ORU without Bigham

[bigticket1]

Will be interesting to see how they handle life without her. Certainly will affect their ability to press for 40 minutes with one less quick guard - I don't think they have much depth at that position. Should make it easier to concentrate on Luper. It is fortunate for them that it happened two weeks before the tournament so they have time to adapt.

[SturgisJeff]

Re: ORU without Bigham

losing Bigham means ORU loses 30.9 minutes a game,14.3 points per game,45 steals, 7.1 assists, 52 turnovers and 100 assists 80% fts, 30%3pts, and 38% field goals.

[jackdaniel]

Re: ORU without Bigham

That means Luper will have to take more than her usual twenty shots a game (she makes about 40-60 % of those however)Luper might have to work a lot harder to get open now.If teams are smart, they'll keep her tired.ORU might try and go inside a little more now without Jaci working with Luper.No doubt ORU's basketball program took a serious setback last night.

[jacks1]

Re: ORU without Bigham

It is not yet confirmed that she is out for the year, contrary to what Coach Fink said postgame.

[NoVaJack]

Re: ORU without Bigham

Been some very good studies on knee injuries among women athletes and their causes. This one says ACL injuries are 4-8 more likely to happen to women and comes to a very interesting conclusion on predicting when they might happen. http://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/publicat...l_injuries.asp

I hope this young woman is back on the court 100 percent.

[slosho]

Re: ORU without Bigham

I hope this young woman is back on the court 100 percent.

I'd prefer our ladies beat them with her then without her... one less excuse for coach "Dink"binder

[SturgisJeff]

Re: ORU without Bigham

UMKC outlasted ORU winning 81 77 second lose for Finkbiner. He must be sooo pissed off

[SoDakJack]

Re: ORU without Bigham

UMKC outlasted ORU winning 81 77 second lose for Finkbiner. He must be sooo pissed off

Starting to look like, once again this year, that the tournament is up for grabs. Hope you all have your tickets, we could see both the men and women in the championship games

[bigticket1]

Re: ORU without Bigham

UMKC caught ORU at a good time - they are certainly still in shock over losing Bigham,and it will take awhile for everyone to adapt to their new roles. I am guessing they will be better by tournament time.

[SturgisJeff]

Re: ORU without Bigham

in the box score of the game you usually see Luper with big numbers and then Bigham with the next highest numbers in points. the umkc numbers were spread around pretty evenly with Luper with 20, Carver with 17 and two other girls with 13 and 12. their strongpoint of steals was only 5 while kc had 7.

[jackdaniel]

Re: ORU without Bigham

in the box score of the game you usually see Luper with big numbers and then Bigham with the next highest numbers in points. the umkc numbers were spread around pretty evenly with Luper with 20, Carver with 17 and two other girls with 13 and 12. their strongpoint of steals was only 5 while kc had 7.

What caught my eye was ORU turned the ball over more than TO's they caused.Bigham must have been a big part of their big TO margin of the games they played through out the season.
We might not see them in the finals, if UMKC, SUU, can beat them, then so can NDSU,IPFW,SDSU, Oak, maybe others,but less likely.It all depends on wether or not they can pull themselves together.There's ORU blood in the water,and Summit teams have smelled it.Carver girl is stepping up, but it will take more players than her to get ORU back to the confidence level they had prior to Bighams injury,if they ever get it back.They still scored 77 pts. ,but w/o their high TO margin and Stl's advantage, they got outshot on shots at the bucket,78-66.ORU got 8 more rebounds,which helped keep them in the game.They tried hard, but w/o Bigham,they show more vulnerability.

[NorCalJack]

Re: ORU without Bigham

Well I would not count ORU down and out just yet. It will take some time for them to figure out how to play without her. They have two weeks to figure it out. I'm sure they will still be the team to beat.

[rabidrabbit]

Re: ORU without Bigham

Well I would not count ORU down and out just yet. It will take some time for them to figure out how to play without her. They have two weeks to figure it out. I'm sure they will still be the team to beat.

Centenary only game this week, then close with IUPUI and WIU. These should still be easy W's for the Eagles.

[SUPERBUNNY]

Re: ORU without Bigham

UMKC caught ORU at a good time - they are certainly still in shock over losing Bigham,and it will take awhile for everyone to adapt to their new roles. I am guessing they will be better by tournament time.

You are right on the money on your comment. However, it is still a massive blow to ORU and this makes the tournament a wide open affair.

The Jacks are playing their best ball of the year which combined with the crowd and the good feelings our team will have being on the court in Sioux Falls should bode well for a good tournament run.

I was checking out the standings and the Jacks are tied for fourth with NDSU and can get as high as #2 if they win out but that would mean Oakland losing all three games. Oakland is one game back of ORU but ORU has a much, much easier schedule to finish out the saeson with Western Illinois, Centenary, and Southern Utah. Just don't see an ORU loss coming from that bunch of games. A more likely scenario is being the #4 or maybe #3 if they win out and someone else bumps off Oakland. Being a top 4 seed is really important in my opinion.

Obviously you want to see them win them all and be hot heading into the tournament. That being said, what is the best place to be seeded in the tournament, 3 or 4? Maybe the better question is who would you rather play in Sioux Falls in the second round, ORU or the Oakland/IPFW winner? I'm inclined to say bring on ORU.

Thoughts?

The torunament is going to be a blast for both the men and women and SDSU has a chance to be a huge factor in both.

SUPERBUNNY

[jackdaniel]

Re: ORU without Bigham

I think we've got to elevate our game play and not worry about other teams.If we elevate our game ,and play the way we are capable of playing,the game should come out in our favor.All the teams that make the tournament are going to play hard.Suu's kind of scary,if they can play as well as they do at home.Every game is a tough one in the tournament,whoever plays the toughest for three games deserves the crown.