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If we're going to be the Beacons, the Chapel V design concept is one I could get behind. It's a much better representation of the Beacons nickname and of the university as a whole. Well done to the designer.

I don't hate the name, but I do hate the logo. A colleague of mine, who is a graphic designer at another university in Indiana, gave a concise opinion about it that I tend to agree with: "This doesn't seem like an athletics team logo. It gives me a summer camp vibe."

https://www.espn.com/nbl/story/_/id/30910041/ryan-broekhoff-happy-back-australia

Ryan will be playing with former Green Bay star Keifer Sykes.

Hear me out... We could be the Valparaiso Kernels. It's a play off of Colonels and ties in to Valparaiso's popcorn tradition. With a sponsorship the ARC could change to the Orville Redenbacher Center, the ORC. And it perfectly matches our school colors, brown for the kernels, gold for the delicious, fluffy popcorn. 

I'm only mostly joking.

In 12 minutes of play, Ryan went 3/3 from 3 tonight and picked up 4 rebounds and an assist in a... checks notes... 142-94 blowout of Golden State. 

Box Score

[2019-20 Over/Unders]

2019-20 Over/Unders

Javon Freeman-Liberty: 63.5 steals UNDER
Siggy Lorange: 27.5 3-point field goals UNDER
Zion Morgan: 16.5 games with more assists than turnovers UNDER
Daniel Sackey: 3.2 assists per game UNDER
Donovan Clay: 3.8 rebounds per game OVER
Eron Gordon: 7.5 points per game OVER
Emil Freese-Vilien: 10.5 blocks UNDER
Mileek McMillian: 44.5 field goal percentage UNDER
Ben Krikke: 5.8 points per game UNDER
Nick Robinson: 10.5 points per game OVER
John Kiser: 11.5 3-point field goals OVER
Ryan Fazekas: 42.5 3-point field goal percentage UNDER
Matt Lottich: 1.5 technical fouls UNDER

Wins: 17.5 OVER
Arch Madness wins: 1.5 UNDER
MVC Finish: 6.5 (Over means 1-6, Under means 7-10) OVER
Postseason victories (NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT): 0.5 OVER
Conference win streak: 2.5 OVER
Conference loss streak: 2.5 OVER
Attendance: 2,800 UNDER

Just a quick reminder that Moussa Mbaye and Moussa Gueye are two different people, both from Senegal, who played for Valpo Basketball at different times. Moussa Mbaye never played for Alabama, but Moussa Gueye did.

This doesn't surprise me at all. I lived in Uptown during my senior year, and we had constant issues. For a month and a half there was an electrical outage in one room of the apartment, and it took threatening legal action for them to bother sending a licensed electrician instead of their lazy maintenance guy, who would flip the breakers a couple times, shrug, and leave. When the electrician arrived and opened up the wall, there was melted wiring inside, and he was amazed the place hadn't burned to the ground. It all looks nice at first glance, but it's shoddily built and even more shoddily maintained and managed. I hope the university drops their partnership like a bad habit.

As someone who enjoys esports, and has been watching and participating in them for years, I'm glad that Valpo is starting up this program. Nearby universities such as Purdue, Butler, Indiana State, and Ball State have already adopted esports programs, as have many high schools. Will the average gray-haired Valpo basketball fan care about this? Not in the slightest. But incoming freshmen, who have never known life without video games and the Internet, just might. The demographic interested in esports also skews toward those planning to go into STEM careers, and anything we can do to keep those students on campus is a boon in my opinion. 

This has been a truly wild off-season.

https://twitter.com/rwweinstein/status/1114169220583919618

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1114170505119043584

Jaume is reportedly transferring.

Rowdy has 12 points in 14 minutes of play, and is 4/7 from three in the first half so far tonight against the Cavaliers. 

[UNDER]

Javon Freeman: 11.5 points per game - UNDER
Micah Bradford: 2:1 assist to turnover ratio - OVER
Deion Lavender: 3.6 assists per game - OVER
Daniel Sackey: 18.5 games with more assists than turnovers - OVER
Bakari Evelyn: 39.5% 3PFG - UNDER
Markus Golder: 50.0% FG - UNDER
Jaume Sorolla: 5.5 rebounds per game - UNDER
Derrik Smits: 25 blocks - OVER
Mileek McMillan: 20.5 3-pointers - UNDER
John Kiser: 1.2 offensive rebounds per game - UNDER
Ryan Fazekas: 14.2 points per game - UNDER

Wins: 19.5 - OVER
Arch Madness wins: 1.5 - OVER
MVC Finish: 5.5 (Over means 1-5, Under means 6-10) - UNDER
Postseason Victories: 0.5 - UNDER
Conference win steak: 2.5 - OVER
Conference loss streak: 2.5 - UNDER
Attendance: 2,850 - UNDER

Tiebreaker: How many games will Langston Stalling appear in this season? 4


It's a tough one this year, and I'm sure I'll be completely wrong as usual. 

A liquor law violation does not necessarily mean that there was an arrest. In 2017, only 5 of those 166 violations resulted in an arrest. You can view the full report here: https://www.valpo.edu/vupd/files/2018/09/2018_2017_COMBINED-ANNUAL_-SECURITY_REPORT__FIRE_SAFETY_REPORT_Final_vupd.pdf

The box score wasn't flashy, but Rowdy played for 16 minutes this morning in a pre-season game against Philadelphia.

Box Score:
https://twitter.com/brianseltzer/status/1048216391969460224

After reading some Dallas fans' opinions on the game, everyone seemed impressed by his stroke and were surprised at how scrappy a rebounder he his. Hopefully the beginning of much more to come this season!

Great interview with Ryan Broekhoff:

Absolutely. I don't have cable, and have no intention of ever doing so again. I don't mind paying a bit to be able to watch my favorite team, as long as the streams are of a professional, high quality.

I'm glad Rowdy was in the states working out for NBA teams, because he missed out on a pretty bad brawl between the Australian and Filipino national teams:

The Suns have hired a new head coach, former Utah Jazz assistant Igor Kokoskov. He's apparently quite good at developing young talent. We'll have to wait and see what this means, if anything, for Alec.

As a cord cutter, ESPN+ will work out nicely for me. I should actually be able to watch the games next season. Kind of sucks for everyone already paying for cable or satellite though. 

"We had trouble stopping Larry Bird dressed up as Alec Peters." - Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks Head Coach. 

This was the game Alec needed!

Box Score

Granted, it was the last game of the season between two tanking teams, but still. Damn impressive numbers, and he did it on an NBA court. Congratulations to him! 

Last night Alec put up 8 points on 3/4 shooting in 10 minutes of play time against the Warriors. Box Score

It was the Suns' last home game of the year. They have one remaining game at Dallas tomorrow night.

Javon is looking more and more like he's going to be a special player. Can't wait to see him in a Valpo uniform.