Honest Opinions

[JackJD]

Re: Honest Opinions

My guesses:

USD women: Close to what filbert wrote: I think the USD women will be in the upper part of the bottom half of the league...will make the league tourney first year eligible.

USD men: I watched them play this year. They're going to be in the bottom part of the bottom half...there is some chance may not make the league tourney first year eligible but at the same time, they should be capable of rising up and biting some teams.

[Prairiehaas]

Re: Honest Opinions

General consensus is both BB programs in lower half of the Summit. I think that is accurate and kind.

Personal opinion is both programs need to improve to guarantee a spot in the Summit tourney. There is a big jump between Great West and Summit. And really, does USD want to be competing for 8th?

Hopefully the USD programs improve steadily. It really would be nice to see multiple teams from the Dakotas playing on Monday and Tuesday.

[yoteforever]

Re: Honest Opinions

General consensus is both BB programs in lower half of the Summit. I think that is accurate and kind.

Personal opinion is both programs need to improve to guarantee a spot in the Summit tourney. There is a big jump between Great West and Summit. And really, does USD want to be competing for 8th?

Hopefully the USD programs improve steadily. It really would be nice to see multiple teams from the Dakotas playing on Monday and Tuesday.

I really didn't have a clue on where we would fit. I think the answers given have been educated guesses, and I won't argue with them. But Prariehass, the answer to your question is of course we don't want to compete for 8th. Where did that come from. I have cheered for your squads theoughout the tournament, and never made a comment to you about are you satisfied just to be there?

What gives me some hope is a team like Morehead State made the dance, and we played them to a 2 point game in the Dome. We played Cornell tough 2 nights after they gave Kansas all they wanted ( I know they would be down after Kansas....I get it ). My son lives in KC and says the Roos are horrible. I haven't followed The Summit till now, and the teams playing in SF this year are hard to judge how we would do.

I like the debate, it gives me a realistic perspective on where we are.

[Prairiehaas]

Re: Honest Opinions

Not trying to trash the 'Yotes, that would be reserved to the Smack section. But, look at the results for SDSU this season. A much improved men's team was 5th in the Summit. And a good women's team was tied for 3rd.

The Summit is improving steadily in BB and has some pretty good programs. Winning a game or two against good teams is one thing. Winning consistently in a competative league is another. I think USD can compete but may need to improve to avoid competing for the last spot in the tournament.

[Coyote_Fan]

Re: Honest Opinions

This is a fun topic.

If anything people might be over estimating the USD men or have them about right, but I think the USD Women could be underestimated. The USD Women have improved quite a bit since they played at Frost last February.

I believe the USD men are simply too inconsistant to have an impressive win-loss record by the end so 6-12 or 7-11 might be about right. They have also proven that not many teams will go into the dome and expect an easy victory coming out especially now that Oakland will may back down to earth. USD has really struggled with rebounding and the defense has been inconsistant. Dave Boots is a good coach but he is not used to coaching against teams like what he will see in the Summit. I believe Nagy went through some growing pains and Boots might as well.

On the women's side if USD continues their momentum and improvement I can really see the Lady Yotes challenging for the top 5 in the conference. I don't know about getting into the top 3, but the #4 spot is obtainable IMO. USD always hangs their hat on defense and a team that takes care of that end of the court is usually a threat. The Yotes will need to continue to improve their talent but they have the right general attitude to be a good Summit program.

[JamesJacks]

Re: Honest Opinions

Tried to follow USD women's team this year through the internet. 4 or 5?. Very tough I think. Here's why the top 5 spots will be very very hard for your women's team to reach in year one.
SDSU
Oral Roberts
Oakland
IPFW
NDSU
I don't doubt the Coyotes have improved and play good defense. The Summit League isn't the ACC, but it's not the Great West either. The Summit League is tougher top to bottom than it has even been.

[Roy]

Re: Honest Opinions

The question thats not been asked is where will the Yotes rank in the Summit League Commissioner's Cup competition. If I read their Annual Report correctly they only grant 81 scholarships for men's athletics ('10-'11) to achieve compliance with Title IX. The women have 88 scholarships.

They allocate 63 scholarships to football, 13 to basketball, 1 to swimming and 4 to track & field.

It does not look like they will generate many points in mens sports other than basketball.

Seems like a "tough row to hoe".

[Coyote_Fan]

Re: Honest Opinions

The question thats not been asked is where will the Yotes rank in the Summit League Commissioner's Cup competition. If I read their Annual Report correctly they only grant 81 scholarships for men's athletics ('10-'11) to achieve compliance with Title IX. The women have 88 scholarships.

They allocate 63 scholarships to football, 13 to basketball, 1 to swimming and 4 to track & field.

It does not look like they will generate many points in mens sports other than basketball.

Seems like a "tough row to hoe".

I believe that USD will do poorly overall in the Summit Commissioner's Cup. They still have problems with many of the second tier sports especially the women's sports like softball and soccer.

Personally if I could have USD drop every sport except for football, women's basketball and mens basketball and put all the money towards those three I would be completely for that senario. There are a couple of decent second tier sports especially track and field but other than that some of those other sports just tend to let be allowed to slip.

[filbert]

Re: Honest Opinions

I believe that USD will do poorly overall in the Summit Commissioner's Cup. They still have problems with many of the second tier sports especially the women's sports like softball and soccer.

Personally if I could have USD drop every sport except for football, women's basketball and mens basketball and put all the money towards those three I would be completely for that senario. There are a couple of decent second tier sports especially track and field but other than that some of those other sports just tend to let be allowed to slip.

Well, you could do that, but you wouldn't meet the sport sponsorship requirements for Division I . . .

[JackJD]

Re: Honest Opinions

USD will do quite well in track and field. They may right away challenge for second place both men and women.

[jackmd]

Re: Honest Opinions

USD will fit into the Summit well for basketball. They will provide a tough test at the dome for basically every team that comes in there. On the road they will struggle mightily.

I think the women's team is very close to breaking through but they don't have enough depth and team wide athleticism to compete night to night, week to week. I think they will be fun program to watch.

For the men, if they are making 3's they will give teams fits, especially in the dome where other teams don't typically shoot well. Defense will have to improve dramatically. Boots has always used a zone philosophy and I just don't see that working against a full DI schedule. However, he doesn't necessarily have the players to match-up man-to-man either. Sounds familiar.

I think its foolish to expect that they will be on either end of the spectrum, very top or very bottom. USD will surprise some teams at home while being unlikely to have much success away from the dome. I think they will compete for a spot in the conference tourney right away and if things play out like they have 1 or 2 games could separate a 4 seed from an 8 seed.

Regardless, the commitment to success has to be 100%. It can't just be about renewing a rivalry, showing up for just the "Big Game" or living in the past. Fans that have been waiting for the USD/SDSU showdown need to get past that and support the programs on a nightly basis. Being DI is about playing SDSU again its about competing with all the other programs at this level. Obviously fans that post on here recognize that, I'm not as sure about the more casual fan.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Honest Opinions

The thing USD fans will have to get used to--something SDSU fans still IMHO haven't completely come to terms with--is that This Ain't The NCC Any More. Every single game will be a battle.

Could not agree with this more. Once Centenary is out of the league, every team in the Summit has really good players. Every single team. Players that would have been player of the year in the NCC. Many teams have multiple guys like this. Oakland and ORU seem to have a whole team of them.

The main problem I see for USD men is their undersized guards. Not trying to knock them, because they are very skilled, but size really does make a difference. Undersized guards are a liability on defense and will have a hard time scoring with guys who are 6-4 and taller and just as quick.

Its a problem, but not one that can't be overcome. IPFW placed 4th this year despite having smallish guards. Heck SDSU did ok with a 6-4 power forward. But being smaller definitely makes it harder.

At the end of the day, I think USD is a 5-9th place team for the first 2-3 years. After that, it depends on the players they bring in.

[jacksdistance]

Re: Honest Opinions

USD will do quite well in track and field. They may right away challenge for second place both men and women.

SDSU men haven't been 2nd recently except indoor this year and they are much better than USD. I'd give USD 5th at best and they would be fairly far behind NDSU, SDSU, ORU, and SUU.