Evansville Aces under the radar

[Ace75]

Long time reader first time poster.
I have been a season ticket holder for 20 years and have followed my Aces for the past 30 years. I have not been happy with the state of our basketball team for the last 15 years. I was not happy with the offense going through one guy. I feel like we finally have a balanced team now. I am not one of the people who thinks that because we are 6-1 we are going dancing. We as a program have a lot to prove. I do think we have improved in every way so far this year. I for one like many in the Evansville area want our program to get back to where it was. Hopefully this year we can take a big step in that direction.
GO ACES!!
GO VALLEY!!

[Wufan]

Long time reader first time poster.
I have been a season ticket holder for 20 years and have followed my Aces for the past 30 years. I have not been happy with the state of our basketball team for the last 15 years. I was not happy with the offense going through one guy. I feel like we finally have a balanced team now. I am not one of the people who thinks that because we are 6-1 we are going dancing. We as a program have a lot to prove. I do think we have improved in every way so far this year. I for one like many in the Evansville area want our program to get back to where it was. Hopefully this year we can take a big step in that direction.
GO ACES!!
GO VALLEY!!

Fantastic first post!

[isumvc1]

I think the Aces easily will be top 4 this year, in fact, if any of WSU, UNI, UE, or ILS do not finish in the top 4 it will be very surprising, the rest of the league INS, MSU, SIU, Bradley, Loyola, and Drake are just plain awful.

It will be one HECK of a battle amongst those 6 teams for those 7-10 spots.

[Wufan]

I think the Aces easily will be top 4 this year, in fact, if any of WSU, UNI, UE, or ILS do not finish in the top 4 it will be very surprising, the rest of the league INS, MSU, SIU, Bradley, Loyola, and Drake are just plain awful.

It will be one HECK of a battle amongst those 6 teams for those 7-10 spots.

While I agree with your separation of the top of the Valley with the bottom, the bottom need additional separation. Here's my separation:

Tier 1: WSU and UNI
Yes, I'm including UNI since they will be top 25 tomorrow.

Tier 2: UE and Illinois St
These two teams should make the NIT and maybe better. They have the potential to beat the tier 1 teams and a legit shot in St Louis. Both teams might be a year away.

Tier 3: Loyola, MSU, SIU
Some potential to improve, but have lots of work to do. All three are definitely building towards the future.

Tier 4: BU, Drake, Indiana St
These teams are not good! Bradley might improve, but this is a lost year for all three and part of a rebuilding process.

[sixth ace]

First 17 days of 2015 will give an idea.

[purple&orange]

I'm cautiously optimistic about this group this season. The Aces lost by 2 on a neutral floor to the best team they've played thus far. Getting GB would have been a big win, both after what they did at Miami this weekend but also because of the talk about GB being a team to watch out for out of the Horizon. These next 3 games are the "meat" of the schedule in the non-conference, at Belmont, Murray, and Ohio U.

Right now there's a lot of talk about the starting five but adding Mislav and the emergence of Jaylon Brown off the bench have given the Aces a depth they've severely lacked over the last decade or so. To me that's the biggest difference is that the first guys off the bench not only can contribute but add a different element to the game. Brown's athleticism and speed while Mislav has really good vision and can impact the game as a scorer or via his passing ability.

NCAA talk at this point is overblown, especially when the various rating systems can be so far off so early in the season. Nobody, not even Kentucky in a weak SEC has an at large birth wrapped up yet. Trying to get inside the thought process of a committee is dangerous, just ask a TCU fan today. I can remember hearing that WSU didn't schedule for a 1 seed last year, that the mentality is to get into the tournament and this non-conference schedule isn't designed to get an at large birth as constituted. I know they want home games and trying to build a schedule with home games is easier said than done in trying to build an at large resume. Really wish that Butler was still a home-home, holding out hope that whatever ends up happening there it can come back, but that's probably a little bit of a pipe dream.

The Aces have struggled mightily and it sucks being kicked when you're down. Can they sustain the victories and go on the road in conference play and get enough wins to take a leap into the top 3-4 remains to be seen, however I do believe they've got the pieces in place this season to have a better chance than in years past. In the end, I think this group can finish 3rd, challenge UNI and WSU in their matchups, especially at home and when Arch Madness rolls around, be a team that's above .500 in league play, with 10-12 victories and 20-23 at the end of the year.

It starts Tuesday on the road at Belmont. The road has been a horror for the Aces, until that changes, the direction of the program cannot.

[rlh04d]

I think the Aces easily will be top 4 this year, in fact, if any of WSU, UNI, UE, or ILS do not finish in the top 4 it will be very surprising, the rest of the league INS, MSU, SIU, Bradley, Loyola, and Drake are just plain awful.

It will be one HECK of a battle amongst those 6 teams for those 7-10 spots.

While I agree with your separation of the top of the Valley with the bottom, the bottom need additional separation. Here's my separation:

Tier 1: WSU and UNI
Yes, I'm including UNI since they will be top 25 tomorrow.

Tier 2: UE and Illinois St
These two teams should make the NIT and maybe better. They have the potential to beat the tier 1 teams and a legit shot in St Louis. Both teams might be a year away.

Tier 3: Loyola, MSU, SIU
Some potential to improve, but have lots of work to do. All three are definitely building towards the future.

Tier 4: BU, Drake, Indiana St
These teams are not good! Bradley might improve, but this is a lost year for all three and part of a rebuilding process.

The only problem I have is that I don't think you can call what Bradley's doing a rebuilding process anymore.

[Dawgbit]

Dear Aces- what I want for Christmas is for you guys to beat the snot out of Murray State before the Salukis do likewise on Dec, 22. I have been a good boy, relatively speaking, for most of the year. Thanking you in advance.

Dawgbit

[ACECARD]

Dear Aces- what I want for Christmas is for you guys to beat the snot out of Murray State before the Salukis do likewise on Dec, 22. I have been a good boy, relatively speaking, for most of the year. Thanking you in advance.

Dawgbit

I'll take any win over the Racers, even if it's snotless. That stuff is really hard to clean up.

[sixth ace]

Spoiler for Evansville

Craig Bradshaw (21.3 ppg) won’t play after suffering an injury in Belmont’s game last Tuesday against Middle Tennessee

http://www.courierpressblogs.com/sports ... t-belmont/