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I'm sure Paul's correct that they have "reached the EuroLeague Final Four in seven consecutive seasons." but I don't really know where they sit in the European, Russian, or even Muscovite pecking order.

Looking a bit myself through the Euroleague standings, they really have been very impressive the last seven seasons. In 12 group-stage round robins they've only failed to win their group three times (some seasons had two group stages). They've been less reliable in the single-elimination final four, with just one first place and one second place finish.

It looks like they've won the Russian league every season going back to... 1992? (Though it's not so clear how this relates to the VTB United league in the last ten years.) And I don't even know if there _was_ a USSR league in 1991, but they did fail to win that a couple of times in the late 80's.

They've won the VTB United regional league (Russian and some neighbors) for the last seven seasons, and all but one of the ten or so seasons of its existence.

They've maybe not prioritized the Russian cup, winning for the last time in 2009–10. (I think Broekhoff's team won this last year.)

So, yeah, they look pretty dominant. If maybe with some problems in single-elimination formats.

Hopefully it also means they're a big enough club to pay their players on time, etc. Though I don't know that we heard of any problems like this with Broekhoff, either (except the dispute that kept him out of his last playoffs).

Paul alludes to finances in the tweet, and vu72 did as well. Paul got an even straighter answer later in the interview (too crass for twitter?).

The goal has always stayed the same and the goal is to be the best professional basketball player that I can be and ultimately the best NBA player I can be. What route it takes to be there, there's a lot of different ways you can go. It's been proven by a lot of different players in the league right now that are having successful careers. That was the main selling point on this. Why don't we take an awesome opportunity that we have right here and let's run with it. Let's have a year of making unbelievable money and a year to see the world. It's something I couldn't see myself doing a few days ago even before this was final. Now knowing it's right here and the more I hear about how great Moscow is the more excited I get. I think it's going to be an unbelievable opportunity to further my basketball career.

I gave the whole paragraph for context, but the striking bit was "Let's have a year of making unbelievable money and a year to see the world."

Really interesting set of quotes, in the whole interview.

What I don't know is where CSKA sits in the basketball world. Alec mentions them as the best team in the country. Is that true? I'm sure Paul's correct that they have "reached the EuroLeague Final Four in seven consecutive seasons." but I don't really know where they sit in the European, Russian, or even Muscovite pecking order. Heck, I can't even reliably get the order of their initials correct!

As I said on Twitter, God bless Dale Kempf (and Kraig and Beth O too).

He taught electronics when I took it in 1997 or so. And I taught with him in physics labs for several years ~20 years after that. I expect the gift would have/will please him. A bit of an odd duck (aren't we all in our ways?), but he was a faithful teacher, and certainly a faithful supporter of VU athletics.

I guess this was a higher priority than ARC renovations? I can certainly see how it'll be a boost to the basketball and volleyball programs.

Did we ever get confirmation on why volleyball can't compete in Hilltop? Is it really the height of the ceiling?

The Broadway Cafe was the Greyhound stop for the city until just very recently (Miller bus Company was the local provider for Greyhound)... I guess he just threw his wife under it.

PS.  Greyhound has dropped Valparaiso as an option on their bus schedule site.

I didn't know we had (past tense) a Greyhound stop.

I suppose the hope is that the wife wasn't pinned to the gambling, but only the husband. So, they can act as if the wife didn't know about it.

At minimum it might get the current case thrown out. And, it may now be hard to find new evidence.

Interesting...

Wow this is sobering news... Perhaps the closure of the business and this case are related?

Hard to imagine they're unrelated. Also bizarre that this didn't come out earlier. If jury selection is this week it can't exactly have been a secret.

In other Open Cup news, Zobeck was on the bench as Dallas beat (USL) San Antonio 1-0. But, Maurer went 90.

Obviously USL teams can win these games, but a little too bad they didn't give Zobeck a look in the Cup match.

Ramone Howell's Nashville USL club knocked off MLS side Colorado in the US Open Cup last night. They'll play fellow USL member Louisville, so at least one USL team will make it through to the quarter-finals. (A third, Sacramento for whom Zev Taublieb once played, knocked off Seattle.)

It doesn't look like Ramone's played yet this season. Maybe an injury? They gave him jersey #4, which you'd think wouldn't go to a long-term project. (I admittedly don't trust USL stats enough to know whether he might have appeared on the bench at some point. But, I don't think he's been in a game.)

Saw on the facebook that Broadway is closing it's door.  Good riddance 

I've only been once or twice in recent years. I seem to remember quite a smoky experience once when that was a thing at restaurants in Indiana. I won't miss them too dearly.

But, it was a Valparaiso institution. We don't have too many diners left. Their avgolemeno (chicken lemon rice soup) was good, as were their fresh rolls.

Burton needs to address the entire university and Valpo basketball community. In his address, he must:

If he was kicked out for a criminal offense or something, maybe. If it was for not making the grades, and he was putting in a plausible effort, this seems more than a little far-fetched.

Back in the day Cubs fans would boo Pete Rose incessantly when he played LF.  Why? Because he continually beat up on the Cubs. 

I didn't realize he'd played outfield. If you'd asked I'd have said "second base".

I had no idea he was an All Star at five different positions!

I believe she also plays a significant role on the volleyball team too.

She's the setter. Significant role for sure. Played in every set for Valpo this season.

Great fun to see a two-sport athlete shining.

https://mobile.twitter.com/nwioren/status/994580518049144833

[tweet]994580518049144833[/tweet]

(If you want to use it, it's [ tweet ] then the number off the end of the link, then [ / tweet ]. Or we can just click your link.)

Nice to see that Zev Taublieb is still at it. Signed in the Swedish second division after apparently scoring in both of his trial matches.

[tweet]963150769024315392[/tweet]

After leaving Sacramento it seemed like he never managed to break in to the lineup, neither at Charlotte nor Wilmington. Just an occasional sub appearance. So, I'm glad to see he's still got some fire in his belly.

Nice to see Zev getting what looks like fairly regular minutes. A few starts, a few appearances off the bench. An assist on a game-winner (while reduced to 10 men!) a few weeks ago.

I notice the MVC tournament is listed as ESPN+ ($). Is this our first test of the service?

I'll admit the ($) sounds discouraging. Did we decide if that was going to affect basketball?

I didn't know his name, but Bread for the World is a quality organization. Worth supporting. Addressing world hunger as a political issue.

You could argue that having the head of LWR or LIRS might have a little more splash. Or presumably the head of, I don't know, the ICRC, or UNICEF, or the American Red Cross, or something.

But, I think this is a good get. I didn't know he (i.e. the head of Bread for the World) was a Lutheran, nor a pastor.

I can imagine he'll have a good message, and that this is a brand worth having connected to the university, and an organization worth supporting.

Read in the local papers a few days ago that a hearing is scheduled for July 12 pursuant to a request by the HL to dismiss some of Valpo's counterclaims.

Keep us posted. If this really does see court in some fashion, it may be amusing to drop in. I've actually never been to court... (knock on wood)

I think the AP will vote one more time after the NCAA final. It'll be interesting to see where Loyola winds up!

Loyola did get #7 in the post-season coaches poll. Their only ranking of the season (previous high was 37/36 early, probably while still undefeated, and 27/28 late).

They did also get #1 in the mid-major coaches poll, though one coach still picked Gonzaga over them.

This was Bryan's Short life, Completed a degree at ISU in 2016   

Bryan L. Bouchie, 29, of Washington, passed away April 14, 2018. Born Dec. 28, 1988, in Bloomington, he was the son of Steve and Lisa (Waggoner) Bouchie.
Bryan graduated from Washington High School with the Class of 2007. During his senior year, he was an Indiana Basketball All-Star. He earned his bachelor's degree in history from Indiana State University in 2016. He was employed as a sales manager for Enterprise in Vincennes. He also graduated from Reppert's Auctioneering School. Bryan was a faithful member of Bethany Christian Church. He loved playing with his children and nieces and nephews. Bryan is survived by his parents, Steve and Lisa Bouchie; a son, Orion Bouchie; a daughter, Andiee Bouchie; a brother, Corey (Teri) Bouchie; a sister, Carey (Daniel Ash) Bouchie; grandparents, Carolyn Bouchie, Marvin and Carole Poland and Bill and Shirley Waggoner; nephews Caleb and Bradley Bouchie; and nieces Ivy and Willa Ash. He is preceded in death by paternal grandparents, Norman and Carrey Bouchie; and an uncle, Ronnie Bouchie.
Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 19, 2018, in Gill Funeral Home. Visitation will be Wednesday, April 18, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Gill Funeral Home. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to Bethany Christian Church Children's Ministry. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home. Online condolences may be made at www.gillsince1872.com

Very sad. Tragic.

From a fan perspective... we'll always have Washington!

That was our first P5 win in forever.

[tweet]985327506407460864[/tweet]

Seems like we haven't heard anything about Alec getting signed to a regular NBA contract. Does this mean there's an "after the G league ends" exception like there's a "before the G league begins" exception to the number of days limit? I don't remember seeing that in the reporting on two-way contracts.

Don't remember seeing this anywhere, but does anyone know what, when and how this injury happened to Rowdy?
Rowdy Post Surgery Pic
Also, isn't there a way to embed Instagram stuff into the SMF forum posts?  I tried the common BBCode [instagram][/instagram] inserting the ID, but that did not work. 

It's not really a surprise, since he's first team. But, great to see a major Twitter handle feature him, even when injured.

[tweet]983355966518452224[/tweet]

Going after someone THAT ACTUALLY ATTENDS GAMES IN THE STUDENT SECTION, is retarded.

Using mentally handicapped people as a rhetorical tactic, even unintentionally, is so frat boy.

(Got to love Ethan's passion and willingness to put himself out there. Hopefully he takes banter from the alumni base in a good, mostly encouraging, spirit.)

Alec Peters has yet to win a game in the NBA. Last night was the closest.

They won last night, but no sign of Alec. Maybe they'll try to avoid converting his contract after all?

He played 12 minutes on Easter in a (another) loss.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2018/04/03/phoenix-suns-job-auditions-shaquille-harrison-danuel-house-alec-peters/483633002/
talks about Alec nearly doubling his season total minutes in four games. And about the possibility of the Suns clearing out some youth to make room for a few veterans for next season.

According to Alec's stat page he played 11 minutes last night in the Suns 97-94 win over the Kings. Alec didn't take any shots except 2 FTs which were both missed. He was credited with 2 assists, 1 foul and no rebounds.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/2830/alec-peters

Good! Happy to be wrong here. ESPN agrees with your version
http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975913

Somehow the box score linked from Phoneix's own web page
http://www.nba.com/suns/schedule#gref
leaves off Daniels (who started?!), Williams, and Alec. But, indeed, the total game minutes don't work without them.

Maybe they'll write Alec a new contract after all.

Alec Peters has yet to win a game in the NBA. Last night was the closest.

They won last night, but no sign of Alec. Maybe they'll try to avoid converting his contract after all?

He played 12 minutes on Easter in a (another) loss.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2018/04/03/phoenix-suns-job-auditions-shaquille-harrison-danuel-house-alec-peters/483633002/
talks about Alec nearly doubling his season total minutes in four games. And about the possibility of the Suns clearing out some youth to make room for a few veterans for next season.

The NPSL is a mixture of college players and "professional". I am not sure we loses his eligibility.  As 4th tier goes, Detroit City is one of if not the best.

Interesting...  If they let him miss the pre-season, more or less, it could be a thing... It seems that most of our better players summer in the PDL (retaining their eligibility). But, maybe something similar is possible in the NPSL?