Peaks, Valleys and a fantastic finish in St. Louis

Why don't these pens come with spell check?

Team triumphed over talent in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game.

But it was not because of a lack of effort by said talent.

And by talent I mean Illinois State guard Osiris Eldridge.

After a scoreless first half that saw the Valley's preseason player of the year chuck shots left and right and come up empty, Eldridge played like a man possessed. He scored a game-high 21 points and drained five three-pointers, all in the second half. A couple of "O's" three-balls came from beyond the NBA's 3-point line that was painted on the Scottrade Center floor.

Three things came to my mind during Eldridge's stellar performance:

The MVC has to deal with this guy for one more year. Good luck with that.

He reminded me of what Drake did last year. He was a "sticker shooter" ... a player that could make a shot from the stickers on the floor.

It made me yearn for the days when Jamaal Tatum used to do that for SIU.

Eldridge took the game into his hands on both ends of the floor. He grabbed six rebounds, swiped two steals and collected two blocks -- one of which came against UNI's 7-foot-1-inch center Jordan Egelseder.

Yet, his performance was not enough to propel the Redbirds to a win which would have secured the team's first auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament since Rico Hill wrecked havoc on his Valley foes in 1998.

Despite the "M" on my credential, I became a fan of Osiris Eldridge as he drained jumper-after-jumper and made defensive stops one after another. Still wearing a pair of retro Air Jordans, Osiris invoked the memories of His Airness as he soared and scored when his team needed it the most.

But unlike the six storybook endings M.J. wrote in Chicago which ended with a Grant Park rally, Eldridge came up painfully short.

Panthers, Redbirds should provide quite a show

It's not the game that I wanted ... kinda hard when your team gets knocked out in the first round.

Even then, the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title game will not square off the league's co-champions. Instead, the game between No. 1 seed Northern Iowa and No. 3 seed Illinois State could answer an age old question of college basketball.

Which team has the edge: the team with the better individuals or the squad where the sum of its parts are greater than the whole.

The Panthers' meteoric rise to the top of the Valley standings came this season because they played team basketball. UNI features solid post play from starting 7-foot-1 inch center Jordan Egelseder and MVC Sixth Man of the Year Lucas O'Rear. Its guard play features Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Ali Farokhamesh and Johnny Moran ... any of which could light up defenders from the perimeter at a moment's notice.

The Redbirds, well, they're a whole different story.

Illinois State will be making its second straight conference final appearance, looking to avenge last season's blowout loss at the hands of Drake. The Redbirds feature the conference's most talented player (Osiris Eldridge) and super-transfer Chamberlain "Champ" Oguchi. Either guard can carry his team's offense for lengthy stretches of the game.

So, who's it gonna be?

You'll find out at the same time I do. The only difference is that I'll be in under the Arch for one more day.

Is Northern Iowa for real?

I have not wanted to believe it all year, but it looks like the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season co-champs might be the real deal.

If Northern Iowa puts up a good fight in Sunday's conference tourney title bout, the MVC should be a two-bid conference. And if somehow, someway Illinois State can pull off an upset of No. 2 seed Creighton without damaging the Bluejays' NCAA resume too bad, the MVC might send three teams to the tournament.

Damn shame one of them isn't the SIU Salukis. Maybe that's why I'm still in St. Louis. I'm getting my post-season basketball fix while I still can.

Inside The Valley: Is Osiris trying to be like Mike?

Illinois State guard Osiris Eldridge is (apparently) emulating Michael Jordan

I'm an 80s baby, but a 90s kid. So when I saw Illinois State junior guard Osiris Eldridge take the court with a pair of retro Air Jordans on, I kind of smiled to myself.

And shared with the lovely Megan Kramper, of course. But she'll get a separate blog shout out another day. More on overpriced basketball shoes!

See, as a kid, there were a few things I saved money to buy. Those things were media guides and Air Jordans. Come to think of it, I guess it makes sense why I am where I am, today.

My first big purchase: a pair of white-on-white Air Jordans with the white patent leather and Carolina blue trim.

Other big purchases included scorecards, pencils and media guides.

I'm a nerd. Deal with it.

If I were Osiris, I would bring out the black and red version of those shoes he had on tonight. They go well with the red jerseys. At least that's what I remember from the Bulls' hey-day.

Welcome to the Good Life

Simply put.

For some gosh awful reason I feel as if I've made it somewhere. I'm not sure whether it's something in the media lunch's salad dressing or what, but I'm feeling all sorts of special this afternoon.

Here's hoping the SIU Salukis have the same feeling I do.

It's your move, Bryan

I'm channeling my inner Shakespeare.

To play or not to play?

That is thy question.

It seems as if it is up to senior guard Bryan Mullins whether or not he plays in this afternoon's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament game against Bradley. Mullins has still yet to partake in a full practice session (to my knowledge at least) but the kid's a gamer and if he wants to play, he'll play.

I'm not sure if head coach Chris Lowery wants him to play, he seems to be taking the cautious side, which is expected of a coach who is like Mullins' second father.

In the meantime, check out the hard work I've been doing in St. Louis.

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Guide [Daily Egyptian - Online Exclusive]
Salukis March begins under the Arch [Daily Egyptian]
Meet me in St. Louis [Daily Egyptian]
How the Salukis can become champions [Daily Egyptian]

Where have you gone Barry Hinson?

11-20.

Barry Hinson was axed despite a winning record last season. Maybe I'm bitter because Hinson was one of the Missouri Valley Conference's best quotes. Or I'm bitter because the Southern Illinois-Missouri State rivalry was pretty darn good when it was truly a game of me and my shadow.

Luckily, for Barry, he landed on his feet with a nice, cushy assistant coaches job with Bill Self and Kansas. Now that's what I call good timing.

In the end, Cuonzo Martin will end up being a good head coach for the Bears. He's got a nice young forward in Kyle Weems and comes from the Gene Keady-Bruce Weber-Matt Painter line of coaches.

And after finishing nine games under .500, the sky is the limit for the young Bears.

Wichita State outlasts Missouri State [Daily Egyptian]

Spike, get in your doghouse

It has been a tough tumble for the Bulldogs of Drake University.

It was only a year ago when opposing offenses went cold against Drake's zone defense and opposing defenses were lit up by the Bulldogs' 3-point snipers.

Drake went 28-5 in 2008 and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles.

In 2009, the Bulldogs finished 17-15, plummeting from one of the NCAA's Cinderella stories to losing a play-in game against Indiana State, which is now 11-20.

They streaking Sycamores will attempt to take down co-conference champ and No. 1 seed Northern Iowa tomorrow.

Sycamores send Bulldogs packing with early exit [Daily Egyptian]

Salukis in the City (of St. Louis)

Photo courtesy of my Blackberry

This looks something more like out of a Cheaters TV show, but I swear up and down I wasn't creeping on Coach Lowery. In fact, C-Lo gave me a nice shout-out when he saw me courtside when I walked into the Scottrade Center before the SIU men's basketball team's open practice.

As one of the few student-journalists here in St. Louis, I was surprised to see SIU open its locker room to media. Of course I took advantage of it.

Here are some of that segments snippets:

Freshman G Kevin Dillard on the fan support SIU gets when it's on the road:

"Everywhere we go our fans travel with us. And as long as we come in and take care of business, we’ll be all right."

Freshman F Anthony Booker on focus:

“We’re just focused on trying to get as many wins as we can. I’m not really focused on the crowd or anything like that. I’ve got a job to do and that is to come down here and win three games."

Senior G Bryan Mullins on the status of his foot:

“It’s OK. It’s a little sore, we’ll see. We’re going to do another practice after this, do some stuff and see how it feels then probably decide tonight or tomorrow morning."

Salukis in St. Louis [Daily Egyptian]

For more on the Salukis, stay tuned to siuDE.com, The Big Dead Sidebar and mvc.org.

Eat your heart out, Deadspin

One of my favorite sports blogs out there is Deadspin.

You know, "Sports News without Access, Favor or Discretion."

Well, this weekend, yours truly will be blogging from the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis with access and (probably) favor. Discretion ... well ... like MJH said, not so much.

I've always looked forward to MVC Tourney weekend as a fan. It gave me an excuse to go to all of my classes before Spring Break and then ditch Thursday and Friday's classes for the tourney's first two days before spending the weekend in St. Louis.

Now, since I have access, I have a legit reason (along with a note from the DE's Faculty Managing Editor) to miss class. And I'm taking advantage of it.

Stay tuned to The Big Dead Sidebar as I'll provide a different look at the MVC Tournament as I'll attempt to do something only a young, hungry, desperate-for-a-job sports writer would do.

And that's cover every frickin' game of the tournament.

Every.

Frickin.

Game.

/Bill Plaschke'd

Take care, America. Until later, I'm going to enjoy some free food from the media lounge.