Drake Basketball

The Drake University Bulldogs men's basketball program will look to rebound off last season's 17-16 record and return to the form that lead the team to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2008.

Head coach Mark Phelps enters his second year hoping fresh faces will add a boost in the right direction. If Phelps can lead the Bulldogs to a fourth straight winning season, it will be the first time in school history since 1968-71.

The task won't be an easy one in a strong Missouri Valley Conference but—on paper at least—Drake is poised for the fight.

The Bulldogs return only three starters from last year's squad, and 10 players on Drake's roster have yet to see action in a college basketball game. The young faces have abundant talent and potential, but experience and leadership will be required to bring this squad together.

Returning starter Josh Young will attempt to recover from an injury-plagued junior campaign and lead the Bulldogs back to the front of the MVC pack. Young averaged 15.4 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game, a high among MVC guards.

Young sits at seventh among Drake's all-time leading scorers. If he matches last season's total of 509, he'll easily surpass Red Murrell for the honors of Drake's all-time leading scorer.

A healthy Young will be downright hazardous to opponents. He'll need help if Drake is to be successful this season. 

Most of the assistance will come from Young's fellow guards. The Bulldogs' backcourt will be the team's strength.

Arkansas State transfer Ryan Wedel is now eligible. Wedel brings a much needed three-point and scoring threat to Drake. As a sophomore, Wedel earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors, averaging 15.1 points per game.

Senior point guard Craig Stanley will help dish out the ball after ranking fourth in assists in the MVC last year. The Bulldogs will need Stanley's improvement, as moving the ball was not their strong suit last year.

If the guards are Drake's strength, the big men are its weakness.

Adam Templeton is the lone returning starter for the Drake front line. He will need to step up his game, but returning senior letter-winner Bill Eady and a lot of new faces will help carry the load.

Last season, Jonathan Cox and Brent Heemskerk did all the work for the Bulldogs in the paint. Both were lost to graduation. New faces will have to step up to fill in the gap that remains.

The Bulldogs have five players over 6'8". All are freshman.

2009 Michigan Class B Player of the year and Michigan Mr. Basketball runner-up Ben Simmons could see a lot of action at forward in his first year.

Also predicted to see a lot of action are fellow freshmen Aaron Hawley, Reece Uhlenhopp, and Seth Van Deest.

Hawley was a two-time first team Arkansas 7A all-state selection in high school, and the most valuable player of the Arkansas All-Star Game. Look for him to see a lot of early action.

Uhlenhopp is a former Iowa prep star for Urbandale High School. Uhlenhopp was named 4A first team all-state by the Iowa Newspapers Association and received second team all-state honors from the Des Moines Register as a senior.

Looking to fill the shoes at center will be Van Deest. He was named first team Iowa Class 4A by the Iowa Newspapers Association, IowaPreps.com and the Des Moines Register. The former Bettendorf standout averaged 17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.1 shot blocks per game. Van Deest will compete with seven-foot red-shirt freshman Sean Jones for the start at center. 

Talent is everywhere for the Bulldogs. The key will be to unleash that talent and for Drake to show its potential. The new faces will need to step up to the plate early if Drake is to be successful. Josh Young will also need to return to his sophomore year form. 

It would appear Drake is set to take a step backward in a strong MVC, but if the team gels quickly, the Bulldogs could surprise.

Drake (15-10, 6-7) at Indiana State (5-19, 3-10)

Line: Drake -1.5

Drake broke a three-game losing streak with a 68-54 victory over Bradley on Saturday. Sitting in a tie for sixth, the Bulldogs can’t afford to trip over lower level teams like Indiana State. The Bulldogs cruised to an easy 19-point victory in their first meeting back on Jan. 7.

A 75-73 victory over Illinois State on Saturday gave the Sycamores a pair of Red Bird bookends. The victory stopped a seven-game losing streak that began after a defeat of Illinois State on Jan. 10. Indiana State has had little success outside of Illinois State and Northern Iowa though.

ATS-

Drake is 10-10 against the spread including 5-4 on the road

Drake is 6-4 against the spread in their last 10 matchups against Indiana State

Indiana State is 9-13 against the spread including 6-5 at home.

See the rest of the article including Dave's free prediction at cbbplace.com

Philadelphia-- The 76er's trade of Kyle Korver ended former General Manager Billy King's longtime goal of signing all four Korver brothers. The 76ers acquired Kyle Korver from the Nets who drafted him 51st overall in 2003 for an undisclosed amount of cash.

The 76ers traded Korver to the Jazz for a first round pick and Gordan Giricek. New Sixer's GM Ed Stefanski quickly cleaned up Billy King's mess by ending the 76ers quest to have all four Korver brothers play for the 76ers.

The 76ers had planned on going after two of Kyle's brothers who played each other last night in the Missouri Valley Conference. Kaleb Korver is a freshman guard for the Creighton Blue Jays. He's seeing a modest 12 minutes a game and averages 3.5 points.

"I saw him when he was a freshman back in high school in Pella, Iowa. He looked like he could turn into a lottery pick out of high school, but with the new age rules, he had to go to college. It seems like he might not pan out to be a superstar, but could become a solid role player," says the former GM Billy King.

The 76ers also fell in love with Kirk Korver, a senior at Pella High School who also has a sweet shot. The 76ers think he could have supplanted Kyle as the team's top three point shooter.

"I've never seen a guy shoot the rock like he can," says King, "He will be something special."

The final brother Klayton Korver is a senior three point threat for the Drake Bulldogs which had the 76ers willing to give up everything they had to trade up to the number pick and draft Klayton. Klayton has reached double digit points seven times this year which makes Billy King think he's a project 100% worth developing.

"Some guys come out of school raw despite having four years in college. It will be our job to work him into a better basketball player and into our rotation," says King.

When chairman Ed Snider saw a napkin that Billy King had written down a potential roster containing all four Korvers he fired King on the spot.

"I was getting tired of people thinking we had Ashton Kutcher on the team so the thought of having four players that looked like him was upsetting. I knew right then and there King had to go," says Snider, "I thought King was a great GM despite letting Allen Iverson go and letting the team struggle through one the worst stretches in team history. I hope King can continue his dream to have all four Korver's united under one roof somewhere else."

All quotes are fake. This story is completely fake.

I just finished watching a very good basketball game where North Carolina defeated Clemson for the ACC Championship.  The game ends, and I flip over to CBS in time to hear one of the more ridiculous statements I have ever heard from a studio analyst.

Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis are arguing over who should be the National Coach of the Year.  Kellogg thinks it should be Bo Ryan of Wisconsin.  Davis on the other hand, thinks it should be Drake’s Keno Davis.

This causes Kellogg to loose his mind.  He interrupts Davis to ask, “What do you base it on, how do you choose coach of the year?”  After joking that he chose Keno Davis based on his last name, Seth Davis says,  “They were picked to finish ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference.”

Kellogg doesn’t like that criteria for coach of the year, saying, “Expectations don’t indicate the deal.”  I don’t really know what “the deal” is that Kellogg is talking about.  I will have to assume he means expectations are not really a relevant measuring stick.

But that can’t be, because a few seconds later, after Davis points out that Kellogg’s argument for Bo Ryan is also based on exceeding expectations, Kellogg says, “They were not picked to win the Big Ten,” and then points at Davis as if to show he has won the argument and he repeats in a slower deliberate manner, “Wisconsin was not picked to win the Big Ten.”

Davis doesn’t miss this ridiculous flip-flop in a matter of seconds from Kellogg, when he responds almost in amazement to Kellogg, “I thought expectations had nothing to do with it, come on.”

Just to recap, Clark Kellogg thinks Bo Ryan should be coach of the year.  He then does not agree with Seth Davis choosing Drake’s Keno Davis based on the criteria that Drake exceeded expectations, winning the Missouri Valley Conference after being chosen to finish ninth prior to the season.  Kellogg then supports his pick of Bo Ryan because no one picked Wisconsin to win the Big Ten.

It is nothing new for an analysts to say ridiculous things that completely contradict something else they said.  But this is the fastest flip-flop I have ever seen.  Kellogg didn’t even wait until after a commercial break to completely contradict and undermine his previous argument.  One sentence -  exceeding expectations should not be the criteria for choosing coach of the year.  Next sentence – I am choosing the coach of the year because his team exceeded everyone’s expectations.

This all made my head hurt.