vs SEMO - 12/21/23 - 7 pm - ESPN+

[Redbird222]

Don't forget, SEMO made the NCAA tourney last year.

They did and that's probably why Pedon had them on the schedule. However, they currently are 1 - 8 against division 1 opponents. The lone win against 3 - 10 Central Arkansas.

Their defense fouls at an alarming rate and as someone else mentioned, I never seen such poor perimeter shooting when open.

I am very happy to be 8 -4 and only one game we were not competitive. The upcoming stretch is arguably the most challenging stretch of the schedule

@ Kentucky
@ Drake
SIU
@ Belmont

Hopefully we can split these games. 3 wins or more and I am all in on this team.

 

[DoubleDeuce]

They did and that's probably why Pedon had them on the schedule. However, they currently are 1 - 8 against division 1 opponents. The lone win against 3 - 10 Central Arkansas.

Their defense fouls at an alarming rate and as someone else mentioned, I never seen such poor perimeter shooting when open.

I am very happy to be 8 -4 and only one game we were not competitive. The upcoming stretch is arguably the most challenging stretch of the schedule

@ Kentucky
@ Drake
SIU
@ Belmont

Hopefully we can split these games. 3 wins or more and I am all in on this team.

Who do you think will upset us? I see 4 - 0.

 

[DaveBird10]

Takeaways from last night
- 30-10 run the last 10:27 of the 1st half
- Only 4 turnovers last 11 minutes plus of 1st half and entire 2nd half.
- Burford went 3- 5 from three and Mal knocked down a 3. That's a good sign.
-15 assists to 10 turnovers.
-Defense brought it and continues to bring it.
-Pence got extended minutes. Even though he didn't knock down a 3 as he had 2 open looks, he did make a couple nice drives and skip passes to set up Burford and Mal for open looks and 2 assists. Pence might be struggling to find his stroke but 2 assists a nice step for a kid who can be a playmaker. Pence might be 1-18 from the Field and 0-12 from 3 but remember Osiris started his career 1-23 and 1-13 from 3.

 

[Adunk33]

They did and that's probably why Pedon had them on the schedule. However, they currently are 1 - 8 against division 1 opponents. The lone win against 3 - 10 Central Arkansas.

Their defense fouls at an alarming rate and as someone else mentioned, I never seen such poor perimeter shooting when open.

I am very happy to be 8 -4 and only one game we were not competitive. The upcoming stretch is arguably the most challenging stretch of the schedule

@ Kentucky
@ Drake
SIU
@ Belmont

Hopefully we can split these games. 3 wins or more and I am all in on this team.

I set expectations low to try and avoid disappointment. But just looking at these, going 2-2 would be awesome. Top 10 team in the country on the road followed by a top 40, also on the road is a tall mountain to climb. SIU at home should be winnable and then historically we're bad on the road. 1-3 feels the most likely scenario and I'll be excited if its any different. Anyway, enjoyed watching a game that I wasn't on the edge of my seat the whole game. Even when down in the first half, it never felt like the Birds were in trouble.

Rest up and have a Happy Holidays, folks! We've got the Ryan Pedon revenge game coming up @ UK....I'm sure he's still heated Reeves opted to transfer after he got the top job at ISU.

 

[Phantom]

Good win. Admittedly, I wasn't fully expecting us to have a full-control win like that, but it's been a long, long time since we've had a strong, pull away win so it felt good. Nice to see a lot of guys log significant time. Shaky start, but really strong in the final 30 mins or so. Every win is good for confidence. 8-4 is a solid spot to be in, although I do have to bite my lip a little bit how realistic 9-3/10-2...crap, even 11-1 really is. But that's hindsight, so whatever.

Extremely tough stretch coming up. Hopefully we show up and compete in Lexington. Then it's out of the frying pan and into the fire. In a way, I like facing some sharp teeth at the front of the Valley schedule. Let's see what we got.

 

[WoodlandWarrior]

I anticipate home valley wins vs Bradley, UIC, SIU, Belmont, Missouri State, Evansville, possibly Northern Iowa, and two wins vs Valpo. A win in the MVC tournament might get us close to a lesser post season tournament. Sound realistic?

 

[dpdoughbird06]

I anticipate home valley wins vs Bradley, UIC, SIU, Belmont, Missouri State, Evansville, possibly Northern Iowa, and two wins vs Valpo. A win in the MVC tournament might get us close to a lesser post season tournament. Sound realistic?

If we’re willing to pay to play, sure. Why not win the Valley regular season outright and lock up an NIT bid at minimum headed into STL?

 

[Adunk33]

If we’re willing to pay to play, sure. Why not win the Valley regular season outright and lock up an NIT bid at minimum headed into STL?

Mostly because the NCAA took away the auto bid to the NIT for regular season conference champions. I believe it’s now the next highest NET teams that didn’t get into the NCAA. Get ready for an NIT full of P5 schools under .500

 

[Phantom]

I despise the new rule for the NIT, as I suspect most of you do. It's deplorable. Whoever first brought up that idea in some stuffy, Starbucks-laden executive meeting, and the subsequent belt bursting beancounters who voted in favor of it, should be bludgeoned with a spiked iron cudgel.

But the NIT shouldn't be where we set the bar, anyway. We've been to what, 76 of them since '98? Actually, as we're 12 games into a still-rebuilding season with a lot of questions yet to be answered, we shouldn't be discussing any type of postseason whatsoever.

 

[Baltimore Bird]

I attended my 1st game at Redbird Arena since 2014. I still love the experience. 3000+ seemed like a stretch to me for attendance.
I loved our intensity and the Redbirds making some shots. GO BIRDS!

 

[schoolsportsfan]

They did and that's probably why Pedon had them on the schedule. However, they currently are 1 - 8 against division 1 opponents. The lone win against 3 - 10 Central Arkansas.

Their defense fouls at an alarming rate and as someone else mentioned, I never seen such poor perimeter shooting when open.

I am very happy to be 8 -4 and only one game we were not competitive. The upcoming stretch is arguably the most challenging stretch of the schedule

@ Kentucky
@ Drake
SIU
@ Belmont

Hopefully we can split these games. 3 wins or more and I am all in on this team.

I wonder if we paid them to come play at our place????

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

I despise the new rule for the NIT, as I suspect most of you do. It's deplorable. Whoever first brought up that idea in some stuffy, Starbucks-laden executive meeting, and the subsequent belt bursting beancounters who voted in favor of it, should be bludgeoned with a spiked iron cudgel.

But the NIT shouldn't be where we set the bar, anyway. We've been to what, 76 of them since '98? Actually, as we're 12 games into a still-rebuilding season with a lot of questions yet to be answered, we shouldn't be discussing any type of postseason whatsoever.

If you are top #100 NET and won your league, you will make the NIT.

 

[Dmills]

I wonder if we paid them to come play at our place????

I'm guessing that we did but I'm not sure.

Lourdes - bought
SLU - return game at CEFCU in 2024
EIU - return game from 2022
NKU - return game from 2019
NSU - bought
NDSU - return game at NDSU in 2024
SEMO - ???
UK - bought

I think we might have 1 more game @ Chicago State in that series but I'm not sure. We could've bought out of that Muller deal.

 

[Birdswin]

I attended my 1st game at Redbird Arena since 2014. I still love the experience. 3000+ seemed like a stretch to me for attendance.
I loved our intensity and the Redbirds making some shots. GO BIRDS!

Glad you enjoyed your visit and the game. As far as attendance - that is about right. I sit in the upper bowl - there was as many up there as any other game. If you are in the lower bowl - you do not see all of the people in the upper bowl. A lot of grade school kids from Tri-Valley with parents, siblings, and grandparents - always a help.

 

[Birdswin]

I anticipate home valley wins vs Bradley, UIC, SIU, Belmont, Missouri State, Evansville, possibly Northern Iowa, and two wins vs Valpo. A win in the MVC tournament might get us close to a lesser post season tournament. Sound realistic?

We are 2-0 with 18 games to go - from what I have seen from the Birds and what I have seen from the other teams (small sample size) - I can see 9-9 on the low end and 12-6 on the high end. On the high end - should put us in the top 4 and out of Thursday at ArchMadness. There is a chance to go undefeated in Redbird/CEFCU arena - no Redbird team has done that before. This one has a chance, since making it through the non-conference unscathed in the arena.

 

[normalbird]

Not playing in the Molinari follies in STL is certainly possible.

 

[ScoreboardDotRace]

There is a chance to go undefeated in Redbird/CEFCU arena - no Redbird team has done that before.

16-17 team went undefeated at home in the regular season. We all remember the postseason home loss in the NIT.

Still, it’s been an encouraging start this year after having a tough time protecting home court last season. If they they can it up through the Valley schedule it would go a long way.

 

[Redbird82]

I set expectations low to try and avoid disappointment. But just looking at these, going 2-2 would be awesome. Top 10 team in the country on the road followed by a top 40, also on the road is a tall mountain to climb. SIU at home should be winnable and then historically we're bad on the road. 1-3 feels the most likely scenario and I'll be excited if its any different. Anyway, enjoyed watching a game that I wasn't on the edge of my seat the whole game. Even when down in the first half, it never felt like the Birds were in trouble.

Rest up and have a Happy Holidays, folks! We've got the Ryan Pedon revenge game coming up @ UK....I'm sure he's still heated Reeves opted to transfer after he got the top job at ISU.

Yeah I know ESPN predictor isn’t fantastic. But we ar 5% against Kentucky, 13% against Drake, 40% at home against SIU, 30% against Belmont. So 1-3 would be ok, 2-2 great.