Transfers

[mj]

Replacing Siggy, Sackey, Clay and JO with Anderson, Taylor, Kithier seems to be no worse than a wash in terms of talent and quite possibly a net positive.

[VUGrad1314]

Replacing Siggy, Sackey, Clay and JO with Anderson, Taylor, Kithier seems to be no worse than a wash in terms of talent and quite possibly a net positive.

Factor in the recruiting class and I think I can get behind this statement assuming they're as good as advertised. Our guard play and shooting should be way better our rebounding should be better and as long as our defense is at least as good we should be a better team. I don't know if we're top of the MVC good but a solid  probably avoiding Thursday team is a reasonable expectation right now. We still have one more scholarship. I'm interested to see how we use it. (my fingers are crossed somewhat for a JO return but if that's not going to happen I wouldn't mind another big or a veteran wing.

[wh]

Replacing Siggy, Sackey, Clay and JO with Anderson, Taylor, Kithier seems to be no worse than a wash in terms of talent and quite possibly a net positive.

Factor in the recruiting class and I think I can get behind this statement assuming they're as good as advertised. Our guard play and shooting should be way better our rebounding should be better and as long as our defense is at least as good we should be a better team. I don't know if we're top of the MVC good but a solid  probably avoiding Thursday team is a reasonable expectation right now. We still have one more scholarship. I'm interested to see how we use it. (my fingers are crossed somewhat for a JO return but if that's not going to happen I wouldn't mind another big or a veteran wing.

If JO is allowed to return, I will lose all confidence in Matt's leadership ability.

[valpospartan]

Chose us over Indiana, Nebraska, and Clemson. Averaged 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for MSU this year. Played in 29 games and started 14 of them. Only payed 10 minutes per game as a part time starter though...interesting. Says he is a good defender. Averages about 10 and 10 per 40 minutes. Very confusing stat line of starting 14 goes but only averaging 10 mins per game, 2.4 points, and 2.5 rebounds. Not really sure what to make of that but very excited to see it!

I think Kithier will be a good get for VU.  He is a hustler, and was decent offensively in the BIG.  One down side is his propensity to committing fouls.  As you might expect, I am looking forward to seeing him playing at VU.

[Pgmado]

JO isn't returning. Stop buying into this narrative.

[covufan]

I hope Kithier brings the Michigan State rebounding margin attitude to Valpo. I really hope it rubs off on us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[valpotx]

Kithier seems like a quick 6'7/6'8 guy.  Short video snippets, but if he can give us 2/3 the effort that KVW brought, I like this addition a lot.

[Just Sayin]

One of the best balanced articles I could find on Kithier. I think he will do fine at Valpo. He does everything he's asked, he hustles, (Big Jake Diebler) and he is a finisher around the rim.

Michigan State Men's Basketball 2020-2021 Report Card: Thomas Kithier

https://www.theonlycolors.com/2021/4/10/22375124/michigan-state-spartans-basketball-2020-2021-report-card-thomas-kithier

THE GOOD
During his junior year, Thomas Kithier was basically the same player he has always been at Michigan State. And this is someone who does quite a few things very well in his rather limited role. The big man always plays with a lot of energy and hustle, puts his body on the line and never shies away from doing the "dirty work." He gives 100 percent effort every time he's out on the floor and you can count on him not making a lot of mental mistakes. Kithier in general is a very smart player, he understands concepts, how to position himself or what the team needs him to do at any given moment. Things like setting screens, moving the ball swiftly, getting open underneath the basket (shoutout to "The Invisible Man") or putting pressure on the opponent by running the floor are all traits that don't look that impressive at first glance, or don't always show up on the stat sheet, yet help a team a ton beyond the box score. It's probably the reason why Kithier started 14 out of 26 games he played in during the 2020-2021 campaign.

Kithier was a strong offensive rebounder this past season, and gained MSU plenty of extra possessions with his work down low. He continued to finish at a very high rate whenever the ball found him in the paint, even if it seemed that he missed some bunnies at times. Over the last offseason, Kithier must have worked a ton on his free throw shooting as he upped his average from 46.2 percent as a sophomore to almost 77 percent as a junior. This is an impressive feat, even if it came at a very small sample size of just 13 shots taken.

THE BAD
Unfortunately, in terms of his weaknesses, Kithier has been just as consistent as he has been with the things he does well. He basically remains the same kind of player he was as a freshman and hasn't truly developed a great deal over the course of three years. As a junior, he still was a very limited player athletically and that hampered his chances for more impactful minutes. Kithier just isn't strong enough to really keep big bodies out of the paint nor is he athletic enough to challenge opponents at the rim. Even with all his instincts and a strong basketball IQ, he struggled to consistently make his presence felt on either end of the floor. Instead, his lack of foot speed, size and strength often forced MSU into a disadvantage up front and it made it hard for certain lineups to really impose their will on the opposing team.


On offense, Kithier just has never developed any kind of game outside of close range and at times even gets desperate to get rid of the ball as soon as it finds his hands. That makes it extremely tough on his teammates, as the Spartans sometimes had to operate four on five with him out there, even if he creates the occasional space by cutting smartly. On defense, Kithier's lack of physical traits has forced him to work extremely hard for positioning, often resulting in early foul trouble (2.4 fouls in just about 11 minutes per game, and 8.8 fouls per 40 minutes). Over the course of the year, Kithier's minutes were reduced, and toward the end of the season he was barely part of the rotation.

[vuny98]

Replacing Siggy, Sackey, Clay and JO with Anderson, Taylor, Kithier seems to be no worse than a wash in terms of talent and quite possibly a net positive.

Factor in the recruiting class and I think I can get behind this statement assuming they're as good as advertised. Our guard play and shooting should be way better our rebounding should be better and as long as our defense is at least as good we should be a better team. I don't know if we're top of the MVC good but a solid  probably avoiding Thursday team is a reasonable expectation right now. We still have one more scholarship. I'm interested to see how we use it. (my fingers are crossed somewhat for a JO return but if that's not going to happen I wouldn't mind another big or a veteran wing.

Maybe I am in the minority here but I hope we do not use that last scholarship (unless there is an absolute home run or a true project that we don't expect to play right away). Just because we have it doesn't mean we should use it. We are already at 14 scholarships and minutes will be hard to allocate. One of my biggest gripes about Lottich is his rotations and I worry trying to spread minutes to 15 people will be a challenge (already a challenge at 13).

[nkvu]

Replacing Siggy, Sackey, Clay and JO with Anderson, Taylor, Kithier seems to be no worse than a wash in terms of talent and quite possibly a net positive.

Factor in the recruiting class and I think I can get behind this statement assuming they're as good as advertised. Our guard play and shooting should be way better our rebounding should be better and as long as our defense is at least as good we should be a better team. I don't know if we're top of the MVC good but a solid  probably avoiding Thursday team is a reasonable expectation right now. We still have one more scholarship. I'm interested to see how we use it. (my fingers are crossed somewhat for a JO return but if that's not going to happen I wouldn't mind another big or a veteran wing.

Maybe I am in the minority here but I hope we do not use that last scholarship (unless there is an absolute home run or a true project that we don't expect to play right away). Just because we have it doesn't mean we should use it. We are already at 14 scholarships and minutes will be hard to allocate. One of my biggest gripes about Lottich is his rotations and I worry trying to spread minutes to 15 people will be a challenge (already a challenge at 13).

To me it comes down to whether Emil will be a contributor next year or not. If so, we could get by with three bigs and we could play two together. With just two you have a problem rotation wise, unless Matt sees four guards and one big on the floor at all times. If the four guards can all shoot this might work on offense, but on defense one of the guards will have to guard the 4. Maybe Goodnews could do that, but I think the others would struggle. Yes Young has the height, but he has a high jumpers body and they don't call him "Slim" for nothing. We would be at a disadvantage on the boards almost every game. I would feel better if we could pick up another decent big to shore up the rotation, but if we can't then we need Emile to really step up.

[vuny98]

Replacing Siggy, Sackey, Clay and JO with Anderson, Taylor, Kithier seems to be no worse than a wash in terms of talent and quite possibly a net positive.

Factor in the recruiting class and I think I can get behind this statement assuming they're as good as advertised. Our guard play and shooting should be way better our rebounding should be better and as long as our defense is at least as good we should be a better team. I don't know if we're top of the MVC good but a solid  probably avoiding Thursday team is a reasonable expectation right now. We still have one more scholarship. I'm interested to see how we use it. (my fingers are crossed somewhat for a JO return but if that's not going to happen I wouldn't mind another big or a veteran wing.

Maybe I am in the minority here but I hope we do not use that last scholarship (unless there is an absolute home run or a true project that we don't expect to play right away). Just because we have it doesn't mean we should use it. We are already at 14 scholarships and minutes will be hard to allocate. One of my biggest gripes about Lottich is his rotations and I worry trying to spread minutes to 15 people will be a challenge (already a challenge at 13).

To me it comes down to whether Emil will be a contributor next year or not. If so, we could get by with three bigs and we could play two together. With just two you have a problem rotation wise, unless Matt sees four guards and one big on the floor at all times. If the four guards can all shoot this might work on offense, but on defense one of the guards will have to guard the 4. Maybe Goodnews could do that, but I think the others would struggle. Yes Young has the height, but he has a high jumpers body and they don't call him "Slim" for nothing. We would be at a disadvantage on the boards almost every game. I would feel better if we could pick up another decent big to shore up the rotation, but if we can't then we need Emile to really step up.

Fair point. I do think Taylor fills this gap a bit though. At 6'5" and 220 lbs, hes got some size and has shown he can rebound pretty well at his last school. Gordon has also shown he can rebound well from the guard position. Anything out of Emil would be great. I have no idea about the Freshman, but Woodward may be the only one that can play inside out of the bunch.

[valpotx]

Charlie Moore (DePaul) to Miami, so assuming JFL stays at DePaul, he may get what he wants, which is a large focus on him in the offense.

[valpotx]

Chris Vogt in the portal, now that Brannan is out.  He has really cemented himself as a P5 player, after leaving NKU as really just a guy with height.  He will get some high major looks.

https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/chris-vogt
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/4279252/chris-vogt

[valpo64]

If you think we have problems, how about the mess at DePaul.  Sure would like to know how JFL really feels down deep about his move.

[valpotx]

Cool to see BWood chime in:

https://twitter.com/BrandonWood30/status/1384158780921839621

[FWalum]

To me it comes down to whether Emil will be a contributor next year or not.

I think we have forgotten that there were several games his Freshman year in November were he played significant minutes and really contributed and then the injuries started. I think that he can contribute, for me the question is can he be healthy enough. The first two seasons don't bode well in answering that question in the affirmative.

[valpotx]

We seem to have some very strong additions coming in.  I hope that everyone gels early in the season.  The veteran leadership from the guys coming in with 1 season remaining, could be vital to our success next season.

[RacerJoeD]

I meant to post this earlier, but didn't know exactly where it should go. Its a fun little tool that looks at the statistical changes expected by adding transfers.

https://barttorvik.com/rostercast.php?team=Valparaiso&run=1&player=&transfers=&seniors=&recruits=&everyone=

[crusader05]

People who follow Michigan State seem to believe that there's a strong chance their Guard Transfer Foster Loyer may also be heading our way.

[vuny98]

People who follow Michigan State seem to believe that there's a strong chance their Guard Transfer Foster Loyer may also be heading our way.

We are very guard heavy, I wonder why they all believe that. He would be a great addition though. Not a huge scorer but should be able to play the point well.

[crusader05]

My guess is some of it is just because we already picked up one transfer. But there were some who claimed to have "knowledge" that he is coming to us.

We are guard heavy but we also have had the worst luck in guards. Maybe the staff is trying not to put too many eggs in the freshman basket and are hoping some veteran guards can help them grow?

[elephtheria47]

He's a 4 star out of high school and was playing in the big 10. Who on our roster would really scare him from playing time if he was interested in coming here?

And thats the beauty of the MVC. Assuming he or someone wants to "drop down a level" but wants to stay somewhat close to home (he's from Michigan), what are the other options? The A10 really isn't based out of the Midwest and the MVC is ahead of the horizon, MAC, etc. Still have a great chance of making a run in the NCAAT if you get there... with all of the p5 schools in the area/state, I think these types of players are exactly the type of players to target. Valpo has strong academics. If we can get to winning consistently, we have the ability to become a very attractive landing spots for transfers.

With that said,  I prefer a big other than a guard, but trust the staff to get the best players available for our needs. Interested to see if there's fire to the smoke.

[wh]

He's a 4 star out of high school and was playing in the big 10. Who on our roster would really scare him from playing time if he was interested in coming here?

And thats the beauty of the MVC. Assuming he or someone wants to "drop down a level" but wants to stay somewhat close to home (he's from Michigan), what are the other options? The A10 really isn't based out of the Midwest and the MVC is ahead of the horizon, MAC, etc. Still have a great chance of making a run in the NCAAT if you get there... with all of the p5 schools in the area/state, I think these types of players are exactly the type of players to target. Valpo has strong academics. If we can get to winning consistently, we have the ability to become a very attractive landing spots for transfers.

With that said,  I prefer a big other than a guard, but trust the staff to get the best players available for our needs. Interested to see if there's fire to the smoke.

Loyer will get plenty of playing time if he arrives on the scene, and other players won't. 15 players (including a glut of guards) will eventually turn into an 8-man rotation with table scraps for the other 7. There's nothing wrong with that. It's what everyone's trying to do - find an experienced hired gun through the portal that will have an immediate impact. But, it will breed a lot of discontent, especially among younger, less experienced players. A year from now, many of them will be in the portal. It's what the experts are referring to as the new normal. As obvious as that should be to most of us, I want our interminable program critics (you know, the only ones who really care about winning) to get prepared to blame Matt again when a new crop of players pull out a year from now.

[justducky]

Loyer will get plenty of playing time if he arrives on the scene, and other players won't.

Exactly! This is why I am so uncertain as to his overall long term value. My instincts have me leaning toward no.

[vok22]

Loyer will get plenty of playing time if he arrives on the scene, and other players won't.

Exactly! This is why I am so uncertain as to his overall long term value. My instincts have me leaning toward no.

I agree, I think we have more than enough guards and it is going to be hard to share playing time as it is. No matter what happens, we will lose young players next year to transfer, but I feel like we have a decent balance now. I think if the experienced transfers can lead us to a solid, winning season, while still giving enough playing time to the freshmen, we could show them that VU can win in the Valley while still convincing them to stick around. Adding another guard to the mix now, unless it was an absolute star, feels like it would just be taking away time from people that might need it if we want them to stick around.