What Type of Player Would You Like To See Valpo Add To The Team Next Season?

VU2014 · March 15, 2017, 08:41:44 AM

Valpo has 2 available scholarships for next season and John Kiser who played a key role & played well down the stretch this season, has likely earned one of them.

That leaves one more scholarship available. What would you do with it and which type of player would you like to see added to the roster?

What are the most important needs for this team next season and going forward? Obviously we'd like to land another player in the mold of Alec Peters and Ryan Broekhoff but those players don't usually fall into a programs lap and we can't count on landing one of those players every 4 years. Hopefully we do find that guy but we can't count on it.

VU2014 · March 15, 2017, 08:49:27 AM

My vote is for a good 3 pt shooter that can also create his own shot with some size or best transfer available.

I'd rather valpo shoot high for high level recruits and miss then have a scholarship tied up for 4 years.

VUOR63 · March 15, 2017, 09:52:55 AM

I'd like to get a one and done player. If we got one of the Ball brothers to come to Valpo, we would also probably be able to get LaVar to join our message board!

VU2014 · March 15, 2017, 09:55:25 AM

https://twitter.com/StangelJamie/status/841697636080054272

NativeCheesehead · March 15, 2017, 10:01:17 AM

Yes because Mr. Ball clearly fits in with Alec's family, Jubril's family, etc as the good, humble people we're used to.

M · March 15, 2017, 10:07:41 AM

I want a shot blocking athletic big man. I don't care if his only skills on offense are dunks. Having one guy who can guard and take away an entire region of the court is huge. If they think that Sorolla or Smits or Mileek can become that way defensively then I'd be looking for a 6'6'' - 6'8'' wing player.

a3uge · March 15, 2017, 10:13:17 AM

I'd like to see a point guard transfer. Max Joseph is such a liability on defense. Teams just shoot right over him, and he doesn't have the quickness that Lexus has to play in-your-face defense.

I don't even care if the point guard shoots like Buggs, we need a distributor that can be smart with the ball and find our athletic wings that are cutting.

vu72 · March 15, 2017, 10:13:31 AM

So here is the reality of what happened last night. In our rotation, the only player over 6'5" was Shane, who really didn't play. Our bigs cannot (at this point) rebound. Including Shane and our bigs, they had a combined ZERO rebounds. Next comes John Kizer at 6'7".

Illinois got 18 rebounds between Morgan (at 6'10") and Black (6,7").

So how do we fix that?? Here's how: another year of practice for our two bigs AND, the addition of our already signed class or redshirts as follows: Joe Burton 6'6", Markus Golder 6'6", Parker Hazen at 6'7" and Mileek McMillan at 6'8".

There you have it. We got blown out because Illinois out rebounded us by 24!!! We already are adding 4 guys taller than our biggest productive player last night who manged 1 rebound. All but 3 rebounds came from players 6'2" or shorter.

justducky · March 15, 2017, 10:39:28 AM

We can't play 13 scholarship players. Somebody has to redshirt. So you recognize your man only when he surfaces (transfers).

Since my transfer would not be eligible for 17-18 what will be our biggest 18-19 season need?

Coming into this year with 3 transfers redshirting was a disaster waiting to happen and it did.

Valpo89 · March 15, 2017, 10:49:00 AM

Someone who has guts.
There's only 1 guy left on this roster who we know has guts.
Oakland has a roster full of them. That's why they came back from 19 down and Valpo folded.

covufan · March 15, 2017, 10:51:28 AM

JC transfer at the SF/PF combo, with mad rebounding skills.

VU2014 · March 15, 2017, 10:56:58 AM

VU72 nailed it.

We have length help on the way next season. And hopefully a good/hard summer practicing with Coach Gore will really help Sorolla & Smits. Sorolla overall was a net positive this season but really hit a wall. Smits will finally have a summer where he's healthy (not rehabbing that ankle injury) to lift, get stronger and really learn to battle in the post. Smits needs to get more physical and learn to battle for rebounds work his post moves while taking contact. Also defensive both I expect will improve defensively in the rim protection department. I don't really expect Smits to be great defensively, but just adequate defensively hopefully be an above average scoring big man and good passer. One thing that I've seen Smits do in shoot around is his mid-range jump shot which doesn't look bad but it wasn't working in games so he abandoned it. That jumper won't be his primary move but could force bigs guard him out of the paint and could open lanes for the wings.

Both Mileek and Parker move well for 6'7" and 6'8" guys. They'll go through their bumps & bruises next year offensively/Defensively but at least we'll have so length on the court again from the forwards position.

This was Lexus' first full healthy season back. Love his quick hands and defensive motor. I think he could be a poor man's K Carter running the offense (not a shot at Lexus, but KC was a really good pure PG). There were stretches in the season where Lexus really helped the offense find its flow. I expect Micah will be better next season as well. Bakari looks like he could both run the Point and play SG when Lexus or Micah are out there or when we decide to play small ball.

If I'm the coaching staff, I'd be scouting for the next Ryan Broekhoff type player. A guy who is sufficient at handling the ball if need be, can create his own shot, has length to help grab boards, and is a very real 3pt threat and can make those big shots. I know they were hoping Sasha was going to be that guy. We are little late in the recruiting process to land one of those guys for this upcoming signing season but maybe for next season they'll be on the search and sounds like they already are.

Also here is a recent training video of Mileek. Moves pretty well for a guy who is 6'8"
https://twitter.com/bopat10/status/841863573450194944

VU2014 · March 15, 2017, 11:03:43 AM

QuoteComing into this year with 3 transfers redshirting was a disaster waiting to happen and it did.

Eh 'disaster waiting to happen' is a bit strong but I don't think the Coaching staff intended on Jubril being out and AP getting hurt. When it rained it poured this season. No breaks. I'm hoping the Basketball God's even the scales in the future for us.

3 may be too many to carry but I think 2 in certain years isn't bad. It's annoying that we held a scholarship for Middleton and he already left because of 'breaking team rules' or whatever it was and transferred.

valpo64 · March 15, 2017, 12:02:45 PM

Someone listed Kiser at 6'7".....I doubt that is correct as he looks much smaller on the floor against "bigger" guys. He looks to me more like 6'4" or 6'5". At his height he has alot of trouble guarding a bigger forward, rebounding against the taller guys, and he is too slow to guard smaller, back-court guys who shoot from the outside/drive. If he is matched up against the "right" guy(small forward or slower outside people) I think he can be very effective.

justducky · March 15, 2017, 02:12:02 PM

Quote from: VU2014 on March 15, 2017, 11:03:43 AMEh 'disaster waiting to happen' is a bit strong but I don't think the Coaching staff intended on Jubril being out and AP getting hurt.

You can never plan for those type of losses but they happen. With only 10 available scholarship players there is just no margin for error. It would be best to have one transfer redshirt every year. I will agree that this is something impossible to perfectly execute. Having 2 redshirt transfers should only be done when the risk vs reward is overwhelmingly positive.

Starting the year with 3 planned redshirts is just almost never done and for good reason. We've been there, we've done that, lets not try it again. Ever! I am not trying to blame Matt but the lessons from this misstep should never be repeated.

crusader05 · March 15, 2017, 02:48:31 PM

My guess is part of the redshirt situation happened because of the loss of Skara and Carter unexpectedly. Hopefully this will not happen in the future. Especially with unplanned injury red shirts you can't risk sidelining that many people.

crusadermoe · March 15, 2017, 04:29:32 PM

Maleek does appear to have good agility. That will be big in year 1 as he adjusts. The cupboard isn't bare.

But boy VU 72 sure pointed out the embarrassment of our rebounding. Tavonn was a stud. Had no choice.

Mc · March 15, 2017, 05:18:24 PM

I'd like to see a deadly three-point shooting specialist. Plenty of other teams have them, and they are true weapons when needed. We are going to be coming from behind a lot next year against several better Horizon league teams, so we need lots of help from someone who can consistently make three-point shots.