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Big 10 Ripe for Basketball Upsets Today??

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  • Big 10 Ripe for Basketball Upsets Today??

    Purdue and Minnesota play MAAC's top tier teams. I have the same philosophy early in the season as Woodee, take the top tier teams of the mid-major conferences vs major conferences early in the season. Example, Kent St over WV @ WV; MTSU over UCLA @ UCLA and last night Long Beach St over #9 Pitt.

    I like Iona +4.5 over Purdue (Purdue still trying to mesh with losses of Johnson & Moore, Hummel trying to still working on conditioning, I have Purdue losing 9-11 games, and this is one of them).

    I really really like Fairfield +8 @ Minnesota


    Here are some information I found over the internet:

    From walterfootball.com
    The MAAC figures to be a two-horse race between Iona and Fairfield this season. The Gaels return their top four scorers and two All-MAAC first-team members to lead the team into the season.

    After transferring in from junior college, Mike Glover made a huge impact in his first season with the Gaels. He led the team in scoring and rebounding, finishing second in the MAAC in both of those categories. Glover is the only returning member of a frontcourt that features four new faces after the graduation of Alejo Rodriguez and transfer of Chris Pelcher.

    The backcourt has a lot of returning talent including point guard Scott Macahdo. The 6-1 senior finished second in Division I last season with 7.6 assists per game and will once again be the maestro of the offense. Kyle Smith and Jermel Jenkins will give Iona a three-guard lineup. Both players are dangerous outside shooters, while Jenkins also makes his presence felt as a pesky on-the-ball defender. Jenkins is more than capable of handling the point and will likely do so when Machado needs a breather.

    The fifth starter spot is up for grabs. If head coach Tim Cluess wants to go bigger, he could look at JUCO transfers Digs Moikubo or Taaj Ridley to start in the frontcourt alongside Glover. Randy Dezourve and Sean Armand both saw limited action off the bench last season and could be options. Dezourve offers a little more size, while Armand is a three-point specialist and would ultimately give Iona a four-guard starting lineup.

    Cluess also scored a major transfer in the offseason when Arizona starting point guard Lamont “MoMo” Jones decided to continue his college basketball career closer to home. Jones will sit out this season per NCAA transfer rules, but should serve as a terrific practice opponent for Machado.

    Led by Glover and Machado, Iona's top four are very solid. If they can find role players with the rest of their roster, the Gaels will be right there near the top of the MAAC standings and in line to dance for the first time since 2006.



    From maacsports.com

    The expected race for first place the MAAC this season is likely to be a tightly contested two-team affair between with Iona and Fairfield.

    Iona (13-5 in MAAC play, 25-12 overall) has all the necessary components - talent, firepower, experience and, yes, familiarity -- to capture its first regular-season conference crown since the 2000-01 season. Three key starters and the Gaels' top two reserves are back, but equally important will be the full-season familiarity with second-year coach Tim Cluess' way of doing things.

    Back are two of the MAAC's top players in seniors 6-7 forward Mike Glover (18.4, 10.1 rebounds, 61.0% FG shooting, 6th-best nationally), the league's top returning scorer and rebounder; and 6-1 point guard Scott Machado (13.2, 3.9 whose 7.6 assist-per-game average was 2nd nationally).

    Also back are long-range snipers 6-4 junior Kyle Smyth (10.1 points) and Jermel Jenkins (9.2), who both made 75 3-pointers last season; and 6-3 soph guard Sean Armond (6.2), who is likely to move into the starting lineup. And, as if the program's perimeter isn't strong enough with its veteran returnees, it adds 6-1 junior guard Ra'Shad James, who averaged 16.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College. Also suiting up for the Maroon and Gold this season is 6-0 junior guard Lamont "MoMo" Jones, a highly touted transfer from Arizona.

    All that's missing is a little more height, but that might be solved by incoming junior Nyadigisi "Digs" Moikubo from Cochise Junior College in Arizona where he averaged 15.3 points and 9.3 rebounds.

    Fairfield (15-3, 25-8) faces some hurdles as it tries to defend its regular-season crown in the form of a new coach (former Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson) and two key additions with now-eligible transfers Sanders from Boston College and Wade from Houston.

    The key, though, is 5-10 junior guard Derek Needham (14.1 points, 4.5 assists) whose numbers fell short of his spectacular freshman season. The 5-8 Wade, who had at least 100 assists in back-to-back seasons at Houston, joins an already loaded backcourt with Needham, 6-4 junior Colin Nickerson (5.9) and 6-1 sophomore Jamel Fields (4.7).

    The team, though, did get an off-season dose of working together with a summer trip to Italy that included a pre-trip 10 days of NCAA-approved extra practices. During the trip overseas both Sanders, (who already has more than 1,000 career points) and Wade were in the starting lineup. Wade appears to give the Stags the true point guard they have lacked in recent years, allowing Needham to move to off guard and concentrate more on scoring points.

    Senior 6-11 center Ryan Olander (10.4, 6.5, 69 blocks) made significant strides last year, and is likely to be even better this year. He'll get good front-court support from 6-7 sophomore Maurice Barrow (6.2, 5.7), who had a nice break-in season. Sanders, who averaged nearly 12 points and four rebounds over three seasons at BC, should step in at small forward and have an impact. He is the highest-rated transfer, according to preseason voting for all-star selections, of several joining the conference and expected to have impacts this season.
    Last edited by Taxman; 11-17-2011, 09:29 AM.

  • #2
    I am all over Iona and Fairfield today. No way these mid-talent big 10 teams should be favored. Ioan is the better play of the 2 I think on a nuetral court. I know minny has the big guy that may be a little too much for Fairfield but getting some value since Fairfield stunk it up last game vs. Providence at home.

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    • #3
      Perfect outcome, Purdue SU winner, but does not cover!

      I agree with Woodee, keep your eyes open for those mid-majors playing the BCS conferences. Getting great odds.

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      • #4
        What a great write up and great call in Iona TaxMan.

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