Here is a little rundown of my impressions of the ISU personnel, with some help from an ISU insider--
Here are their team stats--
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/iag/stats
As can be seen from those stats, they play basicaly just 6 players (the starters plus Sampay) the great majority of time. Nobody but the top six average more than 2.8 ppg.
Only 1 other player,
Sead Odzic, averages more than 9 minutes a game, but he scores just 1 ppg, and though he is considered a three-point threat, he has not made a three pointer all season.
Brandon Sampay is their only significant bench player. He averages 7.0 ppg and 4.8 rpg in 21 minutes off the bench. He is listed at 6'8", but he closer to 6'6", and 250 lbs. He is not a leaper like Anthony Slack was for them last year, but his size does help around the basket.
But here is some inside news about Sampay- From an ISU insider I have hard that he suffered a sprained ankle late in the Redbirds' loss at Northern Iowa Wednesday, and did not practice much Thursday. He is still favoring his ankle and how much he can play Saturday is in question.
Sampay sprained his ankle last year and missed a couple games.
Chamberlain (Champ) Oguchi is their leading scorer at 15.2 ppg. He averages 5.6 rpg, which is good for a guard, but he only averages 1.4 assists per game in 31.2 minutes per game, which means he doesn't pass much. He shoots 39% from three and is an 83% free throw shooter.
But he is only 4-14 from three over the past 3 games.
Game-by-game stats-
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/38151
Osiris Eldridge was the preseason Valley Player of the Year. But so far, he has not been the best player on his own team. He averages 14.1 ppg, and 6.0 rpg, and is among the leaders in the MVC at 34.5 minutes per game played. He is in a bit of a slump lately. He has only scored below double-digits 4 times this season, but 3 of them have been in the last 6 games. His shooting percentage has also taken a dive lately. He was close to 50% for the year, until the last 6 games he is shooting only 35.7%.
Here are his game-by-game stats-
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/61299
Lloyd Phillips is a junior college transfer who is 3rd in scoring at 11.8 ppg. He is their best point guard, and is second to Eldridge in minutes played with 32.2. He is statistically their best outside shooter and leads them in assists with 3.6 apg. He has been their most consistent player, but he also leads ISU in turnovers..
stats-
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/81068
Emmanuel Holloway also starts at guard. He is a senior and was a juco transfer reserve player last year. He's also a pretty good shooter, and averages 9.8 ppg. He has played well lately while Eldridge and Oguchi have fallen off a little.
stats-
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/38722
The 5th starter is center
Dinma Odiakosa. He may be the most improved player in the league. He averages 9.3 ppg, and 7.3 rpg, and plays solid defense in the middle.
He has a couple weak areas. He tends to get into foul trouble sometimes, and is a horrible free throw shooter- 40% for the season. He was 0-5 from the free throw line in the close loss at Northern Iowa. He also doesn't pass well. Considering all the good shooters ISU has, Odiakosa averages only 0.5 assists per game this year, which is right at his career average.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/46851
Other reserves-
Landon Shipley- junior guard averaging 2.8 ppg. He is a transfer from Austin Peay, and only plays 5 min per game.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/47528
Alex Rubin- a 6'1" sophomore point guard who has only gotten into 8 games all year, averages 8.8 minutes per game, and 1.8 ppg. He was injured early in the year.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/73285
Brandon Holtz- a 6'4" shooting guard, and former high school teammate of Dodie Dunson at Bloominton HS. Brandon, a senior, doesn't play much in Jankovich's system, and it's unlikely we'll see much of him in Saturday's game. He is avergaing 6.6 minutes in 14 games, and 1.5 ppg, which is the lowest season average in his 4 years at ISU.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/47044
Sead Odzic- he is a transfer from University of Southern California. He is a 6'3" junior, and when he transferred he was hailed as a great shooter. But he has not shot well. As noted above, he plays 14 minutes per game, more than any other reserve than Sampay, but his 1 ppg (also 1 apg, and 1 rpg) average is the worst on the team except for a couple seldom used freshmen.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/46362
Kellen Thornton- a 6'7" freshman who might have redshirted, except they needed bodies. He is very thin (listed at 215, but likely much less), and plays mostly when Odiakosa or Sampay are in foul trouble. He averages 5.3 mpg, 0.5 ppg, and 1.3 rpg. If Sampay's ankle limits him, we may see a little of Thornton.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/81071
Jeremy Robinson- Jeremy is a 6'8" sophomore who is also a bit skinny. Bradley coach Jim Les recruited him out of Decatur Eisenhower HS where he was a teammate of Lewis Jackson (who chose Purdue over Bradley). Jeremy suffered a severe knee injury prior to his senior season in HS, but has recovered well from that. However, he rarely sees the playing floor at ISU. He has appeared in just 11 games (the lowest of any ISU player except for Rubin who was injured), averages 3.5 minutes per game, 0.5 ppg and 0.7 rpg. He has not played in 6 of ISUs last 7 games. He is another one they should have redsirted.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/81069
