Preseason MVC Preview

[DoubleDeuce]

Three Man Weave is always a good impartial read/listen full of stats and analysis that runs circles around my understanding of basketball. On a positive note they have us in the 2nd tier of the conference...unfortunately their 2nd tier goes from 3rd to 9th place and they have us 9th.

Missouri Valley 2020-21 Preview — Three-Man-Weave

After UNI tore through the conference in 2019-20, Loyola Chicago is back to compete with the Panthers atop the league. Will the rest of the league present a third challenger? Or will parity reign again in one of the country’s most balanced leagues?

www.three-man-weave.com

 

[Adunk33]

I think it's a generally accurate rundown with the exception of a couple of nitpicky things.

• "Players like Keith Fisher III and Antonio Reeves appear to have the size to impact the game defensively, but neither of them proved much of a disruptive force."
  • I mean, Fisher could guard the 1-5 fine and the 3-5 very well. Reeves often found himself on the other teams go-to guy late in games.
• "With both primary ball-handlers (Zach Copeland and Ricky Torres) gone...."
  • DJ was the primary ball-handler pretty much from December-on a season ago.

I've mentioned before about how I'm not a fan of the weave style of offense we've come to run. It's pretty easy to guard if you just switch everything. The hope is that other team does that and it creates a mismatch somewhere that can be taken advantage of. It really hasn't been successful, as outlined in the article, it leads to more mid-range jumpers which are often high risk-low reward shots. I was surprised that the Birds are third nationally in % of plays finished via the pick and roll. Though, as I think about it, it makes a ton of sense.

Here's to hoping this is the season they get back to the defensive principles that won them 26 games in 2017. This preview reminded me how much I loved that extended 2-3 zone with the shortest guys on the wings being 6'4+.

 

[Bird Friend]

So I'll go on record as saying this is Dan's last year to prove himself, probably (it's still 2020, y'all). With Lyons leaving (and won't be surprised to see Deitz leave, too), the new AD will (probably) have no emotional ties to Dan and no memory of PLee's last year here. What does that mean in terms of record/accomplishment? No idea, honestly. This year has proved to be completely unpredictable. And, really, we have only 3 players we know much about. The rest (including Abdou) are just to unknown.

Personally, I think Dan needs at least a top-half MVC finish and consideration for at least an NIT invite. I know that's not saying as much as some on here are going to want, but this year has me giving a little bit of grace to teams and coaches. And all bets are off if the team suffers a prolonged COVID shutdown.

So, yeah, I really went out on a limb there.

 

[TBS_20]

So I'll go on record as saying this is Dan's last year to prove himself, probably (it's still 2020, y'all). With Lyons leaving (and won't be surprised to see Deitz leave, too), the new AD will (probably) have no emotional ties to Dan and no memory of PLee's last year here. What does that mean in terms of record/accomplishment? No idea, honestly. This year has proved to be completely unpredictable. And, really, we have only 3 players we know much about. The rest (including Abdou) are just to unknown.

Personally, I think Dan needs at least a top-half MVC finish and consideration for at least an NIT invite. I know that's not saying as much as some on here are going to want, but this year has me giving a little bit of grace to teams and coaches. And all bets are off if the team suffers a prolonged COVID shutdown.

So, yeah, I really went out on a limb there.

It's a very young team. I get some are redshirts so they're actually a bit older but ISU officially has one senior, two juniors, and the rest are sophomores and freshmen. I don't expect much but I hope they can pull off what you said and show hope for the future because if Horne, Reeves, or Boyd go off I could see them transferring especially if they don't see any hope (Boyd would be a graduate transfer this time).

 

[Metamoron]

To me, the key is, are we better at the end of the year than at the beginning. Been a long time since I have seen that.

 

[DoubleDeuce]

I think we've had attitude and selfishness issues the last three seasons that had some impact on the disappointing results. Selflessness is critical for strong defensive teams.

 

[Adunk33]

Fisher III Earns Preseason Honor, Redbirds Picked Ninth - Illinois State University Athletics

Illinois State senior Keith Fisher III has been selected to the preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference third team, and the Redbirds were picked to finish ninth

goredbirds.com

Fisher gets a nod on the third-team all-Valley preseason.

Birds tabbed 9th-comfortably. UNI the favorite followed by Loyola, Bradley and INST.

 

[JHBird]

Only one redbird picked for preseason honor, and only on the third team! Pretty pathetic. Not being able to play cohesively as a team is an issue but it might be more lack of talent. I thought maybe Horne would place somewhere.

 

[TheTruth]

One player on the 3rd team? This program has become a joke.... disgusting!

 

[gobirds85]

First, I'm hoping for a season. Second, let's see how this plays out. Pre-season polling is often wrong and if you want to look at it from a glass half filled perspective, we have nowhere to go but up. The glass half empty guy will point to Muller's inability to move the program forward after 8-9 years. My heart says we move forward, but...

 

[JHBird]

We're a volleyball school now, somebody told me that...

 

[Adunk33]

Today was "MVC Media Day."

Here is the link to the interviews with all the coaches. Muller did 15 minutes. MVC Men's Basketball Media Day Q&A

Not really much to take away from Muller's interview other than Sy will likely be available to play, he's excited about DJ and Tone, and he mentions that he made it a point to recruit mature players. Pretty weak questions overall from the media.

Obviously, it took a while but I do think we have a team of high-character, hard working blue collar guys. I'm ready for basketball.

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

Fisher III Earns Preseason Honor, Redbirds Picked Ninth - Illinois State University Athletics

Illinois State senior Keith Fisher III has been selected to the preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference third team, and the Redbirds were picked to finish ninth

goredbirds.com

Fisher gets a nod on the third-team all-Valley preseason.

Birds tabbed 9th-comfortably. UNI the favorite followed by Loyola, Bradley and INST.

I thought Fisher was one of the top players in the league over the last month of the season. I see zero reason why he will not be a possible first team player. Being picked third team should definitely give him added motivation to prove he is top five.

 

[JHBird]

On last year's team was there even one category where we excelled? We didn't play good D. We didn't take care of the ball. We didn't rebound well. We didn't shoot well. We weren't well coached. We weren't good under pressure. We weren't good on the road.

I can't see us improving much with all those new faces unless a couple of those new players are studs. I agree with what that article said. We're a bottom half team until proven otherwise, which shows how much we've fallen the last 3 years. Remember the good old days when we laughed at how bad Bradley was?

 

[ILLST25]

We’ve got building blocks in place. Is it our year? Probably not, we’ve got teams like UNI and Loyola who are set up. However, I’m so excited to see our young talented guys get experience and learn. I could not be more excited for some DJ Horne and Antonio Reeves action. We had a major problem with inside scoring last season and I’m also excited to see how much Mahorcic and Kotov (I do realize he’s more of a stretch 4) can help in that department. Rey could do a bit but it didn’t matter because of how much of a defensive liability he was. Ndiaye could really anchor a defense if he could improve in some areas and be a bit stronger.

 

[isuquinndog]

I just want to watch Fleming play. I cannot wait to see him play against real competition.

 

[Adunk33]

On last year's team was there even one category where we excelled? We didn't play good D. We didn't take care of the ball. We didn't rebound well. We didn't shoot well. We weren't well coached. We weren't good under pressure. We weren't good on the road.

I can't see us improving much with all those new faces unless a couple of those new players are studs. I agree with what that article said. We're a bottom half team until proven otherwise, which shows how much we've fallen the last 3 years. Remember the good old days when we laughed at how bad Bradley was?

For what its worth, 59% of last year's turnovers are no longer on the team.

Are we going to compete for an MVC title this season? Unlikely. I think this team will be a lot more discipline. I've been hearing great things about this team's BBIQ and maturity-especially from the JUCO guys in Strong, Kotov, and Dusan. It's a step in the right direction. I know I'm going to catch flack for this but I said it last season, the TYPE of player we're recruiting has changed over the last two cycles. There doesn't seem to be a "me over we" issue like there's been in the past. I know, I know, Muller has had 8 or 9 years to build up his team... I know. I just really like the young guards and look forward to watching them grow, hopefully in Redbird uniforms.

 

[TBS_20]

i dont know. i expect maybe 14-14 with horne transferring out after the season.

 

[isuquinndog]

i dont know. i expect maybe 14-14 with horne transferring out after the season.

Pretty sure you said Horne was transferring out last season. At this point I think you are hoping for it.

 

[TBS_20]

Pretty sure you said Horne was transferring out last season. At this point I think you are hoping for it.

you are correct I thought he was gone. No way do I want him to leave just have no faith in Dan.