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Post by zvillehaze on Jul 6, 2010 20:16:27 GMT -5
Well done, Jimmy. I agree with Dylan on Butler ... given that they've lost a total of 5 league games in three years, you basically make them the favorites until they come back to the pack or someone else steps forward. Beyond that, nothing that happens in spots 2-7 would surprise me. It would be nice if all HL teams would come out of the blocks ready and win some non-con games. If this league is ever going to get multiple bids, it can't continue to absorb losses to the likes of IPFW. The good news is that Valpo and Milwaukee both have preseason trips ... maybe Jeter and Drew will be able to figure out a rotation that works before the third week of January this yearl
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Post by blackpantheruwm on Jul 7, 2010 0:18:50 GMT -5
With the amount of talent on our team? Not a chance.
I'm not saying we have the best talent in the League, but the separation from 1-12 is less than it is for most teams. Knowing how Jeter likes to tinker, we'll be playing with the lineup in April...at the FINAL FOUR!!!
That last part was a joke.
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Post by zvillehaze on Jul 7, 2010 17:04:33 GMT -5
With the amount of talent on our team? Not a chance. I'm not saying we have the best talent in the League, but the separation from 1-12 is less than it is for most teams. Knowing how Jeter likes to tinker, we'll be playing with the lineup in April...at the FINAL FOUR!!! That last part was a joke. You're probably right ... I'm sure you'll continue to see lineups picked with a roulette wheel. It took Jeter over half the season to figure out that Ant Hill should be starting ... 'nuff said. I guess I'm spoiled because Butler coaches are magically able to pick a lineup by November 15th each year and stick with it (except for injury and Senior Day). The only recent exception was when it took Matt Howard 9 games to crack the starting lineup his freshman season.
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Post by gmoser1210 on Jul 7, 2010 17:48:04 GMT -5
I predict this finish:
1. Butler 2. Detroit 3. Valparaiso 4. Milwaukee 5. Cleveland St. 6. Wright St. 7. Green Bay 8. Loyola 9. UIC 10. Youngstown St.
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Post by vu72 on Jul 7, 2010 18:07:48 GMT -5
Well done, Jimmy. I agree with Dylan on Butler ... given that they've lost a total of 5 league games in three years, you basically make them the favorites until they come back to the pack or someone else steps forward. Beyond that, nothing that happens in spots 2-7 would surprise me. It would be nice if all HL teams would come out of the blocks ready and win some non-con games. If this league is ever going to get multiple bids, it can't continue to absorb losses to the likes of IPFW. The good news is that Valpo and Milwaukee both have preseason trips ... maybe Jeter and Drew will be able to figure out a rotation that works before the third week of January this yearl Jimmy spends a great deal of time talking about Milwaukee being the deepest team, top to bottom. As some of you might know, I do, on occasion, actually look at the stats to see if a post is accurate. Here is what I found. Without regard to incoming players, or redshirts, Milwaukee had 11 guys play at least 8 minutes per game. Unfortunately, they lost their top two players (time wise, as well as number 5. That's a loss of 80.7 minutes per game. Valpo, on the other hand had 10 guys at 8 minutes or better and graduated only one, our third player time wise. Brandon averaged 27.8 minutes, not unlike James Eayrs at 27.2. So Valpo has 9 guys back who played 8 or more and loses 27.8 minutes overall. Milwaukee had 11 guys at 8 or more but lost 3 guys who played 80.7 minutes. We have many more minutes back and more guys with significant playing time. I won't say anything about the fact that we got alot of those minutes from freshman, who will be sophomores, or that we add a legit 7 footer who redshirted or that we bring in a top 10 Illinois player. But, I will say, that based on stats, Valpo may not be the deepest team returning but it is at least as deep as Milwaukee.
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Post by wh on Jul 7, 2010 20:14:35 GMT -5
Well done, Jimmy. I agree with Dylan on Butler ... given that they've lost a total of 5 league games in three years, you basically make them the favorites until they come back to the pack or someone else steps forward. Beyond that, nothing that happens in spots 2-7 would surprise me. It would be nice if all HL teams would come out of the blocks ready and win some non-con games. If this league is ever going to get multiple bids, it can't continue to absorb losses to the likes of IPFW. The good news is that Valpo and Milwaukee both have preseason trips ... maybe Jeter and Drew will be able to figure out a rotation that works before the third week of January this yearl Jimmy spends a great deal of time talking about Milwaukee being the deepest team, top to bottom. As some of you might know, I do, on occasion, actually look at the stats to see if a post is accurate. Here is what I found. Without regard to incoming players, or redshirts, Milwaukee had 11 guys play at least 8 minutes per game. Unfortunately, they lost their top two players (time wise, as well as number 5. That's a loss of 80.7 minutes per game. Valpo, on the other hand had 10 guys at 8 minutes or better and graduated only one, our third player time wise. Brandon averaged 27.8 minutes, not unlike James Eayrs at 27.2. So Valpo has 9 guys back who played 8 or more and loses 27.8 minutes overall. Milwaukee had 11 guys at 8 or more but lost 3 guys who played 80.7 minutes. We have many more minutes back and more guys with significant playing time. I won't say anything about the fact that we got alot of those minutes from freshman, who will be sophomores, or that we add a legit 7 footer who redshirted or that we bring in a top 10 Illinois player. But, I will say, that based on stats, Valpo may not be the deepest team returning but it is at least as deep as Milwaukee. Actually, the team deepest in returning players is Cleveland State. They had 10 players that averaged at least 10 min/game last season - all underclassmen. Pretty amazing...
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Post by dylanrocks on Jul 7, 2010 22:43:15 GMT -5
Exactly. That's why I think Cleveland State will be picked for second behind Butler. Its entire team returns intact, five of whom are key seniors.
As for Milwaukee, much of my optimism is fueled by the addition of junior Kaylon Williams, a prototypical point guard who averaged nearly 30 minutes a game two seasons ago for Evansville. While I don't have the highest regard for the Purple Aces program, it should be noted that his 6.3 points and 4.9 assists per game were accumulated in the Missouri Valley Conference, which many rate as being a rung or two above the Horizon League.
I think Kaylon's addition will more than offset the loss of Ricky Franklin, a non-traditional point guard of the score-first variety. In the meantime, Big Lumber's agility and girth will be supplanted by the unprecedented height of 6-11 Mitchell Carter, 6-10 Kyle Kelm and 6-9 Christian Wolf.
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Post by milanmiracle on Jul 8, 2010 13:56:30 GMT -5
I'm voting for BWOOD; Pre-season Player of the Year and 1st Team All-Conference. JUST SAYIN...lol I figure he's got as good a shot as anybody to win player of the year. :cheers
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Post by milanmiracle on Jul 8, 2010 16:29:30 GMT -5
I am not going to get into the predictions too much yet, but before anybody picks Valpo to win the league, or even finish in the top 3, shouldn't the goal be a winning record, something that hasn't happened in the last two years? The key to any real success is Matt Kenney. If he turns into the player I think he can be, it will make all the difference in the world to this team. The other issue is the point guard problem with Kurth/Buggs. Both have very serious flaws to their games and that could almost offset the improvement of Kenney and Broekhoff. The best hope is that Harris or BWood (unlikely) can run the point and leave both Buggs/Kurth to come off the bench.
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Post by eddiec on Jul 9, 2010 12:45:20 GMT -5
Exactly. That's why I think Cleveland State will be picked for second behind Butler. Its entire team returns intact, five of whom are key seniors. As for Milwaukee, much of my optimism is fueled by the addition of junior Kaylon Williams, a prototypical point guard who averaged nearly 30 minutes a game two seasons ago for Evansville. While I don't have the highest regard for the Purple Aces program, it should be noted that his 6.3 points and 4.9 assists per game were accumulated in the Missouri Valley Conference, which many rate as being a rung or two above the Horizon League. I think Kaylon's addition will more than offset the loss of Ricky Franklin, a non-traditional point guard of the score-first variety. In the meantime, Big Lumber's agility and girth will be supplanted by the unprecedented height of 6-11 Mitchell Carter, 6-10 Kyle Kelm and 6-9 Christian Wolf. Great points. I'm a bit puzzled why people like Mark Lazerus are jumping to the conclusion that UDM and Valpo will be at the top of the HL. Just a few months ago, Valpo and UDM were playing in the prestigious #6/#7 opening round game. That's a long way from the top. CSU has everyone back. WSU had some losses, but return a very good backcourt in Duggins and Evans. UWM lost a pair of good players, but do add Williams and hope to have a healthy Tone Boyle. GB will likely take a step back, but Valpo and UDM will have to leapfrog all these teams to get to the top of the league. Everyone raves about UDM's talent, but they were proclaimed the most talented team in the HL this past season and McCallum was able to parlay that into a stellar 9-9 league record. In addition, no one seems to care that team MVP Thomas Kennedy and co-defensive player of the year Woody Payne have graduated and they are also losing Keeling. Maybe their new guys are great, but those guys leaving were pretty good too. As for Valpo, they basically lose a 5th year guy in McPherson and replace him with a talented freshman. Big upgrade? I don't know. Feel free to tell me that Vucic/Van Wijk are a huge upgrade over Halvorsen/Milosevic, but I'd like to see something before I jump on that bandwagon. Here's the issue for Valpo ... they can put a very good group of offensive players on the court. Unfortunately, that group has proven to be among the worst defensive and defensive rebounding teams in DI. There are a few guys who look like they want to play defense (Buggs, Kurth, Little, Rogers), but they aren't nearly as good on the offensive end as the other guys. At the end of last season, Drew appeared to just give up and went to a zone in a futile attempt to slow opponents down. Unless he finds a way to improve the defense and rebounding, I don't see this team taking the huge leap that many people here are predicting. Just my $.02 ... feel free point out the things I've overlooked.
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Post by wh on Jul 9, 2010 14:12:32 GMT -5
I'm a bit puzzled why people like Mark Lazerus are jumping to the conclusion that UDM and Valpo will be at the top of the HL. Putting Mark's opinions aside for just a moment, I want to give kudos to both Mark and the Post Tribune and Paul Oren and the NWI Times for having enough interest in VU and HL basketball to blog and write stories year-round. By the way, a lot of good discussion/interesting opinions in this thread.
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Post by eddiec on Jul 9, 2010 14:28:22 GMT -5
Putting Mark's opinions aside for just a moment, I want to give kudos to both Mark and the Post Tribune and Paul Oren and the NWI Times for having enough interest in VU and HL basketball to blog and write stories year-round. By the way, a lot of good discussion/interesting opinions in this thread. Totally agree. This board and UWM's are by far the best places for fans of different teams to have a civil discussion about basketball.
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Post by dylanrocks on Jul 9, 2010 22:46:35 GMT -5
High praise, Eddie. Indeed, we are very proud of our board at Milwaukee. You hit perfectly on my biggest concern about the Crusaders: They can certainly score with anyone at over 73 points per game. But their average defensive yield of 74.3 was among the worst in the country. Gordon Hayward was a terrific defender in the passing lane with his unique length; players like Willie Veasley and Woody Payne were outstanding on-ball defenders; and Eli Holman is the perfect band-aid, erasing at the rim mistakes by defensive teammates. Who on the current Valpo team leaps out as an above-average defender? I think its offensive talent is enough to carry Valpo to fifth. In my opinion, the Crusaders would need to tighten up several defensive deficiencies in order to move any higher.
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Post by vu72 on Jul 10, 2010 8:08:49 GMT -5
High praise, Eddie. Indeed, we are very proud of our board at Milwaukee. You hit perfectly on my biggest concern about the Crusaders: They can certainly score with anyone at over 73 points per game. But their average defensive yield of 74.3 was among the worst in the country. Gordon Hayward was a terrific defender in the passing lane with his unique length; players like Willie Veasley and Woody Payne were outstanding on-ball defenders; and Eli Holman is the perfect band-aid, erasing at the rim mistakes by defensive teammates. Who on the current Valpo team leaps out as an above-average defender? I think its offensive talent is enough to carry Valpo to fifth. In my opinion, the Crusaders would need to tighten up several defensive deficiencies in order to move any higher. Don't disagree that Valpo has to prove it can defend. Nonetheless, many here would say that Howard Little is one of Valpo's best all time defenders.
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Post by eddiec on Jul 10, 2010 9:03:12 GMT -5
Don't disagree that Valpo has to prove it can defend. Nonetheless, many here would say that Howard Little is one of Valpo's best all time defenders. I mentioned him above and I think that if Buggs is healthy, he can be a tremendous on ball defender at the point. The issue is that if those guys are on the court, some of the better offensive players are on the bench. I know I'm not telling you anything new as you pointed out Little's low shooting % on several occasions. Valpo just needs to convince the HL to adopt the 6 on 6 rules used by Iowa HS girls basketball so guys only need to play one end of the court! But seriously, adding a guy like Buggs will help, but improving team defense and rebounding takes a commitment from the entire team. I'm sure this isn't news to the coaching staff, so I would expect improvement this year.
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