Blue Ribbon Predictions

[ORUTerry]

Darrenj,

Have you seen the guys play? Specifically the new players. The rest of us are just going off what we have heard others (coaches, etc) say about these players. Do we have guys that can hit an open jump shot? How about three pointers? I know we are counting on Morrison and Stokes, but it would be nice to have some of the other guys (new or returning) contribute some jump shots. More is better than a few.

[darrenj]

Terry,

I think you will see guys take better shots this year with the better point guard play. Jarvis had to do way too much last year and tried to do too much also. Much better balance overall on the team.

[Old Titan]

Our road woes are in the past (thankfully). Our first road trip is IUPUI/WIU. We could win the WIU game, which would be nice to get the monkey off our back right away. If not our next road trip is SUU/UMKC and we could and probably should win both of those. Then it's a trip to Fargo on a Friday, a game 2 hours straight north that we could very well win and then the next road trip is Centenary/ORU. Of the first 6 conference road games we could realistically win 5. I'd settle for 3 and that's probably more realistic. But that's still 3 more than the past two years. Progress!

How are your "road woes in the past"?? Just because you wish it were so?

You'll be lucky to go .500 in those first six on the road, and 2-4 is more likely: UMKC and Centenary are the only ones where you might be considered a "favorite" (despite the fact you lost to bad teams at both places last season), WIU is a rough trip & a rotten place to play and will be improved this year under Molinari, while IUPUI, ORU, and NDSU simply don't lose that many games at home.

[ron]

I know that I'm a little late weighing in on this one but this is the way I think it goes down:

1. ORU: I'm a homer and I believe in the recruiting that Coach Sutton has done at the guard and centre/post positions. The people playing for the first time this year are generally not fresh out of high school and while there are certainly adjustments, we are predominantly going prep school/junior college to NCAA 1 here. Coach Sutton has of late been able to pull the proverbial rabbit out of a hat virtually every year. The man is a magician. I think he'll do it again this year. Sutton will find a way to win the conference regular season and tournament, but will have a worse non-con record coming into the conference part of the schedule than Oakland.

2. Oakland: Everybody knows about them and I am looking forward to hearing about their wins against tough non-con foes. Too bad they won't get many fans into their building to watch them slaughter Podunk U. In any case, they will have a winning record come into conference play.

3. South Dakota State: SDSU will beat some teams this year. I think they could finish third with the best team that they will be able to field for a while given returning players and new recruits. Next year probably won't be as good given the time the new recruits need to ripen so they are going to make the best of their "NDSU opportunity".

4. IUPUI: Socks on or off, I don't think Ron will be able to guide his squad to a higher placing.

1-4. I love the potential for non-con upsets out of the top of the Summit. I look forward to doing better here than at any other time in the recent past (wishful thinking - I don't know, but I will be on the edge of my seat). Any gains in terms of helping our rpi in this department will probably be wiped out by how badly Centenary does this season. Too bad.

5-9. Throw the dice, draw a card, whatever. I don't think NDSU will be much of a challenge this year and everyone else . . . I'm not worried about it.

10. Centenary

[SDSUJacks]

The road woes are in the past b/c.........they happened in the past. This is a new year and a new team. We will for sure snap the road losing streak, putting it squarely in the past.

I don't think a team would be "lucky" to win 3 out of 6 against IUPUI, WIU, SUU, UMKC, NDSU and Centenary. I think we're better than Centenary, UMKC and even probably SUU and WIU on the road.....the NDSU game is a rivalry game and we have plenty of experience making the short trip up to Fargo (Nagy is 16-14 vs the Bison)....we're probably in over our heads playing IUPUI in front of 500 in the 18,000 seat Canseco Fieldhouse (they were a disapointing 8-5 at home last year but 2-0 in Canseco). Realistically I think we beat UMKC, Centenary and probably SUU and lose to the others. But with a week off before the NDSU game I wouldn't rule us out of that one. The only conference games where we are really big underdogs (IMO) the entire year on the road are Oakland, IUPUI and ORU. It wouldn't be any big surprise to win any of the other conference road games.

[SDSUJacks]

On Saturday NDSU lost G Freddy Coleman for the remainder of the season. Coleman logged 10 minutes a game last year (not alot of available minutes in that backcourt) and was probably going to be a starter this year.

A kid we (SDSU) were looking to rely heavily upon (possibly and probably even to start at some point), 6'7 true frosh Tony Fiegen, recently had hernia surgery and is going to be out 4-6 weeks. It's not known now at this point if he is going to redshirt or not. I think he'll play.

Another SDSU player, 6'11 Anthony Davis, was recently forced to end his basketball career without ever playing a game at SDSU (transfered in last year). He would have been a very, very big help on the blocks.

[FargoBison]

I just had to quote this.....

the NDSU game is a rivalry game and we have plenty of experience making the short trip up to Fargo (Nagy is 16-14 vs the Bison)

2005-2009

86-56 NDSU

86-69 NDSU

90-63 NDSU

96-74 NDSU

I guess you have experienced a lot of short trips up to Fargo and long bus rides back to Brookings. I know my Bison have question marks right now, but I don't know what SDSU has done to act like you don't have just as many. I'll repeat this...Is it a good thing or a bad thing to return everyone from a team that lost 20 games and couldn't win one conference road game?

I have also been reworking my Summit Predictions...

1.Oakland

2.ORU

3.SDSU

4.NDSU

5.IUPUI

6.IPFW

7.WIU

8.SUU

9.UMKC

10.Centenary

[SDSUJacks]

I'm not going to talk SDSU-NDSU smack or bring up any of the numerous arrests of NDSU athletes in recent months or any of that on a ORU board. Like I said, Nagy is 16-14 against NDSU (and that record was much better before the now departed Woodside, Winkleman and company arrived - off the top of my head I'd say we went something like 1-6 against the Woody/Winks and crew the past 4 years w/ a tough OT loss last yr).

Yes, we bring back all of the kids that haven't won a conference road game in two years. They are all back b/c these last few years we've had to play w/ such a young team. Heck, we still only will have 2 contributing seniors on this years team. As you can see I'm not on here saying we're going to whip the rest of the league. But it's going to be nice to finally have some junior and senior leadership....to finally have some depth....for us to actually be the veteran team on the court....to be able to have players play their true positions, etc.

SDSU deserves to take some crap for the road woes in the past two years. But in that time we have been pretty good at home. If some of that "pretty good" at home carries out to the road now that we have some verteran players then we're going to have a nice season. We'll see.....

[FargoBison]

I didn't really post any smack it was all factual. Maybe some of it was a stretch since our big three is gone, but I don't think Nagy's DII record against NDSU means much.

That said, I have always admired the optimism of SDSU fans, but you just might want to put up some results before talking too much. I don't want to see you guys looking like lakesbison.

[Old Titan]

I'm not going to talk SDSU-NDSU smack or bring up any of the numerous arrests of NDSU athletes in recent months or any of that on a ORU board.

LOL - looks like you just did!

Reminds me of those hypocrites we've all met at church or work, who say "You know, I hate to gossip, BUT...."

[FargoBison]

LOL - looks like you just did!

Reminds me of those hypocrites we've all met at church or work, who say "You know, I hate to gossip, BUT...."

It is a bit more funny when you take in account that every player that has been arrested was a football player. Kind of an odd bit of info to drop into a discussion about Summit hoops.

To get this back on track, does anyone else think IUPUI is over hyped a bit in some of these rankings? Is it just me or did that team underachieve last year?

[Old Titan]

It is a bit more funny when you take in account that every player that has been arrested was a football player. Kind of an odd bit of info to drop into a discussion about Summit hoops.

To get this back on track, does anyone else think IUPUI is over hyped a bit in some of these rankings? Is it just me or did that team underachieve last year?

IUPUI had the same problem we did last season: their shooting guard (Patterson) was forced to play point.

The difference between 2nd and 3rd place for ORU and IUPUI will be whoever gets the better point guard play.

Both will finish above SDSU thanks to their athleticism in the front court and overall team defense.

[SDSUJacks]

I didn't really post any smack it was all factual. Maybe some of it was a stretch since our big three is gone, but I don't think Nagy's DII record against NDSU means much.

That said, I have always admired the optimism of SDSU fans, but you just might want to put up some results before talking too much. I don't want to see you guys looking like lakesbison.

I thought the "alot of long rides back to Brookings" comment was a little smackish, but no bigee.

And there aren't many SDSU fans talking too much. I came on this board predicting us to finish 4th (very reasonable) and hoping we go close to .500 on the road. I think almost every SDSU fan is on board w/ that line of thinking.

[SDSUJacks]

LOL - looks like you just did!

Reminds me of those hypocrites we've all met at church or work, who say "You know, I hate to gossip, BUT...."

I guess you didn't get my attempt at humor. That's my fault.

It's kind of like saying, I'm not one to say I told you so, but I told you so...or....I'm not one to brag, but since we're on the subject....

[SDSUJacks]

I didn't really post any smack it was all factual. Maybe some of it was a stretch since our big three is gone, but I don't think Nagy's DII record against NDSU means much.

Would you also then say that all those National Championships you won in football in D2 don't mean much?

Coming down for the Dakota Marker game in a few weeks or watching it on TV? The Jacks have looked mighty tough so far...not allowing a TD or 100 yards offense yet.

[ORUTerry]

We are only about 5 weeks from getting a look at teams and their capabilities. Even then, it will take a while for lineups & players to settle into a groove. ORU has lots of question marks but Sutton has a track record of molding collections of players into winning teams.

Oakland's talent is a given - but their track record when picked high in the conference is not great. Hard to think they won't be strong though.

IUPUI has talent and athleticism.... they need a floor general and strong rebounding, as well as defensive intensity.

SDSU has a nice collection of players and if they play well as a unit can be a nice team. Not real athletic but can shoot the ball well at times. Lots of room for growth with a young squad that returns intact.

NDSU is a mystery as they re-load after losing four starters - three of whom were big contributors. They will have to find a new identity and learn to live without their stars - at least until the newcomers find their court legs.

WIU is a mystery to me. They have good coaching and in the past, they had relatively decent players. They have not been able to make things work. Maybe this year they make progress....

[FargoBison]

Here are my thoughts....

Oakland- Returns almost everyone, should be a great offensive team, but defense wins championships. Oakland can and probably will cruise to a regular season title but if they don't learn how to play defense every night it might come to haunt them in March.

ORU- Should be athletic, should be solid defensively, need a pg and for Morrison/Ford to step up a bit. I think ORU is the only team that could challenge Oakland for the regular season title if everything comes together right.

SDSU- kind of lack athleticism but solid shooters, defensively are a bit soft(very much so on the road), if they can find some poise they could be dangerous(especially in Sioux Falls).

IUPUI- Great athletes, decent big in Glenn, need a point guard. Last year they seemed like a bunch of athletes with no leader, somebody will need to fill that role. They will miss Patterson.

NDSU- Tveidt returns, the Bison will have a lot of experience but who knows how those players will handle a starting role, big test for Saul Phillips and his staff as the program transitions from the redshirt class of 2004. A few players might even play right away, which would be a first since 2004.

IPFW- Fife just can't seem to get any traction and I didn't see anything from last year to expect a big turnaround.

WIU- I like their coach a lot but he still has a lot of work to do, especially since their best player David DuBois graduated.

SUU- With only five players on their current roster they are the biggest unkown in the conference. I am still wondering why half of their team just decided to transfer, I know their football team had a lot of turnover, but that can't be normal or good for a basketball team.

UMKC- Brutal, but thankfully for the Roos there is Centenary.

Centenary- It will be ugly this year and I don't even want to think about where their teams will be at in their final year of Summit League play.

[theeagleman5]

TheEagleman can't wait to see us beat SDSU twice this season and maybe even 3 times if we face them in the tournament....the Jacks have a serious problem....too many white guys......