But the wise coach ought to be able to see that nobody at the top of the MVC is likely gonna get an at large bid - so the ONLY thing that matters is how healthy your team is gonna be the first week in March - right?
That's one way to look at it. Others value a conference championship. Also seeding for the conference tourney is important, not much breathing room between 2nd seed and 8th seed.
Also does ISU with an RPI of 70 have a shot at an NIT bid?
Or is Muller focused only on what he has to do to win every game regardless of how it may hurt his team's chances down the road?
Last year only one player played more than 27 mpg and they all stayed pretty healthy - but this year they are being played harder wouldn't you agree?
BUT- it's not just playing them the most minutes on the team- and of course the ball is in their hands the most...so they take the most beating...
But you gotta look at how many times one of their "big three" have played 34, 35, 36 or more minutes in a game...it has happened a lot - and just "coincidentally" ISU folks complain about all the danged injuries they have??
ISU's Big 3
Evans averages 30.5 minutes per game
Fayne averages 29.7 minutes per game
Milik Y averages 26.8 minutes per game
Just for comparison purposes:
UC-Davis's Big 3
Schneider 30.4 minutes per game
Shorts 30.2 minutes per game
Moneke 30.0 minutes per game
Duke's Big 3
Grayson Allen 33.8 minutes per game
Marvin Bagley 33.0 minutes per game
Gary Trent 33.0 minutes per game
Darrell Brown averages 32.2 minutes per game for Bradley
BUT even the ISU beat writer was surprised that Yarbrough was in the starting lineup last night - and Keyshawn Evans was brought back really fast from his prior knee injury (which was a recurring thing) and - surprise - he re-injures it again.
Looking more & more like ISU is gonna be the walking wounded in St. Louis, so go figure.
I follow Jim Benson on twitter. I don't remember a surprised tweet by him. Any chance you could post it?
..and even your own announcers last night on the ESPN3 broadcast noted how hard Clarance was pushed to return from his injury and that it resulted in blisters that cost him even a couple more weeks...(their words - not mine)
Game wasn't on ESPN3
Game was on Cbs Sports
They weren't our announcers.
John Sadak, play-by-play. Out of Delware
Michael O'Donnell, analyst. Out of Florida
Clarance's blisters:
http://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/bad-weekend-of-losses/
Illinois State is yet to play a game with 7-footer Daouda (David) N’diaye or highly touted freshmen Elijah Clarance. Both are out with foot injuries. Clarance’s original injury is fine, but he has developed extremely painful blisters from orthotics placed in his shoes to protect against future injuries.