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[blackpantheruwm]

Here you go guys, my picks for the Horizon League.  Ryan Broekhoff 2nd team, Valpo tied for 5th.

http://rushthecourt.net/2011/10/24/rtc-conference-primers-13-horizon-league-2/

and here's my defense for those who inevitably will slam me for picking Milwaukee to win the conference.

http://pantheru.com/2011/10/24/my-preview-from-rushthecourt-net/

[valpopal]

Here you go guys, my picks for the Horizon League.  Ryan Broekhoff 2nd team, Valpo tied for 5th.

http://rushthecourt.net/2011/10/24/rtc-conference-primers-13-horizon-league-2/

and here's my defense for those who inevitably will slam me for picking Milwaukee to win the conference.

http://pantheru.com/2011/10/24/my-preview-from-rushthecourt-net/

I'm not going to debate the picks for team standings or the choices of players for all-conference teams and 6th man, though there does seem to be some Milwaukee home cooking in those. I also don't understand the emphasis on Jakolis as a possible impact player or a key to Valpo's success, especially since he is not even officially eligible yet.

Instead, I will take issue with the absence of Richie Edwards in the commentaries, not even mentioned in the Valpo profile. If you think Edwards will be a non-factor, then I believe you will be surprised.

[zvillehaze]

Here you go guys, my picks for the Horizon League.  Ryan Broekhoff 2nd team, Valpo tied for 5th.

http://rushthecourt.net/2011/10/24/rtc-conference-primers-13-horizon-league-2/

and here's my defense for those who inevitably will slam me for picking Milwaukee to win the conference.

http://pantheru.com/2011/10/24/my-preview-from-rushthecourt-net/

It would be easy to question the judgment of the guy who might qualify as the largest (in more ways than one ) Panther fan in recent years, but won't go down that road.  I suspect that Butler will be pretty good (supported by tweets from respected guys who've seen practice), but until I see that with my own eyes, it remains a suspicion.

That said, I do chuckle a bit at your Matt Howard take.  You spent two years arguing to anyone who would listen that Ant Hill was better than Matt Howard.  Now, your story is that UW-Milwaukee won't miss Hill at all and Butler will never have anyone who can hold Matt Howard's jock. 

You know University of Wisconsin @ Milwaukee better than all of us, so I'll trust your opinion about the greatness of the new players they have.  For now, it's their crown to lose.

[valpofan56]

Here you go guys, my picks for the Horizon League.  Ryan Broekhoff 2nd team, Valpo tied for 5th.

http://rushthecourt.net/2011/10/24/rtc-conference-primers-13-horizon-league-2/

and here's my defense for those who inevitably will slam me for picking Milwaukee to win the conference.

http://pantheru.com/2011/10/24/my-preview-from-rushthecourt-net/

It would be easy to question the judgment of the guy who might qualify as the largest (in more ways than one ) Panther fan in recent years, but won't go down that road.  I suspect that Butler will be pretty good (supported by tweets from respected guys who've seen practice), but until I see that with my own eyes, it remains a suspicion.

That said, I do chuckle a bit at your Matt Howard take.  You spent two years arguing to anyone who would listen that Ant Hill was better than Matt Howard.  Now, your story is that UW-Milwaukee won't miss Hill at all and Butler will never have anyone who can hold Matt Howard's jock. 

You know University of Wisconsin @ Milwaukee better than all of us, so I'll trust your opinion about the greatness of the new players they have.  For now, it's their crown to lose.

Loving the "un-intentional" provoking of the Milwaukee fan base!

[wh]

Definitely seems to be some Milw bias, but overall a very nice effort.  Kudos to blackpantheruwm and our own sectionee for adding to the anticipation and excitement of the new season.  It should be another great year. 

[dylanrocks]

I just don't see how it can be anything but the following to start:

1. Butler -- It's a system that's proven to work. What's Brad's coaching record again?

2. Milwaukee -- The infusion of talent at least matches the amount outgoing.

3. Cleveland State -- Plenty of nice pieces and good coach, but no Norris Cole.

4. Detroit -- Easily the toughest team to slot, Titans have a propensity to implode.

5. Valparaiso -- Can't get over the losses of Wood, Johnson, Rogers and Little.

6. Green Bay -- Formidable frontline spearheaded by Brown; maybe a year away.

7. Wright State -- Rebuilding job underway; now facing injuries to Darling, Pacher.

8. Youngstown State -- Just can't summon the strength to put 'Guins above Raiders.

9. Loyola -- With influx of talented transfers and recruits, Ramblers also a year away.

10. UIC -- Still digging out from Jimmy Collins mess; not quite sure what Flames have.

[vu72]

A very long and well written piece, just not a very good analysis when it comes to Valpo.  I'm not disputing the 5th place finish, we have a variety of opinions on this.

If Panther has actually been reading our board he should have known that Dino Jakolis is hardly on the radar, let alone eligible.  Other obvious problems in the writing center on Ryan Broekhoff replacing Cory Johnson.  Huh??  Cory played the 5 and Ryan is a 3.  No mention at all of Kevin and his improved back let alone no mention of Richie Edwards, a First Team all section player in Junior College.  No mention of our increase in size with the addition of Vashil Fernandez or improvement from Vucic.

In the backcourt there is no mention of Will Bogan or the fact that we will probably have the deepest backcourt in the league.  Erik Buggs, a four year player at the point backed by Tommy Kurth, a third year player who started the year before last.  At the 2 we have a Va Tech recruit, a Ole Miss recruit then Harris and Kenney and who knows who else.  If Dino can add anything it will be up front at the 3 or 4.

This is probably our deepest team in recent memory.  Will it take time to gel? Sure.  will we compete for a title?  Probably.
Other than these few points I thought it was a fine analysis.   

[dylanrocks]

We will probably have the deepest backcourt in the league. 

Deepest backcourt in the league?

Milwaukee
Kaylon Williams
Paris Gulley
Ryan Allen
Ja' Rob McCallum
Shaquille Boga
Evan Richard
Lonnie Boga (may redshirt)

Butler
Ronald Nored
Chase Stigall
Chrishawn Hopkins
Jackson Aldridge
Andy Smeathers
Elliot Kampen

Cleveland State
Trevon Harmon
Jeremy Montgomery
D'Aundray Brown
Charles Lee
Sebastian Douglas
Ike Nwamu

Detroit
Ray McCallum, Jr.
Chase Simon
Jason Calliste
Chris Blake (second semester)
Donavan Foster
P.J. Boutte
Brandon Romain

[vu72]

Maybe I should have added, "most experienced" to my claim.  Look at Butler for example, Nored and Stigall have plenty of experience and then???

Look at Valpo
Erik Buggs, Jr./Sr. cuurent/former starter
Tommy Kurth Soph/Jr.  cuurent/former starter
Will Bogan post grad/Jr. Former starter at Ole Miss
Ben Boggs Jr./Sr. Former starter at Va. Tech
Jay Harris Soph. plenty of experience
Matt Kenney Jr.  plenty of experience
Nick Shelton  Sr.  OK, no experience but still a Senior!

This doesn't even take into consideration a guy like Ryan Broekhoff playing the 2
That's seven deep, as many as any other team you listed and experience at the D1 level?  Pretty tough to match Valpo's.

[FWalum]

Very interesting and very biased in my biased opinion.  I am not sure how a statement can be made about JUCO talent levels and how they equate to the D1 court.  The evaluation of JUCO talent is hit or miss at best.  I looked for the "Top 50 JUCO lists that blackpantheruwm did not mention by name and could not find any lists that had the two players he mentioned or any players by any name going to Milwaukee.  I did find Richie/Justin Edwards on several lists. Does that mean he is better? We will not know until they step on the court. However, to not even mention Edwards, one of the top offensive performers at the World University Games, while touting your own JUCO players seems rather odd to me.

I will agree that Haarsma should be a nice addition to the Milwaukee lineup.  He averaged about 11 ppg with Evansville and Colt McCoy and should be able to reach similar if not better numbers for the Panthers. I truly think that the Panther's major problem will be filling Hill's very large shoes.  Let's face it, the guy was a load for every team in the Horizon.  About 42 percent of his rebounds were on the offensive boards, an impressive number for sure.  I just don't see anyone that can replace his physical presence on Milwaukee's team. 

Now on to the questions about Boggs and Bogan.  How their experience playing and practicing in the ACC and SEC can be so easily discounted is beyond me.  Yes they will have to prove it on the court, but how many HL players even get serious offers from those two conferences?  They both had significant playing time as FRESHMAN in two of the best conferences in the country before suffering significant injuries. Boggs played decent minutes as a FRESHMAN for an ACC team that went 25-9. Bogan started about a quarter of the season as a FRESHMAN.  Boggs broke the two bones in his leg and had to have surgery requiring a significant time away from the game. I think that puts his slow start at the beginning his sophomore year in perspective.

[zvillehaze]

Almost every team will be relying heavily on guys who are somewhat unproven at this level.  Even if Detroit returns everyone, they're still unproven in that they've never proven they can win together as a group.  As FW points out, predicting how freshmen and JUCO guys translate to this level is somewhat difficult until you see them in action.  I'll add that the same is true for transfers ... especially when they were only marginally productive at prior stops.  Valpo hit the jackpot with Johnson and Wood ... it would be great for the program if you do the same with Bogan and Boggs (and Capobianco next year).

Butler has as many questions marks as any team in the league.  I've not seen the new guys play, but here's audio of some comments from ESPN's Dan Dakich after watching practice a few days ago.  http://brandongaudin.com/blog/ 

[zvillehaze]

More from Dakich, this time with Coach Stevens.  http://www.1070thefan.com/podcast/Episodes.aspx?PID=2165

[dylanrocks]

I just don't see anyone that can replace his physical presence on Milwaukee's team.

We're certainly hoping that player is Demetrius Harris, whom we'll get a chance to see tonight.

[vu72]

Almost every team will be relying heavily on guys who are somewhat unproven at this level.  Even if Detroit returns everyone, they're still unproven in that they've never proven they can win together as a group.  As FW points out, predicting how freshmen and JUCO guys translate to this level is somewhat difficult until you see them in action.  I'll add that the same is true for transfers ... especially when they were only marginally productive at prior stops.  Valpo hit the jackpot with Johnson and Wood ... it would be great for the program if you do the same with Bogan and Boggs (and Capobianco next year).

Butler has as many questions marks as any team in the league.  I've not seen the new guys play, but here's audio of some comments from ESPN's Dan Dakich after watching practice a few days ago.  http://brandongaudin.com/blog/ 

Based on Dakich's appraisal we should just hand the national Championship to Butler.  Pleeeeease, everyone is "really good".  What in depth analysis.
Oh by the way, our guys improved over the summer too!   

[historyman]

Almost every team will be relying heavily on guys who are somewhat unproven at this level.  Even if Detroit returns everyone, they're still unproven in that they've never proven they can win together as a group.  As FW points out, predicting how freshmen and JUCO guys translate to this level is somewhat difficult until you see them in action.  I'll add that the same is true for transfers ... especially when they were only marginally productive at prior stops.  Valpo hit the jackpot with Johnson and Wood ... it would be great for the program if you do the same with Bogan and Boggs (and Capobianco next year).

Butler has as many questions marks as any team in the league.  I've not seen the new guys play, but here's audio of some comments from ESPN's Dan Dakich after watching practice a few days ago.  http://brandongaudin.com/blog/ 

Based on Dakich's appraisal we should just hand the national Championship to Butler.  Pleeeeease, everyone is "really good".  What in depth analysis.
Oh by the way, our guys improved over the summer too!   

No matter what it is certainly high praise from a guy who has been a huge IU man since he was given a scholarship by Bobby Knight in the late 70's.

[dylanrocks]

Big news of the night:

Tony Meier will miss the next six to eight weeks with torn tendons in his calf after the final play of Saturday's scrimmage in which I'm told he finally channeled his inner Hedo Turkoglu.

The coaches hope to have him back by the UNI game on Dec. 10, but are apprehensive about rushing his recovery. There's no talk of a redshirt at this stage, but that's subject to change.

[zvillehaze]

Sorry to hear that.  Without Meier in the lineup, things get a little tricky for Milwaukee.  Meier's scoring would allow the Panthers to play guys like Williams, Allen or Harris who have offensive limitations. 

How did Gulley look tonight?  Things are going to be challenging early for Jeter as it appears he's got a roster full of guys who are good on one end of the court, but have challenges at the other.  He's always struggled to find a rotation, and Meier's injury won't help with that this year.

[dylanrocks]

Exactly, zville. Where Tony helps the most is with offensive spacing. Before an opponent addresses anything else, it must first respect his 44 percent 3-point shooting.

Paris, I thought, was fairly mistake-proof but somewhat challenged offensively. In fact, two "rookies" who really caught my eye were James Haarsma, a bull-in-a-china-shop power forward from Evansville, and Shaq Boga, a slick-handling little left-handed point guard.

The returnee who easily showed the greatest improvement was sophomore Kyle Kelm, who looked about 25 pounds thicker than a year ago. Clearly, he invested some time in the weight room on his legs, as he demonstrated some real first-step explosion to the basket.

Of course, everything was a bit overshadowed tonight by the news on Tony.

[zvillehaze]

Interesting, because I thought Gulley was supposed to bring big offense.  I guess we'll see. 

I'm familar with Haarsma and he's good.  He's an ideal 4 for the HL, but that leaves Milwaukee searching for a 5.  Historically, teams have done well in the HL playing a 3 guard 2 forward lineup (Valpo last year is a perfect example), but it becomes more difficult this year with some true 5's like Brown, Smith, Pogue and Holman (maybe) in the league.