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JoeWx21 wrote:If I remember correctly, when the team were the co-conference champions in 2013 they were also picked last in the preseason.
There are a lot of question marks with this team. How much better have the big men gotten? How will the new transfers adjust to the DI level? What impact will the guards have on this team? Have the young forwards gotten stronger to play inside? This team got killed in the inside game last year because no one could defend the paint and the rim, no one rebounding and too many fouls. Will they adjust the offense to make more plays inside or just be another perimeter shooting team? Will they adjust their defense to defend against the different styles from every team? Did Coach Wright learned from last year that he needs to adjust his game plan on the fly? These are the questions that will need to be answer this year in possibly their toughest schedule in years.
They were picked 4th for the 12-13 season. Believe they were picked last for 11-12, which turned out to be a very good season. At that time no one knew who Obi was or how good he would be as a freshman and certainly couldn't have imagined Parks would be the best bigman we've ever had.
I think this squad is better than their preseason pick, but they'll have a lot to prove. Have high hope for Usiosefe and Duff and maybe they can have an immediate impact like Obi. Don't think we have a TP in the mix, but Gilbeck should continue to develop and become an impact player inside. Need someone to be a slashing scorer and a bigman to contribute regularly to go with Covington.
I've always liked Covington....great player. If you could find a great guard to pick n roll with him, that'd be your best option... I see you guys at #5-6
Unfortunately...at this point, yea it does sound about right. Looking at last season, despite beating Wisconsin to open the season and then winning the next 4 straight, we went 3-13 in our conference and missed the conference tournament (9 teams in conference, they take 8 to the tournament). If our young guys can step up, then we could finish higher, hopefully a lot higher, but if/when that'll happen....still a question mark.
Scott Lawson - Board Admin
Western Illinois University Alum/Fan/Employee
Member of the Marching Leathernecks - 1996-2000
I have been in Western Hall a few times while the men's basketball team was practicing. The two freshman have the potential to be really good if extremely high expectations are not placed on them immediately. If they can slide in under the radar like Garrett did his freshman year then "watch-out!" I don't think they are going to have an impact like Obi did when he arrived as a freshman, but I think they are both going to contribute with scoring. They are freshman so I think the game is moving faster than expected, and everyone is somewhat on the same playing field, so it is not as easy as it was in high school. I will say that both of them can shoot the rock. They were shooting after practice and both freshman probably went 9/10 on 3-pointers.
Scott Lawson - Board Admin