The Northwestern game went pretty much according to plan, although I was still discouraged because SIUE held close early on, trailing just 12-10, before the Wildcats started to dominate with their superior Big Ten Princeton style offense. The game was replayed on the Big Ten Network, the Network of Leaders, Legends and extreme bias Friday, and I saw it all unfold ex-post-facto.
The student-run broadcast was actually easier to digest on the BTN, because the guys were not the pigs (Gus Johnson aside) the network rolls out on a game-by-game basis, and they actually gave the Cougs credit for what they were, a transitioning Division I Independent joining the Ohio Valley Conference.
Tonight, the Cougars play a winnable game at home against a struggling Skyhawks team. I said the same about EKU, but the Colonels are learning how to click as a team at the right time, and showed it on national TV Saturday with an impressive 10 point win against Morehead State. They did the same thing they did to Nik Bundalo with Kenneth Faried.
Tonight's opponent comes in with a record that isn't much better than the Cougars. UT Martin is 7-14 and 3-7 in the OVC with an RPI of 299. They have improved a bit from last year, but are still a bottomfeeder in the league.
Sure, the Skyhawks have won 7 games, but none of them have really been impressive. They have beat MacMurray, (yes, that MacMurray) Centenary, (on their way to Division III after this season) Central Arkansas, (one of the worst teams in the country) and William Woods, whoever that is.
In the OVC, they have wins over Jacksonville State (the worst team in the country, in terms of RPI) SEMO and a 63-62 edging of Eastern Illinois.
The Cougars can prove tonight they are not the worst team in the OVC, but it will be tough, because last year in Martin the Skyhawks took care of business.
Realtime RPI.com's super predictor has the Cougars coming out with a 76-71 win. Overtime perhaps? It's been too long.
SIUE needs some revenge, and the fanbase at home would greatly appreciate the teams first home win against a conference team.
UT Martin's two seniors happen to be their leading scorers. Benzor Simmons averages 12.2 a game as a guard and Reuben Clayton dishes in 11.2 a game. Four players average in double-figures, so most of their scoring comes from the starting lineup, which means it will be important for SIUE to key on them and take them out of the game. UT Martin's bench hasn't proven anything, so the Cougars need to force the issue, and keep the Skyhawks from driving the lane. Make them settle for the three and take them out of their rhythm. They are not a good shooting team from the free throw line (47 percent) or 3-point range (30 percent) but can shoot okay from the field, (42 percent.)
The Skyhawks are pretty much on par with the Cougars on the boards, averaging 31 rebounds a game.
Again, I think SIUE has a good shot again tonight, but no guarantees. This game is very important, as the game against SEMO will be, because I think we can all agree 10 wins is a good target to aim for.
We will have a live chat at the VC beginning just before tip-off right here in the zone.
1 comments:
I wanted to start this post by saying Thank You for your continued support of the team. I cannot say the same for myself. I am pretty much looking toward the future and it gets bleaker and bleaker for the Cougs. I really believe that Lennox though a nice enough guy probably will not survive the full term of the transistion. I think we def should be looking toward the future and an intriguing name has popped up lately and that is Soderberg from Lindenwood. He came back to the area to coach Lindenwood which on the surface is a great job because he gets to coach his son now but what happens after his son leaves? I think that would be a great hire for SIUe and I def can see some seats filled with his hiring. Bringing up the seats filled, that is another point I worry about. They need to start generating some crowds at the VC.
Ok now that I got that off my chest, lets move onto the recruiting front. Charles Joy verballed in the Fall however I have been tracking him and I dont know if he will stay committed. He seems more like a JC player who has tons of skill but if went to say like SWIC could probably jump out the roof and go to higher Division I. I am just saying. What about this crazy idea? Lets say Lennox cant get anyone to come and we lose some guys (lets see we lost Jones, seems like Tillman is gone or out the door already, Chatt seems like the typicaly guy to transfers to NAIA school so he can light it up, same with Wickware) we could potentially lose almost our entire team. I am really concerened that could happen. Has anyone thought of the prospects of playing a full year with practially walk ons????? I need to start hearing some positivie vibes out of SIUe or they need to start getting some transfers or I can see this whole transition as a bust.
Hopefully we can win some games down the stretch to attract crowds and talent but if not I see doomsday ahead for the Cougs.
Andrew
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