Predictions

[Valpofan00]

Just wondering, if the season ended today who do you guys think would win Horizon League POY? Also after seeing 14 games where will they finish at the end of conference play?

[valpotx]

1st place, Alec Peters POY.

[classof2014]

I voted 1st place,

-Alec PoY.
-KC, 2nd team/1st team defensive
-Vashil Defensive PoY
-Tevonn All-freshmen team
-EVN Sixth man award ??

[vu72]

 I can't see EVN as sixth man unless he really turns it on during league play.  David Skara may have a chance at the all freshman squad when it is all said and done.

Peters clearly is POY at this point.

[valpo4life]

I chose first place as well. Green Bay doesn't scare me maybe as much as they do for others on this board. We were able to dismantle them at home when they were without Brown. I know now they will be used to not playing with him now, but I think that Vashil protecting the paint will make them take more outside shots which is not their strong suit, just 31 percent from 3 this year.

POY depends on who wins the conference, if we do as I am predicting, Alec wins it.
Vashil will be in the running for defensive player of the year along with Fouse from GB.
KC should be 1st or 2nd team defense, my opinion 1st team.
T. Walker should make all freshman team. Skara also has a shot.
D. Walker has a chance to be newcomer of the year.

[talksalot]

I said 2nd because I think free throw shooting will come back to bite us in the loss column... somewhere down the line.

[classof2014]

I said 2nd because I think free throw shooting will come back to bite us in the loss column... somewhere down the line.

Since GB is the only team worse than us in the league, then who'd be first?

[Valpofan00]

I chose first place as well. Green Bay doesn't scare me maybe as much as they do for others on this board. We were able to dismantle them at home when they were without Brown. I know now they will be used to not playing with him now, but I think that Vashil protecting the paint will make them take more outside shots which is not their strong suit, just 31 percent from 3 this year.

POY depends on who wins the conference, if we do as I am predicting, Alec wins it.
Vashil will be in the running for defensive player of the year along with Fouse from GB.
KC should be 1st or 2nd team defense, my opinion 1st team.
T. Walker should make all freshman team. Skara also has a shot.
D. Walker has a chance to be newcomer of the year.

Green Bay scares me, they match our athleticism if not out do it. If it comes down to shooting we could be in for some trouble if shots aren't faling(New Mexico) But then I remember what we did to them at home last season. As for POY Keifer is an absolute beast plain and simple. If Valpo doesn't win regular season there's absolutely no way Alec wins. Even if Valpo wins Keifer could still run away with it. He's gotten too much national attention not to. Though he's only averaging 17.3 ppg they are against much harder opponents. @ #3 Wisconsin 20 points!! FGCU he had 20. Valpos schedule to say the least. Sure we have beaten some quality mid major teams but when we face the big boys I'm not sure what happens. They shut down Peters ( @Mizzou Alec had 7 and against NMU he had 9) Teams attempt to do the same thing to Keifer and somehow he finds a way around it and still get buckets. 29 against Goshen who looked like a Varsity basketball team does not impress me at all. Keifer wins it if the season ended today, but r doesn't so as long as Alec plays well against Detroit GB and CSU and not teams like UIC and Valpo wins he has a chance. Don't underestimate Keifer.

[wh]

I said 2nd because I think free throw shooting will come back to bite us in the loss column... somewhere down the line.

since GB is the only team worse than us in the league, then who'd be first?

Yep, nobody knows better than Green Bay what can happen when you don't hit your free throws:

Ryan Broekhoff game winner with Todd Ickow's call

[bbtds]

They shut down Peters ( @Mizzou Alec had 7 and against NMU he had 9) Teams attempt to do the same thing to Keifer and somehow he finds a way around it and still get buckets.

What do you think was the greatest difference between the Mizzou and IPFW games? Alec got into foul trouble in both games. Both games were on the road. Why was Valpo able to stay with IPFW and come back for the win and not against Mizzou? Was Mizzou, the team that lost to UMKC, playing much better defense than IPFW? Was Mizzou's offense much better than IPFW's offense?

[wh]

They shut down Peters ( @Mizzou Alec had 7 and against NMU he had 9) Teams attempt to do the same thing to Keifer and somehow he finds a way around it and still get buckets.

That is until yesterday's Arkansas-Little Rock game.  ALR played a box-and-one and completely took him out of the game.  He had 5 points on 1-5 shooting in 35 minutes.

That said, I agree that he is an excellent player with great athleticism and could play for anyone in the country.  I just don't want to make him sound completely invincible. 

[StlVUFan]

Was Mizzou, the team that lost to UMKC, playing much better defense than IPFW? Was Mizzou's offense much better than IPFW's offense?

Probably, and probably.

I couldn't say for sure, but that's my hunch.

[a3uge]

Green Bay is still the best team in the Horizon, but why would anyone expect anything but underachievement from them? Astonishing how a team with 2 eventual NBA players couldn't make the tourney, even during a down year in the horizon that just lost 2 HL POYs. But, uh, yeah, their terrific coaching should prove me wrong.

In the end, I see GB winning the regular season, with Valpo and Wright State fighting for second, with everyone else being mediocre. Unfortunately, the eventual tourney winner may very well be a 15 seed again if nobody dominates the regular season.

I see Valpo as a bit overrated at this point. They have 0 top 100 RPI wins, and their best is Eastern Kentucky. They've struggled a bit in their past 3 games, and looked terrible vs New Mexico. Fortunately, they have no really bad loses. Their worst loss is Mizzou, on the road after a short turnaround. The loss to New Mexico is understandable as well.  If Valpo can keep the amount of bad losses to 0, they'll be in great shape. In 2011, Valpo had bad losses to IPFW, IUPUI, and a bad Wright State team. In 2012, they lost to Oakland, Loyola, and YSU. If Valpo finishes with 4 conference losses, they'll have a 50 RPI, which would mean a 12/13 seed. Setting yourself up for a decent seed is all you can ask for in in your OOC season. The rest of the "beat a power conference team" is just irrelevant fluff.

[EddieCabot]

I see Valpo as a bit overrated at this point. They have 0 top 100 RPI wins, and their best is Eastern Kentucky.

I'm seeing Murray State as a top 100 RPI right now, although they probably won't stay there once they start conference play.

Valpo looks to be a year ahead of schedule right now and have been more impressive than any other HL team.  I voted 1st place, although both GB and WSU will challenge.  Not sure what's happening with CSU, but they've been a disappointment so far.

[Valpofan00]

Just a reminder, the voting ends today at 10:49 am. I will be adding a new poll soon after!

[Valpofan00]

Just a reminder, the voting ends today at 10:49 am. I will be adding a new poll soon after!

New Poll is up it will close in 2 days!!!

[historyman]

Just a reminder, the voting ends today at 10:49 am. I will be adding a new poll soon after!

New Poll is up it will close in 2 days!!!

What were the results of the previous poll?

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I think during the reign of Benedict, JPII was the previous pole

[Valpofan00]

Just a reminder, the voting ends today at 10:49 am. I will be adding a new poll soon after!

New Poll is up it will close in 2 days!!!

What were the results of the previous poll?

1st and 2nd were tied

[bbtds]

Just a reminder, the voting ends today at 10:49 am. I will be adding a new poll soon after!

New Poll is up it will close in 2 days!!!

What were the results of the previous poll?

1st and 2nd were tied

That probably means we'll finish tied for first and get the second seed because of a few missed free throws and extra turnovers. 

[historyman]

I think during the reign of Benedict, JPII was the previous pole

JPII for the three!!!!(Father, Son and Holy Ghost)

[SanityLost17]

If you think about it, we have already played a Horizon League type of schedule, with the quality of our non-conference opponents mimicking what we will see in our HL schedule.  See below for predictions and comparisons.

1. Green Bay  (compare to New Mexico)
2. Valparaiso
3. Wright State (compare to Murray State, Portland) 
4. Cleveland State (compare to Eastern Kentucky and Missouri) 
5. Detroit
6. Oakland (compare to IPFW and ETSU)
7. Youngstown State (Compare to James Madison)
8. Milwaukee (compare to Ball State and Drake) 
9. UIC (compare to AR-Pine Bluff and Maine) 

Based on the above comparisons, I think that we will go 12-4 in conference. 

[Valpofan00]

I thought id start this thread back up since we are nearing the end of the season and the standings are so close this year. (not sure if that's a good thing or bad.) Id like to get everyones take on how the standings will look at the end of the regular season. My guess is

1. Valpo (a win this Wednesday or Friday will clinch)
2. CSU
3. Green Bay
4. Oakland
5. Detroit (Clinched)
6. WSU
7. UIC
8. YSU

[atkins]

Keifer wins POY easily.  He's far better than Alec, and it's not even close (IMO).  Next year, another story (hopefully).