Valpo/Detroit PPS

Valpo pulled off what will perhaps be the comeback of the year in college basketball yesterday.  After trailing by as much as 22 points in the second half and by 11 with under 3 minutes to play, the Crusaders found a way to win 89-88 at Detroit Mercy.  This match up featured the two leading candidates for the league POY and saw some of the highest PPS I've seen in a Valpo game to date.

		Minutes	+	-	PPS
Valparaiso	Valpo	200	1.03	0.35	0.68
Detroit	DET	200	0.95	0.34	0.61

Detroit dominated the first half, while Valpo was able to make the needed adjustments and maintain composure en route to a 57 point outburst in the second half.  Valpo used the hot shooting of KVW and Matt Kenney, won the rebounding battle, and finally had more assists then turnovers.  Detroit shot themselves in the foot with two silly technical fouls leading to 4 easy points for Ryan Broekhoff.  Outstanding performances from this game to the Crusaders VanWijk and Broekhoff, while Nick Minnerath put up a huge PPS for the Titans.

Player	School	Minutes	+	-	PPS
Ryan Broekhoff	Valpo	35	1.40	0.29	1.11
Lavontae Dority	Valpo	20	1.00	0.60	0.40
Kevin Van Wijk	Valpo	30	1.87	0.20	1.67
Erik Buggs	Valpo	28	0.93	0.57	0.36
Matt Kenney	Valpo	30	0.18	0.25	-0.07
Will Bogan	Valpo	28	0.83	0.13	0.70

Detroit	DET	Minutes	+	-	PPS
Ray McCallum	DET	35	0.80	0.60	0.20
Jason Calliste	DET	38	0.66	0.21	0.45
Nick Minnerath	DET	33	1.94	0.24	1.70
Doug Anderson	DET	31	1.06	0.26	0.80
Juwan Howard	DET	35	0.49	0.34	0.15

A few things worth noting.  Will Bogan's cold shooting continued for Valpo but he did a nice job chasing Jason Calliste around all night and limiting his effectiveness.  Also worthy of mention was the POY candidate Ray McCallum was completely taken out of this game by the defensive effort of Erik Buggs.  Buggs is notorious in these parts for low PPS, seeing him finish with a higher score then Jr will be a real treat for all Crusader fans. 

The Broekhoff/McCallum race for POY was a little one sided this night and Rowdy should be separating himself from the field of POY contenders with his season long run of solid play.

PPS Preview for #BeatDetroit

Looking ahead to Thursday we would be hard pressed to find two teams who's style of play was less alike.  Valpo can play the half court game, work the ball inside, draw fouls, hit the perimeter jumper when its there.  Detroit on the other hand is a fast paced, get the ball and run team.  They like to run and gun and play the high scoring game.  Let's first take a look at each teams' PPS along with their opponents:

		Minutes	+	-	PPS
Valparaiso	Valpo	3625	0.82	0.33	0.49
Opponents	Valpo	3625	0.70	0.35	0.35
		Minutes	+	-	PPS
Detroit	DET	3400	0.91	0.35	0.56
Opponents	DET	3400	0.82	0.35	0.47

Valpo has a very low team PPS while Detroit is sporting a good mid major level team score.  Valpo's biggest detractor is obviously their very high turnover number.  Valpo has turned it over 281 times (with only 231 assits) while Detroit has only given it up 196 times (against 249 assists).  But, where Valpo trails Detroit in team PPS they have a sizable lead when it comes to limiting their opponents.  Valpo has allowed opponents to shoot less then 40% from the field, they out rebound the competition, and are very good at drawing fouls.  Detroit has allowed teams to shoot it at a 46% clip (including nearly 40% from 3pt range...Ryan, Lavontae, Ben, and Will are licking their chops) and they get outrebounded.

I don't have the energy to write up a couple game plans tonight to #BeatDetroit, we'll save that for tomorrow, but what I did have energy for was figuring out their key players (guys who average over 10 minutes per game) PPS.  I had the energy because there was only 6 of them (Valpo has 9, this will come into play in tomorrow's game plan).

Detroit	DET	Minutes	+	-	PPS
Ray McCallum	DET	597	1.19	0.37	0.82
Jason Calliste	DET	567	0.88	0.36	0.52
Nick Minnerath	DET	447	1.00	0.39	0.61
Doug Anderson	DET	445	0.96	0.37	0.59
Juwan Howard	DET	483	0.76	0.28	0.48
Evan Bruinsma	DET	338	0.75	0.29	0.46
PJ Boutte	DET	183	0.64	0.39	0.25

 
 These guys are all pretty solid.  They don't give up the ball much and they wreak havoc on the other teams guards forcing a multitude of turnovers.  The one guy who does give it up from time to time is Calliste and the one guy who doesn't make free throws is Anderson.  I'll go more into these details in tomorrow's post.  The numbers up top don't lie.  I don't see a blow out in either team's favor regardless of which team is able to dictate the tempo.

Don't forget to predict the final score and Ryan Broekhoff's combined first half points + rebounds in the comments section of the previous two posts.  Also follow @sectionee.  Lots of free haircuts from Cuts and Shaves being thrown out during this game Thursday! #BeatDetroit

Cuts and Shaves Free Haircuts Giveaway Extravaganza

In case you have been living under a rock, in a cave, or spending time in some faraway jungle community Valpo will be traveling to Detroit for the long awaited chance to get a little revenge on their hated conference rival.  To make things even more interesting our guy Matt at Cuts and Shaves in Chesterton has charged me with giving away some haircuts during the game.

I have several of these gift certificates burning holes in my pockets.  Here is how you can win them.

* Follow SectionEE on twitter.  All new followers from now until the end of the game Thursday will be entered for a chance to win one of the gift certificates

* Post your prediction for Ryan Broekhoff's total points + rebounds for the first half of the game

* Post your prediction for the final score of the big game

We may have a 4th to give away as well...make sure you are following us on twitter and check back here frequently for your chance to win.  Don't start posting your predictions yet.  We will post on here and let you know via twitter and Facebook when the fun all starts for the second and third (and fourth) competitions.

Valpo Victory at Milwaukee

Valpo won the tip and Ryan Broekhoff hit a three pointer about 5 seconds into the game.  He didn’t stop hitting three pointers until he was removed from the game with about 4 minutes left.  Broekhoff led the Crusaders with 26 points and 10 rebounds, hitting an efficient 9-13 from the field (7-9 from 3 point range).  Broekhoff has been the epitome of efficiency this season for the Crusaders.  Here are his, and his supporting cast of characters’ PPS from this afternoons victory at Milwaukee.

Player	School	Minutes	+	-	PPS
Ryan Broekhoff	Valpo	34	1.56	0.20	1.36
Lavontae Dority	Valpo	25	0.72	0.28	0.44
Kevin Van Wijk	Valpo	23	1.04	0.35	0.69
Vashil Fernandez	Valpo	5	1.60	0.60	1.00
Matt Kenney	Valpo	25	1.12	0.48	0.64
Bobby Capobianco	Valpo	16	0.19	0.25	-0.06
Jordan Coleman	Valpo	15	0.60	0.67	-0.07
Erik Buggs	Valpo	25	0.56	0.28	0.28
Will Bogan	Valpo	27	0.70	0.22	0.48
Ben Boggs	Valpo	5	0.40	0.20	0.20
		Minutes	+	-	PPS
Milwaukee	MKE	200	0.62	0.32	0.30
Valparaiso	Valpo	200	0.89	0.37	0.52

Valpo got a nice game from Dority, who picked it up after struggling at the start.  Coleman and Capo were the only two who didn’t have solid efforts for Valpo tonight, but thankfully they only found themselves out there for 15 and 16 minutes, nice job Coach!  Will Bogan also managed to find his shot late in the game after missing his first 4 from outside, he hit his last two.  He will be needed to find that touch if Valpo hopes to knock off Detroit next week. 

It was nice to see the Valpo team finally have more assists then turnovers and play some really good defense. Be sure you are watching next Thursday when the two best teams, and the two best players, go head to head when Valpo travels to Detroit.

Game Wrap Up: Half a game

The Crusaders did me a favor tonight.  I took my 5 year old to the game hoping there would be no doubt by half time as to who would win this game.  Well, it was 43-16 at the half and we were both happy to head home!

The Half Game
Valpo attacked the basket early and often in the opening half.  KVW could not be stopped, he currently has 18pt and 10 reb (as I check my I Pod for updates.  The Saints had no chance in this one as Valpo was too big, too fast, and too athletic.  As I type this it is 74-28 Valpo, time to get Shelton some PT.

I'm a bit troubled by
* Ryan Broekhoff's poor shooting so far this season.  He is a scorer so I'm not real worried, hopefully he is just getting the misses out of the way early on this year.

* Tommy Kurth's lack of good play.  I'm not sure if he is just still rusty from not playing last year or if what he is showing is what his skill set is.

* After seeing what Cleveland State did to Vandy and now watching Detroit battle with Notre Dame the Horizon League is really showing some depth.  McCallum and gang are good...real good.  The announcers said a decision on Eli Holman is coming soon.

* Speaking of announcers...I'm not sure who was announcing the VU game tonight, but I hope that will be his time.  A three pointer is not a touchdown or a homerun (props to the student who yelled that out in the game). 

I'm encouraged by
* Richie Edwards' has been playing well, taking better shots, and hitting his freethrows.  He really looked to move the ball tonight when he didn't have a good look.  Much improved over what I saw from the stands the first few games.

* Erik Buggs continues to have a coming out party.  He attacked the rim several times with nifty moves to get by multiple defenders, found teammates for open looks (a couple open threes that were missed early on), and even hit a three pointer.

Up Next
Valpo will welcome the Akron Zips to the ARC on Friday.  

SectionEE's Horizon League Picks

SectionEE writers Hank and Brent along with the voice of the Crusaders Dick Harlan make their predictions for how the Horizon League's ten teams will finish up the season. As with any predictions, we will probably be able to look back at these and laugh at the end of the year. We will give it our best shot and try to give a short explanation for why we picked them the way we did.  Big thanks to Dick for taking some time and helping us out!  Leave your picks or make fun of ours in the comment section.

my bookie after another poor pick by me

Hank's Picks
10) UIC - They lose their top two players in Robo Kreps and Paul Carter. It is going to be hard to improve having to replace your top guys.


9) Youngstown St. - They will manage to finish just ahead of UIC. They were just to far below the next tier of teams and I don't think we will see that much improvement. This team did not win a road game last season (but they did beat Butler at YSU, go figure).

8) Loyola - Too many good teams in this league to put Loyola higher up. They haven't been good the past few seasons and this year is not going to be much different.

7) Green Bay - I think Alec Brown is going to be tough to stop. He had a very good freshman campaign and I think he will improve this season. He needs more help.

6) Wright State -Losing Tabler, Evans, and Duggins will force someone to step up the scoring for WSU. I don't think they will be able to stay in the top half of the league.

5) Milwaukee - Last year's champs have some holes to fill with the losses of Anthony Hill and Tone Boyle. They will still finish in the top half the league.

4) Valparaiso - A lot of new faces on this year's roster. I think Valpo is one year away from doing something real special.

3) Cleveland State - Still a very good team despite the loss of Player of the Year Norris Cole. Teams in slots 3, 4, and 5 could have gone anyway in my opinion.

2) Butler - Losing Howard and Mack will be too much for Butler to overcome in the regular season. Marshall will emerge as the next great Butler player.

1) Detroit - I think they will win the league this year in spite of their coach. Too much talent with McCallum, Holman, Minnerath, and Simon. This talent along with not losing anybody puts Detroit on top of my list.

Brent is the guy on the left

Brent's Picks
As with any new year after so many seniors and team leaders are gone the league is really going to come down to who steps up.

10) UIC: After only winning 2 league games and finishing last, things can only get better right? Sadly they'll be battling YSU and WSU for the bottom of the barrel this year.

9) Wright State: Losing your top four scorers is really going to hurt. I think Wright State is going into a rebuilding mode this year, but Darling, Pest, Pacher, and company should pose problems for the rest of the league starting in 2012-13.

8) Youngstown State: They have never finished above .500 since joining the league in 2001-02, I don't see them making any leaps or bounds on that trend.

7) Loyola: Averkamp, Hicks, and Gibler are going to need to step it up, but Hicks has injury concerns and they're going to need him.

6) Milwaukee: Two big subtractions who were the heart of the team is going leave this team in the bottom half of the league and certainly a repeat of their regular season title last year will not be repeated.

5) Valparaiso: This could be a surprise year for the Crusaders, but I suspect they are going to need a year to reorganize after the departures of Wood and Johnson and the implementation of a new system under new coach Bryce Drew.

4) Green Bay: I think they are really building something here, and will play this year without fear and be a tough play night in and night out for the entire league.

3) Cleveland State: Who's going to step up and take Norris Cole's spot? If that question can be answered then there is no reason this team can't win the league.

2) Detroit: The talent is certainly there for them to run away with this league, but could somebody please play defense?!

1) Butler: Another solid freshman class coming into the mix with the experience of two consecutive National Title games means that until someone (Ahem Detroit) knocks them off their perch they are the kings of the Horizon League.

Dick racking his brain.

Dick Harlan's Picks

10) UIC: Just don't have enough and what they did have left. Will be a long year.

9) Loyola: New coach, not enough talent. Bad idea.

8) Wright State: Lost too much. I look for them to slide down the standings, even though I think their coach is a very good one.
 
7) Youngstown State: Last year's most improved team from start to finish. They seem on the way up and could be a factor.

6) Milwaukee: Last year was an apperation. They weren't that good and won't be this time either. They always give upper echelon teams trouble in conference, but just don't have enough guns in my opinion.

5) Cleveland State: They will still play that in your face physical defense, but without Norris Cole, not sure how much their offense will help.

4) Green Bay: Very physical again. They have a 7-footer who can dominate for short periods. If they get any offense at all they will be force to reckon with.

3) Valparaiso: The Crusaders has the most depth in the conference and if Van Wijk can play, and they get any help up front they should be a force.

2) Detroit: Their talent has to overcome their coaching, but they are loaded. By far the most talented team in the conference. Maybe this year it will show.

1) Butler: They're still Butler and until someone shows me differently they are the team to beat. Marshall will be a stud and they still have Nored and the big kid.