Recruiting: 2017

[bbtds]

Do u have aaannnyything better to do than be the spelling police?
Here if it will quiet you. Markus Golder is his name spelled correctly. And fixed my original post so you can now rest easy. Can we move on now I hope?

If it was your name and it was continually being spelled incorrectly you would object to it also. We all know that the players' families read this board and to see a good player's name spelled incorrectly even when it could be corrected shows a great deal of disrespect. Think of how much this board objects when Valparaiso is mispronounced. It is extremely disrespectful.

How do you think Mrs. Peters felt when she saw Alec's name misspelled so often?
[/quote]

Is this a joke thread? 
[/quote]

No joke. How would you feel if everybody on this board spelled your nickname as "Fieldgoalie05?."

[FieldGoodie05]

Do u have aaannnyything better to do than be the spelling police?
Here if it will quiet you. Markus Golder is his name spelled correctly. And fixed my original post so you can now rest easy. Can we move on now I hope?

If it was your name and it was continually being spelled incorrectly you would object to it also. We all know that the players' families read this board and to see a good player's name spelled incorrectly even when it could be corrected shows a great deal of disrespect. Think of how much this board objects when Valparaiso is mispronounced. It is extremely disrespectful.

How do you think Mrs. Peters felt when she saw Alec's name misspelled so often?

Is this a joke thread? 
[/quote]

No joke. How would you feel if everybody on this board spelled your nickname as "Fieldgoalie05?."
[/quote]

I like soccer ⚽️.  Gooooooooooaaaal

[FieldGoodie05]

The NWAC tournament starts today if anyone is interested in watching Markus Golder and North Idaho.  If I have the time differences right the game should start at 12 noon CST and 1PM EST.  They won their region so they are the 1 seed in their pod of four teams.

Streamed Live here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxYCRIzqALw

NWAC Tournament Bracket

I'll just say that I presume the coaches know what they are doing...

Anyone else watch the NWAC replay last night with NIC (Markus Golder)?

I haven't got a multiple game framework to compare here, but here are a few thoughts:

1) JUCO teams are not defense oriented, so I'll tame my expectations here.  Markus rarely showed a lot of aggression on the defensive end.  Had some nice shot blocks, but didn't crash the boards aggressively.

2) offensively he just hung out on the baseline outside the 3-point line for stretches.  I suppose this is by design.  He was involved in a good amount of off the ball movement in small spurts, but nothing to write home about.

3) He generally crashed the boards on long drives for put back dunks, though he didn't have any successes here.  He is a good athlete.  Had one great high flying dunk attempt that just barely missed, ball appeared to be ever so slightly deflected.  This was in traffic and Hammink Hammer aggressive.

4) With solid height he was able to get off several contested 3's, made a few.  Hard to say he had enough volume to give us a good picture of his accuracy.

5) He was overshadowed by their C/PF exceptional play and their diminutive G who was a solid player.  He is clearly a 3rd option on his team, but a solid player when given the chance.  He is still a little raw, but gifted athletically.  If he can buy into coaches defense first mindset, we might have something in Markus Golder.

Again, style of play in JUCO is very sketchy at times because of the huge flux of players in and out of programs.  I'd say he's a nice addition for rebounds, defense and not an offensive liability like some players we had this year.

[VULB#62]

The NWAC tournament starts today if anyone is interested in watching Markus Golder and North Idaho.  If I have the time differences right the game should start at 12 noon CST and 1PM EST.  They won their region so they are the 1 seed in their pod of four teams.

Streamed Live here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxYCRIzqALw

NWAC Tournament Bracket

I'll just say that I presume the coaches know what they are doing...

Anyone else watch the NWAC replay last night with NIC (Markus Golder)?

I haven't got a multiple game framework to compare here, but here are a few thoughts:

1) JUCO teams are not defense oriented, so I'll tame my expectations here.  Markus rarely showed a lot of aggression on the defensive end.  Had some nice shot blocks, but didn't crash the boards aggressively.

2) offensively he just hung out on the baseline outside the 3-point line for stretches.  I suppose this is by design.  He was involved in a good amount of off the ball movement in small spurts, but nothing to write home about.

3) He generally crashed the boards on long drives for put back dunks, though he didn't have any successes here.  He is a good athlete.  Had one great high flying dunk attempt that just barely missed, ball appeared to be ever so slightly deflected.  This was in traffic and Hammink Hammer aggressive.

4) With solid height he was able to get off several contested 3's, made a few.  Hard to say he had enough volume to give us a good picture of his accuracy.

5) He was overshadowed by their C/PF exceptional play and their diminutive G who was a solid player.  He is clearly a 3rd option on his team, but a solid player when given the chance.  He is still a little raw, but gifted athletically.  If he can buy into coaches defense first mindset, we might have something in Markus Golder.

Again, style of play in JUCO is very sketchy at times because of the huge flux of players in and out of programs.  I'd say he's a nice addition for rebounds, defense and not an offensive liability like some players we had this year.

Saw the last 10 minutes of the last half.  I agree with your observations.

[FWalum]

Anyone else watch the NWAC replay last night with NIC (Markus Golder)?

I haven't got a multiple game framework to compare here, but here are a few thoughts:

1) JUCO teams are not defense oriented, so I'll tame my expectations here. Markus rarely showed a lot of aggression on the defensive end. Had some nice shot blocks, but didn't crash the boards aggressively.

2) offensively he just hung out on the baseline outside the 3-point line for stretches. I suppose this is by design. He was involved in a good amount of off the ball movement in small spurts, but nothing to write home about.

3) He generally crashed the boards on long drives for put back dunks, though he didn't have any successes here. He is a good athlete. Had one great high flying dunk attempt that just barely missed, ball appeared to be ever so slightly deflected. This was in traffic and Hammink Hammer aggressive.

4) With solid height he was able to get off several contested 3's, made a few. Hard to say he had enough volume to give us a good picture of his accuracy.

5) He was overshadowed by their C/PF exceptional play and their diminutive G who was a solid player. He is clearly a 3rd option on his team, but a solid player when given the chance. He is still a little raw, but gifted athletically. If he can buy into coaches defense first mindset, we might have something in Markus Golder.

Again, style of play in JUCO is very sketchy at times because of the huge flux of players in and out of programs. I'd say he's a nice addition for rebounds, defense and not an offensive liability like some players we had this year.

Ok, here is a little more in-depth analysis of Markus Golder. I have watched several of their games and he is not the 3rd option, as valpopal indicated earlier he is scoring about 19 PPG and is their leading scorer and second in rebounding. This was his second worst game of the year. In general JUCO teams stink on defense and there is a lot of emphasis on creating your own shot and Markus seems pretty good at doing just that in the other games that I have seen. His defense will need to improve dramatically, but he has the athletic gifts necessary (length, quickness and jumping ability) to be a good defender once he adds some strength and buys into Matt's philosophy. In this game, he almost appeared as a decoy standing off to the sideline or baseline and not nearly as involved as in other games that I watched.

Here are the individual stats for North Idaho College.  http://www.nwacsports.org/basketball/stat.php?stat=teamSummary&season=2016&team=NIC&sport=mbasketball&league=&sort=avg_pts

From the extended "Meet the Cardinal" interview video found on page 16 of this thread, he also seems to have a very laid back personality, how that fits in with our team it will be interesting to see.  I would love to be a fly on the wall the first time he and Tevonn matchup in open gym.

[VU2014]

According to Conference (region?) awards he's one of the best players in that league. He was 1st team and freshman of the year.

https://twitter.com/voiceofthecards/status/838946117823836160

[FieldGoodie05]

According to Conference (region?) awards he's one of the best players in that league. He was 1st team and freshman of the year.

https://twitter.com/voiceofthecards/status/838946117823836160

Very cool!  He had a tough game yesterday OR the strategy disengaged him.

[M]

Mileek had a nice game this morning against 2018 target Walter Ellis. Merrillville advances to face Warsaw (after they win on a questionable foul call in double OT vs East Chicago) later this evening in Michigan City.

[VU2014]

My cousin played against this kid in HS and he was a highly recruited player coming out of HS. 3-star SG. Could be an interesting 1 season grad transfer target for Valpo if coaches are looking for a more traditional SG bridge.

Cautionary tale for other recruits. This kid was so caught up with playing for a high profile 'BIG 10' school that he sacrificed 'playing time' and valuable in game experience that would have help him develop his game and show off his game and have a real good sample to show European//Foreign Basketball Teams to give him a chances. He's been riding the bench for 3yrs at Nebraska and now is a grad-transfer and only has one more year of eligibility left to prove it to scout and develop.

I feel bad for these kids that can't see the "big picture". They get so caught up wanting to play for a big school, but don't make the best decision for their careers. Just thought I'd share. I don't want to be "that guy" but I hope this is not the situation Sasha finds himself in down the road at Purdue. The kid is so talented and shouldn't be wasting his eligibility on a bench instead of developing (getting big minutes) at a smaller school.

https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/841477134635945984
https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/status/841492931580121088

[valpo64]

Has the McMillan kid from Merrillville signed with us?  If so did anyone see him play vs. FW North yesterday?  He would have been up against the big Butz kid from North who is headed to DePaul next year.

[M]

He signed with us a log time ago. Mileek was forced to play the C position for his hs team but will probably be a 3 in college. He had 9pts 6rebs and was in foul trouble trying to guard the monstars from Ft Wayne. He also hit several 3s.

[bbtds]

He signed with us a log time ago. Mileek was forced to play the C position for his hs team but will probably be a 3 in college. He had 9pts 6rebs and was in foul trouble trying to guard the monstars from Ft Wayne. He also hit several 3s.

I heard that Fort Wayne North Side could be.....................wait for it...................Legendary!   

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2016/12/11/insider-keep-eye-talent-fort-wayne-north-side/95293866/





Up until last year North side was the Redskins but you can guess why that nickname was eliminated.

I'm assuming that their new nickname comes from the name of their yearbook

[FWalum]

He signed with us a log time ago. Mileek was forced to play the C position for his hs team but will probably be a 3 in college. He had 9pts 6rebs and was in foul trouble trying to guard the monstars from Ft Wayne. He also hit several 3s.

M is accurate in his assessment of this game.  North Side's Jalen Butz is a legitimate 6'10" and if he can improve his effort and intensity could be a decent player for Depaul.  Mileek did not matchup well with Butz simply because of the difference in height and length. What I like about Mileek is that he has a D1 body and looks like he has some skills that can be developed. At least in this game, it looked like Merrillville was very perimeter oriented with not many attempts to enter the ball to Mileek.

If you can stand the most obnoxious announcer I have ever heard, here is the link to the full game

Or maybe you can just turn off the audio. 

Interesting side note, 2 of North Side's starters, Juan Quarles and Keon Brooks, went to St Paul's Lutheran School.

[VU2014]

I only watched through the 45min mark, skipped parts when Mileek wasn't in the game, FT throw, time outs, etc.

Few thoughts:
-Sucks Mileek has to play Center just because he's the tallest kid. May help him in college, but you don't want him defending against guys 6'10" & up. Pretty much the only time I see him doing that is for times like when Jubril had to defend bigger post players because Vashil got into early foul trouble. Never pretty but could be called on to do it in a pinch.

-From what I saw was a garbage and horrendous game of officiating. Wholly cow are those refs terrible. I saw a kid pretty much get tackled beyond the 3pt line and there was no call. I don't watch a ton of HS basketball but I'm assuming this is pretty much standard officiating. BAD BAD BAD BAD

-The Butz kid clearly had size/length advantage but Mileek was pretty much in terrible rebounding positioning and didn't know how to properly set himself up for Rebounds/boxing out. Seems pretty standard for High School level coaching. Mileek looked like he was getting into early foul trouble.

-Saw him have a decent shooting touch on the ball. I don't really consider him to look like a 3. More of a stretch 4, but a hybrid 3-4 player. Versatility is nice.

-Moves well and is agile, but really raw and needs to get stronger (pretty much standard for every player coming out of HS)

-Looks like sort of a work in progress but all the bones/tools to become a fine College Basketball Player. He is going to really really benefit from working with the Valpo coaches on developing/refining his game and also getting on a collegiate strength program.

[VU2624]

This kid looks like a player.....in his Junior year. Very raw as a face the basket guy. He won't be a post player at Valpo. He's got some room to fill out so he may end up being a board banger but as a 4 and not a 3. 

Is there any additional film on this recruit available? Did his HS team play with him in the post or did his HS coach do him a favor and allow him to play as a 3 or 4 in HS facing the basket as he will assuredly do at the next level? That appears to be what Taylor Bruninga's coach did for him. There's always two thoughts on the way the coach should deal with this type of player.

[zvillehaze]

This kid looks like a player.....in his Junior year. Very raw as a face the basket guy. He won't be a post player at Valpo. He's got some room to fill out so he may end up being a board banger but as a 4 and not a 3. 

Is there any additional film on this recruit available? Did his HS team play with him in the post or did his HS coach do him a favor and allow him to play as a 3 or 4 in HS facing the basket as he will assuredly do at the next level? That appears to be what Taylor Bruninga's coach did for him. There's always two thoughts on the way the coach should deal with this type of player.

Just my  here, but the job of the coach at any level is to utilize the players in the way that helps the team win games.  If that means playing guys out of position, or at a position they won't play at the next level, so be it.

Valpo saw that this year when Alec played the 4 (or sometimes 5) for the good of the team, even though he hopes to be a 3 at the next level.  Coach Lottich did that because his job is to win games.

[VU2624]

This kid looks like a player.....in his Junior year. Very raw as a face the basket guy. He won't be a post player at Valpo. He's got some room to fill out so he may end up being a board banger but as a 4 and not a 3. Is there any additional film on this recruit available? Did his HS team play with him in the post or did his HS coach do him a favor and allow him to play as a 3 or 4 in HS facing the basket as he will assuredly do at the next level? That appears to be what Taylor Bruninga's coach did for him. There's always two thoughts on the way the coach should deal with this type of player.

Just my  here, but the job of the coach at any level is to utilize the players in the way that helps the team win games.  If that means playing guys out of position, or at a position they won't play at the next level, so be it. Valpo saw that this year when Alec played the 4 (or sometimes 5) for the good of the team, even though he hopes to be a 3 at the next level.  Coach Lottich did that because his job is to win games.

That's why I say there's two thoughts to how to handle a kid like this. Coach Lottich is also a college coach and not a HS coach. There are a lot of HS coaches who would have this kid face the basket and figure out how to win games in that fashion as well.

In terms of winning games "at any level" I guess I'd ask at what point do you stop trying to develop the all around games of all of the players on the team for the sake of winning games. Middle or Junior HS? I think I'd walk out on to the court and remove a coach who had a kid posting up consistently. Teaching it as a concept and using it to also teach to guards the proper way to feed is one thing but I'd also have all of the players utilized as a post up to develop the skills of every player on the squad. High School? Maybe a little more focused on individual positions but a coach who has a kid who at the next level is going to play facing the basket not play that way most of the time is hurting that player whether it wins him more games or not.

[zvillehaze]

Just saw Ryan Fazekas is leaving Providence.

[FieldGoodie05]

Just saw Ryan Fazekas is leaving Providence.

This was before joining the forum for me.  Just to get a clearer picture, were we in the running for his services?  Or did we offer and hear nothing more of him?

[crusader05]

I don't remember how close we were last time but 3 of his most recent follows on twitter are: Paul Oren, Luke Gore and Matt Lottich

[Pgmado]

I don't remember how close we were last time but 3 of his most recent follows on twitter are: Paul Oren, Luke Gore and Matt Lottich

Who are those other two hacks? What paper do they write for?

[justducky]

This was before joining the forum for me.  Just to get a clearer picture, were we in the running for his services?  Or did we offer and hear nothing more of him?

Seems like he may have declared pretty early. Maybe we were still looking with limited available scholarships when he announced?

[VU2014]

Talking to: Valpo, Vandy, Ohio State, Illinois (been talking for months with Providences permission/been in the works). And yes we did recruit him out of high school. Bryce and Roger may have a relationship with him also...

Vandy:
-2 open roster spots
-2 SF on Roster:
Jeff Roberson (SR) started 35 games/Avg Min:31.7/PPG: 10.8/RBD: 7.0/AST: 1.7/FG%: .416/FT%: .793/3P%: .339
Joseph Toye (JR) played 35 games/Avg Min:21.1/PPG: 6.4/RBD: 2.6/AST: 1.1/FG%: .400/FT%: .679/3P%: .397

Ohio State:
No scholarships available:
-3 SF (2 5 stars & 1 3 star)

Illinois
-2 scholarships Available
-2 SF (2 JRs: 4 star & 3 star)

Valpo (we are in need a of a 3pt specialist)
-3 scholarships available (probably only 2)
-2 SF on roster
-Joe Burton & John Kiser

https://twitter.com/JP8185/status/844697693121318912

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/INBBallSource/status/844693445184835585
https://twitter.com/Valpo_Hoops/status/844738291429785601
https://twitter.com/INBBallSource/status/844740906469216257

[FWalum]

Fazekas would be a really nice get for Valpo.  This could be that 6'8" shooter. Looked like he was going to make a real impact at Providence his Freshman year before falling ill and missing a month, then didn't get back in the groove after a decent start this year. Maybe was already not happy, coach seemed to hold him out of games the last 1/4 of the year. Sitting out next year, gaining maturity and strength and then I think he helps a lot.