MBB 2016-17

[VULB#62]

On our schedule from the USAToday pre-season poll:

UK = #4
Oregon = #5
URI = #21

Notable:  St. Mary's College, who we beat in the NIT, jumped up 21 slots to #19

[vu72]

On our schedule from the USAToday pre-season poll:

UK = #4
Oregon = #5
URI = #21

Notable:  St. Mary's College, who we beat in the NIT, jumped up 21 slots to #19

And, Florida State, who we also beat and who lost a first Round draft pick comes in at #26.

[VU2014]

I'd also like to point out that Valpo ranked #51 and Bryce's Vanderbilt is ranked #61.

51. Valparaiso

"I think some could accuse me of pegging Valpo to high because Bryce Drew left for Vanderbilt. In reality, Matt Lottich steps in as a fine replacement. And Alec Peters is back. The Crusaders will almost definitely be the best team in the Horizon. Confident this is in the neighborhood of a top-50 team in college hoops this season."

61. Vanderbilt

"Bryce Drew takes over for Kevin Stallings. Matthew Fisher-Davis will be the star here, and the Commodores still have enough talent left over from last season to be a top-five team in the SEC."

[FWalum]

Commodores still have enough talent left over from last season to be a top-five team in the SEC.

Based on last year this would leave them out of the NCAA tournament.

[VU2014]

Jabril makes a nice pass to Sorolla for the dunk https://www.instagram.com/p/BL_bKs7BKzt/

Would have been a fun scrimmage to watch and see how players look early on. 12 days till Hillsdale. I'm anxious for the season to begin to see how the team looks and see what some of the difference are between Lottich's offensive scheme and Bryces are. I'm thinking we may be pushing the ball down the court a little quicker this season. Hoping our team maintains the high volume of passing and movement. We shall see.

[vu72]

Jabril makes a nice pass to Sorolla for the dunk https://www.instagram.com/p/BL_bKs7BKzt/

Would have been a fun scrimmage to watch and see how players look early on. 12 days till Hillsdale. I'm anxious for the season to begin to see how the team looks and see what some of the difference are between Lottich's offensive scheme and Bryces are. I'm thinking we may be pushing the ball down the court a little quicker this season. Hoping our team maintains the high volume of passing and movement. We shall see.

And One!!

[bbtds]

Is it typical to have "real" referees at these scrimmages? Are they "real" NCAA refs or are they guys dressed in referees' shirts or possibly referees in training looking for some schools to let them into their scrimmages so the training refs can practice also? Anybody know?

[Pgmado]

Is it typical to have "real" referees at these scrimmages? Are they "real" NCAA refs or are they guys dressed in referees' shirts or possibly referees in training looking for some schools to let them into their scrimmages so the training refs can practice also? Anybody know?

It has become typical for college teams to hold a intrasquad scrimmage complete with refs so players can get an idea as to how games are going to be called in regards to new rule changes. This happened last weekend. Valpo will travel to Northern Illinois this weekend for a closed scrimmage. Not sure yet if reports will become public.

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/marchmadness/status/789906951027253248

College basketball preview: Valpo has control on the Horizon League

Daniel Wilco | NCAA.com
Last Updated - Oct 22, 2016 21:09 EDT

The crispness of the fall air, the orange hues that overtake the treetops, and the squeak of basketball sneakers in gymnasiums across the country.

These are just some of the telltale signs that basketball is back. More importantly, the annual countdown to March Madness can begin anew.

As much fun as Midnight Madness can be, the culmination of a long offseason is the tipoff of a team's first game. With the start of the 2016-17 season quickly approaching, NCAA.com is cracking the books and breaking things down in each of college basketball's 32 conferences.

Recap

In the 2015-16 regular season, Valparaiso dominated the Horizon League. The Crusaders went 16-2 in conference play during a 30-7 season. But the postseason was a different story. Green Bay took down No. 1 seed Valpo in overtime of the tournament semifinals, then toppled Wright State to capture the Horizon League tournament crown and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Phoenix would fall to Texas A&M in the first round of the tournament, but their postseason run proved that the Horizon League has more parity than it might seem.

Best player

When you're the most prolific player on the most successful team in the conference, chances are you're going to have a season to remember. That should be the case for Valparaiso senior Alec Peters.

Peters, voted the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year in the coaches' poll, had a stellar junior season where he ranked in the top-five in the conference in scoring (17.9 points per game), rebounding (9.2 per game), 3-point percentage (46 percent) among other categories.

This season, for the second year in a row, Peters was named to the Karl Malone Award watch list, which recognizes the top power forward in college basketball. Don't be surprised if it's just one of many awards Peters is up for at the end of the year.

Best team

Having the league's best player on your roster certainly doesn't hurt, but it isn't Valparaiso's only advantage this season. The Crusaders return two starters and 10 upperclassmen from a 2015-16 squad that tallied a school-record 30 wins (including going 16-2 in conference play) and an NIT championship runner-up finish.

That was enough to earn Valparaiso 35 of the 39 first-place votes in the conference's preseason poll, and that isn't an unwarranted mark.

The Crusaders' coach last season, Bryce Drew, took the head job at Vanderbilt during the offseason, but Valpo shouldn't see much of a hiccup in the transition. Drew's replacement, Matt Lottich, has been on the Crusaders' bench for the past three years during which the team won 78 games.

The team he's taking over shouldn't have too many problems keeping the pace of last season's squad either. Senior Shane Hammink was named to the Horizon League's preseason second-team All League before his second season as a Crusader. Hammink's 8.9 points per game were second on the team last season, and the Dutchman scored double figures twice during the Crusaders' NIT run.

Valparaiso also returns junior guard Tevonn Walker, who started 26 of the team's games last year. Walker averaged 8.8 points per game and had the second-most assists last year among returning players.

Valpo won't get its third-straight regular-season crown without a fight, but the Crusaders should be able to come out on top in March.

Sleeper team

Last year, Green Bay finished fourth in the Horizon League's regular season. The Phoenix were 11-7 in conference and 23-13 overall. It was an impressive season, but what was more impressive was the team's postseason run in early March.

As the No. 4 seed, the Phoenix won four straight games by an average of nine points, including a 99-92 overtime win over No. 1 seed Valparaiso.

This season could be even better for the Phoenix. Yes, they lost leading scorer Carrington Love, but Green Bay returns six seniors and three juniors to one of the most experienced teams in the Horizon League. One of those seniors, Charles Cooper, averaged 13.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season — impressive enough for a preseason All-Horizon first-team selection.

The Phoenix themselves were picked to finish No. 3 in the preseason coaches' poll. If they can capitalize on last year's postseason momentum, Green Bay can be a potential title contender in the Horizon League.

Freshman to watch

First-team All-State in Indiana is not an easy honor to earn. Chris Palombizio did it twice. Oakland's freshman comes into a team that was picked as the runner up for the Horizon League in the preseason coaches' poll and should be able to make an early impact.

https://twitter.com/palombizio05/status/663123963061534721

Palombizio, a 6-foot-6, 212-pound guard/forward combo, has the size to be a presence inside, and the shooting ability to be a threat on the perimeter, something Oakland could certainly use if it's to take on preseason favorite Valparaiso.

[VU2014]

I think the National College Basketball Sports media and frankly a lot of people are sleeping on UIC. I think they are going to be a force to deal with for the next couple seasons and this season as sleeper.

UIC just had an amazing recruiting class the last 2 years, and I think Marcus Ottey (also a former valpo recruit) is going to surprise a lot of people and KJ Santos is going to be a really good. Tarkus Ferguson and Jordan Blount and good players too.

UIC's head coach Steve McClain isn't exactly known for being an X's and O's savant and is known for his recruiting (Cough-Cough: Paying players Cough-Cough), so we shall see how far he can take the team.

[bbtds]

Palombizio, a 6-foot-6, 212-pound guard/forward combo, has the size to be a presence inside, and the shooting ability to be a threat on the perimeter, something Oakland could certainly use if it's to take on preseason favorite Valparaiso.

What crime did Palombizio commit? Oh, I'm sorry. I made an assumption that I shouldn't have. But let's face it, any good player with height at Oakland has usually been guilty of something.

[crusaderjoe]

I think the National College Basketball Sports media and frankly a lot of people are sleeping on UIC. I think they are going to be a force to deal with for the next couple seasons and this season as sleeper.

I happen to agree with you in some respects.  People are sleeping on UIC.

February 15, 2009.  That's the last time UIC beat Valpo.  They are due.  I've already circled December 30th on the calendar.  Dangerous.

[wh]

New intro video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unwv5MItxZ4&feature=youtu.be

[vufan75]

Sweet. Great video!! Looking forward to seeing it pregame many times.

[bbtds]

Sweet. Great video!! Looking forward to seeing it pregame many times.

I think the most sincerest expression on that video is the screaming after Broekhoff's shot against Green Bay by what I believe is former Valpo player, former Greg Oden & Mike Conley teammate at Lawrence North, Brandon McPherson--or was it another former player?

[ValpoHoops]

Sweet. Great video!! Looking forward to seeing it pregame many times.

I think the most sincerest expression on that video is the screaming after Broekhoff's shot against Green Bay by what I believe is former Valpo player, former Greg Oden & Mike Conley teammate at Lawrence North, Brandon McPherson--or was it another former player?

It's him. I was sitting next to him working for ESPN and I couldn't hear the production truck over him.

[Pgmado]

I think the National College Basketball Sports media and frankly a lot of people are sleeping on UIC. I think they are going to be a force to deal with for the next couple seasons and this season as sleeper.

A) UIC went 5-25 last year.
B) CBS Sports' Matt Norlander, who is one of few, if only, national reporter to rank all 351 college basketball teams with actually any thought put into it, has UIC taking a bigger step forward than any other team in the country.
C) Horizon League media/coaches has picked UIC to go from last place to No. 4 in preseason poll. The team won FIVE games overall last season and is now picked to finish in a spot where teams have won an average of 11+ conference games every year this decade.
D) Tell me again how anyone is sleeping on UIC

[M]

The highlight clips were cool, the fire on the players....meh, maybe I will like it better on the big video board.

[VU2014]

Paul mentioned we won the scrimmage against North Illinois today.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/792534378433900544

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/792534775894597636

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/792534946711740416

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/792548937005666304
https://twitter.com/VitoJerome/status/792534213580955648
(sounds like Detroit could be in some trouble this year...)

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/792447129461657600

[M]

Detroit sat several probable starters.

[valporun]

A question just came to mind, now that we're about a week away from our exhibition game...With the Crusaders head coach now being a last name different than Drew, do we see the exhibition game shown on ESPN3 this year, or does Coach Lottich keep the same philosophy that "the exhibition game gives out too many potential views that I don't want out there yet"?

Also, for chef, will you be at Dayton with the football team, or at the ARC for the exhibition game?

[bbtds]

I think the National College Basketball Sports media and frankly a lot of people are sleeping on UIC. I think they are going to be a force to deal with for the next couple seasons and this season as sleeper.

A) UIC went 5-25 last year.
B) CBS Sports' Matt Norlander, who is one of few, if only, national reporter to rank all 351 college basketball teams with actually any thought put into it, has UIC taking a bigger step forward than any other team in the country.
C) Horizon League media/coaches has picked UIC to go from last place to No. 4 in preseason poll. The team won FIVE games overall last season and is now picked to finish in a spot where teams have won an average of 11+ conference games every year this decade.
D) Tell me again how anyone is sleeping on UIC

I think the only people sleeping on UIC are patients going here for a sleep study

https://hospital.uillinois.edu/primary-and-specialty-care/pulmonary/our-areas-of-expertise/sleep-science-center

[VU2014]

Sports Illustrated Ranks all 351 teams.

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2016/11/01/preseason-every-team-ranked-top-25-duke-kansas-kentucky?xid=socialflow_twitter_si

Valpo

Rank: 86

Proj. Off. Eff.: 103.2

Off. Rank:    209

Proj. Def. Eff.: 94.8

Def. Rank: 21

Proj. Pyth. Win%: 0.7258 (Roughly: 22-8)

Proj. Conf. Rank: 1st in Horz

Proj. NCAAs seed: 13 seed


Take Away:

They think our defense will still be amazing. Not sure that we will be the #21 defense in the nation, because we lost Vashil who was the rock in the middle of our defense. I'm hoping Smits and Sorolla (heard his defense is solid for a freshman) will be competent, but Vashil's skill set (WING-SPAN and instincts (last 2-3 seasons)) were special.

Bryce's offensive system was never high powered, but was more efficient in a way. I loved Bryce's system of ball movement and passing. I hope that transfers to Lottich's System.

I just don't know how they can rank the systems efficiency and predict with all the x factors. I'm extremely interested to see what the differences are between Coach Lottich's and Coach Drew's offensive and defensive systems may be.
 

[VU2014]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmkSd_DqWoA&list=TLGGRn9UKgU89oowODExMjAxNg

[vu72]

I still wonder why Todd says "...this is Todd Ickow"  instead of "I'm Todd Ickow"  It isn't like this is being broadcast on the radio.  Just bugs me I guess!!