Messages

If we spank Flagler, I'll consider that progress regardless of how ugly the win may be.

Ain't gonna happen. Progress would be beating Flagler in a tough fought game by 1 to 5 points. Losing to Flagler by 6-15 points would be the same as losing to Ashland by 9. Losing to Flagler by 1 to 5 points would actually be progress. These are not the usual Div. II teams we have played in the past. The quality has gone up tremendously in our exhibition games.

[OVER]

Valparaiso 2021-22 Over/Under

Thomas Kithier - 5.2 rebounds per game       OVER

Cam Palesse - 1.1 assist to turnover ratio     OVER

Connor Barrett - 40.5 percent 3PFG              UNDER

Darius DeAveiro - 1.8 assists per game         UNDER

Keyondre Young - 6.8 points per game          UNDER

Eron Gordon - 5.5 games of 10+ points         UNDER

Emil Freese-Vilien - 3.5 blocks                      UNDER

Kevion Taylor - 9.5 points per game               OVER

Sheldon Edwards - 6.5 dunks                        OVER

Trevor Anderson - 32.5 3-pointers                 OVER

Ben Krikke - 53.5 percent FG                        OVER

Joe Hedstrom - 0.5 3-pointers                       UNDER

Trey Woodyard - 33.3 percent 3PFG                OVER

Kobe King - 19.5 minutes in first Division I game       OVER


Wins - 16.5                          UNDER     

MVC Finish - 5.5                   UNDER  (6th place or lower)

Postseason victories - 0.5      OVER

Conference win streak - 2.5    OVER

Conference loss streak - 2.5    OVER

SportsCenter Top 10 plays - 0.5   UNDER

Successful home run plays - 1.5   OVER

Valpo players on 1st/2nd Team All-League - 0.5   OVER

Valpo players on All-Newcomer Team - 1.5     UNDER

Attendance - 2,850    UNDER


Tiebreaker questions

Which walk-on scores the most points?  Ruedy

How long will the longest beer snake of the season be?  13 of course

Having a contest would be insignificant because all of the negative comments are pertinent and applicable and they are all winners.

I would say most contests are insignificant but they can be fun.

You really need to lose the negative attitude toward the nickname Beacons. It's here and it won't change.

The gratuitous shots at our new nickname are getting old. It's in every article. We get it. Nobody likes the new nickname. It's here to stay though so can we move on now? Hopefully we can shock a lot of people and start winning consistently so that they have no choice but to talk about something else.

[bbts]

(for the reasons stated by bbts and wh)

as bbts and others point out,

Who's that guy?

Oops! Sorry for not properly citing you bbtds.

that's okay, vu84v3, ooops, vu94v2, vu69v4, vu84v2, 

If you are sick of it now, wait till the games start.  Each road game the Beacons will be brought up. 

Maybe we should have a contest. We could list the stupidest comments about the name Beacons that road announcers make during their broadcasts and at the end of the road season we could vote on what was the dumbest comment of all season.

[bbts]

(for the reasons stated by bbts and wh)

as bbts and others point out,

Who's that guy?

We just collected $300M. Time to spend baby!

Those people didn't give their money for athletics they gave it to strengthen the endowment. I have a feeling the people giving the money are in the majority that don't feel it's appropriate to give the money for athletics. That just happens to be the way it is at Valpo.

Hey Everyone,[/size]I have mostly been covering football lately, but I took a break to compile my thoughts on the Belmont add and why I think Murray State should be next.  Take a look if you'd like.  Excited to be talking hoops again!

https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post/belmont-mvc-expansion-murray-state [/color]

War and Peace. Vol.2

Yes, but how many more posts of complete nonsense do you have?

At least he used paragraphs!

GPA is also a misleading reference point. A 3.0 at an Ivy League school vs a 3.0 at a local community college are two very different things.

Yet the NCAA doesn't make any distinction between a 3.0 at Harvard compared to a 3.0 at IUPUI when rating the academic side of athletic teams.

A podcast interview featuring former Valpo MBB player Marten Linssen.

https://slubillikens.com/podcasts/marten-linssen/55

VUGrad1314 - Your devotion to Murray State is only matched by your disdain for commas. 

How about you adding some paragraphs to make it easier to read?

The Beacons are dimming some.

St Thomas  28
Valpo         13

As I've stated and posted before, academic performance does now play into the size of the payout for basketball shares.  Whether that is a good reason to reject a particular school is another/different question.

Got this straight from the Murray State Athletics website.

The Fall 2020 semester saw record production by the Racers in the classroom, including an extension of the most important streak in MSU athletics history, a now 33-consecutive semesters of a department-wide GPA of 3.0 or better. The 3.22 GPA is the second-highest in the history of the 33 semester streak, surpassed only by a 3.32 achieved in the spring of 2020. In addition, 13 of 15 teams had a GPA of 3.0 or better, led by an impressive 3.65 from women's soccer. Individually, 12 of the 15 Murray State teams outperformed their 15-year average in the Fall of 2020. Those teams that outperformed their average were baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, women's cross country, football, women's golf, rifle, women's soccer, softball, women's tennis and indoor and outdoor women's track and field.

Those aren't that great for academic numbers. Compare that to Valpo. They are bragging about the improvement of their academic numbers which means they've been pretty poor in the past. 3.0? 3.22?

[Steinbrenner's MAC conference]

they are lower than Steinbrenner's MAC conference...

I didn't realize the Yankees invested in the Mid-American Conference.

I think you meant Jon Steinbrecher, a Valpo grad.

I'm honestly more concerned with our conference potentially thinking they're too good for Murray State That would be the height of arrogance right there I hope we're just waiting on a few particulars to be sorted out before we extend them an invite. I really hope we don't go for some dead weight program just because they're in a big market. That would be so short sighted

It really does sound like the Missouri Valley has rejected Murray State a second time. And that it has to do with their academic standing. I believe the MVC saw how it improved academically when Wichita State left and Valpo was added. I can guess that the Valley doesn't want the conference's academic reputation being brought much lower by one particular school again.

I would love to see Wichita State come back to the MVC but I don't see their egos allowing that to ever happen

About the same as Saint Louis coming back to the MVC. Try putting that on their message board to see what reaction you get.

Remember when this thread was about the potential/chosen new nickname.

No

[Valparaiso University24 Students]

You can't base conclusions off of one high school lol. That's like saying Indiana high school basketball sucks because Evansville Central High School didn't produce any D1 players this year. Your sample size is just too small.

24 students from Lutheran HS of Indianapolis are currently attending Valpo


Indiana University-Purdue University - Indianapolis (IUPUI)
59 Students

University of Indianapolis
55 Students

Purdue University
51 Students

Indiana University - Bloomington
41 Students

Ball State University
40 Students

Butler University
39 Students

Taylor University
24 Students

Valparaiso University
24 Students

Indiana State University
20 Students

Franklin College
19 Students


https://www.niche.com/k12/lutheran-high-school-of-indianapolis-indianapolis-in/

I once visited Culver on a business trip and I and a friend went through Culver Academies. We talked to the ice rink maintenance guy, who lived in a Chicago suburb, told us that he once ran into the First Lady of Mexico in the Culver Walmart because the son of the President of Mexico decided to attend Culver Academies. He, the Steinbrenners, who own the Yankees, Evan Bayh. Hal Holbrook, Josh Logan III, Roger Penske and Gene Siskel all attended Culver Academies.

A little tidbit from Fort Wayne. A billboard advertising Valpo has gone up on I69 mile marker 311 recently. I will get a picture in the near future. That is the second billboard I have now seen on I69, one around Angola and now Fort Wayne.

Indy too but only 2 or 3.

This should be a low scoring game.  Drake will put approximately zip on the board, unless quarterback Ian Corwin has recovered from his latest injury.

Best case scenario for me,  as a Drake fan:  Corwin starts, the Drake defense forces multiple tunovers, and the Bulldogs win, maybe 17-16.

It's exactly why I'm picking a 70 point total score game. Turnovers lead to points also and neither team's defense has actually played against a team that didn't have a fair to good offense. Dartmouth hadn't played a real game in over a season and a half. It showed. What if the Big Green had played the week before? 42-8!

Basketball is a cool game, cooler than soccer for many. I used to love running basketball 10 years ago too, but today I'm more on PS4/5 https://www.playstation.com/en-au/games/nba-2k20/

I take it you're a Ryan Broekhoff fan from down under that loves PS games?

Will Mike Woodson return Indiana MBB to the top?

Thad Motta is associate AD overseeing basketball at IU.

Would Scott Drew have returned IU to the top sooner?

I don't get it. Yes, I know that I am biased, but how does the team that brings in 4 B1G players, one of the best players in Div II, and the best recruiting class according to Verbal Commits get virtually no mention in this podcast. Indiana State is the most intriguing team?? Ok, they have a new coach who has a great reputation in DII and is going to try to play uptempo along with 3 DII transfers and some decent new recruits. How does that compare to the almost complete retool of Valpo's roster? There are a thousand questions about Valpo's team,here are just a few main ones:  Will Kobe King play well with others? Can Joe Hedstrom ever reach pre knee injury expectations. Does Kevion Taylor's game translate well from DII to DI? Can the talented freshman class (most of whom probably expected to getting significant minutes) adjust to playing behind the more experienced transfers? where do Sheldon Edwards and Connor Barrett fit into the mix behind the transfers?  How long, if at all, will it take for this team to gel? Other than Krikke, Valpo will have upgrades at every position. I think, as a former college assistant coach, that Valpo has the widest range of potential outcomes of any team in the valley depending upon the answers to these and many other questions.

MarchArchPod, you could have at least mentioned that Valpo had a lot of changing parts, as do many other schools, but maybe not as many changing parts as Valpo, and mentioned the great potential and if you do have suspect thoughts of Lottich and the coaching staff then mention it. But to leave out Valpo is very condesending in my view and says "Valpo isn't worth mentioning" to all it's fans. Our fans know that you can never count Valpo MBB out of any game. You should have known this by now.