We are now four games into the Big Sky season for almost everyone (Northern Arizona and Southern Utah play Monday night), so let's take a quick peek at random things going on and see what looks interesting.
- According to KenPom's predictor tool, Northern Colorado will win the Big Sky at 16-4, followed by Weber State at 14-6, and Eastern Washington at 12-8.
- If you are keeping track at home, Idaho State (82-75) gave Northern Colorado a much more competitive game in Greeley than Weber State (70-51) or North Dakota (84-66). They were especially adept at getting easy buckets in transition, and their core of Tomas Sanchez, Chris Hansen, Andre Hatchett, and Jeffrey Solarin is really good. They look like a top 5 team.
- After dropping a pair to Eastern Washington and Portland State (in triple OT), Montana is suddenly 1-3. Jordan Gregory was great against PSU, and Kareem Jamar always does a lot of things. Keron DeShields is coming on, and looking like he could be a consistent third option for them. They are still having problems defensively.
- For Montana, I was really impressed by Mario Dunn, who should be a future star. He is not very polished offensively yet, but he can affect the game in many different ways. He played 47 minutes against the Vikings, and finished with 6 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 0 turnovers, 4 blocks, and 2 steals.
- Speaking of affecting the game in many ways, Drew Brandon for EWU's stat line against Montana State - 15 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds.
- With due respect to Derrick Barden, Joel Bolobmoy for Weber State is the best all-around rebounder in the Big Sky. He is second in the conference in DR% (23.8%), and third in OR% (13.6%).
- With that said, if I had to pick a league MVP so far, it would be Barden. He is shooting 61% on two-pointers, he is probably the second best rebounder in the conference, and he has been outstanding defensively. He is a star.
- Southern Utah has now lost 11 straight game (after a season-opening win against Southwestern Arizona), and lost their last two Big Sky games by an average of 32 points per game. According to Ken Pom's rankings, they have the worst offense in the NCAA and 9th worst defense. They will probably win a Big Sky game or two, but it won't be easy.
- After 2 weeks, we only have one undefeated team, and only one winless team in the Big Sky. It should be a fun season!
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UNC Bears are lookin' fine as of now, but let's see how they look on the road. That will give a more realistic perspective on it. KenPom's predictor tool will change some numbers by the 3/4 point in BSC regular season & some feeling is champ could have 5-6 losses.
ReplyDeleteYep, it will be very interesting to see them on the road... They are playing well but they certainly don't look as strong as the Weber/Montana teams of the past two seasons. I do agree about the 5-6 losses for whoever wins it. It should make for a fun conference race, that is for sure.
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