Does digger like anybody non BCS. Good thing he's not on the committee the little guy would never get in.
Agreed, I would have loved to get matched up with them in the BB somehow, I think St. Mary's runs them on Saturday by double digits.
Agree. Murray State shoots the ball well, but beyond that they do not match up with SMC. The Gaels in a romp.
ODU falls 2 games back of a 3-way tie for first in the CAA with a 11-4 conference record after losing at home to VCU 68-64. Drexel, G Mason and VCU share first place with 13-2 records.
Saint Marys took a punch to the chin. Gonzaga finished them off strong the other night. Pretty good game overall. They won't lose many more.
Bruce Weber's Illinois squad was totally destroyed by a Nebraska squad that is horrible (11-13, 3-10 in the Big Ten, headed into the game with 4 straight losses) Illinois led by 8 at 24-16 with 7:30 left in the first half, Nebraska closed the half on a 17-2 run, to lead 33-26, then opened up with a 16-2 run to start the 2nd half and kept going until it was 66-36, that's right, Nebraska (296th best D1 offense) went on a 50-12 run against Illinois (86th best defense in D1), the final score was 80-57. Will be interesting to see if a Valley school makes a run at Weber when he gets fired (SIU most likely, Drake or Illinois State slight chances, but doubtful)
Give me another plate of crow over here. Props to Murray State. I did not see the game, only the score. No matter what happened, the score tells the story. M State should get a decent spot in the NCAA tournament, and perhaps they are a better team than I realized.
Murray State starts 3 guards and 2 6'7" forwards and really only plays 7 guys...BUT they are athletic, play hard and have a great player in Canaan. SM shot just 2-14 from three and only 37% from the floor...the big center that killed us only had 4pts against their 6'7" frontline. Murray was 9-17 from three.
Even though SMC lost to M. State by a big margin, I would take number 4 (Dellavedova) at guard and their freshman center (Walden) all day everyday. I know the two "bigs" for San Diego State are actually bigs at 6' 7" and around 245. The two for Murray State are 215 and 230. SMSU won a lot of games when Stuckey played center for the Bears at around 6" 5" (he was listed at 6" 6"). Mind set or attitude is just as important as size. But again, it is not either or, it is both (size and mind set). How many teams will be playing and winning one or two games this year in the NCAA with 6" 7" centers? Maybe one here and there, and then they lose. Look at UNI when they made their run, MSU when the team played in the Sweet 16, and either WSU or CU this year. There is a reason most BCS schools have balanced teams with quickness and size and good shooting. It is not either or, it is all. MU starts four guards this year and basically plays seven guys. Look at the incoming class for next year. They have four guys 6" 9' or bigger, and not just height either, they have bulk. Is there anyone who would disagree that almost any team at the D-1 level would like to have a center or two with size and athletic ability? I still think SMC has an awesome team. Along with Gonzaga they have not been playing as well recently as they were a few weeks ago. They have all of the building blocks to be a very good basketball team and beat a lot of quality teams. I have already said M. State deserves some respect and they are probably a better team than I gave them credit. But if they played in the MVC or if they had to play SMC and Gonzaga and some others in pretty strong mid major leagues their record might be a little different. I agree if a team has a superstar player and a team full of good players they can win a lot of games. When Evangel had Leon Neal and Drury had Jerry Alexander they won most of their games. When Garland played for SMSU there were not a lot of losses. A star player is a difference maker at any level. If you could ask coach Lusk if he could have a talented 6' 10" 250 center or a 6' 7" 225 center, what do you think his answer would be, seriously? The question is not would you take a slow lumbering stiff at 6' 10" over a quick 6' 7" 225 baller. I was totally wrong on the Murray State and SMC game (one game), but not on the value and benefit of having a balanced roster in terms of size and experience (class) with quickness and skill and toughness. The question is not "can a smaller team" win against a bigger team? The answer to that question is "yes", but not most of the time assuming both teams have talent and good coaching. But as much as I want to see MSU have a great team that can compete with anybody, and I say so often, I do not blame you for reminding me that Murray State with three guards and two 6' 7" forwards beat big old SMC. Thanks for putting up with me.
