1st Quarter of 2019-20 Season

[birdlife]

A few of my own thoughts along with some notes i took from other threads. you wont hurt my feelings if you disagree with something. i'm interested to see what everyone else has to say.

-not sure what to expect out of Fisher the rest of the way. my mail has yet to be delivered to my satisfaction.
-pleasantly surprised with the two freshmen Horne and Reeves; both on and off the ball. would LOVE to see what these two can develop into if they are here for 4 years.
-bruninga is still a question mark. another big body who can spread the floor on offense is always welcome. when he played he made a difference in some games, but his durability is still a concern. hoping for the best.
-copeland and boyd are going to carry the scoring load most nights. at first i thought boyd was just going to be a chucker, but he is hitting at a decent clip.
-rey is performing at about my expectations. would like to see his shooting percentage a little higher, but happy with his overall game this year.
-abdou is still leaving a lot to be desired. good energy when he's on the floor but not protecting the rim like i had hoped and not really scoring it much either. think he tweaked an ankle against UIS.
-hillsman is exceeding my expectations to this point. he's almost taking over chastains role. it would be nice to have two of those guys (healthy) the rest of the way.
-torres is the floor general this team needed last year. great addition that late in the off season, and he's hitting the 3 like he did before greggggggg.
-in the little we've seen of lijah and hank, i'm thinking they are definitely an upgrade to hein. i think you could plug either of those guys in for some minutes if we get into foul trouble.
-sissoko might be redshirting according to adunk. same with miller?
-happy with the new OC. things seem to be flowing more on offense than the past few years. could be personnel on the floor but i would guess its more Jones.
-some commitments were made over the last couple weeks which seem to be promising from what i can tell. thanks Belcher.
-Dan was unhappy with the crowd's performance recently. lets do better.

 

[Adunk33]

I think most will agree they are much happier with the product on the court than last year. As discussed all summer, the energy and effort level and desire to perform is there. Sure, it isn't there all of the time, but it is sure an upgrade of the 0 amount of craps given last year. Last season, we had 3 or 4 key guys who were more worried about playing for the name on the back of their jersey instead of the front. We've yet to see that this year.

The Belmont and Little Rock games were promising. Belmont has fallen off a bit, losing to Saint Louis (very good team) and Eastern Washington (not as good). Both losses were by 5 points- so they were right there before rebounding in a win over Middle Tennessee. Little Rock is 5-4 with competitive games against everyone with their most lopsided loss (16 points) to NC State. I think both wins will be good wins at the end of the year over the Sun Belt and OVC champs. Then when adversity hit in the UCF game- we needed two more buckets we didn't get. You can say whatever about the officials in this game-they were bad- but we didn't do our part to avoid them from having to blow a whistle.

I did not really get to see the Cincy game or track it much but it seemed it was a classic ISU game- hold the lead for most of it before being unable to finish it off. The WKU game was by far the worst overall performance of the season. The players seemed tired, maybe too much time in the hot St. Thomas sun. I think, in part, the team felt they played the best team in the tournament (Cincy and I still think Cincy will be the best team that was there by the end of the year)and that other teams would be easier. Not the case. Enter GCU- there is no reason we should've lost that game other than the tiredness thing I mentioned earlier. They didn't come ready to play and it showed. Losing three game in four days is tough because all of the emotions of losing are concentrated into a short time frame. On the other hand, the losses don't have to linger as much.

The UIS game was an exhibition, at least it felt like it. Very few set plays, a lot of motion, no pressure defense, a lot of Donnelly and Beard. However, Torres, Hillsman, and Reeves didn't come to play. Muller seems to have the luxury to actually be able to sit guys to make a point when he needs to, whereas in past years if he had to sit some of the starters/key reserves it'd be a loss to a D2 team. DJ had his best game, scoring 13 points in 23 minutes.

As far as the players, Copeland has easily been the most consistent player through the first seven games. At times, I have found myself thinking, "man, he shoots too much," but then see he is shooting 46% from the floor and 38% from three. Those numbers could definitely be better but it's a solid start. Same goes for Boyd shooting 44% and 43%, respectively. I like what I see from DJ and am excited to see him continue to develop. As far as Reeves, Muller has told him 1000+ times that defense is how you get on the court. I like him a lot, but as with a lot of freshmen, if the shots not falling, the head hangs and he has lapses. Fisher has struggled for sure, but he is trending up. Good to see him get to the line and make his shots vs UIS. Chastain is a great motor for this team. For the first few games, Hillsman played that role, Chastain seems to have taken it back over. Having Jaycee or Chas on the court at all times will do wonders for the category of, "having a player that does the dirty/intangible work." Two glue guys. Can you believe it? Abdou alters a lot of shots. He's 7 games into his college career. He'll improve. This board loves to make the Abdou vs David comp: David as a senior at Southern Utah: Has seen action in 3 games, averaging 10.7 minutes, 0 points, 1.7 rebounds, and a block. Abdou as a freshmen at ISU: played in 7 games, 14.7 minutes, 2.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks

For the coaches so far- night and day difference. Belcher can recruit. I look forward to seeing these guys come in next year. Jones is completely engaged as the OC/Assoc HC. He takes ownership and shows leadership on the sideline. When he lit up Boyd for a bad shot during the UIS game, I was shaking in my seat. Haha! One thing though, with Jones and Belcher being far better than their predecessor, where does Reese fit in? He coaches the bigs and had a big part in making Phil Fayne who he was, but he isn't as talkative as the other two. Not necessarily a bad thing- don't want too many cooks in the kitchen. Excited to see how he works with Abdou, Rey, Keith and Alston moving forward.

Miller is for sure redshirting. They announced it just before the start of the season. Sissoko is likely due to him not getting a look against UIS when everyone else did.

Apologies for the long post. I hope someone enjoyed it! :lol:

 

[jamminjamarsmiley]

-Dan was unhappy with the crowd's performance recently. lets do better.

Not Dan's job to critique the few paying fans who decide to watch his brand of basketball. The number is continuing to decrease, so he should personally thank anyone who shows up these days.

 

[jamminjamarsmiley]

I think most will agree they are much happier with the product on the court than last year. As discussed all summer, the energy and effort level and desire to perform is there. Sure, it isn't there all of the time, but it is sure an upgrade of the 0 amount of craps given last year. Last season, we had 3 or 4 key guys who were more worried about playing for the name on the back of their jersey instead of the front. We've yet to see that this year.

I know everyone has thrashed Fayne, Milik and Evans for last year, but I don't totally buy it. Fayne battled his ass off game in and game out, I havent seen a guy who plays harder on this current team. Did they suck, yes, did they give a crap - the only ppl who truly can tell you are those involved.

Lets not forget there is some carry over including this years top scorer (copeland), glue guy (chastain) and the only big (Iduwo). I would be careful making this widespread statement about giving 0 craps about last years team.

The Belmont and Little Rock games were promising. Belmont has fallen off a bit, losing to Saint Louis (very good team) and Eastern Washington (not as good). Both losses were by 5 points- so they were right there before rebounding in a win over Middle Tennessee. Little Rock is 5-4 with competitive games against everyone with their most lopsided loss (16 points) to NC State. I think both wins will be good wins at the end of the year over the Sun Belt and OVC champs. Then when adversity hit in the UCF game- we needed two more buckets we didn't get. You can say whatever about the officials in this game-they were bad- but we didn't do our part to avoid them from having to blow a whistle.

Belmont lost to EWU... LR lost ETSU and UCF lost to Penn.... Not murderer's row in my book. Wouldnt surprise me if neither won their conference. LR seems like a long shot.

For the coaches so far- night and day difference. Belcher can recruit.

Hasn't gotten a player yet that seems to even register on any sort of recruiting rankings. I usually look at schools kids choose ISU over, and there has been 0 with even a MVC level offer that hes got to commit. I wouldnt proclaim Belcher to be the Ed Orgeron of the MVC quite yet. He didn't exactly have all americans over at Indy St.

 

[Morans14]

-Dan was unhappy with the crowd's performance recently. lets do better.

Not Dan's job to critique the few paying fans who decide to watch his brand of basketball. The number is continuing to decrease, so he should personally thank anyone who shows up these days.

It centers around his desire for support for this team who at the end of the day are student athletes. I don’t see why some of you get so worked up about it.

Then again, there are a lot of fans with an axe to grind with the coach and will twist every statement to support their perception that he sucks and we’re doomed.

Now if anyone can tell me how to stream tomorrow’s game, I would appreciate it. I’m in Ohio.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DWRedbird]

Now if anyone can tell me how to stream tomorrow’s game, I would appreciate it. I’m in Ohio.

You should be able to find it at FoxSports Go. I don't know if it is free or if you'll have to sign in with a paid account or not.

While I'm here I'll throw in a couple of my other thoughts

--The freshman have looked like promising freshman. I think Reeves is a really good offensive player, Horne is the combo guard Muller loves, and Abdou has shown some promise but has some work to go.

--Hillsman has been a real bright spot, and I wish we had him for another year

--Boyd has been my biggest surprise of the year. Kid can score, and I'd like to see him in the game at the end in close games. I think he will have a shot at NOY.

--Fisher has looked better now that it seems like some of the pressure is off. It will be interesting to see how he develops the rest of the year

--Rey has improved, but still has work to do. I think his post moves look good, needs a little more touch when he shoots. Needs to quit trying to put the ball on the floor all the time, and work on his defensive footwork.

--Belcher and Jones were the biggest pickups, imo, this offseason. The offense is definitely changed, and I like what Belcher has done on the recruiting trail. If we make it to the NCAA this year or next, they will be a large part of that.

--We need to do a much better job of attacking the defensive glass for sure, and being aggressive offensively rather than settling for 3s. These are things are coaches can help them fix, I'm hoping they do.

--I think we will do alright Valley anywhere from 3-6 in my opinion. If we really click in defensively we could be a pretty tough team for anyone to play.

 

[jamminjamarsmiley]

-Dan was unhappy with the crowd's performance recently. lets do better.

Not Dan's job to critique the few paying fans who decide to watch his brand of basketball. The number is continuing to decrease, so he should personally thank anyone who shows up these days.

It centers around his desire for support for this team who at the end of the day are student athletes. I don’t see why some of you get so worked up about it.

Then again, there are a lot of fans with an axe to grind with the coach and will twist every statement to support their perception that he sucks and we’re doomed.

Now if anyone can tell me how to stream tomorrow’s game, I would appreciate it. I’m in Ohio.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, I have made a decision in my life to not blindly follow and support things that do not align with my values and standards. Being a bad basketball coach is part of it. The other part if the numerous off the court incidents by his players that have had them end up in a jail cell.

Remember our pal Milik? What was it, 3 arrests in his time at ISU? Did he even miss a real game? I think he missed one exhibition game. Man what a leader and role model we have here!!!

Sorry - not backing this guy. If you choose to support it go ahead, I am sure the admins love the small % of you who continue to show up. Actually, feel kind of sad for those who have this belief ISU will actually be good under Dan. I am willing to find a counselor or start a support group for the kool aid crew if needed.

 

[Redbird222]

I think most will agree they are much happier with the product on the court than last year. As discussed all summer, the energy and effort level and desire to perform is there. Sure, it isn't there all of the time, but it is sure an upgrade of the 0 amount of craps given last year. Last season, we had 3 or 4 key guys who were more worried about playing for the name on the back of their jersey instead of the front. We've yet to see that this year.

I know everyone has thrashed Fayne, Milik and Evans for last year, but I don't totally buy it. Fayne battled his ass off game in and game out, I havent seen a guy who plays harder on this current team. Did they suck, yes, did they give a crap - the only ppl who truly can tell you are those involved.

Lets not forget there is some carry over including this years top scorer (copeland), glue guy (chastain) and the only big (Iduwo). I would be careful making this widespread statement about giving 0 craps about last years team.

The Belmont and Little Rock games were promising. Belmont has fallen off a bit, losing to Saint Louis (very good team) and Eastern Washington (not as good). Both losses were by 5 points- so they were right there before rebounding in a win over Middle Tennessee. Little Rock is 5-4 with competitive games against everyone with their most lopsided loss (16 points) to NC State. I think both wins will be good wins at the end of the year over the Sun Belt and OVC champs. Then when adversity hit in the UCF game- we needed two more buckets we didn't get. You can say whatever about the officials in this game-they were bad- but we didn't do our part to avoid them from having to blow a whistle.

Belmont lost to EWU... LR lost ETSU and UCF lost to Penn.... Not murderer's row in my book. Wouldnt surprise me if neither won their conference. LR seems like a long shot.

For the coaches so far- night and day difference. Belcher can recruit.

Hasn't gotten a player yet that seems to even register on any sort of recruiting rankings. I usually look at schools kids choose ISU over, and there has been 0 with even a MVC level offer that hes got to commit. I wouldnt proclaim Belcher to be the Ed Orgeron of the MVC quite yet. He didn't exactly have all americans over at Indy St.

Elston offers
VCU
St Bon
Old Dominion
U Mass
Rhode Island

 

[Bird Friend]

Some of my thoughts:

- Early Billy Joel material is really good.
- Later Elton John material is surprisingly good even tho he didn't get the air time.
- Tom Petty was a true-blue American rock star.
- Thus far, The Mandalorian is fun and engaging.
- Really enjoyed the first two seasons of Jack Ryan.
- There were far too many sales for far too many things between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- Grandkids are so much more fun and less stressful than kids.
- Turkey is overrated.

 

[Phantom]

-Dan was unhappy with the crowd's performance recently. lets do better.

I'm sure he was. But let's once again be realistic about this, re: RA crowds.

- Stop scheduling Sunday games during football season. Always going to be a conflict.
- You only get a couple games in Nov/Dec with students on campus - make them count.
- Win games. Build some hype. People will show up.

The reality is, this is 2019 and B/N has become extremely fickle. In Dan's era, attendance wasn't an issue. Hell, his teams would draw 7K for an exhibition against the Marathon All Stars during a blizzard :lol: But that was then.

This team plays hard and is fun to watch. String some wins together and it will catch on...but it has to start from the campus-outward.:

Team + AD + Students = buzz. Buzz = atmosphere. Atmosphere = word of mouth. Word of mouth = "The thing to do." "The thing to do" = Attendance.

 

[SgtHulka]

I think most will agree they are much happier with the product on the court than last year. As discussed all summer, the energy and effort level and desire to perform is there. Sure, it isn't there all of the time, but it is sure an upgrade of the 0 amount of craps given last year. Last season, we had 3 or 4 key guys who were more worried about playing for the name on the back of their jersey instead of the front. We've yet to see that this year.

The Belmont and Little Rock games were promising. Belmont has fallen off a bit, losing to Saint Louis (very good team) and Eastern Washington (not as good). Both losses were by 5 points- so they were right there before rebounding in a win over Middle Tennessee. Little Rock is 5-4 with competitive games against everyone with their most lopsided loss (16 points) to NC State. I think both wins will be good wins at the end of the year over the Sun Belt and OVC champs. Then when adversity hit in the UCF game- we needed two more buckets we didn't get. You can say whatever about the officials in this game-they were bad- but we didn't do our part to avoid them from having to blow a whistle.

I did not really get to see the Cincy game or track it much but it seemed it was a classic ISU game- hold the lead for most of it before being unable to finish it off. The WKU game was by far the worst overall performance of the season. The players seemed tired, maybe too much time in the hot St. Thomas sun. I think, in part, the team felt they played the best team in the tournament (Cincy and I still think Cincy will be the best team that was there by the end of the year)and that other teams would be easier. Not the case. Enter GCU- there is no reason we should've lost that game other than the tiredness thing I mentioned earlier. They didn't come ready to play and it showed. Losing three game in four days is tough because all of the emotions of losing are concentrated into a short time frame. On the other hand, the losses don't have to linger as much.

The UIS game was an exhibition, at least it felt like it. Very few set plays, a lot of motion, no pressure defense, a lot of Donnelly and Beard. However, Torres, Hillsman, and Reeves didn't come to play. Muller seems to have the luxury to actually be able to sit guys to make a point when he needs to, whereas in past years if he had to sit some of the starters/key reserves it'd be a loss to a D2 team. DJ had his best game, scoring 13 points in 23 minutes.

As far as the players, Copeland has easily been the most consistent player through the first seven games. At times, I have found myself thinking, "man, he shoots too much," but then see he is shooting 46% from the floor and 38% from three. Those numbers could definitely be better but it's a solid start. Same goes for Boyd shooting 44% and 43%, respectively. I like what I see from DJ and am excited to see him continue to develop. As far as Reeves, Muller has told him 1000+ times that defense is how you get on the court. I like him a lot, but as with a lot of freshmen, if the shots not falling, the head hangs and he has lapses. Fisher has struggled for sure, but he is trending up. Good to see him get to the line and make his shots vs UIS. Chastain is a great motor for this team. For the first few games, Hillsman played that role, Chastain seems to have taken it back over. Having Jaycee or Chas on the court at all times will do wonders for the category of, "having a player that does the dirty/intangible work." Two glue guys. Can you believe it? Abdou alters a lot of shots. He's 7 games into his college career. He'll improve. This board loves to make the Abdou vs David comp: David as a senior at Southern Utah: Has seen action in 3 games, averaging 10.7 minutes, 0 points, 1.7 rebounds, and a block. Abdou as a freshmen at ISU: played in 7 games, 14.7 minutes, 2.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks

For the coaches so far- night and day difference. Belcher can recruit. I look forward to seeing these guys come in next year. Jones is completely engaged as the OC/Assoc HC. He takes ownership and shows leadership on the sideline. When he lit up Boyd for a bad shot during the UIS game, I was shaking in my seat. Haha! One thing though, with Jones and Belcher being far better than their predecessor, where does Reese fit in? He coaches the bigs and had a big part in making Phil Fayne who he was, but he isn't as talkative as the other two. Not necessarily a bad thing- don't want too many cooks in the kitchen. Excited to see how he works with Abdou, Rey, Keith and Alston moving forward.

Miller is for sure redshirting. They announced it just before the start of the season. Sissoko is likely due to him not getting a look against UIS when everyone else did.

Apologies for the long post. I hope someone enjoyed it! :lol:

I enjoyed it! Good analysis as usual. Thanks

 

[Brick]

Not Dan's job to critique the few paying fans who decide to watch his brand of basketball. The number is continuing to decrease, so he should personally thank anyone who shows up these days.

It centers around his desire for support for this team who at the end of the day are student athletes. I don’t see why some of you get so worked up about it.

Then again, there are a lot of fans with an axe to grind with the coach and will twist every statement to support their perception that he sucks and we’re doomed.

Now if anyone can tell me how to stream tomorrow’s game, I would appreciate it. I’m in Ohio.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, I have made a decision in my life to not blindly follow and support things that do not align with my values and standards. Being a bad basketball coach is part of it. The other part if the numerous off the court incidents by his players that have had them end up in a jail cell.

Remember our pal Milik? What was it, 3 arrests in his time at ISU? Did he even miss a real game? I think he missed one exhibition game. Man what a leader and role model we have here!!!

Sorry - not backing this guy. If you choose to support it go ahead, I am sure the admins love the small % of you who continue to show up. Actually, feel kind of sad for those who have this belief ISU will actually be good under Dan. I am willing to find a counselor or start a support group for the kool aid crew if needed.

Muller is 141/100. He may not be a great basketball coach but he’s certainly NOT A BAD basketball coach.

 

[SgtHulka]

Some of my thoughts:

- Early Billy Joel material is really good.
- Later Elton John material is surprisingly good even tho he didn't get the air time.
- Tom Petty was a true-blue American rock star.
- Thus far, The Mandalorian is fun and engaging.
- Really enjoyed the first two seasons of Jack Ryan.
- There were far too many sales for far too many things between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- Grandkids are so much more fun and less stressful than kids.
- Turkey is overrated.

Take away Baby Yoda and the Mandalorian is a garbage shit show who should move down to D2, maybe D3. George Lucas should have retired years ago.

 

[birdlife]

Some of my thoughts:

- Early Billy Joel material is really good.
- Later Elton John material is surprisingly good even tho he didn't get the air time.
- Tom Petty was a true-blue American rock star.
- Thus far, The Mandalorian is fun and engaging.
- Really enjoyed the first two seasons of Jack Ryan.
- There were far too many sales for far too many things between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- Grandkids are so much more fun and less stressful than kids.
- Turkey is overrated.

i agree with most of this (especially that turkey is overrated) with these exceptions:
- jack ryan is fun to watch, but a little too far fetched at times.
- the more sales the better.

 

[Bird Friend]

Some of my thoughts:

- Early Billy Joel material is really good.
- Later Elton John material is surprisingly good even tho he didn't get the air time.
- Tom Petty was a true-blue American rock star.
- Thus far, The Mandalorian is fun and engaging.
- Really enjoyed the first two seasons of Jack Ryan.
- There were far too many sales for far too many things between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- Grandkids are so much more fun and less stressful than kids.
- Turkey is overrated.

Take away Baby Yoda and the Mandalorian is a garbage shit show who should move down to D2, maybe D3. George Lucas should have retired years ago.

Well . . . Star Wars started in the garbage . . .

 

[gobirds85]

It centers around his desire for support for this team who at the end of the day are student athletes. I don’t see why some of you get so worked up about it.

Then again, there are a lot of fans with an axe to grind with the coach and will twist every statement to support their perception that he sucks and we’re doomed.

Now if anyone can tell me how to stream tomorrow’s game, I would appreciate it. I’m in Ohio.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, I have made a decision in my life to not blindly follow and support things that do not align with my values and standards. Being a bad basketball coach is part of it. The other part if the numerous off the court incidents by his players that have had them end up in a jail cell.

Remember our pal Milik? What was it, 3 arrests in his time at ISU? Did he even miss a real game? I think he missed one exhibition game. Man what a leader and role model we have here!!!

Sorry - not backing this guy. If you choose to support it go ahead, I am sure the admins love the small % of you who continue to show up. Actually, feel kind of sad for those who have this belief ISU will actually be good under Dan. I am willing to find a counselor or start a support group for the kool aid crew if needed.

Muller is 141/100. He may not be a great basketball coach but he’s certainly NOT A BAD basketball coach.

Overwhelmingly mediocre?