ORU Bracketology and rankings for 2023

[Keenan Henderson]

Their is a lot to like about the article.  One thing that jumped out was when they said that ORU has been able to keep most of their players from the Sweet 16 (of course besides KO).  St. Peter, who just made the Elite 8 as a 15 seed, lost most of their lineup and coaching staff.  So they are basically rebuilding.

Intersting notes: Connor (they called him Patrick Vanover) and DJ will make a solid shot blocking combo in the frontcourt.  I kind of forgot that DJ lead the league in blocked shots for most of last season, Grant Nelson of NDSU passed him up by a few percentage points at the very end of they year.  The author called ORU dire defense.  That was funny but pretty much sums it up!

[theeagleman5]

DIRE defense?.....closer to non-existant.....so one would think ORU can't possibly be worse on D in 2022-23?.....can we?..........needless to say that playing D is all about desire and working at it.....seems to TheEagleman that if a player prefers not to play D then he shouldn't be on the floor......

[Old Titan]

 

Max's weight training continues to impress:  "SUN'S OUT | GUNS OUT"  lol

 

 

[theeagleman5]

Geez.....Max starting to look more like Obi Emegano......very impressive....

[Old Titan]

 

[Keenan Henderson]

ORU is ranked 99 on the top 144 college basketball team list, ahead of: NC State, Louisville, and Wichita State to name a few. Go Golden Eagles!

 

 

 

[Old Titan]

1 hour ago, Keenan Henderson said:

ORU is ranked 99 on the top 144 college basketball team list, ahead of: NC State, Louisville, and Wichita State to name a few. Go Golden Eagles!

 

 

 

A #14 Seed in their bracketology...

Mid Major Madness Top 144: #99 Oral Roberts

[ORUalum]

 

[Keenan Henderson]

This article brings out an interesting stat: ORU was 356 out of 358 teams in assist percentage.  We talk a lot about the struggles with defense but what about sharing the basketball?  The Eagles rely so much on three-point shooting and Max/McBride's drives to the basket.  Hopefully the guards will share the basketball more this year with Lufile and Connor.  McBride averaged less then two assists last year and should be able to improve on those stats.  

So, the author thinks DJ Weaver is the X factor to next season's team.  Interesting choice.  Personally, I think it is Lufile or Connor because ORU needs that inside presence to go with its strong guard play.

[ORob2]

17 minutes ago, Keenan Henderson said:

So, the author thinks DJ Weaver is the X factor to next season's team.  Interesting choice.  Personally, I think it is Lufile or Connor because ORU needs that inside presence to go with its strong guard play.

He also thinks that Connor will be the 9th(!) man off the bench... Seems unlikely to me

[Old Titan]

 

[Old Titan]

[Old Titan]

 

[Keenan Henderson]

Classic line in the beginning of the podcast: this league really knows how to put the biscuit in the basket!  Yes, cheesy but still funny

[Old Titan]

Utter waste of time listening to Greg Peterson simply speed-read ORU's stats from last season while mangling everyone's name on the roster.

Typical perspective of every so-called Summit League "expert" from up in that region (Peteron graduated from Wisconsin-Oshkosh) - "Yeah, ORU looks good on paper and SDSU lost two generational players, but let's talk about the Jackrabbits and St. Thomas!"

The Great White North, indeed.

Bottom line:  he begrudgingly picks ORU second in the league behnd SDSU, with this brilliant deep-dive as to why:  "It doesn't matter who plays for SDSU, they're always on top."

We'll see... #smh
 

[ORUTerry]

Agree with OT's assessment - that was brutal. He does love himself some Dakota schools - plus St. Thomas.

His order or projected Summit League finish:

 

SDSU

ORU

SD

Denver

NDSU

St. Thomas

WIU

UMKC

ND

Omaha

 

 

 

[eagle88]

With the talent and firepower we will have on the court this season it might be good to play from behind. We need our guys to play with a passion and stay unified and humble!

[Old Titan]

12 minutes ago, ORUTerry said:

Agree with OT's assessment - that was brutal. He does love himself some Dakota schools - plus St. Thomas.

His order or projected Summit League finish:

SDSU

ORU

SD

Denver

NDSU

St. Thomas

WIU

UMKC

ND

Omaha

Bunch of homers.

Look, they're right when it comes to ORU's defense and SDSU's dominance last year, but asuming nothing will change for either team, while simplying annointing SDSU when they have obvious holes to fill themselves, smacks of lazy fanboy fantasizing.