Mike Miller said his team played its best basketball of last season during February.

Eastern’s head men’s basketball head coach will find out in less than two weeks if his team can again play its best from November all the way through mid-March.

Next Thursday, the Panthers take on Monmouth College in the first of two exhibition games before their Nov. 10 season opener against Harris-Stowe.

Our campus hasn’t experienced a winning men’s basketball season since the 2001 team advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

There should be no excuse come late February about a third-straight missed Ohio Valley Conference Tournament berth. Instead of talking about how his team wanted to keep playing after February and into the postseason, Miller should be talking about the Panthers upcoming opponent in the OVC Tournament.

Notice, there’s no mention of a possible NCAA Tournament berth.

The Panthers have to make the OVC Tournament first before any crazy talk of making travel arrangements to see Eastern in the NCAA Tournament.

Here are three reasons why Eastern will make the OVC Tournament – and three reasons why the Panthers won’t make it.

Three reasons why Eastern will make the OVC Tournament

1. Experience everywhere

– Bobby Catchings said last year, he remembered watching Henry Domercant play on a recruiting visit here. Catchings, a 6-foot-6, 200-pound fifth-year senior forward, is the most experienced player on Eastern’s roster.

While Catchings’ career hasn’t resembled that of Eastern’s all-time leading scorer, he has a chance to end it with something Domercant missed out on his senior year: an NCAA Tournament berth. And it’s not just Catchings, either. Jake Byrne (6-8, 230, senior forward) is back for his second-straight year of starting, and Mike Robinson (5-11, 180, junior point guard) now enters his third year as Miller’s point guard, a role he has greatly improved upon since his freshman campaign.

This experience, with all starters and bench players back from last year, will be the strength of this year’s team.

2. Defensive and offensive rebounding

– Sophomore center Ousmane Cisse (6-8, 250) is a force underneath the basket. He goes out, seeks the ball on rebounds and does a good job boxing out defenders. Miller has the bodies to replace his post players, too. Sophomores Bobby Joliff and Justin Brock played meaningful minutes last year and can hold their own inside.

But Byrne needs to improve in this area to make Miller’s words – that Eastern should be the best rebounding team in the league – come true.

3. Dominating defense

– The strength of Miller’s first two teams was the defense. It kept the Panthers in games last year when the offense struggled.

The strong defense was evident during a 53-48 loss to Samford, in which Eastern went nearly nine minutes without a field goal in the second half, yet still had a chance to win.

Also, a 73-59 win against Jacksonville State, in which Eastern held the Gamecocks to 35 percent shooting, exemplified the defense’s ability. Miller likes to play an aggressive man-to-man, mixed in with some match-up zones, in order to confuse the opponent. This year should be more of the same.

Three Reasons why Eastern won’t make the OVC Tournament

1. Too dependent on Romain Martin

– Martin took the league by surprise last year, leading the Panthers in scoring on his way to the league’s Co-Freshmen of the Year Award. That will not be the same scenario this year.

Teams know the 6-3, 185-pound left-handed guard can take over games with his outside shooting and ability to get to the basket. At times last year, it seemed Eastern’s offense was content to let the shot clock wind down and have Martin make a play. Sometimes, no one else would score. In Eastern’s 66-43 loss at Loyola of Chicago, Martin scored 23 points – more than half of Eastern’s total output.

During the regular-season finale 71-45 loss at Samford, Martin was the lone Panther in double figures with 15 points. Other players need to score on a consistent basis to take the burden off Martin every game.

2. Too many key players return to league

– Austin Peay ran away with the conference regular season title last year and was within one point of advancing to the NCAA Tournament. And head coach Dave Loos did it all without a senior on his roster. The Governors aren’t the only ones with much of their rosters intact.

Southeast Missouri and Jacksonville State return four starters, although SEMO might be hurt early because of unclear status involving Brandon Foust, the Redhawks leading scorer last year. Foust was involved in an altercation on SEMO’s campus two weeks ago and hasn’t practiced with the team yet.

Other game-changing players, like Eastern Kentucky guard Adam Leonard, who shared the league’s Freshman of the Year Award with Martin, and Tennessee Tech guard Anthony Fisher, the league’s leading returning scorer, are back.

3. Too much depth

– Last year, Miller used various starting combinations before he settled on one. The late- season starting lineup comprised Martin and Robinson at guards, with Catchings on the wing, while Byrne and Cisse were inside.

But Brock, Joliff, junior forward Billy Parrish and senior guard Bam Willhite all got starting nods, too. And add in the return of senior guard Julio Anthony, who missed the final 17 games last season because of academic ineligibility and injured his hip in the team’s first exhibition game last year after starting it.

It’s anyone’s guess who will walk out for the opening tip Nov. 10.

Fact Box:

What: OVC Men’s Basketball Tournament

When: March 4, 7 and 8, 2008

Where: On-campus sites and Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.

– The last three tournaments have been held at the Sommet Center (formerly the Gaylord Entertainment Center), but the Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament is being held there this year, at the same time of the OVC Tournament. The 2009 OVC Tournament will return to the Sommet Center.

– First-round games are played at campus sites of the higher seed.

–Story from last time Eastern made the OVC Tournament