TheTastyGreek

Urge to kill... Rising.

I'm one of the biggest Johnny Jones boosters there is, but he doesn't have the resume of a Brady or a Jarvis. Brady has a Final Four appearance, Jarvis took St. John's to the Elite Eight. I'm willing to give them another year or two before writing them off as inferior. Trying to be objective, I'd rank JJ behind Jarvis and Brady, and probably close behind Ronnie Arrow. No knock on JJ, it's just that this conference has got some very talented and accomplished coaches. The ASU assistant plaudits come from the past two years of rankings of "Top 25 Mid-Major Assistants". Not sure what the merits of the rankings are... I'm not familiar with the writer, Jason Belzer. But he ranked Elwynn McRoy 23rd this year, and also recognized Chad Dollar the year before.

I never thought Magley was a world beater, but he did play an important part in their system. His stat line is pretty much identical to Harold Stewart's, and I wouldn't have wanted to go through last season without Stewart. Or this season without Hogans. I didn't think Magley was going to hurt them much until I learned about what else they'd lost. On his own, he'd be pretty replaceable. But when your best incoming guy (and another well regarded prospect) wash out before classes even start... Those could be 11 very essential missing minutes. As for the reference to European players... I thought they had two Slavs on their roster. Looking it up, I see that one was a tall guard and the other, the stiff frontcourt guy, seems to have moved on. Just to reiterate... I still think this is a team that has to be considered one of the favorites for the conference title. Not trying to sell them short, not deluding myself into thinking they'll have any real problems (as most teams would classify 'problems') this year. One of the Topper fans on the SBC board shared his impressions after seeing some of these guys in "pickup games" on campus. Doesn't think Dixon is starting material, and also shares your expectation that Sally will start in place of Ponch.

Didn't forget about Dixon, but Dixon and Evans (who's under 200 lbs according to their official site) can't play 40 minutes per game. Once they're on the bench, WKU has to roll out a crew of 6'5" or shorter swingmen as forwards. Or turn to their Euro brigade of 5 minute-per-game mediocrities. That's when they'll really miss Laury and Magley. 100% agree on the OMV problem. Ponch's departure is going to hit them a lot harder than Courtney Lee's did.

Yes, WKU is still a very strong team. And yes, they return 4 out of 5 starters. But the one that DOESN'T return is Orlando Mendez-Valdez. And Ponch wasn't just a starter, he was the player of the year in conference last season. They lost Courtney Lee and still managed to bounce back to the NCAAs and a 1st round win. But losing Ponch and these two recruits, (and didn't Magley transfer?) I just don't see them improving on last season. They may push 20 wins, they'll probably be right in the hunt for the East. But losing their incoming frontcourt guys, Magley, and Mendez-Valdez... Even with the talent on their roster, how do they improve on last season? Like I said, they're still a very formidable team and a conference contender. I wouldn't be surprised to see them win the East or at least earn a bye in the SBC Tournament. I just think that taking two hits like this at a position of relative weakness... They'll have a hard time matching the high level results they've posted the past two years. And given where they're taking the biggest hits, specifically in the frontcourt, it helps us match up against them. We've got Odufuwa and Tramiel back, Spencer eligible, Hogans returns, and Holmen and Knox give us some pretty impressive depth for 3rd string post options. Losing these guys improves our ability to match up with WKU, and also makes it harder for them to get through the East. If the releases and other losses cost them one or two conference games, it makes our task much, much easier.

Back in April, WKU fans were very excited, and rightfully so, over inking Terrence Boyd and David Laury. Boyd was a 4 star recruit and ranked 54th in ESPN's Top 100. Laury was a very well regarded power forward who averaged better than 20 and 10 in his prep year. Both are off the team. Laury was let go 3 weeks ago. Boyd was released just two days ago. WKU is always dangerous, and they've still got a strong roster and a good recruiting class with the three guys they still have coming in. But losing these two guys hurts, both short term and for the next few years. I'm telling you guys... This could be a very special year. We may not just be the best team in the West... If we can pick up where we left off last year, we could very well be the top team in the whole damn league.

Awesome. Nostradamus is like Punxatawney Phil for football season. Hope he didn't see his shadow in the cauldron.

They don't sound like model citizens so much as they sound like members of our 2008 receiving corps. What are their 40 times? Do they have any eligibility left?

I think the question we all have on our minds is: What's your son's stance on health care reform?

Not if we're shooting for the playoffs in 2010! Yee haw!!

Agreed. I bet if someone tried to hand your new baby a wrinkled $100 bill, he'd probably just cry. Maybe even poop himself. Until he crawls his way up to Denton and personally befriends everyone in the AD's office, I feel confident in saying he's nothing but a parasite and an embarrassment to the Mean Green community. He's pretty adorable, though.

What the heck? I thought the whole deal with Rich Young was that he DIDN'T get a waiver. He had a situation with his mother, we requested a waiver, and didn't get it. That's why we were docked for him, and that's why our score that year was 924. We were docked the point and penalized a scholarship, and we didn't get it back until the next year, by which time Young had finished up with school. Looking it up... That's what happened. Young was denied his waiver, according to our director of compliance as quoted by Vito. Young DIDN'T get a waiver. He had to finish up, then we were able to get a score revision after the fact.

YKWI'mD?

If he leaves the school in good standing, it's a one point (out of two) hit. If he leaves academically ineligible, it's a full two point hit. Doesn't matter if we reassign the scholarship, or if he has passing grades... If he was one of our scholarship players and he leaves school, we lose at least one point. I said it before, and I'll say it again: That was written over three months ago. Since then, we've lost Barrett and dismissed Sykes. I may be forgetting someone else (not Charlie Brown, he's one of the 17 seniors, and not Mayberry or Stewart, since their ineligibility happened before starting school, so they won't hurt our APR and their 2009 scholarships could go to the late addition d-linemen). Also, remember that Ryan Boutwell is grayshirting, so he'll be a member of the 2010 class and he'll count as one of those 19 maximum scholarships. This 19 scholarship limit could turn (is turning?) into a very serious problem.

I really, really hope so. It's certainly within this team's potential. I can't stress enough how important that 6 win threshold is by year three of a coach's tenure.

My devious plan- If I play hard to get now... You'll love Que Pasta.

Should have been precise... The point I meant to make was: Healthier than booze

Make your own promise! Hirohito forever! Atomic bomb? BAD!

Like moths to a flame... No special forum needed! Haiku finds bad news.

Hate if you wanna... Haiku as pain relief is better than drinking

No need for "sorry". Reaction comes in haiku... News breaks in all forms.

We have rules here, Sir. Haiku soothes the bad news, but- count your syllables.

I'd love this game... Pretty much any other time in the season. As it stands, we're going to Boise State to play our 3rd game in a week, just 7 days after traveling to Oklahoma State. And Boise is a pretty stout team... 19 wins last year, 25 and an NCAA bid the year before. Tough situation, on the road, against a potentially dangerous team. Hopefully we've got what it takes to handle the challenges.

The sky is falling! Stradford unavailable... Now who will catch it?

Problem... SOLVED. It'll be a permanent sidebar feature until the season is over.