@ IPFW

[gopheryote]

Big road game Wednesday night for the Yotes in Fort Wayne. Some details:


IPFW 16-8 (5-5) RPI 148  BPI 91;  11-1 @ home; coming off a last second loss @ Denver; not met everyone's expectations this season so far


Yotes 16-10 (7-4) RPI  139 BPI 185;  4-7 on the road; coming off an impressive wire-to-wire win @ NDSU; exceeded everyone (outside of Yotes fans) expectations so far this season



It feels like the general vibe from fans is not expecting a win, but hoping for a good showing. However, whenever teams clamp down on D against IPFW, they have struggled, and that is the Yotes strength. This is a very, very different team with Flack in the line-up (his defense against Warner being exhibit A), but IPFW doesn't go through the post much, so it is hard to get a read on how much of an impact that will make. It feels to me like this is a toss-up game (I doubt Vegas agrees).

[Coyote Fan]

The Coyotes can bury the Mastadons in the standings with a win. They would be up 2 games with the breaker. Actually the Coyotes probably are going to own the tie breaker with almost any team right now because of the win vs NDSU. If the Coyotes can beat SDSU and Oral Roberts at home they will guarantee at least a spit with all 8 Summit teams.

I agree that it is all about defense and closing out on their shooters. If I am the Yotes I play in their face tight and make them shoot inside the arc or try to test Flack inside. If the Coyotes leave those guys open from the outside it very well might not bode well. When I watched the end of their game vs Indiana all I saw Fort Wayne try to do was to make quick passes until the first guy was open for a 3.

Craig Smith mentioned on one of his recent interviews that the team had a winners mentality but maybe not quite a championship mentality as of yet. They need to bring a championship mentality to get a win out of Fort Wayne. Things changed for the team after the NDSU game and I hope their expectations changed along with it. They need to be preaching all week about the chances of winning a conference title and how big a win in Indiana would be towards that goal.

When the road trip started I thought the Yotes had about a 20% chance to win this game but I have upped that mark to 40% which is a heck of a punchers chance.

[gopheryote]

I see FW is favored by 7 pts. Actually, none of the SL spreads are very close tonight - Omaha by 5 is the closest to a pick em.

[Yotes]

Considering I could see this ranging from about a 6 point win to a loss in the teens that seems fair. Would not bet on an inconsistent road team like the Yotes

[Cousin Eddie]

Looks like we had flight issues and had to practice at the Pentagon last night. Hope that doesn't hamper our game.

[wiley]

Is it me, or did it seem like most Summit games last year were on ESPN3. Seems like only about 1/3 of the current year games have been broadcast on there. Little frustrating to not be able to watch, unless you want to buy the home team's subscription. Big test tonight. A win would be huge for seeding. Looking at the schedule the rest of the way, could be about 4 teams playing for the top seed with very little separation between the rest.

[usdtator]

We are definitely spoiled with Midco's amazing quality coverage of USD athletics... along with the carrot eaters up north, and the bizun...

You watch any of the other teams' broadcasts and it's like you are watching a 1980's high school video club provide the game coverage.

[Coyote Fan]

Feb 8, 2017 11:21:18 GMT -6 usdtator said:

We are definitely spoiled with Midco's amazing quality coverage of USD athletics... along with the carrot eaters up north, and the bizun...

You watch any of the other teams' broadcasts and it's like you are watching a 1980's high school video club provide the game coverage.

You are right about that. Just a couple of years ago USD fell right in line with your second sentence.

[Coyote Fan]

Feb 8, 2017 7:57:59 GMT -6 gopheryote said:

I see FW is favored by 7 pts. Actually, none of the SL spreads are very close tonight - Omaha by 5 is the closest to a pick em.

Last night when I looked at the spreads (and there are usually a few different lines) the Coyotes were about a 6 or 7 point underdog to the Mastadons but the Jacks were only a 5 or 6 point dog to the Bison. I know I am all about playing the disrespect card and maybe it gets old but that is like saying that the Jacks are basically a better team especially considering that the atmosphere will be a little less friendly to the Jacks then it will be to the Coyotes. To my recollection SDSU only has one road win in conference and that was at Omaha but the Coyotes have already won at Denver and at NDSU and both of those teams are higher in the Standing then UNO. Fort Wayne is not playing that well and prior to the USD loss the Bison were playing better than IPFW was.

If these games were not played tonight I think Vegas may only favor the Coyotes by about 3 or 4 in their game against the Jacks. Talk about a good betting opportunity and I am not one that bets on games and definitely would not put up homer bets on games because that would get one in trouble very quickly. I think the Coyotes should be about a 8 or 9 point favorite at home. Part of that reason is that the Jacks have not really played a conference game in a real difficult environment and they are not very good on the road anyway. The Coyotes have them circled and have since the tough last second loss in Brookings. The Jacks will have the script flipped on them. They will go from having a huge home court advantage to having a huge road court disadvantage.

Basically what I am saying is to put your confidence in the Coyotes to win big on Saturday.

[Coyote Fan]

Sorry for the diversion. Back to Fort Wayne. I don't really want to have to do this because I am going to hex the Yotes but I have a good feeling about tonight and am picking those guys in red and white to get the win tonight. As long as the Coyotes bring their defensive intensity when it comes to a game of a defense first team vs an offense first team I am going with the defense many of those occasions. I also like the comments that coach Smith made about the Coyotes and needing to have a championship mentality. As long as that mantra was stressed during this week of practice then the Yotes should be in a good mind set tonight and should play their tails off. Tonight it about mentality just like the second half of NDSU was. A win tonight would keep the Yotes in the conversation for the 1 seed and probably make them a good bet for the #2. #3 would be all but guaranteed. I really can't wait for the game tonight.

I am going 79-76 Coyotes in regulation but overtime would not surprise me.

[gopheryote]

I'm with CF here - I get a vibe tonight is a W. IPFW has the highest ceiling of anyone in the SL (by that I mean when them play well they will win, it doesn't matter if the other team plays well too). But they haven't been near their ceiling in more than 1 or 2 games during the conference.

[Yotes]

Play like we did in Fargo and we will blow them out. Win this one and we can go all in on speculation about getting a day off in Sioux Falls.

[Coyote Fan]

If anyone finds an underground link to watch the game live for free please post here. The Coyotes got off to a good start but Fort Wayne has rallied. The Dons lead 17-16 with 12:00 to go.

[Coyote Fan]

Question to the masses. If the Coyotes win tonight and maybe even if they don't do we turn into Jacks fans for one night and hope they knock off NDSU?

[Coyote Fan]

Sounds like Fort Wayne is getting their groove from outside. 29-25 Fort Wayne. Gotta stop their shooters. They have at least 5 triples.