Good Luck Tomorrow Night

[Ghost of Rick Lamb]

Hello Shocker Friends

I wanted to greet you and tell you I hope all are well here. You guys and gals will always be my pals.

I am hanging in there. Doing my best every day.

I am hoping we have a good game tomorrow night. I think the Birds will have to play excellent for 40 minutes to have a chance whereas your club can get by with 20-25 minutes of good ball and still be in a position to win. Too many good players on your club have "been there and done that" and our guys are still trying to learn how to win against top teams.

Mcintosh especially has gotten better of late as has Hawkins. Those 2 will be tough matcch-ups for anyone going forward I do believe. The key for them is to stay out of foul trouble. Lee, Purcell and Wills all have varying strengths and weaknesses but overall those 5 have formed a nice line-up. Depth is a problem for us as Griffin has been hurt for a month and the rest of the newcomers have been inconsistent to say the least. Brewer and Banyard are critical as they have length and athletic ability but neither have been reliable on a consistent basis. McCloud has been better of late and we are a different team if he's hitting his shots. It's all confidence with him. When he's on, he can line it up from 25+ and make it look like a lay-up.

The freshman class has been a huge disappointment. None of them play.

I thik this will be a good game. 6-10 points either way. I am not confident in a Bird win but I also don't see them getting smoked on their own floor. I think this game will be won or lost on the glass and the FT line. as i said earlier, the Birds need to play 40 minutes. 38 minutes will not be good enough. anything less than 40 could result ina blowout for the Shockers.

safe travels if you are coming to town. the atmosphere should be good. Hopefully our crowd can be active all game long.

Just for kicks I will predict a close win for your squad.

Shocks 74
Birds 71

[ROOT ANGRY!]

Thanks for the post, Ghost. Always a class act

[Cdizzle]

Always good to see GoRL stop by. Encouraging there are still some sane ones out there!

[Phantom]

Hi guys,

GoRL beat me to the punch, but as always glad to check in here before our annual battles.

Should (hopefully) be a good one tomorrow. Both teams are playing well, though this will be a much bigger test for us. We have a very confusing team on our hands to say the least. In early December, I would've said we'd be lucky to win 8 games all year, we simply looked flat as a board most games and couldn't throw it in the ocean. But then a switch was flipped and there have been times we've played extremely well since. Hopefully tomorrow is one of those times, but as GoRL said, you guys have experience, great coaching and high basketball IQ overall. In short, you know how to play and win. We're still learning that, especially defensively and at the FT line. Trending up, but not there yet and we're gonna have to hit on all cylinders to beat you guys.

Hoping for a good game and that the National TV audience gets treated to how The Valley plays ball.

Have fun in Normal if any of you are making the trip, it's a fun little town.

[ShockdaWorld]

Nice to see opposing fans come in with good takes and respect for both teams. Nice work Ghost. Much appreciated. I think it will be close early, as we sometimes get off a little slowly early. If your guys are shooting well, it may even still be close at the half. If not, it's a different story. After the half, our depth starts to kick in and we run away from people (not everyone, but most). Our guys are extremely locked in right now, and don't appear to have any gear other than full speed ahead. In the words (lip read, so may be just similar), they're just so good, they're just so good. I do think you guys are probably closer than our average margin of victory in the Valley though in this one. I'd say Shocks by 16, unless 3G is unhappy with the bench guys and puts the starters/2nd stringers back in the game.

[newshock1234]

Too bad the rest of the redbird fan base isnt as classy as GoRL and Phantom. Good luck tomorrow guys!

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

In early December, I would've said we'd be lucky to win 8 games all year, we simply looked flat as a board most games and couldn't throw it in the ocean. But then a switch was flipped and there have been times we've played extremely well since.

Just curious @Phantom:, what is it that has improved since early December? You guys were competitive @SDSU and @Kentucky: back in November. Since December 1st, ISU is 1-5 vs the top 150 and has had some ugly, close calls against Drake, Loyola, and Bradley in January.

I'm rooting for the other MVC teams to start improving, both this year and beyond. I'm just curious to know what you, a fan who follows ISU, are seeing that a more casual observer might be missing.

[Phantom]

Just curious @Phantom:, what is it that has improved since early December? You guys were competitive @SDSU and @Kentucky: back in November. Since December 1st, ISU is 1-5 vs the top 150 and has had some ugly, close calls against Drake, Loyola, and Bradley in January.

I'm rooting for the other MVC teams to start improving, both this year and beyond. I'm just curious to know what you, a fan who follows ISU, are seeing that a more casual observer might be missing.

Well if you look at our non-con, which was very tough, we played well @SDSU, @Kentucky: and vs. Maryland in Cancun, but you can't be happy with losses. We were also embarrassed at home vs. South Dakota State and UAB, got whipped @St. Joseph and barely scraped by vs. Murray State. None of those were remotely good. Close MVC games are to be expected however, against bottom teams or not. We all know how this league is, any Valley win is "good" regardless of where a team is in the standings. So to answer your question honestly, I guess our consistency of sucking less has improved recently haha.

[Rollbird5]

Just curious @Phantom, what is it that has improved since early December? You guys were competitive @SDSU and @Kentucky back in November. Since December 1st, ISU is 1-5 vs the top 150 and has had some ugly, close calls against Drake, Loyola, and Bradley in January.

I'm rooting for the other MVC teams to start improving, both this year and beyond. I'm just curious to know what you, a fan who follows ISU, are seeing that a more casual observer might be missing.

Earlier in the year our offense seemed to be just crazy drives or just throwing up 3 pointers without any ball movement, now the flow of the offense is 10x better. Guys are making the extra pass (why our shooting numbers have been much improved over the last 4 games especially), giving it to the man with the hot hand, and some guys have taken huge leaps in their games with consistency as well. In particular, McIntosh is averaging 17ppg over his last 8 even with a 2pt outing @brad:ley, Hawkins has been playing very well taking what the defense gives him and converting at a high rate, and also McCloud has turned it on of late which helps open up the lanes for DAP and McIntosh to drive. Like others have said I hope it's a good game and we stay in it throughout! Good luck to you guys (not that you need it lol)

[shocka khan]

Hi guys,

GoRL beat me to the punch, but as always glad to check in here before our annual battles.

Should (hopefully) be a good one tomorrow. Both teams are playing well, though this will be a much bigger test for us. We have a very confusing team on our hands to say the least. In early December, I would've said we'd be lucky to win 8 games all year, we simply looked flat as a board most games and couldn't throw it in the ocean. But then a switch was flipped and there have been times we've played extremely well since. Hopefully tomorrow is one of those times, but as GoRL said, you guys have experience, great coaching and high basketball IQ overall. In short, you know how to play and win. We're still learning that, especially defensively and at the FT line. Trending up, but not there yet and we're gonna have to hit on all cylinders to beat you guys.

Hoping for a good game and that the National TV audience gets treated to how The Valley plays ball.

Have fun in Normal if any of you are making the trip, it's a fun little town.

Based on my memory, the most fun thing about Bloomington/Normal was the Lucca grill. Great pizza and atmosphere. Wondering if it's still there.

I also liked the place with the humongous chicken fried steak sandwiches (Schooner's). IIRC, they also had horeshoe sandwiches, which are a local speciality.

[Dan]

If this game is anything like other Valley games, the birds will keep it close for 3/4 of the first half. The Shox will go on a 10-0 spurt to close out the half and will be up 8-12 pts at halftime. There will lots of fouls on both sides yet the bird's fans will complain about the refs being one sided in favor of the Shox, despite the birds shooting more free throws. The Shox will gradually pull away 2nd half as the birds get tired and start sitting due to foul trouble, while the Shox continue to sub out without a dropff in performance - perhaps even extending the lead. Shox get the lead up to 20 or more before emptying the bench. Some of the bench players make some really boneheaded plays and Fred has to come back into the game to get them settled before coming back out with 2 minutes left. The Shox end up winning by 14-18 points. Sound familiar?

[Phantom]

Based on my memory, the most fun thing about Bloomington/Normal was the Lucca grill. Great pizza and atmosphere. Wondering if it's still there.

I also liked the place with the humongous chicken fried steak sandwiches (Schooner's). IIRC, they also had horeshoe sandwiches, which are a local speciality.

Both still there. Lucca is fantastic! Downtown Normal has been completely redeveloped and redesigned too with new bars, restaurants, shops, etc.

[_kai_]

To the bird fans here, question for you: When do you fire Muller?

[Phantom]

To the bird fans here, question for you: When do you fire Muller?

His head is still safely above water for the time being, what with this being the first full class that's all his. I'd guess he still gets 2 more years but if it comes to be a full 20 years by that point since we've been to the Dance, a change will be made. I could be way wrong of course, but that's just my 2 cents.

[Ghost of Rick Lamb]

To the bird fans here, question for you: When do you fire Muller?

We can't do any better than Muller. So there is no point and nothing gained by firing him. Besides that...we are a football school now. Basketball is never going to be what it once was. but at least with Dan there is a touchstone to past glory and success even though it will never return.

Dan has passion for the University and the program and that does have value. A coach better than Dan would not be interested in Illinois State. I am still holding out hope that we go FBS in football and leave the Valley for a conference we can better compete in on the hardwood. I think we are in way over our head in the Valley.