Post Season Awards and Tourney Predictions

[HC]

  Wowsa! Glad I got mine all yesterday

The ARC is such a great atmosphere when it is packed like it is going to be this weekend!

[classof2014]

Valpo by far has the best fans in the HL! There's always a large group of Valpo fans at every road game, did the Valpo fans make more noise than CSU fans on Friday? Sure seemed that way, I heard them whenever Valpo made a big play.

When full the ARC is one of the best gameday atmospheres in college basketball.

[talksalot]

New Term:   ARC-mosphere

Feel free to use it....I have not trademarked it.

[covufan]

Since we don't have a thread for our next game, I thought I post this here.  Just checked the ticket site (trying to buy tickets!) and found that at the moment there are a total of 18 seats left on the chairback side with two together only in the corners.  On the reserved side there are 162 seats left with about 140 of those in the corners.  Upper deck seats are moving well.  I think we'll just buy upper deck seats and then stand against the rail.  Great place view a game.  Can't wait!

Tickets flying off the shelf.  Chairbacks now sold out middle sections of reserved, sold out.  Upper deck moving nicely!

My Tourney Prediction:

We will host three days of HL tourney games with an excited and vocal crowd.  We will then host a NCAA Tourney watch party on 15 March!

[Grizz]

No, that guy is not me. I really don't care about the awards, but really, what fan base doesn't want their kids to receive awards. If Williams had won there would be the same noise going on over here as there is at Oakland. It's what happens everywhere. Going into the last 48 hours any of 3 teams could have hosted, Valpo, CSU or Oakland so saying that a 4th place team shouldn't get awards is kind of short sited on your part. CSU is the 4th seed and has 2 guys on the first team, so why wouldn't fans that love Petros think he got jobbed. Why would you even worry about it. HC is still mad Drew didn't get the COY one year. What difference is that then allowing Oakland fans the same rose colored glasses. Bottom line, Valpo won, congrats, you had a great season, and your players were very deserving of any and all awards they got. Hayes was freshman of the week 6 of the last 11 weeks of the season. Tell me if T Walker had been 6 of the last 11 you guys wouldn't be up in arms over Bass getting the award. Me, I would have voted for Walker because I don't think you guys would have won the championship if he had gotten injured or couldn't play, as compared to Bass who had some nice games.  We all look at it from our own perspective, enjoy your season and let the Grizz fans feel jobbed.

[covufan]

Awesome tournament predictions by The American Sports Network:

http://americansportsnet.com/horizon-league-picks/

Kevin Lehman

Should win conference:  Cleveland State

Dark horse: Valparaiso

Who else might get in:  Green Bay and Oakland

Why I choose Cleveland State: Cleveland State with the outside game of Trey Lewis (.483 from the arc) combined with the inside game of Anton Grady and senior point guard Charlie Lee the Vikings have everything it takes to bring home a tournament championship. CSU's run to the NCAA tournament may depend on the health of defensive ace Kaza Keane, who injured his knee in the loss at Milwaukee. There's not much separation between the top four in the Horizon and Cleveland State, Valparaiso, Oakland or Green Bay could do some damage in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But the Horizon likely will be a one-bid league this year and the edge goes to the tournament host team (CSU).

and

Doug Bell

Should win conference:  Valparaiso

Dark horse: Oakland

Who else might get in:  None

Why I choose Valparaiso: Bryce Drew has been diving on the floor after the buzzer beater against Ole Miss for years now. It's finally time for the young head coach to watch his team create another shining moment with a conference title.

From the link, it looks as though the CSU prediction was made on 26 February, before we beat them for the rights to host the HL Tournament.  I think that I would have waited until after Friday's game before making such a prediction.

[wh]

I don't disagree with anything Grizz said. Did I just say that? 

[classof2014]

No, that guy is not me. I really don't care about the awards, but really, what fan base doesn't want their kids to receive awards. If Williams had won there would be the same noise going on over here as there is at Oakland. It's what happens everywhere. Going into the last 48 hours any of 3 teams could have hosted, Valpo, CSU or Oakland so saying that a 4th place team shouldn't get awards is kind of short sited on your part. CSU is the 4th seed and has 2 guys on the first team, so why wouldn't fans that love Petros think he got jobbed. Why would you even worry about it. HC is still mad Drew didn't get the COY one year. What difference is that then allowing Oakland fans the same rose colored glasses. Bottom line, Valpo won, congrats, you had a great season, and your players were very deserving of any and all awards they got. Hayes was freshman of the week 6 of the last 11 weeks of the season. Tell me if T Walker had been 6 of the last 11 you guys wouldn't be up in arms over Bass getting the award. Me, I would have voted for Walker because I don't think you guys would have won the championship if he had gotten injured or couldn't play, as compared to Bass who had some nice games.  We all look at it from our own perspective, enjoy your season and let the Grizz fans feel jobbed.

Just because you won PoW doesn't mean you are the best or most deserving. Ryan Broekhoff, won POY in 11/12 and wasn't PoW once that whole season.

[HC]

HC is still mad Drew didn't get the COY one year.

I think you have me confused with someone else.  I actually agree with most of what you say here.

[agibson]

We will host three days of HL tourney games with an excited and vocal crowd.  We will then host a NCAA Tourney watch party on 15 March!

I don't know how excited the crowd's going to be on Friday... Well, maybe some of them excited, but presumably a pretty small crowd.

I think I did take in one of the early games last time Valpo hosted.  YSU and somebody?  The only time, if memory serves, I've ever sat in the chairbacks. Not much of a crowd.

[agibson]

Wowsa! Glad I got mine all yesterday

I wonder who gets the gate?  Probably the league?  I wonder if Valpo gets a cut?  Presumably the league covers expenses, but I wonder who keeps the profits.  I'd hate to suggest raising concessions prices, but the thought does cross my mind...

Looks like I'll be skating in to town around the start of the second half of the final.  Could be at the ARC maybe mid-way through the second half.  I'll have to decide what, if anything to do about ticketing...

[oklahomamick]

the HL receives tickets.  That's why they want each member gym to seat at least 5,000? 

[agibson]

Since we don't have a thread for our next game, I thought I post this here. 

Someone should totally get on that!

[Grizz]

Hey 2014 again you just don't read very well. Where did I say that pow had anything to do with it. PERCEPTION. I said..... he won 6 of the last 11. If your kid had done that you guys would be up in arms. I'm sure you will fire back some sort of "you know better, or your so smart. You are like my wife, you have to be right and you need the last word. With her I choose to be happy rather then right, with you.....nevermind

[a3uge]

Hey 2014 again you just don't read very well. Where did I say that pow had anything to do with it. PERCEPTION. I said..... he won 6 of the last 11. If your kid had done that you guys would be up in arms. I'm sure you will fire back some sort of "you know better, or your so smart. You are like my wife, you have to be right and you need the last word. With her I choose to be happy rather then right, with you.....nevermind

Does your wife know you spend your time arguing with strangers on a message board devoted to Valparaiso University athletics?

[agibson]

Hey 2014 again you just don't read very well. Where did I say that pow had anything to do with it. PERCEPTION. I said..... he won 6 of the last 11. If your kid had done that you guys would be up in arms. I'm sure you will fire back some sort of "you know better, or your so smart. You are like my wife, you have to be right and you need the last word. With her I choose to be happy rather then right, with you.....nevermind

Does your wife know you spend your time arguing with strangers on a message board devoted to Valparaiso University athletics?

a3uge, I'm pretty sure he was talking about -your- wife!

[SanityLost17]

Grizz is correct, we would all be upset if we had a kid who won that many FOW awards and not win FOTY.  All fans have a bias towards their own team.  Nothing wrong with that. 

Can't we just all agree and enjoy the fact that over the next couple of years Valpo and Oakland are going to be at the top of the league.  Other HL schools are going to start to wonder why they invited the two of us into the league in the 1st place.     

[a3uge]

Hey 2014 again you just don't read very well. Where did I say that pow had anything to do with it. PERCEPTION. I said..... he won 6 of the last 11. If your kid had done that you guys would be up in arms. I'm sure you will fire back some sort of "you know better, or your so smart. You are like my wife, you have to be right and you need the last word. With her I choose to be happy rather then right, with you.....nevermind

Does your wife know you spend your time arguing with strangers on a message board devoted to Valparaiso University athletics?

a3uge, I'm pretty sure he was talking about -your- wife!

Debbie, is that you?

[oklahomamick]

Grizz is correct, we would all be upset if we had a kid who won that many FOW awards and not win FOTY. All fans have a bias towards their own team. Nothing wrong with that. Can't we just all agree and enjoy the fact that over the next couple of years Valpo and Oakland are going to be at the top of the league. Other HL schools are going to start to wonder why they invited the two of us into the league in the 1st place.

Heck, Oakland may take our back to back HL season championship next year.  With the studs they have transfering in and the two freshman this year and Felder.  They will be tough. 

[a3uge]

Grizz is correct, we would all be upset if we had a kid who won that many FOW awards and not win FOTY. All fans have a bias towards their own team. Nothing wrong with that. Can't we just all agree and enjoy the fact that over the next couple of years Valpo and Oakland are going to be at the top of the league. Other HL schools are going to start to wonder why they invited the two of us into the league in the 1st place.

Heck, Oakland may take it away our back to back HL season championship next year.  With the studs they have transfering in and the two freshman this year and Felder.  They will be tough.

Hopefully, at least above .500.

[vusupporter]

Vashil was top-10 in the nation in both blocks/game and block percentage. The Crusaders were top-15 nationally in 2-point percentage, thanks mainly to Vashil's presence. To say that Dante Williams had an argument is OK, to say he got robbed is a joke.

[classof2014]

Vashil was the reason we were so good, my guess is next season our defense will be nowhere near as strong, it'll still be good but not one of the best in the nation.

Vashil is having possibly the best defensive season in Valpo history as well as Horizon League history. Most of the times great defenders take away a single player, Vashil takes away a whole aspect of offense.

His offensive number are perhaps a bit subpar but what he does for us on the defensive end is nothing short of spectacular. Hard to believe that he is still new to the sport.

[a3uge]

Anyone else wonder how the DPOY missed the 2nd team? He's actually shooting 57% from the floor (4th in league) and grabs a ridiculous amount of offensive rebounds (1st in percentage). His offensive rating is actually the 2nd highest on the team and he has the 2nd highest PER.

Actually looking at the other guys though, they all have decent numbers. I think it speaks to Valpo's depth and teamwork on how they can win the league and have only one guy on the 1st and 2nd team. Milwaukee has two 2nd teamers because outside of those two guys, they're pretty thin. Our entire starting 5 has PERs above 16 while the two 2nd teamers on MKE are the only two above 15. Their 6th guy has a PER of 11.

It also shows that Valpo plays at a relatively slow pace (2nd to last in possessions per game, 1st is CSU) and tries to limit opponents possessions (2nd, 1st is again CSU). Defensively the team is solid all-around and that doesn't really translate to 1st and 2nd teamers.  Offensively, its hard to accumulate counting stats when you don't have as many possessions.

Anyways these rankings don't really matter and will be easily forgotten in a couple years. At least they're actually given out to players that have actually done something, unlike the pointless preseason "awards".

[classof2014]

If KC would've stayed healthy I think you could've made a reasonable argument that Valpo could've had 7 players received awards for their play.

Alec -- 1st team
Vashil -- D
Tevonn -- Freshmen
Jubril -- 6th

KC -- 2nd or defense
Darien -- 2nd
David -- Freshmen

If KC would've remained healthy I wonder if EVN would've contended with Jubril for 6th man.

What separated us from the pack this season was our depth. Basically, we have 8 starters and anyone of them can be the star of the game.

[bbtds]

So here is my predictions for the tourney Round 1: Youngstown St vs Detroit -- Detroit Wright St vs UIC -- Wright St

You do realize that UIC just pounded a fully stocked WSU team at the Pavillion just this past Saturday, 61-46?

What makes you think WSU can beat UIC in Chicago just a few days later? Oh, the dreaded it's-too-hard-to-beat-a-team-twice-in-four-days logic?

No... I think Wright St will win because they've proven to me that they can win in the tourney. No matter who wins they won't get any further than the next round. Both teams stink.

Interesting that both UIC and Detroit were the higher seeds and hosts of the first round HL tourney games and both had to come back from deficits that covered most of the games. Yet both UIC and Detroit came back and won on their home courts.