Big C said:
Things have been going well as of late. Anybody want to take a shot at predicting how our conference record will end up?
(I do!)
First, it looks like this is a 20-game conference schedule, not the usual eighteen. (Mods, I think you need to add the U$C away game on 1/29 to this site's schedule.) Then there is the conference tournament, but let's just go with the "regular season".
Of course, it could get chaotic what with COVID. In fact, it already is, so I don't know if we want to try and assume we will play all twenty...
Anyway, I'm going to predict that we win six more games. Maybe seven (and hopefully even more), but six will be my call. Yes, we are on a little bit of a roll right now, but the wins will be becoming a little harder and I just don't see us getting past our backcourt deficiencies. (Hey, I would be delighted if we won ten more and I could admit how wrong I was!)
So, six more would make us 7-13, if we ended up playing all the scheduled games (looks doubtful right now, frankly).
What do you think,,, and why? Go Bears!
Obvious factor is the Covid issue, we don't know how many games will be played, and also when they will be played. That factor alone could alter where we finish either way.
That being said, at best fifth, at lowest 11th, NO ONE is finishing lower than Oregon State. The old cliche, this team will probably win a couple that they're not supposed to, and lose 2 or 3 that they're supposed to win. With that said I will go with 8-12.
I quoted your post because I'm not in complete agreement that our biggest problem is "backcourt deficiencies". I feel that if Foreman and Hyder get some of their health back over this current layoff, our backcourt having a capable scorer (Shepherd) and a capable defender (Joel) along with two solid backups is not the biggest problem. I still feel interior defense is the biggest problem. And once the conference rotation sets in our most reliable scoring threat (Andre) may wear down due to playing against bigger guys on the defensive end. This is why I have mentioned in other posts that at some time it may be necessary to play Andre and Lars simultaneously.
I any case, lets hope the Bears can continue to show the consistent competiveness that we have seen in recent days. Perhaps by tournament time things can work in our favor. Go Bears!
