As for Doyle, he sat out one game with an ankle and then turned his ankle again against WSU (I don't know if it was the same one).

But yea, he hasn't looked sharp recently. His shot is off and his handles are kind of loose. To me it seems like he's trying to get to the basket too much and hesitant to pull the trigger on his long range jumper.

Plus, he looks skinny and a little worn down.

Agreed. I think the frustration was getting to him and he started forcing a few plays on offense. On the bright side, he did have 7 assists...so...not bad.

I see what you did there Swella. How about instead: the seven foot tall center wasn't very agile.

With Doyle, if he's hurt I think you've got to sit him until he's better. Anybody who has tried to play through a lingering ankle injury will tell you two things: you're not able to be remotely close to yourself, and it's not going to get better playing on it. I don't know if that's actually the case here.

12 you're right, he did have several nice assists including one bounce pass in the lane to CT for a huge basket + a foul late in the game.

I think it is also the shoulder as he has that labrum issue. He got special permission from the league to wear that support harness.
Got a chance to talk to him in Vegas. Heck of a nice young man. We are lucky to have him. His presence at the point creates a lot of defensive concerns for the opposition although next year with Richardson's development's plus White starting I do not expect to see him at the point nearly as much. Don't forget White is coming off of knee surgery so I would think they do not want to over work him.
I also think Coach has to play a lot of guys to keep them happy. This is truly his team and he likes what he has to work with.
CBS sports had a nice story about the Wichita game Sunday night. Wichita had four starters with 30 minutes or more playing time.
Baker 37, Van Fleet 35, Cotton 33, Wessel 30. Carter had 27 and Morris was the only sub in double figures for minutes with 15 and Brown had 8 and Henderson 7.
For us Doyle had 27, Turk 26, Thomas 23 and White 20. Off the bench Peterson had 29 so he led the team, Knuth 22, Ingram 19 and Richardson 16. The guy I feel bad for is Crisman who only played 7 minutes. But that shows how far our recruiting has progressed in terms of talent level. Three freshmen subs in the bunch and all have showed they can make meaningful contributions. Crisman is a real class act and while it probably bothers him to see reduced minutes, he still works hard all the time.
Great kid, great family.
Last night at crunch time, Ingram, and Richardson were on the floor with Doyle, White and Thomas. Probably the best defense.
Ricks had 7 threes last night but 6 were in the first half. A rested and fresh Milton Doyle shadowed Ricks and really put the clamps on him.
Good teams win when they play bad; bad teams find a way to lose when they play good. Last year we were bad and found ways to lose. This year we find ways to win. Thirteen wins in the bag so far. A real fun season. Scary stuff last night but gave the coaching staff credit for great halftime adjustments.

I am excited about the minutes distribution through this part of the season. Porters recruiting efforts are starting to pay dividends and I dont think its a bad thing to be known as a place where you can play early, if you work hard. As for Crisman I appreciate his leadership, his toughness & seeing this project through but am happy with his minutes, he clearly isnt one of our best players no matter how good of a kid he is.

I hate to reiterate what others have already said, but I'm happy with the W from last night. I agree that this is a game that we probably would have lost last year. Seems like the team is growing and I think we have some really solid building blocks to work with. The way I look at it...if we were able to recruit a guy like Doyle before... a season or two like this and we should be able to consistently recruit solid/athletic players. Solid recruits are winners and their first choice is NOT to play for a perennial looser (National Championship or not).

That's what she said!

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Cigarboy sucks!

Better late than never.

I didn't feel like starting a new thread so I'll just post it here...Drake beat Indiana State 84-78. Don't know what to make of this result, but I think the game against the Ramblers may have served as a wake-up call for Drake.

They took up exactly where they left off against us, with Ricks scoring 23 points. This may be where the wheels come off for Indiana State... now they've got a trip to Northern Iowa, Loyola in Terre Haute, and at Evansville.