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Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Notes from SIU Media Day
Chris Lowery addressed the media on Wednesday and had the following things to say:
- Lowery is confident that the team will get back to playing the way they want to play.
- The team is much more committed in the weight room, and everyone's commitment level is higher this year.
- He'd like to get back to a ball control style of offense.
- The new facilities have helped in recruiting, and it feels more like a home court.
- Working out with the football team was impressive to the basketball players because the football team was not just talking about winning a conference championship but a national championship.
- The current players want to do what's right and this group of players has not complained about the work they've done so far.
- Lowery says the biggest area of improvement will be defense and he says that during the last two years he watched other teams do the tough things while his team just complained, and that it's not going to be that way this year.
- The biggest adjustment that the coaching staff has made is to talk about Saluki 'culture' as much as possible. He went on to say that they have been ashamed of the 'culture' that was created during the past two seasons because they didn't have the personnel to play the way they wanted to play.
- He said it's very difficult to convince players who don't think that what you're doing can win games, which is crazy to him because that's why those players came to SIU in the first place. Lowery says he has no hard feelings towards the people who are not here any longer, that he's moved on and has guys who want to wear the SIU jersey and in the past when he's had guys who want to wear the jersey they've been successful.
- There is not an obvious vocal leader on this team, but the team has seen a lot of players leading by example in practice.
- The biggest on-court question is who will play in certain situations. The team has a lot of utility guys, like Seck and Freeman, who can do a lot of different things, but the #1 thing is that the players will play defense and that is what will ultimately determine playing time.
- Lowery expects to rotate 9 or 10 guys, so they can play the style of basketball they want to play. He said the team will not just be picking up defensively at half court anymore.
- The coaching staff has challenged Teague to show improvement physically and he has embraced that challenge. His mile time is down almost 4 minutes from last year and he weighed in at 288 a few days ago, which is down from 310 at this time last year.
- The team will not run a lot of sets this year and will focus on running the motion offense. There will be lineups where Fay plays as a 5 and Seck plays as a 4, because Seck's defense will make that possible.
- Lowery is not sure if he will redshirt Devonte Drinkard or not. Drinkard is still 17 years old and will not be 18 until April. However, his body is very mature and he is making Teague work in the paint.
(EDITORS NOTE- Drinkard is listed as being born on April 11, 1992 which would make him 18 years old. I'm not sure why Lowery is saying that he's 17 unless there is an error on his listed date of birth)
- Lowery is confident that the team will get back to playing the way they want to play.
- The team is much more committed in the weight room, and everyone's commitment level is higher this year.
- He'd like to get back to a ball control style of offense.
- The new facilities have helped in recruiting, and it feels more like a home court.
- Working out with the football team was impressive to the basketball players because the football team was not just talking about winning a conference championship but a national championship.
- The current players want to do what's right and this group of players has not complained about the work they've done so far.
- Lowery says the biggest area of improvement will be defense and he says that during the last two years he watched other teams do the tough things while his team just complained, and that it's not going to be that way this year.
- The biggest adjustment that the coaching staff has made is to talk about Saluki 'culture' as much as possible. He went on to say that they have been ashamed of the 'culture' that was created during the past two seasons because they didn't have the personnel to play the way they wanted to play.
- He said it's very difficult to convince players who don't think that what you're doing can win games, which is crazy to him because that's why those players came to SIU in the first place. Lowery says he has no hard feelings towards the people who are not here any longer, that he's moved on and has guys who want to wear the SIU jersey and in the past when he's had guys who want to wear the jersey they've been successful.
- There is not an obvious vocal leader on this team, but the team has seen a lot of players leading by example in practice.
- The biggest on-court question is who will play in certain situations. The team has a lot of utility guys, like Seck and Freeman, who can do a lot of different things, but the #1 thing is that the players will play defense and that is what will ultimately determine playing time.
- Lowery expects to rotate 9 or 10 guys, so they can play the style of basketball they want to play. He said the team will not just be picking up defensively at half court anymore.
- The coaching staff has challenged Teague to show improvement physically and he has embraced that challenge. His mile time is down almost 4 minutes from last year and he weighed in at 288 a few days ago, which is down from 310 at this time last year.
- The team will not run a lot of sets this year and will focus on running the motion offense. There will be lineups where Fay plays as a 5 and Seck plays as a 4, because Seck's defense will make that possible.
- Lowery is not sure if he will redshirt Devonte Drinkard or not. Drinkard is still 17 years old and will not be 18 until April. However, his body is very mature and he is making Teague work in the paint.
(EDITORS NOTE- Drinkard is listed as being born on April 11, 1992 which would make him 18 years old. I'm not sure why Lowery is saying that he's 17 unless there is an error on his listed date of birth)
Sunday, August 29, 2010
2011 PF Dantiel Daniels verbals to SIU
Dantiel Daniels, a 6'5" 225lb forward out of the St. Louis area (Wentzville Holt High School), has given a verbal to SIU for the 2011 class.
Daniels has been dominating bigger players on the AAU circuit this summer, and may end up being closer to 6'6" or 6'7" once he gets on campus.
Honestly, Saluki fans should be glad that he's not two inches taller right now because he probably wouldn't have given a verbal to SIU this early if the high major schools didn't consider him a touch undersized.
It's impossible to project how Daniels' college career will unfold, but at first glance this appears be a low risk recruit who will at the very least be able to play the post and rebound against good forwards in the MVC. Check out the quick video of Daniels below.
This is the second verbal of the 2011 class for Lowery. The first commitment came from Treg Setty, a 6'8" PF that is considered one of the top players in the state of Kentucky. I have to say it's refreshing to see SIU get back to recruiting more high school players and less JUCO quick-fixes.
One more 2011 roster spot remains for Lowery and he has some flexibility, but I would recommend grabbing the best available guard. Will Sullivan is a SG out of York (Elmhurst) and is rumored be a target, but he visited Miami-Ohio last week and may wait 'til Spring to decide. I think he's hoping for an offer from Wisconsin or other Big Ten schools, but he'd fit SIU like a glove.
In the meantime Derrick Marks, a strong 6'2" shooter from Plainfield Central (IL), is planning an official visit to Carbondale on September 17th. Marks also has visits scheduled with Boise State and Colorado State among others, but if Lowery can get him to cancel those trips and give an early verbal then it would be clutch. Things could always change, but for a team coming off a 15-15 season, I'd have to say that the 2011 recruiting class is shaping up much better than I expected.
Daniels has been dominating bigger players on the AAU circuit this summer, and may end up being closer to 6'6" or 6'7" once he gets on campus.
Honestly, Saluki fans should be glad that he's not two inches taller right now because he probably wouldn't have given a verbal to SIU this early if the high major schools didn't consider him a touch undersized.
It's impossible to project how Daniels' college career will unfold, but at first glance this appears be a low risk recruit who will at the very least be able to play the post and rebound against good forwards in the MVC. Check out the quick video of Daniels below.
This is the second verbal of the 2011 class for Lowery. The first commitment came from Treg Setty, a 6'8" PF that is considered one of the top players in the state of Kentucky. I have to say it's refreshing to see SIU get back to recruiting more high school players and less JUCO quick-fixes.
One more 2011 roster spot remains for Lowery and he has some flexibility, but I would recommend grabbing the best available guard. Will Sullivan is a SG out of York (Elmhurst) and is rumored be a target, but he visited Miami-Ohio last week and may wait 'til Spring to decide. I think he's hoping for an offer from Wisconsin or other Big Ten schools, but he'd fit SIU like a glove.
In the meantime Derrick Marks, a strong 6'2" shooter from Plainfield Central (IL), is planning an official visit to Carbondale on September 17th. Marks also has visits scheduled with Boise State and Colorado State among others, but if Lowery can get him to cancel those trips and give an early verbal then it would be clutch. Things could always change, but for a team coming off a 15-15 season, I'd have to say that the 2011 recruiting class is shaping up much better than I expected.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
CHN ranks Salukis #127 in nation and #6 in MVC
Joel Welser at College Hoops Net has his list of top 144 teams out and SIU comes in at #127.
CHN also ranks the Salukis #6 in the MVC which I think is a pretty fair guess. However, it's much more difficult to predict the Salukis this year because of the sheer volume of newcomers.
Key Losses are identified as Booker, Dillard, Evans, and Tony Freeman. However, he's quick to point out that this may be a case of addition by subtraction. (I would like to note that Tony Freeman was a team-first player and I would love to add a player just like him any time)
In his final CHN projection Welser thinks that the Salukis can exceed expectations if they improve their team defense and ultimately predicts a post-season invite to the CBI/CIT. While Kool-aid drinkers and boobirds may think this prediction is too optimistic or too pessimistic, I think it's right in line with what we all should expect to see this season.
In my view I think the Salukis will be leaning heavily on Mykel Cleveland at the PG spot and he'll need to play 20+ minutes of quality basketball if the Salukis want to beat this projection. If Mamadou Seck becomes an impact player then 18+ wins and an NIT bid is the new projection.
I also predict that John Freeman will be a starter and play at a high level, but the Salukis will need Jack Crowder to re-discover his scoring stroke to complement Freeman's strong defensive play.
Bench points can be hard to come by but if Crowder, Long, Watson, and Seck can all pitch-in off the bench the Salukis will be deep enough to finish in the top half of the conference or better. If this team gets hit by injuries or a few of these JUCO's flake out, then it might not be pretty.
Saluki Hoops Starting Lineup Predictions (minutes per game)
PG- Mykel Cleavland, Jr (22)
SG- Justin Bocot, Jr (26)
SF- John Freeman, Sr (18)
PF- Carlton Fay, Sr (27)
C- Gene Teague- So (24)
Bench Predictions-
PG- Kendal Brown-Surles, SO (21)
SG- Troy Long, Jr (9)
SF- Jack Crowder, Sr (11)
F- Ernest Watson, Jr (12)
F- Mamadou Seck, Jr (20)
PF- Nate Mitchell, Sr (6)
C- Jordan Myers, Fr (4)
Diamond Taylor**
Davante Drinkard***
**-DT will be sitting out 1st semester due to transfer rules, but he should be ready to play double digit minutes right away once he's eligible
***-I'm predicting a redshirt year for Drinkard
These are just pre-season predictions so obviously these minutes can, and probably will change. We'll be talking in more detail about all the newcomers, and all topics surrounding Saluki basketball more as the season draws near. In the meantime follow the Saluki Hoops Twitter Feed for instant updates.
CHN also ranks the Salukis #6 in the MVC which I think is a pretty fair guess. However, it's much more difficult to predict the Salukis this year because of the sheer volume of newcomers.
Key Losses are identified as Booker, Dillard, Evans, and Tony Freeman. However, he's quick to point out that this may be a case of addition by subtraction. (I would like to note that Tony Freeman was a team-first player and I would love to add a player just like him any time)
In his final CHN projection Welser thinks that the Salukis can exceed expectations if they improve their team defense and ultimately predicts a post-season invite to the CBI/CIT. While Kool-aid drinkers and boobirds may think this prediction is too optimistic or too pessimistic, I think it's right in line with what we all should expect to see this season.
In my view I think the Salukis will be leaning heavily on Mykel Cleveland at the PG spot and he'll need to play 20+ minutes of quality basketball if the Salukis want to beat this projection. If Mamadou Seck becomes an impact player then 18+ wins and an NIT bid is the new projection.
I also predict that John Freeman will be a starter and play at a high level, but the Salukis will need Jack Crowder to re-discover his scoring stroke to complement Freeman's strong defensive play.
Bench points can be hard to come by but if Crowder, Long, Watson, and Seck can all pitch-in off the bench the Salukis will be deep enough to finish in the top half of the conference or better. If this team gets hit by injuries or a few of these JUCO's flake out, then it might not be pretty.
Saluki Hoops Starting Lineup Predictions (minutes per game)
PG- Mykel Cleavland, Jr (22)
SG- Justin Bocot, Jr (26)
SF- John Freeman, Sr (18)
PF- Carlton Fay, Sr (27)
C- Gene Teague- So (24)
Bench Predictions-
PG- Kendal Brown-Surles, SO (21)
SG- Troy Long, Jr (9)
SF- Jack Crowder, Sr (11)
F- Ernest Watson, Jr (12)
F- Mamadou Seck, Jr (20)
PF- Nate Mitchell, Sr (6)
C- Jordan Myers, Fr (4)
Diamond Taylor**
Davante Drinkard***
**-DT will be sitting out 1st semester due to transfer rules, but he should be ready to play double digit minutes right away once he's eligible
***-I'm predicting a redshirt year for Drinkard
These are just pre-season predictions so obviously these minutes can, and probably will change. We'll be talking in more detail about all the newcomers, and all topics surrounding Saluki basketball more as the season draws near. In the meantime follow the Saluki Hoops Twitter Feed for instant updates.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Saluki Hoops Podcast 8/16
Here's a 12 minute podcast about the Salukis out of conference schedule, the first home game vs Northeastern, and more.
If there is something you'd like to hear on a future podcast or if you'd like to call in and join a future show, just leave a comment below or email salukihoops@gmail.com
Click here to listen!
If there is something you'd like to hear on a future podcast or if you'd like to call in and join a future show, just leave a comment below or email salukihoops@gmail.com
Click here to listen!
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Competitive scheduling from an MVC prospective
The Salukis constantly face challenges putting together a quality schedule. The idea is to ticket up with NCAA tournament caliber teams that you have a chance to beat, and also get a few of those premium match-ups on your home floor. However, getting both of those tasks done can be difficult for any MVC team.
Mid-major teams have to get their RPI up if they want a chance at an at large bid. There are a few ways to do that. The most conventional way to do that is to schedule games against other quality mid-major teams; the Salukis have done that in the past with games vs Western Kentucky, St. Louis, Saint Mary's and others.
The bracketbuster can also help if you are playing well enough to get a good opponent. The Salukis scored a game vs nationally ranked Butler a few years back and got a return game at SIU Arena for the next season. On the flipside if you aren't playing well then you'll get a poor bracketbuster matchup and most likely an undesirable return game the next season.
Another route is taking a "one and done" vs a major conference opponent, playing an away game without getting a return visit. The upside is that major conference teams will often pay schools like SIU for these "one and dones". The Salukis will get $80,000 for their visit to University of Illinois this season.
Paul Suellenthrop of The Wichita Eagle asked RPI guru Jerry Palm about the subject of mid-major scheduling and Palms says to be careful about scheduling road games with no return matchup. "Teams don't grab one of the 34 (now 37) at-large spots by playing the role of road loser."
Later in the article Sullenthrop gets MVC commish Doug Elgin's take who says- "We can't lose sight as a league of the importance of getting NCAA-caliber teams to play in our arenas".
Then in a related blog post, he digs a bit deeper looking at scheduling from a WSU prospepective. Check out the blog for yourself, but here are some interesting notes that also apply to SIU.
-Most of those at-large teams play in tournaments, play high-profile teams at neutral sites, play home-and-homes with BCS schools when possible and play other mid-level opponents.
-When thinking about scheduling, repeat this over and over: Coaches want to win. Road teams lose.
-Bradley coach Jim Les said the MVC-MWC challenge is good deal. However, he said the BCS conferences in challenge series cuts down on the number of those schools willing to go on the road. If Auburn is forced to go to Rutgers, it often isn’t looking for another difficult game.
The Salukis staff did a nice job getting a neutral site game vs Prudue this year. It's a game in which SIU will be a huge underdog but it's hard to complain about getting a high profile game at a neutral site. In addition they'll also get Wright State or Richmond in the same tournament. If the Salukis can go at least 1-1 in these games they'll get media exposure, a higher strength of schedule and an RPI boost.
It's never going to be easy for SIU to put together an at-large bid caliber schedule but I think I would have rather seen the Salukis take a 2 for 1 deal with U of I so they could get the Illini on their home court at least once. Another home and home series with Butler would be nice, but may not be a possibility now with the recent success of the Bulldogs.
Moral of the story- getting quality home games has to be the top priority for Lowery and his staff. Getting more good teams like Butler, WKU, and an occasional major conference team like Indiana to the revamped Arena will be critical for this team to return to a level of prominence.
Mid-major teams have to get their RPI up if they want a chance at an at large bid. There are a few ways to do that. The most conventional way to do that is to schedule games against other quality mid-major teams; the Salukis have done that in the past with games vs Western Kentucky, St. Louis, Saint Mary's and others.
The bracketbuster can also help if you are playing well enough to get a good opponent. The Salukis scored a game vs nationally ranked Butler a few years back and got a return game at SIU Arena for the next season. On the flipside if you aren't playing well then you'll get a poor bracketbuster matchup and most likely an undesirable return game the next season.
Another route is taking a "one and done" vs a major conference opponent, playing an away game without getting a return visit. The upside is that major conference teams will often pay schools like SIU for these "one and dones". The Salukis will get $80,000 for their visit to University of Illinois this season.
Paul Suellenthrop of The Wichita Eagle asked RPI guru Jerry Palm about the subject of mid-major scheduling and Palms says to be careful about scheduling road games with no return matchup. "Teams don't grab one of the 34 (now 37) at-large spots by playing the role of road loser."
Later in the article Sullenthrop gets MVC commish Doug Elgin's take who says- "We can't lose sight as a league of the importance of getting NCAA-caliber teams to play in our arenas".
Then in a related blog post, he digs a bit deeper looking at scheduling from a WSU prospepective. Check out the blog for yourself, but here are some interesting notes that also apply to SIU.
-Most of those at-large teams play in tournaments, play high-profile teams at neutral sites, play home-and-homes with BCS schools when possible and play other mid-level opponents.
-When thinking about scheduling, repeat this over and over: Coaches want to win. Road teams lose.
-Bradley coach Jim Les said the MVC-MWC challenge is good deal. However, he said the BCS conferences in challenge series cuts down on the number of those schools willing to go on the road. If Auburn is forced to go to Rutgers, it often isn’t looking for another difficult game.
The Salukis staff did a nice job getting a neutral site game vs Prudue this year. It's a game in which SIU will be a huge underdog but it's hard to complain about getting a high profile game at a neutral site. In addition they'll also get Wright State or Richmond in the same tournament. If the Salukis can go at least 1-1 in these games they'll get media exposure, a higher strength of schedule and an RPI boost.
It's never going to be easy for SIU to put together an at-large bid caliber schedule but I think I would have rather seen the Salukis take a 2 for 1 deal with U of I so they could get the Illini on their home court at least once. Another home and home series with Butler would be nice, but may not be a possibility now with the recent success of the Bulldogs.
Moral of the story- getting quality home games has to be the top priority for Lowery and his staff. Getting more good teams like Butler, WKU, and an occasional major conference team like Indiana to the revamped Arena will be critical for this team to return to a level of prominence.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Summer Saluki Roundup
As the Salukiway project continues to progress, lets take a look around the web at recent Saluki news.
Jason Maholy of the Reporter Online says that Fay, Bocot, and Teague form an impressive trio and predicts that the Valley could be a two or even a three bid league this year.
Big Gene Teague has shed 20 pounds this offseason, and indicates that team chemistry will be improved this season in this WSIL TV video.
Diamond Taylor tells the Bolingbrook Sun that he's ready to make the most of his second chance. He also adds that he's added 12-13 pounds of muscle after redshirting last season (thats the good "freshman 15"). The article doesn't mention this, but due to his transfer date from Wisconsin, I don't think DT will be eligible to play until the first semester is over.
Over at the Southern, Todd Hefferman gives updates on the pro careers of Falker, Shaw, and Mullins.
Last but not least, the folks at salukitalk.com have redesigned their message board. Looks good!
Jason Maholy of the Reporter Online says that Fay, Bocot, and Teague form an impressive trio and predicts that the Valley could be a two or even a three bid league this year.
Big Gene Teague has shed 20 pounds this offseason, and indicates that team chemistry will be improved this season in this WSIL TV video.
Diamond Taylor tells the Bolingbrook Sun that he's ready to make the most of his second chance. He also adds that he's added 12-13 pounds of muscle after redshirting last season (thats the good "freshman 15"). The article doesn't mention this, but due to his transfer date from Wisconsin, I don't think DT will be eligible to play until the first semester is over.
Over at the Southern, Todd Hefferman gives updates on the pro careers of Falker, Shaw, and Mullins.
Last but not least, the folks at salukitalk.com have redesigned their message board. Looks good!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Saluki Hoops coverage for 2010-2011
Welcome back to the Saluki Hoops blog! It's been quite a while since I've posted here but I'm thinking of giving it another shot this season.
Last season, I shipped tidbits of information directly to the twitter feed (which you can still view right here on the blog) but this year I may get things back in full swing with thoughts on the team, interviews, links and other odds and ends.
Everyone knows that the Salukis have extremely passionate and knowledgeable fans. With Carbondale being in a smaller media market sometimes it feels like the Salukis don't get enough exposure to satisfy the rampant fanbase. The basic goal of this blog is to give the Salukis a little bit more coverage and allow fans to ask questions and get Saluki fans the coverage they want.
I realize its been a year and a half since there has been new content here so site traffic is light right now but we've had over 90,000 page views since the site began so I'd like to open it up for suggestions from any readers who subscribe to these posts via the RSS feed, follow on twitter, saw this post on the news feed at salukitalk.com, or otherwise stumbled back across this site.
The question is this- what would you like to see covered on salukihoops.com this year?
The comments section is open, and as I have in the past I'll always answer any reader mail at salukihoops@gmail.com. Let me know what you'd like to see!
Last season, I shipped tidbits of information directly to the twitter feed (which you can still view right here on the blog) but this year I may get things back in full swing with thoughts on the team, interviews, links and other odds and ends.
Everyone knows that the Salukis have extremely passionate and knowledgeable fans. With Carbondale being in a smaller media market sometimes it feels like the Salukis don't get enough exposure to satisfy the rampant fanbase. The basic goal of this blog is to give the Salukis a little bit more coverage and allow fans to ask questions and get Saluki fans the coverage they want.
I realize its been a year and a half since there has been new content here so site traffic is light right now but we've had over 90,000 page views since the site began so I'd like to open it up for suggestions from any readers who subscribe to these posts via the RSS feed, follow on twitter, saw this post on the news feed at salukitalk.com, or otherwise stumbled back across this site.
The question is this- what would you like to see covered on salukihoops.com this year?
The comments section is open, and as I have in the past I'll always answer any reader mail at salukihoops@gmail.com. Let me know what you'd like to see!
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