Other Valley Conference Games Thread 2016-2017

[Cdizzle]

How much does anyone want to bet that Illinois State spends all week focusing on WSU and comes out Wednesday and loses at SIU?

That is definitely the ISUr of the past 3 years. I'm curious to see if that is still them. McIntosh has been impressive so far. I think they get it done on Wednesday. And if they do, I expect them to make this a race all the way regardless of the outcome in the heads-up matchup this weekend.

[ShockTalk]

You are such a bitter misanthrope, John. Grow up.

OK. That's a word that I haven't heard used in a long time, if I can even remember when.

Isn't applying that word to someone who participates on a very active sports fan board, often, is generally like by most all of the members of that board, and is know to go on group outings and events at least a little misused? Very possible I have confused this word with something else.

[MoValley John]

Thanks for the reply.

The problem with him is that "relatively competitive" thing.

He is a mediocre coach who has never taken a team to the NCAAs in 15 years of head coaching, and that isn't going to change anytime soon. He is doing a poor job of recruiting and maintaining good players, and he is also awful at scheduling, preferring to fatten up on patsies if he can; he and his mediocre brethren in the Valley are why the Valley is in the state it's in.

The consensus among most SIU fans is that we'd better off with some hungry young assistant. Say, do you guys have one of those we could hire? :biggrin-new:

Maybe SIU fans need to have a coming to Jesus with whom they really are. The program was once great. Chris Lowery drove it into the ground. Saluki Way was expensive, topped with paying off Lowery and then Illinois budget woes, and there just isn't a lot of spare money to do much better than Hinson. Sure, you can jump on the coaching carousel, but that rarely works, and when it does, the coach takes the first bus out of town. Unfortunately, for the money available right now, Barry might be the best option.

[Aargh]

I figured it would be a decade to recover from what Lowery did to that program.

[Play Angry]

Barry was the perfect solution to keep the program from self-immolating and bring it back to moral respectability and quasi-competitive standing.

He's also underachieved with decent talent the last 2+ years and shows no sign of improving his destructive (for the rest of the league) scheduling methodology. It's been five years and he's done OK (not bad, not good either - thoroughly average) - once SIU decides they give a crap and want to invest again, it'll be time to give him the boot. Guessing that's at least one more year away.

Barry's RPI at SIU:

2016-17: 137 (Current) (Commentary: more or less in line with expectations of Top ~150. May finish higher than anticipated in the MVC due to league-wide weakness.)
2015-16: 136 (Commentary: better than expected since the prior year was an unmitigated dumpster fire.)
2014-15: 274 (Commentary: horrible, horrible performance in the first year the Salukis could justify any expectations from a talent and experience standpoint. This was Mike Cohen-esque.)
2013-14: 201 (Commentary: largely static in year 2 of the salvage job.)
2012-13: 188 (Commentary: amazing performance in a season where the Salukis entered looking they might not be able to put 5 scholarship players on the floor. Cannot say enough positive things about the coaching job that season.)

[ShockTalk]

Barry was the perfect solution to keep the program from self-immolating and bring it back to moral respectability and quasi-competitive standing.

He's also underachieved with decent talent the last 2+ years and shows no sign of improving his destructive (for the rest of the league) scheduling methodology. It's been five years and he's done OK (not bad, not good either - thoroughly average) - once SIU decides they give a crap and want to invest again, it'll be time to give him the boot. Guessing that's at least one more year away.

Barry's RPI at SIU:

2016-17: 137 (Current) (Commentary: more or less in line with expectations of Top ~150. May finish higher than anticipated in the MVC due to league-wide weakness.)
2015-16: 136 (Commentary: better than expected since the prior year was an unmitigated dumpster fire.)
2014-15: 274 (Commentary: horrible, horrible performance in the first year the Salukis could justify any expectations from a talent and experience standpoint. This was Mike Cohen-esque.)
2013-14: 201 (Commentary: largely static in year 2 of the salvage job.)
2012-13: 188 (Commentary: amazing performance in a season where the Salukis entered looking they might not be able to put 5 scholarship players on the floor. Cannot say enough positive things about the coaching job that season.)

Did you have his non-con SOS for those years?

[Play Angry]

Did you have his non-con SOS for those years?

Ugh, yep (per WarrenNolan below for the last 2 years, KenPom for preceding seasons).

2016-17: 90 (current) (Texas Southern wound up being the grand slam, SWAC bargain of the century this season)
2015-16: 329
2014-15: 343
2013-14: 273
2012-13: 320

[Cdizzle]

2015-16: 329
2014-15: 343
2013-14: 273
2012-13: 320

ZOMG.

That's an average of 316. There are 351 D1 teams. That's bottom 10% over a 4 year period. It doesn't get much more intentional than that.

[jdshock]

ZOMG.

That's an average of 316. There are 351 D1 teams. That's bottom 10% over a 4 year period. It doesn't get much more intentional than that.

That's bottom 10% EACH year of a 4 year period. It's possible (I truly have no idea) that it's common for a team to bounce from 350 to 200 in any given year, which would raise a team's average sos. It's possible that over those four years, they're bottom 1%.

[Cdizzle]

273 wouldn't be bottom 10%. But I agree with your other point.

There are 2 other major factors to note, IMO.
(1) The worst 2 years are the most recent. Meaning the current coach was probably in control of most if not all of those contracts.
(2) This year's schedule is markedly different in difficulty, and the primary reason is that the AD stepped in, removed them from a terrible MTE, and scheduled a bunch of buy games against non-300 RPI teams (that they lost).

[Shocker Mama]

Shamet got Newcomer of the Week.

[Cdizzle]

Bummer. Was hoping we could run the table without picking up a single award from the league. We were doing so well.

[1972Shocker]

Shamet got Newcomer of the Week.

You see that and you go, oh yeah, Landy is a newcomer. And then you smile big.

[Shocker Mama]

Bummer. Was hoping we could run the table without picking up a single award from the league. We were doing so well.

Dammit, Shamet!

[Stickboy46]

You see that and you go, oh yeah, Landy is a newcomer. And then you smile big.

Not just newcomer but FRESHMAN .. The highest ORtg in the conference belongs to a Freshman ...