Love the effort of this team. Defense is fun to watch and reminds me of teams ~15 years ago. I’m a LONG way from getting down on this group of kids. Can’t wait for the next game!!
We aren’t that far away from becoming a very good team, pending the healthy return of Brown and Harvey. The defense is already there.
Bryan Mullins postgame:
https://siusalukis.com/watch/?Archive=5914&type=Archive
Marcus Domask postgame:
I get the impression, right or wrong, from a lot of the comments people are making that evidently the season to this point is a mess and the team is very disappointing. We have played five games. Some good things, some bad things. What I saw tonight was a team that is learning how to play together a little bit more each time out. The defense has come along very good. A lot of minutes are being played by players that were not in the rotation available last year. A couple of the games exposed some real issues but I see improvement in a lot of those areas. While we are an experienced team it is still going to take time for these players to mesh, it is not the same team as last year.
Patience is a virtue that carries lots of weight (wait). I am looking forward to continued improvement and believe we have a chance to be pretty good.
I get the impression, right or wrong, from a lot of the comments people are making that evidently the season to this point is a mess and the team is very disappointing. We have played five games. Some good things, some bad things. What I saw tonight was a team that is learning how to play together a little bit more each time out. The defense has come along very good. A lot of minutes are being played by players that were not in the rotation available last year. A couple of the games exposed some real issues but I see improvement in a lot of those areas. While we are an experienced team it is still going to take time for these players to mesh, it is not the same team as last year.
Patience is a virtue that carries lots of weight (wait). I am looking forward to continued improvement and believe we have a chance to be pretty good.
They're a 2-3 team right now. But now the schedule eases up and they can start rattling off wins and they need to. Alcorn State should be a blowout and a time to get players like D'Amico some minutes. Evansville, Southern Miss, SEMO should be wins. Tulsa is a toss-up. San Francisco is gonna be tough on the road. This is where SIU needs to build some momentum and carry it over into MVC play.
I should acknowledge the good as well. The defense is certainly ahead of schedule. I think the offense will be more consistent as the team gels. The effort and rebounding is a definite plus; I know us fans love to see the black and blue lunch pale flavor that reminds us so much of what made us special and gave us our national brand back in the 2000's. Also, kudos to Mullins for going to the starting lineup I think many of us were expecting sooner or later. Banks also played much better and looked more comfortable off the bench.
If they put the entire package together, this team has the talent and ability to WIN the MVC. I've got to believe the mental lapses will slow, and they certainly will if someone steps into and assumes the vocal leadership role; the position seems wide open for someone to step in and Tony Young-it.
Tonight was a dose of the most bitter pill in sports, but there's a lot of season left and I'm still very excited.
--Insert something witty here--
Forgot to mention this earlier, but I’m not sure Wonders was participating in warm ups. They showed several minutes of warm ups on +. Maybe I missed something or got players mixed up but don’t think so. He stood on sideline whole time they showed. Did I miss something on him? Ebube was warming up.
It is my firm belief that Marcus Domask is not in condition yet. He hobbled around for months subsequent to his injury in December of last year. When I saw him missing free throws in the LR game I knew something was amiss. No legs, no shoot basketball. That’s all.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
The good news about this tournament is the Salukis got to play some much-needed good competition.
Colorado, NE and Creighton is a nice schedule for this event.
Good thing we pulled that W out over Colorado or we would have had some combination of DuQuesne, Brown and Bradley.
As to Dawgbytes post about Domask, I also figured something must be going on at this point.
Either he’s not back in shape or has some little nagging injury that the public doesn’t know about.
Marcus looked good in the second half of tonight’s second half, but before then was still off, and not just shooting either.
All I know is that I was incredibly excited about his future after seeing him as a freshman. Hopefully, he will get back to being a stud.
Personally, I’m looking forward to the San Francisco and Tulsa games. You don’t get better by playing or whipping bad/lower level teams.
I was on my way to the Bulls game tonight (a bad game, btw) so I missed the game.
I’ll be honest, I’m stunned by all the negative comments. Did people think we had a tournament team? We have the fifth highest level of talent throughout our roster compared to the rest of the Valley. We are not at the same level talent-wise as Loyola, Drake, MSU, or UNI. A FIFTH PLACE valley team just played three close games in four days against three pretty solid basketball teams.
Maybe I was the only person on the board with negative feelings going in? I honestly think this is a 9-9 Valley squad, and we showed that we might be 11-7 if the chips fall better. We just don’t have the length/versatility that’s featured on so many rosters now. Feels like Mullins has done a great job recruiting a roster that could win in the 2000s…but the game has changed.
Still! The defense, the rebounding, the tenacity…these are big changes. SIU spent 5-6 years getting WAXED by every power opponent they played. These guys aren’t backing down.
The next step, as somebody so eloquently stated earlier, is to learn how to close. Be the team that plays to CLOSE. Not ‘not to lose’.
Man. Cmon, folks. Don’t let me be the guy who is the positive one on this site! I can’t do it!
dools
Bow Em
I was on my way to the Bulls game tonight (a bad game, btw) so I missed the game.
I’ll be honest, I’m stunned by all the negative comments. Did people think we had a tournament team? We have the fifth highest level of talent throughout our roster compared to the rest of the Valley. We are not at the same level talent-wise as Loyola, Drake, MSU, or UNI. A FIFTH PLACE valley team just played three close games in four days against three pretty solid basketball teams.
Maybe I was the only person on the board with negative feelings going in? I honestly think this is a 9-9 Valley squad, and we showed that we might be 11-7 if the chips fall better. We just don’t have the length/versatility that’s featured on so many rosters now. Feels like Mullins has done a great job recruiting a roster that could win in the 2000s…but the game has changed.
Still! The defense, the rebounding, the tenacity…these are big changes. SIU spent 5-6 years getting WAXED by every power opponent they played. These guys aren’t backing down.
The next step, as somebody so eloquently stated earlier, is to learn how to close. Be the team that plays to CLOSE. Not ‘not to lose’.
Man. Cmon, folks. Don’t let me be the guy who is the positive one on this site! I can’t do it!
dools
I respect your opinion, but I think this team is more talented than you suggest.
Right now they’re a bit disjointed, which isn’t entirely surprising. They shore up some things and they’ll compete in an MVC that’s probably not as good as we thought going in.
Missouri St is very talented, but not very disciplined and all over the map, and I don’t think UNI will be what we thought they would. They’ll get better, but they have some deficiencies. Find a way to knock off Loyola and Drake at home and anything can happen.
--Insert something witty here--
I was on my way to the Bulls game tonight (a bad game, btw) so I missed the game.
I’ll be honest, I’m stunned by all the negative comments. Did people think we had a tournament team? We have the fifth highest level of talent throughout our roster compared to the rest of the Valley. We are not at the same level talent-wise as Loyola, Drake, MSU, or UNI. A FIFTH PLACE valley team just played three close games in four days against three pretty solid basketball teams.
Maybe I was the only person on the board with negative feelings going in? I honestly think this is a 9-9 Valley squad, and we showed that we might be 11-7 if the chips fall better. We just don’t have the length/versatility that’s featured on so many rosters now. Feels like Mullins has done a great job recruiting a roster that could win in the 2000s…but the game has changed.
Still! The defense, the rebounding, the tenacity…these are big changes. SIU spent 5-6 years getting WAXED by every power opponent they played. These guys aren’t backing down.
The next step, as somebody so eloquently stated earlier, is to learn how to close. Be the team that plays to CLOSE. Not ‘not to lose’.
Man. Cmon, folks. Don’t let me be the guy who is the positive one on this site! I can’t do it!
dools
So much to unpack here. Also, sorry you had to sit through that Bulls game. That was ugly.
your point about recruiting a team for the 2000s is an interesting one. I sure hope we don’t have the fifth most talented team in the league.
tonight’s loss was a killer and so tough to watch, especially the end.
** you should also know better than choose to go to the second night of a back-to-back in the NBA. I thought the Bulls might slip up against the lousy Pacers, but not that embarrassing performance *
It is my firm belief that Marcus Domask is not in condition yet. He hobbled around for months subsequent to his injury in December of last year. When I saw him missing free throws in the LR game I knew something was amiss. No legs, no shoot basketball. That’s all.
He said in the Reis interview the other day that he was winded in the Little Rock game pretty early. I don't think 40 minutes against Colorado did him any good. He did start looking like Domask in the 2nd half of this one. His shot to tie it over the big guy was impressive.
The only thing disappointing to me is the inability to close out games. We had UALR on the ropes and let them come back and beat us. We made turnover after turnover. The same thing happened today with Creighton. I don't fault our effort. But when you have a team down 8 with less than 4 minutes left, that should be a W. Once again, we showed a lack of poise and let them score 10 unanswered points. Got dunked on by the same guy three consecutive trips down the floor. Then allowed their PG to go coast-to-coast almost unguarded for a winning runner. So, my frustration is that this team should be 4-1, instead of 2-3. But they're not.
I was on my way to the Bulls game tonight (a bad game, btw) so I missed the game.
I’ll be honest, I’m stunned by all the negative comments. Did people think we had a tournament team? We have the fifth highest level of talent throughout our roster compared to the rest of the Valley. We are not at the same level talent-wise as Loyola, Drake, MSU, or UNI. A FIFTH PLACE valley team just played three close games in four days against three pretty solid basketball teams.
Maybe I was the only person on the board with negative feelings going in? I honestly think this is a 9-9 Valley squad, and we showed that we might be 11-7 if the chips fall better. We just don’t have the length/versatility that’s featured on so many rosters now. Feels like Mullins has done a great job recruiting a roster that could win in the 2000s…but the game has changed.
Still! The defense, the rebounding, the tenacity…these are big changes. SIU spent 5-6 years getting WAXED by every power opponent they played. These guys aren’t backing down.
The next step, as somebody so eloquently stated earlier, is to learn how to close. Be the team that plays to CLOSE. Not ‘not to lose’.
Man. Cmon, folks. Don’t let me be the guy who is the positive one on this site! I can’t do it!
dools
I don't think anyone is that upset at the performance, although it was pretty rough in the first half on the offensive end. Creighton wasn't really impressive and very beatable and they had an 8 point lead with about 4:00 left, it's a game that they should have won. They also were in danger of being blown out at several points and fought back.
I'm just hoping the play in this Tournament is a springboard for the rest of the season. SIU has proven they can compete with good teams, now it's time to roll off some wins. I think Bruce Weber has said that an MTE loss to Ole Miss in Hawaii in 2000 was a huge confidence booster for the program because they battled a Rebel team that went to the Sweet 16 that year. This program desperately needs to build some momentum this season into next year where the Valley is going to be wide open and SIU will have an extremely veteran team.
