2015-16 Pre-Season / In-Season Exempt Tournaments

[a3uge]

Yeah Wichita State raised a big stink last year about Kansas not scheduling them. The most exotic home game they got this year was Utah. Still no Kansas. Valpo could accuse Notre Dame of starting ISIS recruitment bases on campus and it wouldn't change anything. Any compiling printed in the NW Times would be met with a giant "meh" from everybody.

[oklahomamick]

We will have to see them in a tournament then.  They can't avoid us if we are accepted in the same tournament and then match up. 

Whatever tournament we do next year, we won't hear about until late August or September.  It seems like the schedule is always posted a little late and there's no leaks on who's going to be on it.  I have hope we will get some good contracts because as mentioned on the trivia section we have had several non conference top 25 teams at the ARC.  We can do it again. 

I would really like to see the team travel abroad.  I know our teams and university is big on giving back to the community so we could make it a missions/basketball trip.  heck pending on where we go we could also make it a recruitment trip too.  Some of our best players came from other countries. 

[LaPorteAveApostle]

we could start them a gofundme account to send the team abroad.

...and actually i bet the rest of the HL would chip in, at least for the first flight.

[classof2014]

I don't think it has been mentioned anywhere but why not have a home-at-home series with Baylor?

I would imagine each game would be a nationally televised game and would be great publicity for both programs. The Brother vs Brother coaching matchup would make for a great storyline for ESPN.

[vu72]

I don't think it has been mentioned anywhere but why not have a home-at-home series with Baylor?

I would imagine each game would be a nationally televised game and would be great publicity for both programs. The Brother vs Brother coaching matchup would make for a great storyline for ESPN.

I'm pretty sure they won't do that as Homer had said in previous years that the only way he would play Scott was in the NCAAs.  I doubt Bryce would feel any differently.

[talksalot]

Because it's a no-win game for Baylor.... and Scott.     

[SanityLost17]

Keep this in mind when thinking about next years schedule.  The HL should be a lot better next year and should have a much better conference RPI.  Detroit, Oakland, and Wright State all have young talent that should be much improved.  All should have a much better RPI coming into conference.  Milwaukee will not have restricted practice time and will have their 3 point ace back in the mix.  Green Bay and CSU will lose the most talent, but have enough talent returning, incoming talent, and good coaching to only take a modest step backwards.  YSU has talent if they can find a new coach.  UIC can't get any worse.

I believe the MAC has 6 schools with an RPI between 60-100.  Buffalo, Central Michigan, Toledo, Akron, Bowling Green, and Kent State.  I have not bothered to look at how they scheduled in the Non-Con, but I think we would all be really excited if we had 6 teams that high!  However, it would appear that whoever wins that league will have a similar seed to whoever wins the HL, because they keep beating up on each other and nobody can break away from the pack.  Had one of those teams been able to run away with the league, I would think that team would have one hell of an RPI.   


 

[classof2014]

Keep this in mind when thinking about next years schedule.  The HL should be a lot better next year and should have a much better conference RPI.  Detroit, Oakland, and Wright State all have young talent that should be much improved.  All should have a much better RPI coming into conference.  Milwaukee will not have restricted practice time and will have their 3 point ace back in the mix.  Green Bay and CSU will lose the most talent, but have enough talent returning, incoming talent, and good coaching to only take a modest step backwards.  YSU has talent if they can find a new coach.  UIC can't get any worse.

I believe the MAC has 6 schools with an RPI between 60-100.  Buffalo, Central Michigan, Toledo, Akron, Bowling Green, and Kent State.  I have not bothered to look at how they scheduled in the Non-Con, but I think we would all be really excited if we had 6 teams that high!  However, it would appear that whoever wins that league will have a similar seed to whoever wins the HL, because they keep beating up on each other and nobody can break away from the pack.  Had one of those teams been able to run away with the league, I would think that team would have one hell of an RPI.   

In my opinion the league might not be much better. GB loses a lot, Sykes, McKinnie, and Mays. They'll probably have a down year and finish middle of the pack. Oakland and CSU should be good next year. All CSU really loses is Charlie Lee and Marlin Mason. Detroit might be worse next season, Bass should be better but they lose all-conference player Juwan Howard, not to mention McCallum is an awful coach. Milwaukee will be a middle of the pack team, they'll probably be better I don't think significantly though, Arians is a 3 point shooter and Tiby is good but not great. WSU will be better, this is a down year for them and have also been bitten by the injury bug. UIC and YSU are a mess, once again they'll be bottom feeders.

My guess is next season rankings will be:

1.) Valpo
2.) Oakland
3.) CSU
4.) WSU
5.) GB
6.) Milwaukee
7.) Detroit
8.) YSU
9.) UIC

There's a possibility of a tenth as well, no clue on who it'll be though. I don't see the league being significantly better next season. I think it'll be stronger but after the top 3 teams there's a dropoff in talent.

[justducky]

I don't think it has been mentioned anywhere but why not have a home-at-home series with Baylor?

I have hammered at this repeatedly since just after the 11-12 season ended and have never had even one poster that backed me up!

Because it's a no-win game for Baylor.... and Scott.     

True but Scott is in a position to sell Baylor on a 2 for 1 if our scheduling nightmare degenerates to the point where we would have to call in a family favor. I hope it doesn't get to that but you can wear out a phone trying to get any moderately good teams to come to the ARC. Heck most of them don't even want to play us at there place even for free.     

[a3uge]

I wouldn't mind just skimping out on some of the non d1 home games at the arc to play some non-return road games. 3 non D1 games just seems offensive to season ticket holders. Like I said before, try to schedule 1-2 non-winnable road games against top 10 teams to game RPI and SOS. If we don't find a 2 for 1, so be it.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[justducky]

I wouldn't mind just skimping out on some of the non d1 home games at the arc to play some non-return road games. 3 non D1 games just seems offensive to season ticket holders. Like I said before, try to schedule 1-2 non-winnable road games against top 10 teams to game RPI and SOS. If we don't find a 2 for 1, so be it.

I haven't come to the ARC to watch a non- D1 opponent since the Athletes In Action days and I have no plans for that to ever change ( I might make an exception for Bethel and Cleo  ).

Please define a non-winnnable road game for the first two weeks of next years season? With an almost total core bunch of talented and experienced athletes returning we should have that advantage over almost all of D1 basketball. There should be almost no one who could embarrass us with a 15 point loss in the seasons early going.

[a3uge]

I wouldn't mind just skimping out on some of the non d1 home games at the arc to play some non-return road games. 3 non D1 games just seems offensive to season ticket holders. Like I said before, try to schedule 1-2 non-winnable road games against top 10 teams to game RPI and SOS. If we don't find a 2 for 1, so be it.

I haven't come to the ARC to watch a non- D1 opponent since the Athletes In Action days and I have no plans for that to ever change ( I might make an exception for Bethel and Cleo  ).

Please define a non-winnnable road game for the first two weeks of next years season? With an almost total core bunch of talented and experienced athletes returning we should have that advantage over almost all of D1 basketball. There should be almost no one who could embarrass us with a 15 point loss in the seasons early going.

I would say going to Duke, UNC, Kentucky, or Kansas would likely be a loss. But I think we may be too good to be able to schedule these teams. The best teams schedule mostly cupcakes at home, play 1-2 ooc games on the road only against top 15 teams. We may not be in the safe bet win threshold for the top teams anymore, so may even be harder to schedule tough road games. Unfortunately the deck is always going to be stacked against us. The last thing a good team wants is a 50-150 RPI loss at home to a mid major.

[historyman]

Heck most of them don't even want to play  us

I think you can stop your sentence right there. For the major conference schools playing Valpo is a no-win situation even if they play the Crusaders at home. I'm sure both Kim Anderson at Missouri and Craig Neal at New Mexico would have paid off Valpo if possible but they were honorable men. Neal was able to push off the game by a year.

[StlVUFan]

You do realize that trying to do scheduling by shaming another school into a contract would make us the pariah of D1 basketball don't you?

Yup -but only among the haves who already offer us nothing (in mens basketball) but arrogant indifference. We could overnight become the hero of the mid major world who are all waiting for somebody to have the guts to say that "enough is enough". Is it slanderous to tell the public the truth? Bad blood sells tickets. Lets go out and pick us a fight. Northwest Indiana would love it.

This is quite possibly the most intelligent mid-major scheduling tactic I've ever heard.  I'm not sure what that says about me or justducky, but without any deep thinking on it, something in my really likes the idea.

Believe me when I say it hasn't been done because it wouldn't work. This is a fraternity of brothers and a rather small one at that.  You don't want to start threatening people.

This fraternity of brothers is corrupt.  I get what you are saying, but it might help illustrate how corrupt scheduling is in the NCAA.  Personally, I think non-conference scheduling should be done by a neutral party.  If I could think of a way to make that work, I'd suggest it.

I'm well aware that it would draw a huge negative reaction and any coach who decided to do this would have to know going in that they might be ostracized (along with their school until that school got rid of him).

Obviously, that coach and his school would have to decide whether they want to sacrifice themselves to make a point.  I like the sentiment behind the strategy.  I didn't mean to imply that the coach could win the battle.

I'm just plain disgusted with all the cowardice in scheduling, especially since the Selection Committee judges all 350 teams according to the exact same scheduling standards, as if everyone is playing on the same level playing field.  A school like Valpo is judged negatively for a weak schedule without any recognition of how difficult it is build a tougher one.  It just plain pisses me off.

[justducky]

You do realize that trying to do scheduling by shaming another school into a contract would make us the pariah of D1 basketball don't you?

Believe me when I say it hasn't been done because it wouldn't work. This is a fraternity of brothers and a rather small one at that.  You don't want to start threatening people.

Lets see, we are shaming and threatening the biggest and toughest kid in our neighborhood by suggesting that we could come over and play a little basketball. What insolence.!!!

[justducky]

Like I said before, try to schedule 1-2 non-winnable road games against top 10 teams to game RPI and SOS. If we don't find a 2 for 1, so be it.

We have talked at some length about our "gaming the RPI and SOS system" but the BIGS have turned this into an art. They have $outside advisers$ suggesting scheduling tactics designed to advance the most conference members to the most prestigious tournaments. Look at the results of the last 30 years. You went from home and homes to 2 for 1s, sometimes 3 for 1s, the neutral site opportunities have all but disappeared, and if they suspect you can beat them they are reluctant to even play you on their home court. Gradually the rich have gotten richer almost to the point that some of you have not even noticed what has transpired. This is not the way it was and it is not the way it should be!

Personally, I think non-conference scheduling should be done by a neutral party.

Yes before they relegate mid major basketball to such irrelevance that their own pocketbooks will suffer. None of us mind the BIGS taking their fair share and more, but leave us something even if it is only our pride! There are a thousand ways the NCAA could take some active part in scheduling requirements and all of them would be better than todays' set up. If the same restrictions were applied evenly to all BIGS many of the benefits of abuse could be removed.

I'm just plain disgusted with all the cowardice in scheduling, especially since the Selection Committee judges all 350 teams according to the exact same scheduling standards, as if everyone is playing on the same level playing field.  A school like Valpo is judged negatively for a weak schedule without any recognition of how difficult it is build a tougher one.  It just plain pisses me off.

AMEN

[historyman]

Like I said before, try to schedule 1-2 non-winnable road games against top 10 teams to game RPI and SOS. If we don't find a 2 for 1, so be it.

We have talked at some length about our "gaming the RPI and SOS system" but the BIGS have turned this into an art. They have $outside advisers$ suggesting scheduling tactics designed to advance the most conference members to the most prestigious tournaments. Look at the results of the last 30 years. You went from home and homes to 2 for 1s, sometimes 3 for 1s, the neutral site opportunities have all but disappeared, and if they suspect you can beat them they are reluctant to even play you on their home court. Gradually the rich have gotten richer almost to the point that some of you have not even noticed what has transpired. This is not the way it was and it is not the way it should be!

Personally, I think non-conference scheduling should be done by a neutral party.

Yes before they relegate mid major basketball to such irrelevance that their own pocketbooks will suffer. None of us mind the BIGS taking their fair share and more, but leave us something even if it is only our pride! There are a thousand ways the NCAA could take some active part in scheduling requirements and all of them would be better than todays' set up. If the same restrictions were applied evenly to all BIGS many of the benefits of abuse could be removed.

I'm just plain disgusted with all the cowardice in scheduling, especially since the Selection Committee judges all 350 teams according to the exact same scheduling standards, as if everyone is playing on the same level playing field.  A school like Valpo is judged negatively for a weak schedule without any recognition of how difficult it is build a tougher one.  It just plain pisses me off.

AMEN

Watch out! Before long you will be accussed of being a socialist!

[vu72]

The fact is that we will be a MUCH better team next year.  Other then top 10 teams, I don't really think we couldn't hang with most anyone.  Right now we are receiving 8 votes in the coaches poll which puts us at #35.  I will be surprised if we don't open next season ranked in the top 25.  Oh, have you seen this highlite of Shane Hammink??  It's at least a year old.  The kid is 6'7", very long and a great defender. We might need to do the Kentucky platoon thing.   

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=AwrTccg9Y.tUgL4AjTkPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0MzkwOG5yBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1lIUzAwNF8x?p=shane+hammink+basketball&tnr=21&vid=61F832A0B48DA50FB2BC61F832A0B48DA50FB2BC&l=545&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DUN.608027851879416954%26pid%3D15.1&sigi=11rfgn7pt&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Db2gSVqz21Gk&sigr=11br9bbi4&tt=b&tit=Shane+Hammink+Highlights+2010+PART-1.avi&sigt=118se94c0&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dshane%2Bhammink%2Bbasketball%26type%3Dagc511%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Davast%26ei%3DUTF-8&sigb=13erf0nfp&hspart=avast&hsimp=yhs-001

[wh]

I watched him shooting 3's today. He was deadly.

We have 180 of 200 minutes returning next year, and the only minutes open are at the 5. A talented Lexus Williams will be returning and expecting minutes. Players like David Skara will be looking for more minutes. There will be some unhappy people.

[SanityLost17]

The fact is that we will be a MUCH better team next year.  Other then top 10 teams, I don't really think we couldn't hang with most anyone.  Right now we are receiving 8 votes in the coaches poll which puts us at #35.  I will be surprised if we don't open next season ranked in the top 25.  Oh, have you seen this highlite of Shane Hammink??  It's at least a year old.  The kid is 6'7", very long and a great defender. We might need to do the Kentucky platoon thing.   

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=AwrTccg9Y.tUgL4AjTkPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0MzkwOG5yBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1lIUzAwNF8x?p=shane+hammink+basketball&tnr=21&vid=61F832A0B48DA50FB2BC61F832A0B48DA50FB2BC&l=545&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DUN.608027851879416954%26pid%3D15.1&sigi=11rfgn7pt&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Db2gSVqz21Gk&sigr=11br9bbi4&tt=b&tit=Shane+Hammink+Highlights+2010+PART-1.avi&sigt=118se94c0&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dshane%2Bhammink%2Bbasketball%26type%3Dagc511%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Davast%26ei%3DUTF-8&sigb=13erf0nfp&hspart=avast&hsimp=yhs-001

Why didn't this guy get any playing time at LSU (it was LSU, right?)  Injury?  Lack of focus?  Party atmosphere? Bad coaching? Negative team atmosphere?   

He looks like absolute stud in these highlights.  Looks like a better version of Skara.  Was good with his back to the basket, driving, ball handling, defense, and shooting the 3.  I seem to remember Oren tweeting that he thought, based on Drew's comments, that Hammink would have been a starter this year had he been eligible.

[vu72]

The fact is that we will be a MUCH better team next year.  Other then top 10 teams, I don't really think we couldn't hang with most anyone.  Right now we are receiving 8 votes in the coaches poll which puts us at #35.  I will be surprised if we don't open next season ranked in the top 25.  Oh, have you seen this highlite of Shane Hammink??  It's at least a year old.  The kid is 6'7", very long and a great defender. We might need to do the Kentucky platoon thing.   

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=AwrTccg9Y.tUgL4AjTkPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0MzkwOG5yBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1lIUzAwNF8x?p=shane+hammink+basketball&tnr=21&vid=61F832A0B48DA50FB2BC61F832A0B48DA50FB2BC&l=545&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DUN.608027851879416954%26pid%3D15.1&sigi=11rfgn7pt&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Db2gSVqz21Gk&sigr=11br9bbi4&tt=b&tit=Shane+Hammink+Highlights+2010+PART-1.avi&sigt=118se94c0&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dshane%2Bhammink%2Bbasketball%26type%3Dagc511%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Davast%26ei%3DUTF-8&sigb=13erf0nfp&hspart=avast&hsimp=yhs-001

Why didn't this guy get any playing time at LSU (it was LSU, right?) Injury?  Lack of focus?  Party atmosphere? Bad coaching? Negative team atmosphere?   

He looks like absolute stud in these highlights.  Looks like a better version of Skara.  Was good with his back to the basket, driving, ball handling, defense, and shooting the 3.  I seem to remember Oren tweeting that he thought, based on Drew's comments, that Hammink would have been a starter this year had he been eligible.

A fair question with no really good answer.  Different style, difficult coach?  who knows.  We have seen several guys recruited and signed by majors that don't fit in for one reason or another and thrive at Valpo.  Cory Johnson and E. Victor come to mind.  Thinking of next year's team, we'll have Nick (provided he doesn't continue to improve),Simon (who knows?) and Ralveo (?) as guys who understand that they won't be getting much playing time.  That leaves a rotation of 10.  Much more then Bryce would prefer.  Nice problem!!

[Valpofan00]

Anyone have an idea of what the starting line up will look like next year?

[Valpofan02]

Anyone have an idea of what the starting line up will look like next year?

I would have to say
1. Keith carter
2.tevonn walker
3.darien Walker
4. Alec peters
5. Incoming freshman Derek smits or jubril or lsu transfer
The 5 position is up for grabs

[vu72]

Anyone have an idea of what the starting line up will look like next year?

I think it could be Lexus, Keith, Alec, Smits and Hammink.  Or, possibly Alec at the 5, Hammink at the 4 and E. Victor at the 3.  It all depends on how D1 ready Derrik is when he arrives.

[truth219]

I think jubril will be our 5