2013 Sears ESPN Bracketbuster Game

[Commish]

There weren't any good options to choose from anyway. The return game probably won't be that great either. Three Seniors starting and McCallum will probably leave after this season since he's older than most Juniors. Fortunately, their 2 point defense ranks 315th at 52.3 percent. At least they sent us a team whose giant flaw matches up with our strength.

Only 2 seniors starting. Calliste is listed as a senior but had an injury redshirt year and has another year of collegiate eligibility. The team has a freshman wing, Anton Wilson, who hasn't played a lot this year but was a top 150 player out of high school, and a soph transfer sitting out this season, Carleton Brundidge, who was a top 100 player in HS but left Michigan after being beaten out of the point guard position by Trey Burke. They should step up and with McCallum, Calliste, and Juwan Howard back, UD will be very competitive next year for the return game and a good RPI game for you.

As you might guess, I'm a UD fan. Titan fans are very pleased with this match-up, and given the options, you should be, too. The Shockers are going to the tournament barring a complete collapse, and the Detroit game won't much help or hurt your seeding, win or lose. It'll be a top 100 win for you, or should you lose, not a bad loss. But this will be a good game for you - a chance to play a top up-tempo team with an excellent point guard and lots of athleticism. And the Titans are fun to watch. Here's forward Doug Anderson taking a feed from our back-up point, PJ Boutte, against Syracuse: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-...05--ncaab.html (By the way, while the Titans were down 20 at this point, they rallied and had the ball down three late in the game. Eventually lost by 4 at the Cuse. Here's a quick glimpse of Titan forward Nick Minnerath last Friday against Youngstown State (not a great team, but a team with road wins over Georgia and George Washington). http://www.bloguin.com/runthefloor/2...the-floor.html.

The Titans lost at St. John's after leading until the final minutes. They were up double digits at Pitt at the half but faded. They lost to Syracuse by 4 on the road and to Miami (FL) on the road. The best win is over Akron, which hasn't lost since playing Detroit. We haven't beaten anybody of your caliber, but we won't be intimidated. Last year the Titans overcame a series of injuries and off-court incidents to win 10 of 11 down the stretch, take the Horizon tournament, and go to the NCAAs. But too many early season losses led to a 15th seed and a first round loss to Kansas.

This will be a fun, competitive, high level game. The Titans gamble a lot on defense, and rarely turn the ball over. That gives us one of the best turnover margins in the country - 4th best, in fact. The cost - and Shockeriffic is right - is that our defense gives up lots of back doors and easy looks when it gambles and fails. The plus is that the Titans can come back quick - as they did against Syracuse - or totally rattle the unprepared opponent. It will likely be a high scoring game. The Titans have a fan board here if anybody wants to see what Titan fans are saying. http://detroittitanhoops.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=2.

[vancedave56]

I doubt it will be a high scoring game; maybe 70 at the most.

[RomeoCrennel's Belly]

I think it's going to be an entertaining game and I for one am happy that I get to watch the Shox on ESPN/2HD or whatever. I'm not all that disappointed with this game. Another chance to compile a nice/decent win. Plus, it's at home. What could possibly go wrong?

[jdmee]

If Detroit wins I'm picking them to make the final 4.

[rrshock]

I think it's going to be an entertaining game and I for one am happy that I get to watch the Shox on ESPN/2HD or whatever. I'm not all that disappointed with this game. Another chance to compile a nice/decent win. Plus, it's at home. What could possibly go wrong?

My sarcasm meter is going off here. I hope that is it. Right?

[Commish]

My sarcasm meter is going off here. I hope that is it. Right?

I can understand the disappointment. Detroit must be quite a let down after seeing the likes of Howard, North Carolina Central, Western Carolina, Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern in the Koch Center. And all those games against Southern Illinois and Drake on ESPN. Not to mention Illinois State on ESPN3.

Come on, guys, cheer up. Next to Creighton and maybe Indiana State, this is literally your best home game of the year, and, along with Creighton, your only ESPN/ESPN2 game of the year. Good chance this game gets on ESPN flagship - you didn't even get that with Creighton.

"What could possibly go wrong?" asks Romeo. Please don't tell me you're afraid a loss to Detroit will ruin your season. As Captain Renault would say, "surely you don't admit to that possibility." Besides, you're a pretty heavy favorite to win (first line was 5.5 points). But if Detroit should pull the upset, losing to a team with a 68 RPI (as of this a.m.) isn't going to hurt you - if it keeps you out of the tournament, it's because you'll have lost other games. Absolute worst case scenario - you drop from a 7 to an 8 seed, or maybe 6 to 7. Best case - you go up a line. It's no big deal. Trust me, I guarantee you, Detroit will be one of the most entertaining teams, maybe the most entertaining team, to visit CKC this year. Look at the clips above. Have fun, man. And be glad you didn't get Stephen F. Austin:friendly_wink:

[ShockerFever]

and, along with Creighton, your only ESPN/ESPN2 game of the year.

Both Creighton games and last weekend's UNI game have/will be on ESPN/2. It's not that special to us.

I know it's a really good game for you guys but you have to understand our feelings about the event. We're playing a team 40-50 spots below us in the RPI. That would be like you playing a team like Denver.

[giskard]

Actually, USM counts as a home game and I would say it is a better game than the game against Detroit will be. And it is Koch Arena, not Center. We don't rent a gym for our home games.

[GOSHOX1]

It's Charles Koch arena not center but thanks for the uplifting thoughts on a game that does nothing for us again! So glad this thing is over after this year.

[RomeoCrennel's Belly]

I can understand the disappointment. Detroit must be quite a let down after seeing the likes of Howard, North Carolina Central, Western Carolina, Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern in the Koch Center. And all those games against Southern Illinois and Drake on ESPN. Not to mention Illinois State on ESPN3.

Come on, guys, cheer up. Next to Creighton and maybe Indiana State, this is literally your best home game of the year, and, along with Creighton, your only ESPN/ESPN2 game of the year. Good chance this game gets on ESPN flagship - you didn't even get that with Creighton.

"What could possibly go wrong?" asks Romeo. Please don't tell me you're afraid a loss to Detroit will ruin your season. As Captain Renault would say, "surely you don't admit to that possibility." Besides, you're a pretty heavy favorite to win (first line was 5.5 points). But if Detroit should pull the upset, losing to a team with a 68 RPI (as of this a.m.) isn't going to hurt you - if it keeps you out of the tournament, it's because you'll have lost other games. Absolute worst case scenario - you drop from a 7 to an 8 seed, or maybe 6 to 7. Best case - you go up a line. It's no big deal. Trust me, I guarantee you, Detroit will be one of the most entertaining teams, maybe the most entertaining team, to visit CKC this year. Look at the clips above. Have fun, man. And be glad you didn't get Stephen F. Austin:friendly_wink:

Your little team from 8 mile blows. Come into CKA and get stomped! You will be turning this one off by halftime, sir. And nothing can go wrong this game. We got this!! Now, go crawl back into that hole from which you came.

[Shockeriffic]

I can understand the disappointment. Detroit must be quite a let down after seeing the likes of Howard, North Carolina Central, Western Carolina, Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern in the Koch Center. And all those games against Southern Illinois and Drake on ESPN. Not to mention Illinois State on ESPN3.

Come on, guys, cheer up. Next to Creighton and maybe Indiana State, this is literally your best home game of the year, and, along with Creighton, your only ESPN/ESPN2 game of the year. Good chance this game gets on ESPN flagship - you didn't even get that with Creighton.

"What could possibly go wrong?" asks Romeo. Please don't tell me you're afraid a loss to Detroit will ruin your season. As Captain Renault would say, "surely you don't admit to that possibility." Besides, you're a pretty heavy favorite to win (first line was 5.5 points). But if Detroit should pull the upset, losing to a team with a 68 RPI (as of this a.m.) isn't going to hurt you - if it keeps you out of the tournament, it's because you'll have lost other games. Absolute worst case scenario - you drop from a 7 to an 8 seed, or maybe 6 to 7. Best case - you go up a line. It's no big deal. Trust me, I guarantee you, Detroit will be one of the most entertaining teams, maybe the most entertaining team, to visit CKC this year. Look at the clips above. Have fun, man. And be glad you didn't get Stephen F. Austin:friendly_wink:

Sorry for being dismissive earlier. I just did a quick look at the roster and some of the stats. McCallum is going to be one of the best players to play against us this year. I was unaware that Detroit had other highly regarded recruits coming in. I think the perception with them was that McCallum only went there to play for his dad and that they would fall back down to Earth after he graduated.

Regarding the disappointment with the game and Bracketbusters in general. We're used to seeing our team get the likes of George Mason and VCU when they are this good. Those two teams used a Bracketbusters victory over us to get into the tournament and make a run to the Final Four. After reading your comments I'm looking forward to watching your team.

[SubGod22]

At least SFA would have been in an area we recruit for the return match. Considering NOBODY on the away list, outside of Creighton, would do anything positive for us, there's no reason for us to be all giddy about this matchup. I'm trying to remember if we've ever gotten a draw that would help us if we won. Nothing comes to mind but maybe I'm forgetting someone.

As others have said, and I've said many times before, I'm glad this event is dead after this year.

I still feel bad for both Belmont and Creighton too. Talk about hose jobs.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

I can understand the disappointment. Detroit must be quite a let down after seeing the likes of Howard, North Carolina Central, Western Carolina, Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern in the Koch Center. And all those games against Southern Illinois and Drake on ESPN. Not to mention Illinois State on ESPN3.

Come on, guys, cheer up. Next to Creighton and maybe Indiana State, this is literally your best home game of the year, and, along with Creighton, your only ESPN/ESPN2 game of the year. Good chance this game gets on ESPN flagship - you didn't even get that with Creighton.

"What could possibly go wrong?" asks Romeo. Please don't tell me you're afraid a loss to Detroit will ruin your season. As Captain Renault would say, "surely you don't admit to that possibility." Besides, you're a pretty heavy favorite to win (first line was 5.5 points). But if Detroit should pull the upset, losing to a team with a 68 RPI (as of this a.m.) isn't going to hurt you - if it keeps you out of the tournament, it's because you'll have lost other games. Absolute worst case scenario - you drop from a 7 to an 8 seed, or maybe 6 to 7. Best case - you go up a line. It's no big deal. Trust me, I guarantee you, Detroit will be one of the most entertaining teams, maybe the most entertaining team, to visit CKC this year. Look at the clips above. Have fun, man. And be glad you didn't get Stephen F. Austin:friendly_wink:

I'm not exactly disappointed, though my post yesterday seemed to indicate that. To add to what @Shockeriffic: said, it's aggravating to me because our history in the BB has been less than impressive (though we are undefeated in return games, FWIW), especially at home to talented highly motivated teams who need a solid win to get into the NCAA. We have a reputation of catapulting our BB opponent to the Final Four at our expense (see GMU, VCU). So I guess take some of our disappointment and frustration as a compliment--you're a solid team very capable of winning at Koch.

[Kung Wu]

Trust me, I guarantee you, Detroit will be one of the most entertaining teams, maybe the most entertaining team, to visit CKC this year.

Don't sing it! Bring it!

Looking forward to this game.

[ShockerPrez]

Detroit gets a lottery ticket. We get asked to host their drawing at our expense. And pay the winnings if they hit their numbers. Yippie!!