Do you guys actually think that UCLA would win by 1 against concordia-california in the regular season? How about syracuse losing to whomever? The same holds for Valpo. Homer was playing lots of guys to get their feet wet and he did that. Should they have won easily? Of course.
Here's the BIG difference...UCLA and Syracuse are established programs in BCS conferences with national titles to their credit. I don't think anybody thinks either program will end up with a losing season. Beoheim has won 20 game in all but two of his 33 years at Syracuse. UCLA, do I really need to go there? If they don't care about meaningless games I get it. Valpo doesn't have that luxury because they aren't anywhere close to that type of program and they're coming off a year when they won 7 DI games.
Expect Cory and Milos to be completely different players. cory will be a beast. He can be and will be better than U. Trust me on this.
For reference, U averaged 11 and 7.3 as a junior, 12 and 6 as a senior in earning 2nd team all league honors. If Johnson is better, that's great news for Valpo.
Johnson will need to be a beast on Friday ... Jones is a very athletic and active post player.
So what will change in Muncie? First off, expect 8 maybe 9 guys to play. Expect Buggs to spell Brandon at the point, Milos to spell Cory, and Broekhoff to spell Rogers and/or Little and Witt to play when we need size. That's nine. The only other guy who might see action is Kenney, and that is to add spark and scoring if we get in a lull.
Not sure if you've seen a box score, but Valpo basically played only 9 guys in the loss to UIndy.
Also, I'm a little confused about all the "we're a young team" excuses coming from the coaching staff. The average age of your 5 starters is just a few months shy of 22. You start a 5th year senior, a 4th year junior, 2 junior returning starters and a 3rd year sophomore. You bring two guys off the bench with starting experience. It's obvious this team wasn't prepared to play against UIndy, but it had nothing to do with being "young".
Re: Additional insight: players and coaches on los « Reply #18 on Nov 8, 2009, 11:08am »
I believe our biggest issue against UIndy wasn't that we weren't ready to play. We have an inexperienced team at the D-I level. Most of our guys haven't played basketball in a game situation at a tough level in about a year. We also have a crop of freshmen who have never played at the collegiate level. Wood, Johnson, and McPherson might have the college experience, of the guys who might play a lot, but Wood comes from a junior college that played a lot of nobody schools, Johnson came from real limited minutes at Iowa St. so he decided to leave meaning that he had to sit out last season, and McPherson is coming off of a knee injury that we're not certain about. In the end, our team is inexperienced. I has nothing to do with if we should have won against UIndy, or how it will reflect on the upcoming season. Right now, we just need to see them play some games and let things happen as they will. I mentioned three guys, but we have a lot of other guys who are unproven at the D-I level, so until they play some games we're going to be at odds with each other about what VU needs to do to win more than 7 games this season.
I believe our biggest issue against UIndy wasn't that we weren't ready to play. We have an inexperienced team at the D-I level. Most of our guys haven't played basketball in a game situation at a tough level in about a year. We also have a crop of freshmen who have never played at the collegiate level. Wood, Johnson, and McPherson might have the college experience, of the guys who might play a lot, but Wood comes from a junior college that played a lot of nobody schools, Johnson came from real limited minutes at Iowa St. so he decided to leave meaning that he had to sit out last season, and McPherson is coming off of a knee injury that we're not certain about. In the end, our team is inexperienced. I has nothing to do with if we should have won against UIndy, or how it will reflect on the upcoming season. Right now, we just need to see them play some games and let things happen as they will. I mentioned three guys, but we have a lot of other guys who are unproven at the D-I level, so until they play some games we're going to be at odds with each other about what VU needs to do to win more than 7 games this season.
That seems the most rational right? The people who took the time to look into this group, did not express the high potential they have for nothing. We have some very good players that will play better. Until then we can RELAAAX and expect they will work out some kinks in thier individual and team games.
Do you guys actually think that UCLA would win by 1 against concordia-california in the regular season? How about syracuse losing to whomever? The same holds for Valpo. Homer was playing lots of guys to get their feet wet and he did that. Should they have won easily? Of course.
Here's the BIG difference...UCLA and Syracuse are established programs in BCS conferences with national titles to their credit. I don't think anybody thinks either program will end up with a losing season. Beoheim has won 20 game in all but two of his 33 years at Syracuse. UCLA, do I really need to go there? If they don't care about meaningless games I get it. Valpo doesn't have that luxury because they aren't anywhere close to that type of program and they're coming off a year when they won 7 DI games.
I'm sorry, but to me this just makes UCLA and Syracuse look worse, not better. On the other hand, past history has literally nothing to do with how any team will do this year, be they Valpo, UCLA, or Syracuse.
In my opinion, the very argument you make is precisely why Syracuse's loss and UCLA's near miss are 10 times more embarrassing than Valpo's loss to UIndy.
Yes, your track record has been so.........wonderful........amazing.........incredible.
I've got to take one more pass at this cheap shot. TD was, after all, the one who told us that Logan Jones would be a star at Valpo
Many seem to think that Cory will be a bust (or at least not a star) while I maintain that the performance the other night was very out of character.
So am I alone? Where in the world did I get the goofy idea that Johnson would be really good? Let's take a look back at what a couple of newpaper guys seemed to think. Maybe you think they don't know anything either.
In any event, hear are a few comments from the newspapers:
Paul Oren on September 3:
Cory Johnson -- What's not to love about this guy. He's Dan Oppland, but with two more years of eligibility. I didn't think it was possible, but Johnson has gone and put on more muscle over the off-season. He will be a clear difference maker this season and I can't wait to watch him battle against the Butler bigs.
Here is what an Iowa State coach said about him:
"He's a real crafty scorer," Iowa State assistant coach Jeff Rutter said. "He'll get into the lane and spin and give you some freeze moves, a shot fake, an up-and-under. He's got a nice jump hook and turnaround. He's got a very soft touch and just a good ability to score the basketball."
Mark Lazerus said this about Cory on Feb 25:
Urule Igbavboa suffered a minor ankle injury in Tuesday's practice after landing on Johnson's foot while coming down with a rebound. He sat out practice, but said he'd be good to go by Thursday's game against Cleveland State.
It's not the first time Johnson has wreaked havoc in a practice. His bull-in-a-china-shop style, while great in games, has been just a little problematic in practices. Earlier this year, he caught Igbavboa in the nose with an elbow and broke it, according to Igbavboa and Homer Drew. And on Tuesday, he nailed Logan Jones in the jaw, sending him to the sidelines with an ice pack (Igbavboa was on the baseline with his ice pack).
"In practice, we have to put elbow pads on him, seriously, because he's just always moving," Drew said with a laugh. "You'll love watching him play. He's just a great kid, and he gets to the ball so quickly. The other day, I played one-on-one with him, just kind of mock-guarding him to show him something. And he went right by me. I couldn't believe it, how quickly he moves as a big man. Now I see why we can't block him out in practice."
I could go on but I'm boring myself! Let's give this guy a chance to shine!!
Re: Additional insight: players and coaches on los « Reply #23 on Nov 8, 2009, 5:03pm »
Agreed. I predicted him all-conference this year and I maintain that. I think this sums it up: "Assistant coach Luke Gore, who works with the post players, chalked up much of Johnson's struggles to being "too jacked up" for his first game action in more than a year."
Yes, your track record has been so.........wonderful........amazing.........incredible.
I've got to take one more pass at this cheap shot. TD was, after all, the one who told us that Logan Jones would be a star at Valpo
Many seem to think that Cory will be a bust (or at least not a star) while I maintain that the performance the other night was very out of character.
So am I alone? Where in the world did I get the goofy idea that Johnson would be really good? Let's take a look back at what a couple of newpaper guys seemed to think. Maybe you think they don't know anything either.
In any event, hear are a few comments from the newspapers:
Paul Oren on September 3:
Cory Johnson -- What's not to love about this guy. He's Dan Oppland, but with two more years of eligibility. I didn't think it was possible, but Johnson has gone and put on more muscle over the off-season. He will be a clear difference maker this season and I can't wait to watch him battle against the Butler bigs.
Here is what an Iowa State coach said about him:
"He's a real crafty scorer," Iowa State assistant coach Jeff Rutter said. "He'll get into the lane and spin and give you some freeze moves, a shot fake, an up-and-under. He's got a nice jump hook and turnaround. He's got a very soft touch and just a good ability to score the basketball."
Mark Lazerus said this about Cory on Feb 25:
Urule Igbavboa suffered a minor ankle injury in Tuesday's practice after landing on Johnson's foot while coming down with a rebound. He sat out practice, but said he'd be good to go by Thursday's game against Cleveland State.
It's not the first time Johnson has wreaked havoc in a practice. His bull-in-a-china-shop style, while great in games, has been just a little problematic in practices. Earlier this year, he caught Igbavboa in the nose with an elbow and broke it, according to Igbavboa and Homer Drew. And on Tuesday, he nailed Logan Jones in the jaw, sending him to the sidelines with an ice pack (Igbavboa was on the baseline with his ice pack).
"In practice, we have to put elbow pads on him, seriously, because he's just always moving," Drew said with a laugh. "You'll love watching him play. He's just a great kid, and he gets to the ball so quickly. The other day, I played one-on-one with him, just kind of mock-guarding him to show him something. And he went right by me. I couldn't believe it, how quickly he moves as a big man. Now I see why we can't block him out in practice."
I could go on but I'm boring myself! Let's give this guy a chance to shine!!
Good stuff, 72. It's great to re-read those quotes. I'm excited all over again. One exhibition game performance means nothing. Go VU!
Jones comes off bench scoring 11 points against an all star team of former North Idaho College players. Seems Logan had knee surgery over the short summer. You stilll have to wonder how Jones will handle those cold snowy nights in Coeur d’Alene. Maybe he'll find him one of those Coeur d’Alene Tribe squaws to settle down with. Native American women can be quite charming for pot smoking boys from Southern Indiana.
Jones comes off bench scoring 11 points against an all star team of former North Idaho College players. Seems Logan had knee surgery over the short summer. You stilll have to wonder how Jones will handle those cold snowy nights in Coeur d’Alene. Maybe he'll find him one of those Coeur d’Alene Tribe squaws to settle down with. Native American women can be quite charming for pot smoking boys from Southern Indiana.
Totally uncalled for a certainly not funny....the kids gone, I hope he does well
[quote author=td board=valposports thread=3002 post=29243 time=1257653325]...I've got to take one more pass at this cheap shot....
Many seem to think that Cory will be a bust (or at least not a star) while I maintain that the performance the other night was very out of character. Here is what an Iowa State coach said about him:
"He's a real crafty scorer," Iowa State assistant coach Jeff Rutter said. "He'll get into the lane and spin and give you some freeze moves, a shot fake, an up-and-under. He's got a nice jump hook and turnaround. He's got a very soft touch and just a good ability to score the basketball."
...I could go on but I'm boring myself! Let's give this guy a chance to shine!!
Look, Cory Johnson might be a star at Valpo and Horizon League player of the year. Who knows since he's never played a game in the VU uniform. I truly hope he's the best transfer ever for VU! Valpo is going to need him to be a moster, because there is nobody else to fill that role.
However to say his performance is out of character is just way off base at this point. The same Iowa State coach you quoted as saying how great Cory was is part of the same staff that wouldn't let him on the court. For not familiar with Iowa State they had a losing record (14-18 if I remember) his sophomore year and yet his scoring and rebounding decreased from his freshman year. Now keep in mind he managed less than 3pts and 2 rebounds a game.
So in light of this, why are you saying his performance was out of character?
Jones comes off bench scoring 11 points against an all star team of former North Idaho College players. Seems Logan had knee surgery over the short summer. You stilll have to wonder how Jones will handle those cold snowy nights in Coeur d’Alene. Maybe he'll find him one of those Coeur d’Alene Tribe squaws to settle down with. Native American women can be quite charming for pot smoking boys from Southern Indiana.
Totally uncalled for a certainly not funny....the kids gone, I hope he does well
He's gone and I too hope he does well. That doesn't change the fact that he was the worst D1 player I have ever seen actually take the court. I think being at a lower level will be good for him and he can have both educational and athletic success.
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That seems the most rational right? The people who took the time to look into this group, did not express the high potential they have for nothing. We have some very good players that will play better. Until then we can RELAAAX and expect they will work out some kinks in thier individual and team games.
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