57-53 Wichita St. just went final.....MVC needs to get some respect, if they can keep being this dominant, watch out. MVC has knocked off 2 top 10 teams in 2 days, first Missouri St. over #7 Wisconsin yesterday now Wichita St. beats LSU. I really think Wichita St. could be an upcoming Gonzaga type program if they keep this up.
Yeah, boy [/the dad in Friday] I love the way Wichita State plays, and I've been sayin and sayin that the MVC is the equal of just about any of the high major conferences. Congrats to them. They've already beaten LSU and George Mason, 2 of the Final Four teams last year. That's saying something. And they won @ LSU. The MVC is for real, and so are the Shockers.
<div class="quote_poster">Schaddy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">YI love the way Wichita State plays, and I've been sayin and sayin that the MVC is the equal of just about any of the high major conferences. Congrats to them. They've already beaten LSU and George Mason, 2 of the Final Four teams last year. That's saying something. And they won @ LSU. The MVC is for real, and so are the Shockers.</div> I know they're a good team, but how is their post? I know they lost Paul Miller but still have Kyle Wilson, so can they hang with frontcourts like the Gators, Kansas, Duke, or UConn? I know this sounds stupid, but how good is their frontcourt really? LSU's isn't that bad of a frontcourt, but they don't have that real dominant 6'10+ lanky C that causes problems. If I remember right, Paul Miller was a big part to their success in the tourney. BTW--Who's the 5th starter w/o Paul Miller?
I'm loving these upsets and i'm loving that a majority of them are coming from small-conference teams defeating top 25 teams. I think this is occuring, because you have a lot of coaches at these mid major programs who have been there a long time. I haven't looked, but my guess is that if you were to look at any mid major program that gets an upset over a high major team this year, the overwhelming majority of them will be coached by coaches with a tenure of more than 5 years. Any time you get a good coach to stay for a while, you are going to recruit some solid players, develop a characteristic style of play, and have a good chance at beating power conference teams. You have to look at the number of seniors these mid major teams have. Often, the mid major programs that are able to win a couple of games in the tournament are loaded down with seniors, meaning they have a significant amount of experience playing together, which gives them an edge over power conference schools that cannot keep players more than 2 or 3 years. Look at Northwestern State, Iona, and George Mason from last year. All three were very strong mid major teams and all three graduated at least three seniors who were starters. In the case of Iona, they graduated four of their five starters.
<div class="quote_poster">UKFan33 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You have to look at the number of seniors these mid major teams have. Often, the mid major programs that are able to win a couple of games in the tournament are loaded down with seniors, meaning they have a significant amount of experience playing together, which gives them an edge over power conference schools that cannot keep players more than 2 or 3 years. Look at Northwestern State, Iona, and George Mason from last year. All three were very strong mid major teams and all three graduated at least three seniors who were starters. In the case of Iona, they graduated four of their five starters.</div> I was watching CSTV, Missouri St.-OK St. game, but the announcer said that a lot of the MVC teams redshirt quite a few of players and they stay there and play for 5 years. If you can keep guys for 5 years, they're going to learn and teach other young players too, when that happens you start to get a good program going and you can be good for several year like Gonzaga. Then you start to bring in more quality good talent and become a force to be reckon with.
<div class="quote_poster">J_Ray Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I know they're a good team, but how is their post? I know they lost Paul Miller but still have Kyle Wilson, so can they hang with frontcourts like the Gators, Kansas, Duke, or UConn? I know this sounds stupid, but how good is their frontcourt really? LSU's isn't that bad of a frontcourt, but they don't have that real dominant 6'10+ lanky C that causes problems. If I remember right, Paul Miller was a big part to their success in the tourney. BTW--Who's the 5th starter w/o Paul Miller? </div> They've been going with a smaller lineup, pretty much a 4 in Kyle Wilson, who has big-time range, then two different types of wings; Cousinard is a point wing and a good scorer, while Martin is really an undersized 4 who rebounds well. In the backcourt they start Sean Ogirri and Matt Brauer at the point, but they rotate a lot in the backcourt. They've got a new frosh from Isreal who was a pro-caliber player there, and then Karon Bradley is a good backup guard. I've got a MVC preview coming in the next coulpe days, so you can read that to get a better idea of their team
