Game Wrap Up: New Mexico

Valpo traveled to New Mexico to take on the #18 Lobos Saturday night.  Unfortunately, Ryan Broekhoff was the only Crusader who came ready to play.  Broekhoff filled the stat sheet with 24 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and only 1 turnover.  I mention the turnover only because that was the Crusaders undoing on this night.  A season high 22 turnovers helped in the Lobos knocking off Valpo 65-52 (didn't even cover the 10 point spread).

The Crusader defense played well it sounded like.  The Lobos shot under 43% from the field.  While the shot defense was good, the Crusaders only managed to force 10 turnovers and sent New Mexico to the line 30 times (this could be inflated a bit since it was a semi close game).

Valpo has played through a tough non-conference schedule this year and currently sits at 6-3 with the only questionable loss coming at Nebraska.  Lavontae Dority will see his first action next Saturday when the Crusaders visit Missouri State.  We are all excited to see what he can bring to the point guard position as he will start off as Buggs' backup.

Tonights PPS - I only took our guys that played 10 minutes or more, and did their starters plus 1.  Note, I forgot to plug in the rebounds when I figured our PPS for the first 8 games.  Check that post for updated numbers.

Valpo

Broekhoff	1.08571428571429
KVW	0.0909090909090909
Buggs	0.114285714285714
Boggs	-0.411764705882353
Coleman	0.285714285714286
Kenney	-0.0952380952380952
Capo	0.285714285714286
Bogan	0.269230769230769

  

New Mexico

Adams	0.5
Kirk	0.708333333333333
Snell	0.172413793103448
Greenwood	0.5
Walker	0.666666666666667
Williams	0.388888888888889

 

PPS - 1st 8 Games

Lets see if I remember how to do this.  PPS is a statistical breakdown of how effective a player is while on the court. We look only at the numbers in categories that appear in a box score: points, rebounds, assists, fts, fgs, steals, turnovers, blocked shots, missed fts, missed fgs, fouls, and minutes played.
Here are the scores of last years 1st Team All Horizon League players:


Ryan Broekhoff, G/F, Valpo Jr (HL Player of the Year) - 0.8118
Kevin Van Wijk, F, Valpo Jr - 0.8108
Kendrick Perry, G, Youngstown State So - 0.70154
Ray McCallum, G, Detroit So - 0.65822
Alec Brown, C, Green Bay So - 0.74627

Here is where our guys sit after the first 8 games:

Broekhoff 0.8857
KVW 0.9839
Kenney 0.3809
Boggs 0.2959
Coleman 0.4216
Buggs 0.3127
Capo 0.5272
Bogan 0.1194
Rossi 0.4516
Fernandez 0.2038

I'm Back

I'm back baby!

I'm back, but won't be quite as active as before. My wife's persistence and a twitter battle has brought me back to this. It is also getting darker earlier now so our outside activities are just about nonexistent and we can only play so much kinect. First real post coming up later this evening.  

While We've Been Away

Being a full time father of 2 young boys, husband, and school teacher makes it hard to be much of a blogger.  Add in the fact that the weather has been unseasonably warm and the fish have been biting, and finding time to make a post becomes that much more difficult.  Here is what has happened since we last posted.

* Valpo lost to Miami in the first round of the NIT.  Good effort, but it is hard to win with your only two back up guards out sick and your top player just getting over being ill.

* Valpo added two new transfers in Lavonte Dority and Jordan Coleman.  Both appear ready to contribute immediately.  Dority looks like a point guard who can score while Coleman appears to be more of a 2 guard.  Both will add much needed athleticism.  Scroll down a little bit and you can find an interview with Dority from Scouting the Mid Majors.

* Bryce Drew was leaving us for Mississippi State, then he wasn't, then he signed a multi year extension.  I'm not sure if he is a lifer, if he will wait for the right job to come around, or if he just stayed due to health concerns with his family, but I'm glad we have Coach back for another year.  These bigger job offers will continue every year that Valpo has success so, hopefully, get used to this drama.

* Richie Edwards and Hrvoje Vucic will not be back next year.  Sounds to me like Richie was a bit homesick and probably expected more minutes, while Vucic must have recognized his role at Valpo was never going to materialize.

* Former head coach Homer Drew was given the "Keys to Life" award from Legends of the Hardwood.  We tweeted this several weeks in advance (@sectionee).  Congratulations Coach Homer Drew!

* Talk continues on the fanzone message board about the need to upgrade facilities.  Be patient, it is in the master plan.  A new campaign starts soon.  Oh, and the athletes need to realize the importance to give back to their universities. 

* The prospects for another successful season are great.  With the incoming transfers teaming up with Vashil Fernandez and Bobby Capobianco (both of which are a bit of a mystery) along with the returning players Valpo should be right back on top of the Horizon League.

Thanks for checking in.  We will continue to post from time to time, probably more so in the Summer when school lets out.