. UIC & NKU will probably be middle-of-the-pack teams next season.
You guys are also right about YSU. They are a football school through and through with hoops being an afterthought. They either need to infuse the program with more money or move to another league (OVC, A-SUN, SoCon).
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Post by ougradbob on Dec 16, 2015 8:47:44 GMT -5
Aside from YSU and maybe Wright State all the bottom half teams have legitimate reasons for struggling. CSU- transfers( though at this point it's a pattern not an exception) NKU- still transitioning to D1 UIC- new coach and complete roster overhaul Wright State needs to figure out what they want to do with Donlon. They're clearly trending in the wrong direction and don't seem to have much upside this year. YSU- you probably should have fired your coach 3 years ago. It's just unfortunate that the league has so many down teams in the same year. All of these down programs have forced me to focus predominately on the top half and the trio of Valpo, UWM and Oakland could be the HL's best since 2010-11. At the end of that HL regular season Butler had 5 conference losses (on its way to their second NCAA title game) and an RPI of about 40. At the same moment CSU was around 48, Valpo 72 and UWM was in the 90 range. I know some of you question VU's at-large worthiness but I doubt that many would question their current top 50 status. My preseason opinion was that Oakland could finish in the 60 to 85 RPI slot and UWM could slip in at 90 as well. The recent play by Detroit now has me wondering if I might have totally overlooked them! Anyway your performance at Toledo was impressive and more in line with what I expected at Southern Illinois and Colorado St. Give em hell at Washington (VU won a CBI game there in 2008 with a weaker team than you have now), at Virginia and against MSU. In the excitement try not to forget about Chicago St. I wouldn't leave Detroit out -- totally different team with Paris Bass back in the mix. Detroit RPI is currently at 43 - 1 thing I will never understand is RPI
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Post by Blackbird on Dec 16, 2015 12:48:06 GMT -5
I wouldn't leave Detroit out -- totally different team with Paris Bass back in the mix. Detroit RPI is currently at 43 - 1 thing I will never understand is RPI The biggest problem with RPI is that it needs a ton of data to be reliable. I'd guess it's pretty good once everybody has played around 20 games. 10 games, not so much. Of course, that doesn't stop all these websites from displaying their calculations all season long, causing weird things like us being #1 for nearly a week in November, Detroit being at 43, and the ever-popular "can't win for losing" effect where a team can see their RPI rocket upward or downward based on just a couple weak or strong opponents (e.g. our RPI plummeted as we went 4-0 against the Alcorn States and the Binghamtons of the world, but will probably be below 100 by the end of December even if we lose all three games to UW, UVA, and MSU). I personally don't really pay much attention to RPI ] until mid-to-late January because its completely unstable and pretty unreliable until then.
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Post by Germane on Dec 17, 2015 11:36:58 GMT -5
At least Cleveland State broke their losing streak by beating Loyola last night.
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