Indians' talent level leaves little room for error

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team, while much improved this year, will more than likely finish with its second consecutive losing season. It would take a major hot streak down the stretch to avoid that.

But the Indians have posted quite a few high-quality wins already, beating Ohio Valley Conference powers Murray State and Tennessee Tech while also defeating Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Southwest Missouri, who are among the top teams in the Horizon League and Missouri Valley Conference, respectively. Three of those victories were at home and one was on a neutral floor.

What that tells me is that Southeast is talented enough to upset some good teams when its shots are falling and everything is clicking just about right. Playing in the friendly confines of the Show Me Center is also pretty much a must.

The Indians, however, are not talented enough to consistently beat good teams or even marginal teams unless just about everything goes their way. And they're not nearly talented enough to find much success on the road, where they have won just two of 10 games and where life is notoriously tough all across the country in college basketball.

Simply put, the Indians have little margin for error because they won't overwhelm most clubs with their physical ability.

As the Indians significantly upgrade their talent level next season, their margin for error should also increase, meaning they won't have to be so perfect in order to beat quality opponents.

And that should allow Southeast fans to expect to be treated to more road wins and victories over good teams that aren't considered upsets.

Some quick comments on a few Southeast players:

I don't know that I've ever seen a tougher competitor than sophomore guard Derek Winans, who seemingly has no regard for his well-being as he routinely hurls his body across the court. Winans is a joy to watch.

Junior center Brandon Griffin, who is averaging double figures in points and rebounds, has had a sensational rookie season and has by far exceeded the coaching staff's expectations when he was signed out of junior college. Griffin should be in the running for OVC Newcomer of the Year honors, although there is stiff competition for that award.

People should give sophomore center Adam Crader some slack. No, the 6-foot-11 Crader is not yet a productive college player, and who knows if he'll ever be one. But, although he hasn't really shown it yet in games, anybody who watches Southeast practices knows that he has improved significantly since arriving on campus.

Southeast fans need to realize that there is a reason a guy with Crader's size is in the OVC. It's because he's a project, the kind most mid-major programs across the country take chances on. If he had been highly skilled and polished coming out of high school, he would have no doubt wound up at a major program.

Hopefully Crader will be able to redshirt next season -- that's the plan, and it would have been done earlier in his career if the Indians' roster had not been so depleted the past two years -- which would give him a fighting chance to become a solid contributor during his final two seasons.

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And one final Indians hoop note:

The person in FanSpeak who recently ripped coach Gary Garner regarding potential recruit Josh Gonner being rated above the Indians' level is totally missing the boat.

I have written that Gonner is rated above Southeast's level to point out that he is being recruited by programs in conference's ranked higher than the OVC. It has nothing to do with Gonner being a level above the kind of players Southeast has been getting recently.

A quick thought on Southeast women's basketball:

B.J. Smith demands excellence, which is good and one of the reasons he's so far not overly satisfied with his first season as the Otahkians' coach.

But Smith is being a bit too hard on himself. He has already turned the Otahkians into one of the OVC's top teams and they should have a good chance of surpassing the program's high Division I win total of 19.

Once the Otahkians truly get used to Smith's style of play, they could really be something in the future.

I have been told that I offended the Central High School basketball seniors with my comment in last week's column, although that was never my intention.

I was simply responding to one idiotic comment in FanSpeak by pointing out that it's hard to find fault with what coach Derek McCord is doing with the program, even though I realize it's difficult to keep everybody happy no matter what the situation.

I'm sure that Central's seniors are fine young men and quality basketball players in their own right, and they are at least partially as responsible as the underclassman for the turnaround season the Tigers are having.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.