Best mid-major hoops coach

It is this year. The Valley's been sucking pipe up and down its standings. Not one win worth a shit the entire nonconference season.

 

Drake has been playing very well ... beat both Iowa and Iowa State (not that those qualify as premier wins).

 

By Drake standards, yes, they've been playing well. By any other standard, meh.

Drake has played no one. Their strength of schedule is 199th. And as you mentioned, wins over Iowa and Iowa State -- symbolic for Drake though they may be -- are not quality wins this season. I watched the Drake-Iowa game, if Michigan is going to suck in the Big Ten, Iowa will be behind them ... they're terrible. And Iowa State is worse.

Drake has beaten two teams (Iowa State 5-4, Duquesne 6-3) with winning records and both were in Des Moines. I can't believe they actually got consideration in the AP poll, someone isn't paying attention.

Plus, they beat some suck ass team from Milwaukee. ;D

 

Which beat some suck ass team from Muncie. ;D


Oops! Hit the Modify button instead of the Quote button ... in the years I've been a mod, I'm surprised that's the first time I did that. Sorry, bubbs.

 

Oh yeah? UWM hasn't had football since my dad was there in the 60s. At least my alma mater is in a bowl game ...



... Yeah, OK, I don't give a shit about their lowest-of-low rung bowl game either.

Gutter and Bubbler: Same Hometown, Same Faded Alma Mater Glory

 

I had to go look for the guy's name, but Darrin Horn has had a good five-year run at Western Kentucky.

 

Pat Flannery, Bucknell. Beat Kansas, Pitt, St. Joe's, et al., over a two-year period.

 

The well-dressed, sideline-spastic Ron Hunter at my alma mater, IUPUI (whoops, technically IUPUI has no alumni, so I have no alma mater), gets mentioned a lot but doesn't go anywhere, even though there are no plans anywhere to build an arena so the team doesn't have to play in the poolside gym. Then again, I can understand why he didn't want to step into the cesspool at Ball State. Maybe Hunter figures he can coach at IUPUI forever, so why leave?

 

Saw them play last week. Great guard play, very smart team, and they can shoot the ball well.

Does it last through Valley play? Quite possibly.

 

When his name came up in the Ball State discussion, I was really hoping he wouldn't go there.

He always puts out competitive teams. Decent guy to deal with in the few times I've talked to him.

 

My thing is, all Valley teams depend on great guard play. Josh Young is the real deal, but the rest of their guards are no more talented than the rest of the conference.

Drake's saving grace is the conference pretty much sucks so far, so by that token alone, they might move up. If this Drake team was playing in the Valley of the past two seasons, they're still a play-in team.

 

The way the Valley is this season, I could see Drake making a run at the upper tier. Are they good enough to hang with SIU, Creighton or Mo. State or Bradley?