Weak slate of home opponents

cubsflag · Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:00 am

the 2 weak games are good if YOU PLAY YOUR BENCH and dont use it to build up stats,like in the past when starters would play 30 minutes in games like these.

WIU0812 · Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:22 am

cubsflag wrote:the 2 weak games are good if YOU PLAY YOUR BENCH and dont use it to build up stats,like in the past when starters would play 30 minutes in games like these.

Agreed it is a good way to get some real life practice to improve depth and keep bench involved in the team. This could play a bigger part in our season than we believe. No one likes playing cupcakes, but they do provide a purpose.

Western_101 · Mon Nov 23, 2015 12:47 pm

Some very good perspective and observations have been stated.

I guess I wold like to see Western bring in a Bradley or a Cleveland State or Milwaukee. I wold like to see more Horizon League and OVC match ups. I mentioned Bradley because they are so close and unlike 10 years ago they are not a premier Mid-Major and since Molinari isn't in charge here anymore, something could happen schedule wise.

Mon Nov 23, 2015 12:59 pm

RedNeck wrote:I guess I wold like to see Western bring in a Bradley or a Cleveland State or Milwaukee. I wold like to see more Horizon League and OVC match ups. I mentioned Bradley because they are so close and unlike 10 years ago they are not a premier Mid-Major and since Molinari isn't in charge here anymore, something could happen schedule wise.

I'd like to see that too, but if we're going to bring teams like that in, we need them to be here when the students are here, so we can have a good turnout.

If we continue to get better, we're more likely to be able to get them on our schedule as well, because they're more willing to play a higher RPI team. For teams like that, if they play decent RPI teams OOC, and then do well enough in their conference, they could feasibly earn at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. In the past, we would have been an RPI anchor that most of them would not want on their schedules. Teams like Wisconsin, Creighton, and Iowa have enough good teams in their own conferences that they can take an "anchor" or two, use them as tune-ups, and if they do well in their conference, still be in the tournament just fine. Last year 4/10 Big East teams made the tournament and 6/14 Big Ten teams were in.

So, we do well this year and show signs that this is a trend and not a fluke, we're more likely to be able to get some of the higher mid-major type schools on the schedule down the road.

Western_101 · Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:47 pm

Good points Scott.

That RPI stuff makes sense. I get why if we have an undesirable rpi ranking we don't look that attractive for a Horizon or MVC or whatever to come to Macomb.

I like that Western Hall is getting a facelift.
The Summit League is getting better.
I also like that our team looks great.

Lots of positives going on here. I still don't have any desire to see Western destroy some helpless Trolls.

cubsflag · Mon Nov 23, 2015 3:07 pm

everything is looking BEAUTIFUL--WHOOOO.--but obviously some very bumpy roads ahead.great to see how well billy can coach.i always knew he knew his talent and was a great recruiter.though wiu focus on crieghton and iowa probably the more important games are the ones at chicago st. and loyola.

meganeck · Mon Nov 23, 2015 5:06 pm

I have heard it the past it is hard to get D1 schools to come to Macomb. I have heard how hard it is to get there, no easy routes, doesn't help things. I would like to see WIU play more of the other Illinois D1 schools, but once again they probably don't want to come to Macomb. So I applaud UIC and Eastern for putting WIU on their schedule.

cubsflag · Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:51 pm

meganeck wrote:I have heard it the past it is hard to get D1 schools to come to Macomb. I have heard how hard it is to get there, no easy routes, doesn't help things. I would like to see WIU play more of the other Illinois D1 schools, but once again they probably don't want to come to Macomb. So I applaud UIC and Eastern for putting WIU on their schedule.

how do small schools like wiu with small gyms and not much revenue get top programs to come there?dont those schools get big money to go somewhere?is it like a pay to get them to come?id donate for that.start a fund.i know billy could get teams to come.he has lots of friends out there because he is top notch person.BUT DOES ANYONE ON HERE KNOW HOW THAT WORKS?

sealhall74 · Tue Nov 24, 2015 1:12 pm

The NCAA could mandate that the big boys play one game a year in the small kid's back yard. Would be good for the game. The Illinois legislature could stipulate that the Illinois schools match up against each other every so often. But oh no, the almighty dollar (big attendance numbers, big TV contracts) dictate behavior.

Tue Nov 24, 2015 3:26 pm

sealhall74 wrote:The NCAA could mandate that the big boys play one game a year in the small kid's back yard. Would be good for the game. The Illinois legislature could stipulate that the Illinois schools match up against each other every so often. But oh no, the almighty dollar (big attendance numbers, big TV contracts) dictate behavior.

Well, the NCAA essentially IS the big boys. It's representatives from the various schools/conferences that are the ones that make the decisions. If it's not good for the top basketball conferences, then it's not going to happen (or at least, not going to be mandated). It might happen if you have a unique connection and are able to make a deal (like being friends with the coach at a certain Big 10 school and getting them to agree to a home&home&home with two at their place and one in Macomb), but the NCAA isn't going to tell Kentucky, UNC, Maryland, Kansas, etc. who they need to schedule. When they do schedule mid-major teams, you can be sure that they're nearly always going to be home games for the "big boys".

And yea, the state of Illinois could mandate that Illinois schools match up against each other, but that actually happens quite a lot anyway. This year, Illinois is playing Chicago State (and nearly lost) and UIC. Northwestern (who is private and is much less able to be controlled by government mandate) plays Chicago State and DePaul. DePaul (in addition to the previously mentioned Northwestern) plays UIC and Chicago State. Western plays UIC, Eastern (twice), Chicago State, and Illinois-Loyola. Northern Illinois plays Chicago State and UIC (is there anyone that doesn't play Chicago State and UIC this year?). Southern Illinois plays SIUE and is in the same conference as Illinois-Loyola and Bradley (ok, so SIU is the one who doesn't play CSU and UIC

.

Illinois didn't play any other IL schools last year, but the year before played Bradley, Chicago State, and UIC.

So, in general, a fair amount of in-state games already get scheduled, although nearly all of them are at the "big boys" home court. I guess if they really wanted to, they could mandate some type of 2-for-1 H&Hs with various schools...like UIC playing at IL, then the next year, IL @ UIC, then UIC back @ IL the 3rd year....but that'd be pretty hard to quantify, I think, and could make scheduling fairly tricky at times.