I don't think so. It may have appeared that way in this game, but that's because anyone who was open was taking the shot. We were playing to close a huge gap.

I think that was the problem in the first half, but not how we played in the 2nd half. In the first half, Drake had 13 assists to our 7. In the second half, when we outscored them 57-49 (and many of their 2nd half points came from the foul line while we were deliberately fouling them), we had 15 assists to their 4. In the second half, we had 15 assists on 19 total made baskets.... that's insane ball movement and passing.

And the RPI drops 49 points.

I'm actually shocked it didn't drop further than that

Well know the cards are on the table.....lets see how we play the rest of the hands. I am a fan of the Coach however I have always thought him a little inflexible and some times not creative and flexible. I think this year he may need to be.....maybe when we play teams like this maybe we have to press full court and really push the tempo....or do as Drake did and switch up defenses and maybe go with the 1-3-1 which can make it a little easier to guard the post but hard to rebound weak side....but I think he must know our weaknesses and adjust accordingly. I am guessing he did not think Drake would be so successful in getting the ball to the post and then hitting the 3 when we collapsed.
I am not very familiar with the Valley teams. Who else presents a couple of capable big guys?

But I like the heart of these guys...I think they will learn and bounce back.....the beauty of a long season.

I'm not an RPI expert. It was going to drop whether we won or lost, right?



If you count guys 6'7 and up, I'd say most, if not all, of the league.

Wichita State (Morris, Willis, ect); Illinois State (Hawkins, McIntosh); UNI (Koch, Carlson); Bradley (Bar, Van Bree); Missouri State (Johnson, Church); SIU (Bol)

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MBB Scholarship Chart

6'7" and up for Wichita is Morris, Willis, Hamilton, Nurger, Kelly and McDuffie. Duff is more of a SF but has played some PF. I want to say they're all 6'8" except for Nurger who is 6'10" and Kelly is 6'7".

Size isn't everything, but it sure can come in handy and can help on the boards. Defensively may be where it's most important though when you face teams with legit post threats. That's one thing where we've been lucky under Marshall in that we typically have enough that we can just keep throwing guys at ya.

This has been one of my knocks on Moser in the past is that when he's had some post players he's seemed to refuse to try and develop them during the non-con and then they leave or are run off. I haven't had a chance to watch you guys play yet this year but it sounds as though you don't have a lot of options inside when it comes to size. Sometimes that can be overcome, but I wouldn't bet on it unless you can recruit the best of the best to play a four guard lineup like we sometimes see from teams like Louisville or Kansas this year with their surprising lack of post play. But even then, their fourth guards are usually 6'7" or taller to at least provide some size.

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The Roundhouse

Agree with this. We have good enough athletes that we shouldn't be one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the country (which we are according to Kenpom). Size helps, but you can overcome it. Last night during our late run, Doyle in particular was very aggressive going after defensive rebounds.

EDIT: Was looking at the wrong column. We do decently on the defensive glass. It's offensive rebounding where we are close to last.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

We don't even half-heartedly TRY for offensive rebounds most of the time. Watch. On most shots, we're already pivoting to get back on defense when the shots reach their apex. It's a pretty good strategy if you're shooting 45% on threes and 60% on twos, but when you're going through cold spells or when your regulars are on the bench with foul trouble, it leads to big runs by the other team.

Because it was a road game, not necessarily. If it was a home game, yes we most likely would have dropped 10-15 spots with a win. We might have moved up three to five spots or so with a win on the road at Drake. When we lost to Toledo, we only moved down about 14 spots. When we beat UIC we moved up about 20 spots (from a somewhat lower starting point, when we were in the mid 130s).