The Bengals in 3rd place?

[Webergrad02]

As most of us were predicting that ISU would be lucky to win a D1 game this year, Bengal Visitor predicted that ISU would be middle of the pack in the Big Sky and ET would be a huge addition. I am eating crow. ET has been amazing and I think the Bengals have exceeded most everyone's expectations at the half way point. The Bengals have a good chance at getting the coveted first round bye in "hEllNO".

I like it from the Weber perspective, because teams have to actually game plan and focus on ISU, instead of just putting it into cruise control and keying in on Weber.

 

[Skippy]

As most of us were predicting that ISU would be lucky to win a D1 game this year, Bengal Visitor predicted that ISU would be middle of the pack in the Big Sky and ET would be a huge addition. I am eating crow. ET has been amazing and I think the Bengals have exceeded most everyone's expectations at the half way point. The Bengals have a good chance at getting the coveted first round bye in "hEllNO".

I like it from the Weber perspective, because teams have to actually game plan and focus on ISU, instead of just putting it into cruise control and keying in on Weber.

I have to admit, weber grad, that I noted in the pre-season that nobody really knew how good (or bad) the Bengals would be because nobody had seen most of their players yet.

ET has certainly been a huge addition -- he is the straw that stirs the drink. But who knew Geno Luzcando was going to develop from a guy who averaged 3 points a game as a freshman to a player who is scoring 17 points in conference, and has had TWO perfect 10 for 10 shooting games this year? Or that Ben Wilson would go from out of position PG to the team's leading shooter and rebounder as a 6-5 "power forward?" Certainly not me.

I give Bill Evans and his staff a lot of credit: they completely restructured their offensive approach so that ISU is now 93 in the nation in tempo and 63 in possession length. Last year the Bengals were 218 in adjusted tempo and 97 in possession length. The result has been a faster team able to play smaller and more efficient basketball. He also brought in as many shooters as he could find, and Telfair's ability to penetrate creates a lot of opportunities for those guys.

This week it's back on the road, so we'll see if the magic lasts. Even if it doesn't this team is a LOT more fun to watch than the recent past versions.

 

[weberwildcat]

im happy to see isu in the top of the standings. its better for weber when griz are good and isu the same goes. in the old format i always wished isu would do better. isu hosting would have been amazing for a weber fan. short travel. as well isu finishing high would increase more bengal fans at at ogden tourney.

in the 09 tourney in ogden isu had finished 9-7. they brought a decent size crowd to ogden in the semi. more than any other school ever brought. imagine if they finished top 3 and were in the final...then we would see a real rivalry game going down. we'd see a game like when usu comes to town or the 03 final with energy you don't forget. we would probably even see 12,000. so lets hope for weber and isu as co-champs in 2018-19.