Messages

UPDATE:

RPI: 53  SOS: 202

Date   Opponent   Opp. RPI Rk   Results
  11-15     at    SIU Edwardsville     1-3 (0-0)   74    94-69    W
  11-19         SE Louisiana     2-3 (0-0)   98    83-50    W
  11-21         Samford     1-5 (0-0)   234    88-67    W
  11-24     vs    Kent St.     2-2 (0-0)   309    77-67    W
  11-25     vs    N.C. Wilmington     1-2 (0-0)   263    76-75 W - Scouting   
  11-28         Utah St.     3-3 (0-0)   194    81-67 W - Scouting   
  12-07     at    Purdue     5-2 (0-0)   77    68-87 L - Scouting   
  12-09     at    Ball St.     1-4 (0-0)   295    73-76 L - Scouting   
  12-14     at    Northwestern     4-2 (0-0)   155    67-78 L - Scouting   
  12-18     at    Santa Clara     0-3 (0-0)   306    73-75 L - Scouting   
  12-20     at    UC Riverside     1-2 (0-0)   193    79-69 W - Scouting   
  12-28     at    Indiana St.     1-3 (0-0)   105    75-73 W - Scouting   
  12-31         Missouri St.     4-2 (0-0)   114    81-68 W - Scouting   
  01-03     at    Bradley     4-1 (0-0)   32    74-75 L - Scouting   
  01-06         Southern Ill.     1-1 (0-0)   122    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-10         Drake     2-1 (0-0)   60    85-63 W - Scouting   
  01-13     at    Northern Iowa     4-2 (0-0)   59    72-77 L - Scouting   
  01-17     at    Missouri St.     4-2 (0-0)   114    73-76 L - Scouting   
  01-21         Loyola Chicago     5-0 (0-0)   152    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-24         Evansville     5-1 (0-0)   82    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-27     at    Illinois St.     2-2 (0-0)   93    68-74 L - Scouting   
  01-31         Indiana St.     1-3 (0-0)   105    84-64 W - Scouting   
  02-03     at    Southern Ill.     1-1 (0-0)   122    72-77 L - Scouting   
  02-07     at    Evansville     5-1 (0-0)   82    72-77 L - Scouting   
  02-11         Illinois St.     2-2 (0-0)   93    76-66 W - Scouting   
  02-14     at    Loyola Chicago     5-0 (0-0)   152    71-77 L - Scouting   
  02-17         Bradley     4-1 (0-0)   32    82-67 W - Scouting   
  02-20         Northern Iowa     4-2 (0-0)   59    80-69 W - Scouting   
  02-24     at    Drake     2-1 (0-0)   60    77-71 W - Scouting   

18-11 Overall, 11-7 in MVC play

UPDATE:

RPI now sits at 50

Date   Opponent   Opp. RPI Rk   Results
  11-15     at    SIU Edwardsville     1-2 (0-0)   68    94-69    W
  11-19         SE Louisiana     1-3 (0-0)   90    83-50    W
  11-21         Samford     1-4 (0-0)   159    88-67    W
  11-24     vs    Kent St.     2-1 (0-0)   335    72-69 W - Scouting   
  11-25     vs    N.C. Wilmington     1-1 (0-0)   272    74-75 L - Scouting   
  11-28         Utah St.     2-3 (0-0)   180    82-67 W - Scouting   
  12-07     at    Purdue     4-0 (0-0)   18    68-87 L - Scouting   
  12-09     at    Ball St.     1-3 (0-0)   231    72-76 L - Scouting   
  12-14     at    Northwestern     3-2 (0-0)   119    67-78 L - Scouting   
  12-18     at    Santa Clara     0-2 (0-0)   304    73-75 L - Scouting   
  12-20     at    UC Riverside     1-2 (0-0)   126    78-70 W - Scouting   
  12-28     at    Indiana St.     1-3 (0-0)   174    76-73 W - Scouting   
  12-31         Missouri St.     3-2 (0-0)   136    81-67 W - Scouting   
  01-03     at    Bradley     4-1 (0-0)   62    74-75 L - Scouting   
  01-06         Southern Ill.     1-1 (0-0)   152    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-10         Drake     2-1 (0-0)   87    85-63 W - Scouting   
  01-13     at    Northern Iowa     2-1 (0-0)   163    72-76 L - Scouting   
  01-17     at    Missouri St.     3-2 (0-0)   136    73-76 L - Scouting   
  01-21         Loyola Chicago     4-0 (0-0)   179    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-24         Evansville     5-0 (0-0)   66    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-27     at    Illinois St.     2-2 (0-0)   116    68-74 L - Scouting   
  01-31         Indiana St.     1-3 (0-0)   174    84-64 W - Scouting   
  02-03     at    Southern Ill.     1-1 (0-0)   152    72-77 L - Scouting   
  02-07     at    Evansville     5-0 (0-0)   66    71-77 L - Scouting   
  02-11         Illinois St.     2-2 (0-0)   116    76-66 W - Scouting   
  02-14     at    Loyola Chicago     4-0 (0-0)   179    71-77 L - Scouting   
  02-17         Bradley     4-1 (0-0)   62    82-66 W - Scouting   
  02-20         Northern Iowa     2-1 (0-0)   163    81-68 W - Scouting   
  02-24     at    Drake     2-1 (0-0)   87    77-71 W - Scouting   

17-12 Overall, 11-7 in MVC play

Interesting thing here: I think most of us looked forward to this Thanksgiving tournament to see what we are made of, etc but it turns out they are two of our worst RPI games on the schedule, as of now.

One quote from the article made me question their coach. I know they had a great year last year going 21-4, but they had a super talented kid in Brandon that was told to back down and "defer to the seniors" because "the whole locker room could have been a headache". Makes you wonder what was going on there and what their season could have been like if Brandon would have been encouraged rather than seemingly held back.

Yeah I didn't really understand that. The best players play. As long as Brandon wasn't disrespecting the Seniors and overstepping them in terms of a leadership role then I have no clue why he'd have to defer to them in the offense.

I could maybe see them wanting to feature Trace Ramsey more when College Coaches were in the stands but at the end of the day it's still about wins and losses and good sportsmanship.

Side Note: Former VHS player Trace Ramsey is with Don Bosco Prep now along with NWI prep star Nick Mantis. Ramsey recently received an offer from Loyola recently. Ramsey actually has quite a few offers now: Austin Peay, IUPUI, Loyola-Chicago, Toledo, Western Michigan, and a Non-D1 Christian Brothers. Trace Ramsey and Mantis are the type of guys you'd love to bring in as a Preferred Walk-On sort of the way we did with John Kiser but they're going to play on scholarship somewhere.

I'll pass on Ramsey. Not worth the headache.

Are they missing any key players or are there injuries in the equation?

They escaped with a 69-65 win. It does not seem as if they are missing anyone through initial research.

So Missouri State loses to Georgia Southern yesterday. And now trails Manhattan at halftime. Time to start questioning what seemed to be the consensus favorite to win the league. They simply cannot shoot it from outside, 27% from 3 so far. Going to be tough to consistently win games when your opponents can pack it in and dare you to hit jump shots.

[Newman's star rapidly rising for Valparaiso basketball team]

I wonder if Valpo will offer VHS product Brandon Newman. It would be great to have another Valparaiso High School kid on the team.

I've heard Brandon is pretty good player. I heard the Butler coaches were at VHS's open gym recently taking a look at Brandon. I also know the Valpo coaches are very familiar with Brandon.

https://twitter.com/nwi/status/929721702111727616

Newman's star rapidly rising for Valparaiso basketball team
By: Jim Peters jim.peters@nwi.com
Nov 11, 2017

The rapid ascent of Brandon Newman from a solid varsity player to a Division I recruit turned the heads of Region hoops followers this summer.

Barak Coolman, his coach at Valparaiso, wasn't surprised.

"We knew he had a tremendous amount of talent, how special he could be," Coolman said.

While Newman started for the Vikings as a sophomore, he was surrounded by a strong senior class and the young lion patiently waited his turn, knowing his time at the head of the herd was coming.

.......... (give it a click and read) http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/high-school/boys-basketball/newman-s-star-rapidly-rising-for-valparaiso-basketball-team/article_94c155fd-d1f7-5450-8c0e-b46485c555c2.html?utm_content=buffer7d6bd&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC

Year :2019 (HS JR)
Position: SG
Height: 6-3
Weight: 175
Hometown: Valparaiso, IN
High School: Valparaiso High School
Current Offers: North Dakota, IPFW, Toledo
Current Ranking: NA/2-star

Has anyone seen him play? Would like to hear what you think of his game?

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/6329578/59b7c199f569cf0a14fef38a
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/6329578/591242fd578d7d2c1086725a

One quote from the article made me question their coach. I know they had a great year last year going 21-4, but they had a super talented kid in Brandon that was told to back down and "defer to the seniors" because "the whole locker room could have been a headache". Makes you wonder what was going on there and what their season could have been like if Brandon would have been encouraged rather than seemingly held back.

can someone post the kenpon ranking of all the mvc teams?

Nothing fancy but here it is:

Illinois St - 91
Loyola - 92
Valpo - 100
Missouri St - 105
Northern Iowa - 115
Bradley - 122
Southern Illinois - 127
Evansville - 146
Indiana St - 184
Drake - 199

I wouldn't mind seeing a change in the starting lineup for this one. I personally want to see Kiser get a starting role over Hazen, I think he's earned it. Good things seem to happen when he's on the court for us, my favorite stat of his is that he has just 1 turnover in 77 minutes this year. And hopefully this would light a fire under Hazen to get him going as I see him as the ideal guy to have in that spot. Keep Golder in that energy off the bench spot, it fits him well.

Hoping for a little more of a challenge in this one. I know the way our schedule was built is a good thing for the players and coaches, but I'm ready for the jump up in competition. We're not going to be able to keep playing 12 guys a night. We are probably the only team in the country that doesn't have a single player averaging 25+ mins or single digits. That isn't realistic. We all know they talent we have, we know what each guy on the roster can bring, now we need to find out who can do it against better opponents. That's the next step for our season. Samford played Loyola pretty tough until the last couple of minutes, so I think we will learn more about our team tomorrow than we have so far this season.

UPDATE:

Date   Opponent   Opp. RPI Rk   Results
  11-15     at    SIU Edwardsville     1-2 (0-0)   75    94-69    W
  11-19         SE Louisiana     0-3 (0-0)   237    83-50    W
  11-21         Samford     1-3 (0-0)   169    81-67 W - Scouting   
  11-24     vs    Kent St.     2-0 (0-0)   282    71-70 W - Scouting   
  11-25     vs    N.C. Wilmington     1-1 (0-0)   140    74-75 L - Scouting   
  11-28         Utah St.     2-2 (0-0)   217    82-67 W - Scouting   
  12-07     at    Purdue     4-0 (0-0)   13    67-87 L - Scouting   
  12-09     at    Ball St.     1-3 (0-0)   233    73-76 L - Scouting   
  12-14     at    Northwestern     3-2 (0-0)   130    67-78 L - Scouting   
  12-18     at    Santa Clara     0-2 (0-0)   294    73-75 L - Scouting   
  12-20     at    UC Riverside     1-2 (0-0)   63    79-69 W - Scouting   
  12-28     at    Indiana St.     1-3 (0-0)   181    76-72 W - Scouting   
  12-31         Missouri St.     2-1 (0-0)   225    82-67 W - Scouting   
  01-03     at    Bradley     4-1 (0-0)   67    75-74 W - Scouting   
  01-06         Southern Ill.     1-0 (0-0)   322    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-10         Drake     2-1 (0-0)   90    85-63 W - Scouting   
  01-13     at    Northern Iowa     2-1 (0-0)   172    73-76 L - Scouting   
  01-17     at    Missouri St.     2-1 (0-0)   225    73-75 L - Scouting   
  01-21         Loyola Chicago     3-0 (0-0)   182    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-24         Evansville     4-0 (0-0)   115    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-27     at    Illinois St.     2-2 (0-0)   96    68-74 L - Scouting   
  01-31         Indiana St.     1-3 (0-0)   181    84-64 W - Scouting   
  02-03     at    Southern Ill.     1-0 (0-0)   322    72-77 L - Scouting   
  02-07     at    Evansville     4-0 (0-0)   115    72-77 L - Scouting   
  02-11         Illinois St.     2-2 (0-0)   96    76-66 W - Scouting   
  02-14     at    Loyola Chicago     3-0 (0-0)   182    72-77 L - Scouting   
  02-17         Bradley     4-1 (0-0)   67    82-66 W - Scouting   
  02-20         Northern Iowa     2-1 (0-0)   172    81-68 W - Scouting   
  02-24     at    Drake     2-1 (0-0)   90    77-71 W - Scouting   

18-11 Overall, 12-6 in MVC play

Thursday, November 16, 2017   Auburn   Indiana State  (Gildan Charleston,SC Classic)

A battle of programs in really sad situations. Indiana I think will get better but must come a long way to be competitive in the B1G. Auburn may get lucky, Pearl may get thrown in jail but they ought to win easily.

This is Indiana State, not Indiana

UPDATE:

RPI ranking now at 239

Date   Opponent   Opp. RPI Rk   Results
  11-15     at    SIU Edwardsville     0-2 (0-0)   267    94-69    W
  11-19         SE Louisiana     0-1 (0-0)   106    83-65 W - Scouting   
  11-21         Samford     1-1 (0-0)   201    80-68 W - Scouting   
  11-24     vs    Kent St.     1-0 (0-0)   288    70-71 L - Scouting   
  11-25     vs    N.C. Wilmington     0-1 (0-0)   150    74-75 L - Scouting   
  11-28         Utah St.     2-1 (0-0)   101    81-68 W - Scouting   
  12-07     at    Purdue     3-0 (0-0)   69    68-87 L - Scouting   
  12-09     at    Ball St.     0-2 (0-0)   306    72-77 L - Scouting   
  12-14     at    Northwestern     2-1 (0-0)   183    67-78 L - Scouting   
  12-18     at    Santa Clara     0-1 (0-0)   61    72-77 L - Scouting   
  12-20     at    UC Riverside     1-1 (0-0)   161    78-70 W - Scouting   
  12-28     at    Indiana St.     1-0 (0-0)   62    75-74 W - Scouting   
  12-31         Missouri St.     2-0 (0-0)   151    81-68 W - Scouting   
  01-03     at    Bradley     2-0 (0-0)   33    74-75 L - Scouting   
  01-06         Southern Ill.     1-0 (0-0)   237    79-70 W - Scouting   
  01-10         Drake     0-0 (0-0)   334    87-61 W - Scouting   
  01-13     at    Northern Iowa     1-1 (0-0)   168    73-76 L - Scouting   
  01-17     at    Missouri St.     2-0 (0-0)   151    73-76 L - Scouting   
  01-21         Loyola Chicago     1-0 (0-0)   230    80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-24         Evansville     2-0 (0-0)   58    81-68 W - Scouting   
  01-27     at    Illinois St.     0-1 (0-0)   140    67-74 L - Scouting   
  01-31         Indiana St.     1-0 (0-0)   62    83-66 W - Scouting   
  02-03     at    Southern Ill.     1-0 (0-0)   237    71-78 L - Scouting   
  02-07     at    Evansville     2-0 (0-0)   58    72-76 L - Scouting   
  02-11         Illinois St.     0-1 (0-0)   140    76-65 W - Scouting   
  02-14     at    Loyola Chicago     1-0 (0-0)   230    72-77 L - Scouting   
  02-17         Bradley     2-0 (0-0)   33    82-66 W - Scouting   
  02-20         Northern Iowa     1-1 (0-0)   168    81-68 W - Scouting   
  02-24     at    Drake     0-0 (0-0)   334    78-69 W - Scouting   

Still 16-13 overall, but now 11-7 in the Valley

[Not a good game to get a better read on the team]

Not a good game to get a better read on the team, the entire 2nd half was stop and go with the constant fouling so neither team could really sustain any flow offensively. What I could decipher is that our on ball defending has improved and we can score without having to rely on transition offense. I was surprised however with Joe's lack of involvement on the offense, with the exception of that stretch in the middle of the second half he didn't really touch the ball at all. I'm just hoping this is because he his trying to get back into the flow after not playing for over a year.

No game will give you a perfect read, but each starts to add up. It will be an interesting game to compare against Purdue's (in greater detail than I have so far). What immediately jumps out is that Purdue beat them by 31 at home and we, by 25 on the road; a mere 6-point margin differential.

One thing I will add. I saw rebounding being mentioned a couple times earlier in this thread, SIUE also out rebounded Purdue. We gave up 13 offensive rebounds to them and Purdue gave up a whopping 24. Clearly they have a focus on crashing the offensive glass, which can be a great theory, but probably is also contributing to them giving up 105 and 94 in their first two games.

Anyone get Fox Sports Midwest? I flipped through my Comcast and didn't notice it.

I assume that it means there's no video stream?

Is Fox Sports Midwest the same thing as FS1? Just looked it up and it won't be streamed on ESPN3. It's a bummer if there is no stream.

Did my own digging using my Xfinity TV app. Searched for the Valparaiso Men's Basketball Team. The result was they Comcast Xfinity does have the game tomorrow listed but not on Fox Sports Midwest, but on Fox College Sports Atlantic. Which apparently I get on the app so I will be able to watch, yay me!  But as far as anyone else, take a look for that channel which could be listed as FCSA.

I wouldn't get caught up in player's positioning. Numbering a player 1 through 5 really only matters when learning/drawing up set plays on offense. And defensively things will change every single game. The focus should be on the fact that we have multiple guys who can guard multiple positions, and that is extremely valuable. We have options. The thing I'm looking forward to the most this season doesn't even have to do with a single player, but what Lottich does with them. I can't wait to see the different combinations he throws out there and how aggressive we are defensively. I think this may be a Valpo team unlike any other we have seen.

Call me crazy, but I think the only bad thing the NCAA did with the UNC case was the length and resources involved. There really isn't/wasn't anything they could do. It's on UNC. They are the ones who should be bashed, lose accreditation, etc. The NCAA has no business telling student-athletes what kind of classes they have to take, the university controls those standards. Blame UNC, not the NCAA. 

Pitino and the AD are out. Let the coaching carousel start up again, but this time at a dangerously fast rate. Dominoes are going to start falling fast, Auburn has lost a 5 star commitment and is offering full refunds on all season tickets. This will be a crazy time.

Would anyone call me crazy for suggesting Scott Drew to Louisville seems like the best move possible? He maxed Baylor out from nothing. And this would bring the family just a quick drive away for everyone.

Talk about a screwed up mess, the current music and drama areas, now part of the IU program, will next year be run by Purdue...AND THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE A MUSIC PROGRAM IN LAFAYETTE!!

Valpo64 brings up perhaps the most overlooked parts of this whole Purdue takeover.  IPFW has an accredited music department that offers degrees from the renowned IU School of Music.  Its main facility is the John and Ruth Rhinehart Music Center, a beautiful facility (and expensive) that features the outstanding 1,600-seat Auer Performance Hall and the 250-seat Rhinehart Recital Hall, rehearsal halls, studios, and practice rooms. They offered technical collaboration with Sweetwater Sound, something even IU could not do.

Through the generous support of Sweetwater Sound Inc, the Department of Music has announced a new program in music technology.  The IPFW Sweetwater Music Technology program offers students the chance to learn recording arts, digital sampling, mixing, live sound, and music composition using the latest technologies in IPFW's music technology facility.  This unique partnership with one of the country's leading music technology companies allow students to learn at the side of professionals in their field and participate in internships at Sweetwater.

Auer Performance Hall

This department was really one of the gems of IPFW and I have to wonder what will happen to it when it can no longer offer the IU diploma.  I don't even know what kinds of degrees they will be allowed to confer. Right now they offer:
    Bachelor of Music Education Choral/General (B.Mus.Ed.)
    Bachelor of Music Education Instrumental/General (B.Mus.Ed.)
    Bachelor of Music in Performance Piano (B.Mus.)
    Bachelor of Music in Performance Instrumental (B.Mus.)
    Bachelor of Music in Performance Vocal (B.Mus.)
    Bachelor of Music in Performance Guitar (B.Mus.)
    Bachelor of Science in Music Therapy (B.S.M.T.)
    Bachelor of Science in Music and an Outside Field Music Technology (B.S.)
    Bachelor of Science in Music and an Outside Field  (B.S.)
Purdue currently offers no degrees in music and only has a Department of University Bands. If Purdue-Northeast is somehow allowed to continue offering degrees in music, it certainly will suffer a large reduction of applicants because it will no longer be part of the IU School of Music. This was a really stupid move and because arts programs are often overlooked not something they paid much attention to in the impact studies.
Rant over    Can you tell I was originally a Vocal Performance major at VU before switching to Business...

Frankly, I don't care about a single word in this post. This is a Valpo Basketball forum, I don't want to see a post with a huge picture about Fort Wayne's music program. Sorry to be rude, but this isn't the place for this topic.

Regardless of what Fort Wayne is going to be/should be called, the Horizon League needs to make something positive happen quickly (assuming we accept the invite to the MVC). Because in my eyes, in terms of basketball, the Summit is now better than the Horizon

My guess is the Tim Brown is a supporter of Omaha or Milwaukee.  He obviously doesn't understand what travel would be for Valpo if "doubling" is his estimate.  Grow the Horizon?  Sure, we could invest in Cleveland State's program. 

I know Tim. Valpo grad. Uses a blog post from Oren has his evidence saying he mentions added travel costs and moving away from a lot of alumni bases. I personally have a hard time seeing how the travel costs would increase by a substantial margin.

Anyone else get the sense that Valpo officials are sitting in a quiet confidence right now while Murray St. AD and President seem anxious and nervous with their tweets? Granted I would also be upset if someone reported a supposedly false story about my school. But we are getting absolutely nothing out of ML while their AD is tweeting back to fans of other MVC schools? Just seems odd to me.

Tevonn is returning to school, per Rothstein and Goodman

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't former UIC head coach Howard Moore an assistant at Wisconsin? He would have been at UIC when Lexus played great as a freshman and knows what kind of energy he can bring.

Mark Donnal is transferring to Clemson

Figured I would put all the Horizon league transfers into one post to make it easy for everyone to see a summary of what's happened so far:

Players Leaving:
Mark Alstork (WSU)
Jibri Blount (CSU)
Noah Dean (YSU)
Rob Edwards (CSU)
Aaron Foster-Smith (Detroit)
Jaleel Hogan (Detroit)
Kareem Kanter (GB) -----> Xavier
Michael Kolawole (UIC)
Andy Lucien (CSU)
Brandon Maxwell (NKU)
John Middleton (VALPO) -----> Palm Beach State College
Derek Rongstad (Milwaukee) -----> UW-Whitewater
KJ Santos (UIC)
Blake Spellman (NKU) -----> Central Missouri
Hassan Thomas (UIC)
Lexus Williams (VALPO)

Players coming in:
Sandy Cohen III (GB) <----- Marquette
Cole Gentry (WSU) <----- South Dakota St
Dontel Highsmith (CSU) <----- Northern Illinois
Roschon Prince (Detroit) <----- Long Beach St
Cody Schwartz (GB) <----- San Jose St

Got all of this from Verbal Commits.

Kanter has committed to play at Xavier. I believe his older brother, Enes, went to Ohio St but was not eligible to play. Maybe the family has some kind of Ohio connection?

Enes attended Kentucky for a season. 

Ah that was it. Either way still close in proximity to each other.