http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/fans-can-create-preseason-all-league-teams (http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/fans-can-create-preseason-all-league-teams)
Pretty neat to see the HL put out a fans poll that you can vote in and it will be released on the 14th of October. Should be interesting to see what the fans think.
I was disappointed to see Keith Carter's name absent from the options for Newcomer of the Year. I tried voting for him as a "write-in" choice, but I was not permitted to do so.
1 Green Bay
2 Wright State
3 Oakland
4 Valparaiso
5 Cleveland State
6 Youngstown State
7 UIC
8 Detroit
9 Milwaukee
G Perry
G Sykes
G Bader
F Fouse
F Petros
G Arceneaux
G Carter
G Mondy
G Forbes
F Brown
PoY Perry
NCoY Yeo
CoY Bryce Drew
Game: Valpo @ UWGB
Quote from: valpopal on October 04, 2013, 02:15:01 PM
I was disappointed to see Keith Carter's name absent from the options for Newcomer of the Year. I tried voting for him as a "write-in" choice, but I was not permitted to do so.
I think they only went with Freshman because I was going to put either Keith or Kelsey Barlow for that but he's not listed either.
I put Valpo at #1 for the sake of bumping them up in the rankings...
Quote from: a3uge on October 05, 2013, 04:13:51 PM
I put Valpo at #1 for the sake of bumping them up in the rankings...
Nothing wrong with that. I think they will win the league for real. Yes, I know I'm the only person on earth predicting it. Yes, I know it's crazy.
I picked us #2 behind GB
Quote from: wh on October 05, 2013, 05:22:13 PM
Quote from: a3uge on October 05, 2013, 04:13:51 PM
I put Valpo at #1 for the sake of bumping them up in the rankings...
Nothing wrong with that. I think they will win the league for real. Yes, I know I'm the only person on earth predicting it. Yes, I know it's crazy.
Nothing wrong with that, IMO. Bryce is 2-for-2 in winning the league ... he's king until someone knocks him off the throne.
If you're looking for a blueprint, Butler lost 5 of their top 7 scorers from their 30-win 2008 team ... they won the league in 2009 starting 3 freshmen the entire year(despite being predicted to finish mid-pack).
The mix of incoming freshmen, returning players and transfers makes Valpo one of the most interesting teams to watch. Lots of unknowns ... wouldn't surprise me to see them finish anywhere between 1st and 6th.
Has anyone seen the results of the fan poll? Results were supposed to be released on the 14th, per the above link.
Quote from: zvillehaze on October 15, 2013, 05:48:25 AMHas anyone seen the results of the fan poll? Results were supposed to be released on the 14th, per the above link.
My guess is they release it tomorrow at press day.
Here are the results:
http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/green-bay-preseason-favorite-in-fan-vote (http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/green-bay-preseason-favorite-in-fan-vote)
I do have a few issues with the fan vote.
GB, to me there just not a first place team. I think as I've stated before they'll be mediocre. I do believe YSU to finish higher than eight as well.
As for the all-league,
Alec Brown = overrated and this proves my point, overrated. Alec Brown is nothing more than a twig who can shoot an occasional three. I also don't see Cole Darling as a first-teamer either, he's really good at a lot of things but he's not a great HL player and I don't believe he should be in the upper-echelon of the league.
As for the second team, Juwan Howard isn't a second-teamer he's a good player on a bad team nothing more nothing less. I do wish Capo would've gotten on it I do think he is deserving of the vote.
One thing that proves many fans are uneducated is picking Billy Donlon as the coach of the year... This team lost ZERO players from last season, last season was a surprise they won't be surprise if they are good again. I can see a Bryce Drew or a Gary Waters winning it. CSU and Valpo are gonna be two big surprises this season and it has to do with coaching. I'm not saying Billy Donlon is a bad coach cause he certainly isn't, it's just that he returned everybody from last year and it's expected for them to be really good last year while last year they were picked dead last.
I love how Oakland and Detroit is going to be the "Best Game", you know the #5 vs #7 team based on rankings... :crazy:
Was mildly disappointed we didn't have anyone in the top 2 teams, and then I realized fan voting for players of the year before anyone plays a minute is really stupid.
Quote from: a3uge on October 15, 2013, 03:55:31 PM
Was mildly disappointed we didn't have anyone in the top 2 teams, and then I realized fan voting for players of the year before anyone plays a minute is really stupid.
Agreed. After losing 6 seniors (all 5 starters), I think it's a sign of respect that Valpo was voted to finish in the upper half. As for the lack of individual honors (other than Peters), I think it's more confusion over who exactly will step up for Valpo. I'm not even sure Valpo fans would agree on who they think will be worthy of all-league honors by the end of the year ... I've seen Carter, Dority, Capobianco and Gueye all mentioned as possibilities. I've also seen it mentioned that Yeo (or Williams) could be the freshman making the biggest impact.
Bottom line is people think Valpo will remain competitive for a league title ... they're just not sure who the key individual contributors will be.
To Kyle's comment on the Detroit-Oakland games being voted "best games", it just points out that they will clearly be "rivals". As Paul Oren pointed out a few weeks back, Valpo (and many other teams in the league) really don't have a clear rival within the league.
Alec Brown made CBS's list of top 100 players....
http://mweb.cbssports.com/ncaab/eye-on-college-basketball/24088271/cbssportscom-top-100-players
Quote
94. Alec Brown (Green Bay)
Vitals: 7-1 | Sr. | F-C
Comment: Butler left the Horizon but the league still has an NBA prospect. Brown is that NBA prospect. -- GP
They have Marshal Henderson at 31 or something so take it with a grain of salt.
Ironically they mention something about Butler, but don't have any Butler players on the list. They also imply the horizon never had an NBA player drafted, but Norris Cole was drafted a couple years ago and Ray McCallum was drafted this past summer.