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Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!! Sports News
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Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!


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Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Aug 26, 2006

February 5, 2008 2:58 pm
I'm a huge Badger fan, but you're the best story in college basketball this year.

The problem is that you haven't beaten anyone good, but pretty much smoked everyone else... A lot of wins, lots of momentum, but legit? I'm not so sure.

Tell me why I should jump on the bandwagon!!!


Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!
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Reputation:88
Level:All-Star
Since:Dec 12, 2006

February 5, 2008 3:13 pm

I'd classify Iowa, Iowa State, Duquense and Creighton on the road as quality wins.  If they can pull it out against Illinois State and SIU on the road, that should be considered quality as well.  They just got paired up at Butler for the Bracket Buster.

The last run of games here will be a huge determination as to how good this team is.  None the less, to have the record that they do after sucking for so many years and for a school with enrollment of 5,000 to be in the top 15 is pretty impressive.

Young and Cox are the neculeous and will be back next year, so this team has nowhere to go but up.


Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!
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Level:Amateur
Since:Feb 5, 2008

February 5, 2008 10:18 pm

Drake wins 20th in a row.  The Dogs are on a roll.

They will go a long way in the tourney.  Any of them can hang 20 on you.  You really can't focus on just one person and you better be able to guard the 3 point line or they will light you up before you know what hit you.

Great story with a bunch of great STUDENT/athletes.  I think they announced the team GPA last year was over 3.1 at the game against Creighton.  This at one of the top academic programs available.

 


Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!
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Reputation:74
Level:Pro
Since:Dec 13, 2006

February 5, 2008 11:17 pm

Drake doesn't have the talent or the athletes to compete with many of the teams that they have played this season.  They're not supposed to win, nobody expects them to win, but they play within their system.  They play within their system and they don't make mistakes.  They shoot 3 point shots from behind NBA range (and make them) like no other college basketball team that I have seen. And they play a pretty good zone defense.  I think that you will see a lot of Dr. Tom/Bruce Pearl/Gary Williams/Bo Ryan philsophy with how this team plays. 

You don't have to be impressed with them, but you should respect what they have done.  On any level winning 20 straight is impressive.  When they get to the tourney, many teams will think, oh, were playing Drake (they suck).  Then with 5 minutes left they won't know what hit them.  In a nutshell, that's what this years team has done.

Drake's players have even said that there are no expectations for each game.  The experts picked this team to finish 9th in the Valley. 

The Valley may be having a "down" year, but this Drake team is very good.  They know how to finish games and they will suprise many people come this March.

 


Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!
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Reputation:10
Level:Amateur
Since:Jan 21, 2008

February 6, 2008 2:35 am
You won't jump on the bandwagon for 20 in a row?  Well then there are still many reasons why you should.

1) Drake beat Iowa on the road.  An in-state rival as well as a Big-10 team.  Decent win.

2) Drake beat Creighton in OT on the road in front of 17,000 fans (Creighton is 13th in the nation for attendance).  I was there for the game and hostile would be an understatement of the environment.  People should have started to give Drake credit after this win if they hadn't already.

3) Drake just completed a very impressive 3 game win streak against Creighton (again), Indiana State (road) and then Illinois State (road).  Alone this may not be that great but consider that they played all these games in a 7 day span and that many experts have Illinois State as a tournament bound team.

4) Emmenecker, Young, Cox, Houston, Korver.  Not enough for you?  Four of the five average 10+ per game and the other, Adam Emmenecker, leads the Valley in assists. They may not have that one go to guy that will put the team on his shoulders for the whole year but thats fantastic because they have 5 that can take any game over.

Drake has pretty good wins when you actually look at it plus they have beaten quality opponents on the road.  Experts keep waiting for them to slip up so they can say "See, told you they weren't that good," but Drake won't let that happen.  They have risen to every challenge they have faced and this is why you should jump on the bandwagon.


PS- I go to Drake and have been a fan ever since I arrived on campus.  I can attest to what LionHawk mentioned about these guys being Students first.  I see them in class every day, they don't use a game or travel as an excuse to let their studies slip.  Dr. Tom and his son, Keno, deserve some of the credit as they have never challeged Drake's 2.0 GPA rule which is stricter than the NCAA standard.  In fact they embrace it and ensure their athletes are true students as well.

Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Aug 25, 2006

February 6, 2008 2:40 am
"Everyone keeps saying, 'Drake's not that good.  They just find ways to win.'  Well that's what great teams do-- they find ways to win."
That quote from Keno after tonight's game said a lot.  As an '07 grad, I have a huge connection to this team and love seeing them succeed, but I've also been hesitant to completely buy into the hype.  I've always thought that they were deserving of their ranking based on what they've accomplished, but I've never honestly believed that they were the 15th best team in the country.  However, reading that quote really made me think.  It's true that most of Drake's wins have been close games, some closer than the score indicates (both Creighton games, for example).  But there is something to be said about the fact that the Bulldogs end up on top every time.  When they win this many games that come down to the wire, eventually you have to conceed that it's a trend, not a mirage.  People will try to spin it like its a bad thing that they havent blown anybody out, but if they were winning games by 30, everyone would say they'd crumble due to lack of experience if they ever got in a tight one.  I still don't think anyone can know how good this team truly is based on their pretty shaky schedule, but at least I'm beginning to appreciate the fact that they are getting experience in these games.  That's something that can only help alleviate the pressure come tournament time, assuming they make it (had to add that qualifier... I'm terrified of jinxing them).   I'd just like to know if Jay Bilas (quickly becoming public enemy #1 in Des Moines) still thinks Illinois State is the best team in the Valley, as he said last week.

Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Aug 25, 2006

February 6, 2008 2:48 am
Sorry for the double post, just had to clarify the last statement of my previous one... Not meant to be a shot at all at the Redbirds, that's a hell of a team and Eldridge is scary good.  In context, Bilas's comments were pretty overtly a swipe at the Bulldogs more than an endorsement of Illinois State.  The only shot I meant to take was at him.  The way he's been flapping his jaw, we might need to start a Jay Bilas Haterade thread soon...

Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!
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Reputation:58
Level:Pro
Since:Jan 13, 2008

February 6, 2008 9:26 am

It's not often that you see a team run off 20 wins in a row...and it doesn't matter what conference they are in or who they played. That is a TOUGH thing to do in the NCAA today. I am not a fan of questioning "who they have played". They are playing the schedule given to them, and beating everyone on it, except one.

My wife and I are going to the Knapp Center for the game against Evansville on Saturday and we can't wait. We attended Drake the first two years the Knapp Center was open and we haven't been to a game since. I know....band wagon jumpers....but we are having a ball following them this season, and its not easy to follow them living in Minnesota...where even though they are a top 25 team, they get no press.

I listened to the game on internet radio 1350 KRNT last night and found myself sweating out the final few minutes of the game.


Drake - HELP ME BELIEVE!!!
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Jan 15, 2008

February 7, 2008 3:36 am

jamasta

They are #5 in the RPI, that means someone thinks they have played a pretty good schedule. Strength of schedule is a big part of the RPI! They beat Iowa, Creighton(twice), Illinois State, and Iowa State (by like 30+ points). The Valley is a dangerous conference, and they just keep winning!