Reevaluating the Predictions

As we head into the start of conference play I wanted to take a look at my previous HL predictions and reevaluate a bit.  As the season has gotten underway and teams have lost certain players my original predictions need a little tweaking!

Instead of a 1-10 I'm going to put the teams in three NFL themed categories.  The first category we'll call the Colts (sorry Brent).  These are teams that have no chance of competing for a league title.  Next we'll get to the group I'll call the Bears.  These are our middle of the pack teams.  Finally we'll have the top tier teams in the group I begrudgingly will call the Packers.  These are the teams who I suspect will challenge for the top two seeds in the league.

The Colts
Loyola, Wright State, Green Bay, and UIC
No real surprises here.  I did think that WSU and Green Bay would be a little better and they may still prove to be...we shall see.

The Bears
Detroit, Youngstown State, Valparaiso, and Butler
Detroit is suffering from losing key players and a short bench.  I'm surprised by YSU's solid record to start the season.   Valpo and/or Butler could step up and join the next group we'll see how well the new players continue to gel.

The Packers
Milwaukee and Cleveland State 
I don't think there is much to debate here.  Cleveland State has been outstanding and has a very good core group of players.  Milwaukee is the defending champs and they too are off to a very good start to their season.

Stay tuned as we will bring you our preview of the Butler/Valpo game in the next couple of days.  We will also be traveling to Hinkle, if you are there stop by and say hello!

Ohio St. game wrap up...

Jay Harris had a big night, Valpo did not. As expected Valpo had some trouble with #3 Ohio St. There is no need to dwell on the worst game of the season for the Crusaders, but I will note a few things that were frustrating.

In usual fashion the Crusaders put together a competitive half and then collapsed in the 2nd half. Neither team looked particularly good in the first half, but Valpo managed to stay within 4 at the break. OSU's defense was incredible in the second half along with Valpo's knack for missing almost every single shot around the basket because they were seemingly afraid of Sullinger blocking their shots. They were just plain out muscled at every spot on the floor committing 18 turnovers overall with 12 being thefts. Valpo managed to shoot just 33.9% from the field and 34.8% behind the arc. I have no issue with the 3pt shooting on the evening as it was actually an improvement from how they had been shooting from the 3pt line. The problem though is that it was indicative of the fact that Van Wijk absolutely disappeared in this game after averaging more than 20 for the season he didn't record a single point. Some of that has to be credited towards OSU's defense, but KVW has to take some of the blame too. Vucic provided his best game of the season in KVW stretches on the bench because of foul trouble by contributing 7 pts, but shooting only 30% around the basket (again missing shots a foot from the basket).

All in all Valpo ran into a much more talented Ohio State team and Jay Harris was the clear player of the game for Valpo being the only player who rose to the occasion. Definitely lots to build on as the Crusaders next game is a Horizon League opener at Butler.

Who Doesn't Love Winning?!

In honor of our 100th post and to November being our best month hit wise ever we are giving away a three pack of Valpo Golf Balls.  The balls are Pinnacle 1 and have the old Valpo logo on them.  To win all you have to do is predict Ryan Broekhoff's point and rebound total against Ohio State University in this Friday's game.  Put your prediction in the comment section of this post.  One entry per person, whoever is the closest takes home this coveted, not so fabulous prize! Make sure you use a name or leave an email so we can contact you if you win.

Game Preview: The Ohio State University

Valparaiso will put their 5 game win streak to the ultimate test on Friday when they visit #3 Ohio State.  This will undoubtedly be the Crusaders toughest task of the season (maybe all season) to this point.

Ohio State boasts star players in Jarred Sullinger and William Buford.  Sullinger is the outstanding sophomore big man and player of the year candidate, while Buford is an outstanding wing player.  OSU has played four games at this time with one more this evening and only once has their opponent come within 30 points of them (Florida lost by 7).

Keys to victory
* The Crusaders are not going to stop Sullinger.  They have to hope they can contain him offensively and limit the second chances he is going to create with his rebounding.  They also don't want to send him to the line as he is shooting the freebies at an 89% clip.
* OSU has not shot the three pointer well so far this season, only 26%.  Valpo's best option will probably be to double team Sullinger immediately and force him to kick it out and just hope their cold outside shooting continues.
* Valpo must limit second chance opportunities for the Buckeyes.  They have pulled down 53 offensive rebounds in their 4 games this year.  Boxing out and rebounding as a team will be huge.
* The Crusaders must connect on their three point shots and get to the line more then Ohio State.

My thoughts
I will be interested to see whether or not KVW can get into Sullinger's head with his physical play and get him out of the game with foul trouble.  I'm also interested to see what type of defense Coach Drew has his guys in.  Typically they play man to man, but with the struggles OSU has had from behind the arc and their dominant big man I wouldn't be surprised to see them sag in a zone.

Previous meetings
*Valpo and Ohio State have met two other times with the teams splitting the two contests. Valpo did win in the third place game of the Great Alaskan Shootout in 2000 67-74.  Ohio State won the last meeting in 2006 78-58.

Thank you to the commenter who provided this information!
 

Prediction
I am a firm believer that any team can beat any other team on any given day.  However, I don't think this will be Valpo's day as Ohio State has too many weapons.  I think Kevin will have another fantastic day, but I'm afraid that we aren't deep enough and we can't replace KVW's intensity inside when he needs a breather.  I do think Valpo can keep it close and will throw out a score of 64-70 as my final with Ohio State coming out the victor. 

Some Stats Through 6 Games

I took a few minutes to look through the statistics for the guys after the first 6 games.  The Crusaders have posted a nice 5-1 record taking care of the teams they should have, sticking with Arizona, and beating other quality mid majors in Akron and Duquesne.  I'm going to point out some numbers that stick out to me and then calculate my PPS for each guy and the team as a whole.

Interesting Stats
* As was posted on the Valpo Fanzone Message board, Valpo leads the nation in free throws attempted.

* KVW is shooting the ball at a 68% clip.  He has turned it over only 14 times and has a mere 2 assists.  As teams adjust to KVW's dominance inside those assist numbers will have to rise.


* Jay Harris has 18 assists and only 5 turnovers this year.  If you would have told me he'd be doing this at this time last year I'd have thought you were crazy.  Can't wait to see what this guy will turn into over the next few years.  Tommy Kurth has 10 turnovers and 5 assists.

* Erik Buggs is averaging just under 6 points per game.  I'll take that!  He also has as many rebounds as Richie Edwards.

* Ryan is leading the team in rebounding (9 per game) and blocking shots (7 so far).  He is also second in scoring (15.5)..

* The Crusaders have 4 guys averaging double figures and another just under (KVW 17.8  Broekhoff 15.5  Edwards 13.7  Harris 11.2  Kenney 9.2). 

Player Productivity Score
Kevin VanWijk: .97619
Ryan Broekhoff: .94285
Richie Edwards: .82857
Jay Harris: .61765
Matt Kenney: .625
Will Bogan: .43243
Erik Buggs: .39259
Hrvoje Vucic: .43284
Tommy Kurth: .21782

KVW Horizon League Player of the Week

Got this in an email:

Van Wijk Earns HL Player of the Week Accolade

Valparaiso junior forward Kevin Van Wijk (Hoofddorp, Netherlands/Katholieke Scholengemeenschap Hoofddorp) has been named the Horizon League Player of the Week after averaging 20.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game over his three games last week, the league office announced Monday.

Van Wijk opened the week with an impressive effort against Holy Cross [Ind.], posting a double-double with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and 10 rebounds in just 14 minutes of action.  The junior then registered his second consecutive double-double in the come-from-behind win over Akron, tallying 21 points and 10 rebounds, going 7-of-10 from the floor against the Zips.

Van Wijk sat out Saturday’s win over IU Kokomo before returning to the floor on Sunday with another strong performance in the victory over Duquesne.  Van Wijk came up just one rebound shy of his third straight double-double, finishing the game with a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds.  He averaged 21.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg in the two games he played he played that were part of the Valparaiso Subregional of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, earning All-Tournament Honors for his work.

Van Wijk and the rest of the Crusaders return to the court on Friday evening as Valpo faces off against #3/3 Ohio State, live on the Big Ten Network at 5:30 p.m.

-Valpo Men’s Basketball-

Game Wrap Up: Down go the Dukes

What a weekend of basketball at the ARC!  After grinding out a victory against Arkon on Friday, the pick up game against IUK, the Crusaders had a dominating performace against Duquesne.  The Crusaders were the better team in nearly every aspect of the game: rebounding, shooting, and coaching.  This Valpo team looked awefully good tonight and if they can continue to build and improve off of this the other HL teams will be in for a heck of a fight when the Crusaders come to town.

The Game
Valpo started the game on a nice run taking advantage of what appeared to be a tired Duquesne team.  However, I'm not sure tired legs had everything to do with what happened tonight.  The Crusaders hit some three point shots early on, a nice change of pace, and road that hot shooting from Ryan Broekhoff (21 points 5-9 3pt), Jay Harris (17 points 3-3 3pt) and the inside presence of Kevin VanWijk (22 points).

The Dukes did play a tough a game against Akron yesterday, but I think that given full rest they couldn't beat this Valpo team.  The biggest reason is that Coach Drew completely outcoached his counterpart this evening.  After the threes started dropping the Dukes were forced to stop sagging into the paint and had to come out and defend a bit more closely.  Then they tried helping and slapping the ball out of KVW's hands when he put in on the court.  This strategy worked until Bryce started bringing everyone to the same side of the court.  The Dukes continued to front KVW allowing and easy over the top entry pass which led to an easy score.  Even when the Duke defender played behind they were no match for KVW's post stregnth.  This went on for probably the last 25 minutes of the game and I never once saw Duquesne make an adjustment.  The Crusaders doubled up the Dukes on the boards 17 to 34.

Player of the Game

The nod goes to Ryan Broekhoff for his hot shooting which led him to 21 points and his team leading 13 rebounds.  Rowdy had a double double before the half time break.

POTG Runner Up
As much as I'd like to give it to Jay Harris, how can you ignore Kevin VanWijk.  I said it the other day and I'll say it again, if he can keep this up you are looking at an All Horizon League player.  VanWijk again led the Crusaders with 22 points, claimed 9 rebounds, and hit a respectable 10-15 from the free throw line.

Up Next
Valpo travels to The Ohio State Univesity to take on the highly touted Buckeyes and POTY candidate Jared Sullinger on the 25th.

*Photos borrowed from the VU Flickr page.  Remember to follow us on facebook and twitter!

Game Wrap Up: Bench Time

I decided to stay in tonight at watch the game live on the HLN broadcast.  I'm typing this as I watch.  Shelton and Vucic both are in the starting line up this evening!  Hrvoje gets an easy two right off the bat.  This game should be over pretty quickly.  Rowdy hits a three! Lets hope this is the first of many and he gets himself on a roll.  Some questionable shot selection from Buggs and Shelton in the first few possesions.

Well, Valpo already has a 20 point lead.  The guys are hitting threes and now will get plenty of rest before tomorrow's game.  I'll keep watching the first half and hope to see some good play from Kurth, Shelton, Steggleman (?) and Carpenter.


Up Next
Valpo takes on Duquesne tomorrow afternoon to wrap up the 2K Coaches vs. Cancer tournament.  Duquesne is another quality mid major and should provide another good game for fans and players alike.  Duquesne had a hard fought game against Akron earlier tonight, while Valpo was able to rest their main guys.  We will see who has the tired legs and which team is able to set the tempo for this game.

Game Wrap Up: I Love College Basketball

Now that is what a college basketball game is supposed to be like!  Loved the atmosphere tonight.  Kudos to the students for "staying a day" and to the community for coming, being loud, and urging the short handed Crusaders to victory!

The Game
I'm not going to throw a bunch of stats at you, for now.  Some games just suck me in as a fan and the numbers don't really matter.  I try to type these up as quick after the game as I can, so for now, you get no stats.  KVW is the real deal.  He is a monster inside that opposing teams have to focus a game plan on.  He was easily the best player on the court for this game.  He knocked out Zeke Marshall who ended with 0 points and 0 rebounds.  I'm going to say it, KVW WILL make an all conference Horizon League team this season.  Great game Kevin, get some rest and get ready for Sunday!  Matt Kenney was outstanding tonight.  His defense/shot blocking was huge.  The entire team played great D for most of the night and blocked numerous shots in huge moments of the game.  Jay Harris, keep hitting those free throws.  Noone better at the line for Valpo.  Hrvoje Vucic, nice job spelling Kevin.  He didn't play great by any means, but did enough to get KVW much needed rest.

One thing I am really starting to get concerned about is our three point shooting.  I don't recall hitting a single three, and nearly every attempt was a great look.  This has been happening most of the season now, and needs to change.  I can only recall one real jumper (hit by Harris) that was outside of the lane.  Akron was a physical team and that got them into big trouble with all the fouls. 

Concerns
Tommy Kurth is aweful.  I'll be the first to jump on a guy when he is bad (see Jay Harris last year) and the first to congratulate him when he does well (see Jay Harris the end of last year).

Three point shooting.  Someone hit one...anyone?

Richie Edwards, not sure what is wrong.  I know this will be revealed shortly and hopefully it isn't too serious.

Bryce's time out management.  He used his last one with 3 or 4 minutes to play.  I think we caught a break this time.

Up Next
Valpo takes on IU Kokomo tomorrow.  Hopefully they can get a nice big lead and get the starters some much needed rest before Sunday's game against Duquesne.    

Game Previews: Weekend Warriors

With the Crusaders playing games Friday, Saturday and Sunday we thought we would group the three previews into one post. Myself, Brent, and Danny each took one game and hope to provide a little insight and a prediction for our game. It should be a great weekend of basketball at the ARC with some good competition in what is sure to be an exciting ending to the 2k Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. Now onto the previews....

Friday vs. Akron - by Brent

Valpo's lack of a frontcourt will be front and center in this contest as Akron boasts of 6'8" all MAC second teamer Nikola Cvetinovic and MAC tournament MVP and 7 footer Zeke Marshall. They will also bring 3 other bigs off the bench to give KVW big trouble all night. The key will be to get both of these gentlemen into foul trouble early as they have a tendency to be over aggressive at times.

When it comes to the backcourt Valpo is going to have their hands full with starters in PG Alex Abreu, SG Brett McClanahan, and SF Quincy Diggs. The advantage here is slightly in Valpo's favor as Akron really only has one option off the bench to spell Abreu and McClanahan in Xavier transfer Brian Walsh.

This will be a battle between a four guard fast pace game of the Crusaders and the hard defense and half court game of the Zips. Valpo will be out manned down low and must push the tempo and get themselves in position to get good shots early in the shot clock. They must also put themselves in good position to grab rebounds to limit the Zips second chance shots. Finally, they must attack the basket and get Marshall and Cventinovic into foul trouble.

This is an early test for the Crusaders as Coach Drew must come up with a game plan to deal with the height advantage the Zips have. If he can come up with a game plan to beat the height and the Crusaders execute it it will set a tone moving forward towards Horizon League play. If they cannot, then Horizon League teams will have a blue print for success against the Crusaders. This will be a close matchup and certainly a game to watch as an early test of height vs. speed.

Saturday vs. IU Kokomo - by Danny

This Saturday will be the second day of the 2k classic Coaches vs. Cancer sub-regional that Valpo is hosting. The Crusaders will be taking IU Kokomo. The Cougars are a first year program, and their first win came against IU Northwest on November 1st in Gary. It appears that IU Kokomo is not a Division 1 program, and is still looking to find an identity as a first year program. Quite honestly, it is difficult to find any substantial information about the team at this point. They are just that new. Their team is made up of mostly freshman, but does have a veteran guard in Anthony Graves. I assume he is the best player for the Cougars.

Valpo will come into Saturday evening already have played the Akron Zips on Friday (Check out the game preview for Akron here on SectionEE). This will be the fifth contest of the young season for the Crusaders. The Crusaders are shooting 51% so far on the season, and will look to continue the hot shooting. In the game against Holy Cross, VU shot a sizzling 61%. So the high shooting percentage for the year so far is not necessarily a reflection of consistency, since the Crusaders only shot 41% at Arizona. Even though it is still early on, a few of the new guys seem to be making some strides. Will Bogan, the transfer from Ole Miss, scored 19 points on 8-12 shooting in the victory over Georgia Southern. JUCO transfer scored 25 points on 8-12 shooting as well in the victory over Holy Cross. Look for the usual suspects in leading the team in this game. Ryan Broekhoff, although only shooting at 24% from 3 on the year, has been the most consistent player for Valpo in terms of scoring. He and Kevin Van Wijk are tied for a team leading 15.3 ppg. Interestingly enough, Broekhoff has the edge over Van Wijk in rebounding at 9 per game versus 8.

So after looking at some stats, I think it is safe to say this will be a runaway for Valpo. IU Kokomo is a team mostly made up of freshman, in addition to only being a first year program. Perhaps Valpo wanted an easy contest in this tournament that they are getting to host. Look for Van Wijk to be dominate inside, and Broekhoff to continue his season as the high point man. This could be a game to get some playing time for the subs to get them more accustomed to each other. Matt Kenney, interestingly enough, is leading the team in steals so far this season with 6, as opposed to the idea that it might be Erik Buggs. Expect him to keep that up and get some baskets in transition. The Crusaders will get an easy win, and will hopefully be a part of a successful weekend for Valpo overall.

Valpo wins 76-48 (No real science went into this. Just my estimation!)



Sunday vs. Duquesne - by Hank

The Dukes have split their first two games this season, falling to Arizona and whomping Green Bay. They took on Arizona two days after Valpo did, falling to the Wildcats by 8 points.  Duquesne has had much success behind the arc, but that hasn't kept them from throwing up plenty of long range sots (10-44 22.7%).   Duquesne has had a lot of success taking care of the ball turning it over only 19 times in two games.

Duquesne is a deep team having 9 players play double digit minutes in both of their two games.  They are a young team and they don't have a lot of size (they have been out rebounded 93-65 on the season).  One player to watch for Duquesne is #23 B.J. Monteiro.  The 6'5'' senior shooting guard scored 17 against Green Bay.

For Valpo to win they will somehow have to have fresh legs after playing both Friday and Saturday.  The depth of Duquesne could really come into play in this game.  Two keys for Valpo's success will be to force at least 15 turnovers and to out rebound the Dukes and find some second chance points.

Game Preview: Valpo vs. IU Kokomo.

IU Kokomo
This Saturday will be the second day of the 2k classic Coaches vs. Cancer sub-regional that Valpo is hosting. The Crusaders will be taking IU Kokomo. The Cougars are a first year program, and their first win came against IU Northwest on November 1st in Gary. It appears that IU Kokomo is not a Division 1 program, and is still looking to find an identity as a first year program. Quite honestly, it is difficult to find any substantial information about the team at this point. They are just that new. Their team is made up of mostly freshman, but does have a veteran guard in Anthony Graves. I assume he is the best player for the Cougars.

Valpo
Valpo will come into Saturday evening already have played the Akron Zips on Friday (Check out the game preview for Akron here on SectionEE). This will be the fifth contest of the young season for the Crusaders. The Crusaders are shooting 51% so far on the season, and will look to continue the hot shooting. In the game against Holy Cross, VU shot a sizzling 61%. So the high shooting percentage for the year so far is not necessarily a reflection of consistency, since the Crusaders only shot 41% at Arizona. Even though it is still early on, a few of the new guys seem to be making some strides. Will Bogan, the transfer from Ole Miss, scored 19 points on 8-12 shooting in the victory over Georgia Southern. JUCO transfer scored 25 points on 8-12 shooting as well in the victory over Holy Cross. Look for the usual suspects in leading the team in this game. Ryan Broekhoff, although only shooting at 24% from 3 on the year, has been the most consistent player for Valpo in terms of scoring. He and Kevin Van Wijk are tied for a team leading 15.3 ppg. Interestingly enough, Broekhoff has the edge over Van Wijk in rebounding at 9 per game versus 8.

Prediction
So after looking at some stats, I think it is safe to say this will be a runaway for Valpo. IU Kokomo is a team mostly made up of freshman, in addition to only being a first year program. Perhaps Valpo wanted an easy contest in this tournament that they are getting to host. Look for Van Wijk to be dominate inside, and Broekhoff to continue his season as the high point man. This could be a game to get some playing time for the subs to get them more accustomed to each other. Matt Kenney, interestingly enough, is leading the team in steals so far this season with 6, as opposed to the idea that it might be Erik Buggs. Expect him to keep that up and get some baskets in transition. The Crusaders will get an easy win, and will hopefully be a part of a successful weekend for Valpo overall.

Valpo wins 76-48 (No real science went into this. Just my estimation!)

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.  

Game Preview: Home Opener vs. Holy Cross College

The Crusaders return to Valparaiso to welcome Holy Cross College in their 2011-2012 home opener.  The Saints come in having lost their first two games (they play another between the time of this post and the game on Monday) to Bethel College and Andrews University.  Game time is 7:05pm on Monday night.

Get to know your opponent
The Saints have had a rough go of it early on falling to Bethel by a point and Andrews U. by 25.  A couple guys worth watching for Holy Cross are Yama Kader (6'1'' Junior Guard) and Tayler Williams (6'8'' Senior Forward).  Kader went off for 23 points (4-7 from 3pt range) while Williams posted a double double scoring 18 points and collecting 11 rebounds in the same game.  Other then these two there doesn't appear to be much scoring on the roster for the Saints.

Holy Cross College is quite young.  Founded in 1966, Wikipedia lists only four famous alumni.  Skip Holtz the son of Lou Holtz and head football coach at USF, Jeff Smoke an Olympic kayak racer, and Rudy Ruettiger from the movie Rudy were all listed.  One more interesting note about Holy Cross is that they require all Bachelor of Arts students go on a global immersion experience.

The Game
The Crusaders should find it pretty easy going in their home opener.  I suspect we will see a pretty one sided affair by early in the second half.  Some things I will be watching for include: will Will Bogan's solid play from GSU carry over, can the team hit a higher percentage of their 3 point shots, and has the second unit continued their gelling process?  Only three weeks left until the HL opener at Butler (who lost at Evansville by 3 in OT earlier today)!


Prediction
With the way the guys played Friday night in a 90 point effort, I will throw out a score of 79-55 as my prediction with Valpo coming out the victors.  I think the entire roster is going to see plenty of playing time.

VU doing their part

Got this in my email yesterday.  Thought I would share it if you haven't seen it yet.

Fans who turned on ESPNU for the Valparaiso men’s basketball season opener at Arizona on Monday saw new Crusader head coach Bryce Drew sporting a light blue blazer in his debut.  Drew was wearing the bright jacket not as a fashion statement, but in support of his father Homer’s fight with prostate cancer.  Now, with Valpo hosting a subregional of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer next weekend, fans will have the chance to support the fight against cancer.

Drew will again sport the light blue jacket for the Crusaders’ game next Friday against Akron, as light blue is the prostate cancer awareness color.  The entire coaching staff will also be wearing light blue as well, while the players will all be wearing light blue shooting shirts during warmups. 

There will also be light blue t-shirts available for fans in exchange for a donation on Friday night, while students who pledge to “Stay a Day” and push back the start of their Thanksgiving break by one day will receive light blue wristbands.  Drew and the entire coaching staff will also all be sporting yellow later in the weekend, in support of mother Janet Drew’s battle with bladder cancer.  All money raised over the course of the weekend will be donated to cancer research in Homer and Janet’s names.

Valpo vs. Georgia Southern Wrap Up: A game of runs

Valpo 90 Georgia Southern 81

This was a night of runs. Valpo jumped out to an early lead and every time Georgia Southern made a run Valpo answered right back. The refs also contributed to the game of runs by starting each half loading Georgia Southern up with fouls and then following that up by loading Valpo with fouls. That served to stop either team from really finding a rhythm offensively. Valpo scored 29 pts at the charity line while GSU scored 23.

The key to the game was the 35-25 rebounding advantage that Valpo enjoyed including an impressive 16 offensive rebound effort. Will Bogan also answered the call to be the third option by scoring 19 pts on 8-12 shooting. Broekhoff managed to lead the Crusaders in scoring once again with 22 pts despite shooting 4-11 from the field, but converted 13-16 from the free throw line. He also added 13 boards for a double double. Both teams suffered from foul trouble at the end of the game with Van Wijk and Bogan both fouling out for the Crusaders and Baskerville and Powers fouling out for the Eagles. Edwards stepped up in place of Van Wijk after he had to sit most of the 2nd half with foul trouble scoring 12 pts and grabbing 9 boards.

Overall, Valpo capped the week on the east coast with a victory after starting the week on the west coast with a tough loss. The Eagles were playing their first victory of the season and it showed at times. However, the lack of inside presence for the Eagles and the contributions of Bogan and Broekhoff made the difference in this game.

Player of the Game: Will Bogan
He single handedly kept the Crusaders in the lead as the Eagles made a run to close out the first half. He also stepped up and made shots after he looked tentative to do so on Monday night.

Valpo is back in action Monday night for the home opener against Holy Cross with a 7:05 cst tipoff.

Valpo vs. Georgia Southern Preview

Friday's night's competition is a competition between two young and up and coming teams. Georgia Southern suffered a through a 5-27 campaign last year as they battled injuries and played a whole host of freshman who have done a lot of growing up. The Eagles will be lead by guards Willie Powers and Ben Drayton. Powers is considered by some to be an NBA prospect point guard while Drayton will provide a challenge for the Crusaders on both ends of the floor.

Add to that last year's freshman class lead by Eric Ferguson will add depth and athleticism to the Eagles squad. The Eagles are short on inside depth as returning big man Marvin Baynham suffered from poor free throw shooting and had trouble staying in games due to foul trouble. They have added two freshman in Tyrone Brown and Kameron Dunnican will be asked to contribute a lot early to what is a thin front line.

All in all, Georgia Southern is going to look to get out in open space and run as much as possible and use their depth to wear out the Crusaders. Their guard play will be the key to the game for them as they are going to look to limit long possessions and find quick, open shots. This Georgia Southern squad will be much better than last year's squad and is going to provide a tough challenge to the Crusaders.

Keys to the game for Valpo.
Offense
- KVW is going to have to pick up where he left off on Monday and bully Georgia Southern's front line around.
- They must make open shots that were missed on Monday night.
- Somebody has to step up and be a third scorer.
- No dry spells!
- On the ball screens must be better.

Defense
- Keep the GSU guards from penetrating the lane.
- Slow the game down.
- Crash the boards.
- No open shots.
- Make the big men make plays.

You can listen to the game by clicking here.

P.P.S. for the Arizona game

Today I had my advanced math students calculate the Player Productivity Score for the guys from the Arizona game. 

Here are the results from the first game of the year:

Kevin: 0.885
Ryan: 0.719
Richie: 0.444
Matt: 0.433
Jay: 0.407
Will: 0.349
Erik: 0.333
Hrvoje: 0.25
Tommy: 0

I would love to see the major contributors at or above .5 (last year's team averaged a 0.565).  I know these numbers probably don't carry much (if any) weight, but seeing this many lower scores it is not surprising they lost that game against Arizona.

Frustrating Season Opener

New coach same old story against ranked opponents. The first half saw both Arizona and Valpo make several mistakes as both were trying to find a rhythm in the opening game of the season. Kevin Van Wijk was the stand out of the night. What else impressed me was Buggs play at point guard. The PG spot is the key to every team in college and what I saw out of Buggs was absolutely phenomenal and will only get better. The final score wasn't really a good indication of just how bad the second half was because once Arizona went up 20 they took their foot off the gas and let Valpo back in, which I believe is going to be an issue for them all season. However, the fact that Valpo didn't stop fighting set a good tone for the rest of the season.

Positives
- KVW's play was outstanding as was Broekhoff.
- Team never gave up despite being down 20.
- Great team defense.
- Faster pace offense to help offset height issues.
- Great job crashing the boards to limit second chance points.

Negatives
- Who is going to step up and be a third option after KVW and Broekhoff?
- The bench was out of synch.
- Too many 3's.
- Too much hesitation on passes which lead to turnovers.
- Nobody stepped up to help KVW down low.

Conclusion
The team struggled on its first night. The bench looked overwhelmed, but I believe Edwards and Bogans just need more court time with the rest of the Crusaders. The faster paced offense means that a tenth person needs to step up and play some quality time because the starters were definitely wore out midway through the 2nd half. All in all, it was a good showing for the Crusaders as they refused to give up and edged within 10 at the end of the game. Things are looking up and I believe this could be a surprise year for the Crusaders as they adjust to a new system and new players.

Next game at Georgia Southern Friday night! Preview coming on Thursday.

Game Wrap Up: A tale of two halves

The Game: 64-73 Loss 0-1
Wow, so I was way off on Natyazhko.  As I'm writing this he has 0 points and 4 fouls and has been a complete non factor.  The first half saw some excellent play by Valparaiso's first unit especially VanWijk.  The second unit was not very good, but hopefully they will continue to grow and mesh.  KVW played out of his mind, scoring, rebounding, and getting the Wildcat big men in foul trouble. 

The second half started with plenty of sloppy play from both sides.  Unfortunately, Valpo's sloppy play continued a lot longer then Arizona's.  A long offensive drought combined with turnovers saw the Arizona lead jump to 12 points early.  Too many missed open shots and too many open shots allowed at the other end.  This was truely a tale of two halfs.  Some poor possessions on both offense and defense  in the second half proved to be too much for Valpo to overcome.  This has to be a good learning experience for this team to hopefully gain some much needed experience and the coaching staff should have plenty of material to coach this team up and make them better.  The Crusaders were a few of those open threes from really making this interesting.  But hey, we covered the spread!

Some questions I hope will be answered by Friday: Who can fill in for Kevin when needs a breather?  Can we find some consistency from behind the arc?  Can the second unit find some rhythm on both ends of the court?  Keep on gellin', see you Friday.

Things I liked/disliked
+ KVW had a great game, loved his effort and ability to draw fouls on the opponents big men...also his free throw shooting and scoring inside was pretty good

+ Buggs created a lot of open looks early for our shooters, those shots will fall. He also attacked the basket a few times and finished.

- The second unit...yuck

-  On the ball defense was aweful

+/- Richie Edwards still hasn't found a shot he doesn't like, love his aggressiveness...for now

- Will Bogan...you are a shooter who passed up several open looks.  Take the shot!

- Tommy Kurth, if he is going to be the back up at the point he must, MUST, play better.

- Outside shooting was atrocious.  Two of the three games this year has seen Valpo shoot very poorly from outside.  I'm a little worried about this.  Edwards needs to step inside the arc!

Valpo Player of the Game
Kevin VanWijk: 16 pts, 7 rebs (5 off), kept their bigs in foul trouble

Honorable Mention
Ryan Broekhoff: 20 pts, 10 rebs, 3-9 3pts, missed too many wide open looks to make POTG

Up Next
Valpo will travel to Statesboro, GA to take on Georgia Southern on Friday at 6:30pm in the 2k Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer.  Watch for our game preview to come out by Thursday. 

Loved the Blue jackets and ties sported by the coaching staff.  Nice message and way to support the Drew family.

Don't forget you can find us on Twitter and Facebook!

Arizona game notes - 1st half

* KVW playing aggressively early, not hitting free throws (5-4 valpo, 3 missed freebies)

* Bryce - nice blue jacket supporting cancer awareness (thanks Dereck for pointing it out)

* Buggs 2 fouls early, have to play smarter D...followed up by an O-reb, to, and intentional foul on Kurth (7-6 Zona)

* Good to see Edwards attack and score early (tied @7) then bricks a 3pt...step inside Cory Johnson (12-7 Zona)

*Edwards another good finish AT THE HOOP (9-12 Zona, 11:35)

* KVW back to the line, 2-2...who needs consistency?

* 2 charges taken...I like it

* Rowdy misses a three...someone make one and break the seal...there it is! (15-18 zona)

* Buggs is the fastest guy on the court and it is not even close, KVW is really doing well on the inside getting points and drawing fouls

* KVW another two freebies throw the hoop

* Really playing quite well, hoping the Zona depth doesn't wear VU out (19-18 valpo, 7 minutes left)

* Rowdy another bomb (22-20 Valpo)!

* Buggs attacks the hoop and scores, better pay attention to him

* Second unit is not doing a very good job.  That will need to change if they want to win this one tonight.  Chasing 2 at the half.

ESPN Piece on the Drews

Check out Andy Katz's piece on the Drew family from his visit to Valparaiso last week. 

Valparaiso vs. Arizona Tonight!

Don't forget to check out Coach Bryce Drew's first regular season as coach! The game starts at 9 pm est (8 pm cst) on ESPNU or ESPN3.com. Reaction from the game will come tomorrow! Don't forget to follow us on twitter, find us @sectionee for in game reaction.

Let the debate begin!

Now that the 2011-2012 college basketball season is upon us the litany of rankings and predictions will becoming to a sports outlet near you. We did our predictions back in July. The latest ESPN the magazine tackles the prospect of ranking every single D1 basketball team (Monday nights foe, Arizona, is ranked 16th). They used a model created by Dan Hanner who is a contributor to RealGM.com and ranks categories such as returning players, incoming players, injured players, development of players, and ability of coaches. Now if that doesn't create a multitude of human and computer driven error I don't know what will, but I thought I would share how they envision the Horizon League turning out.
10. UIC
9. YSU
8. WSU
7. UWGB
6. VU
5. Loyola
4. UWM
3. CSU
2. Detroit
1. Butler
For those of us who follow the Horizon League closely Loyola's 5th place finish should make you do a double take (I did a quadruple take). The only thing I can figure out with that prediction is that someone forgot that Payne and Hill have to serve their one year transfer obligation. This is a team that has a hard time staying healthy and has already lost their PG for the season. Then again all sports writers make a living off of making predictions that don't turn out right. I should know, I'm a trained meteorologist after all...

Some bread crumbs around college basketball:
This year could be one of the best seasons in years because the NBA lockout scared the top players back to school... North Carolina is the strong consensus #1 team in the Nation and is my pick to be the team at the end of the "One Shining Moment" reel at the end of the tournament... Pay for play seems to be picking up steam and it appears that college athletes will be making money to play which is the right thing to do in my opinion... With college basketball action beginning Monday the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic will have even more meaning to the Crusaders because of the Drew's recent cancer announcement... Speaking of Homer and his wife, I want to wish them all the best... My mantle is ready for basketball season with my Homer bobble head (and two Valpo diplomas)!

Game Preview: Heading to Arizona

After wrapping up the preseason with a 2-0 record the Crusaders take their show on the road in the opening round of the 2K Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer at #16 Arizona.  The preseason answered some questions and opened up a few others.  No team benefitted from the preseason more then Coach Drew and his new look Crusaders.  The teamed showed much improvement from game one to game two, but with room to grow these next few weeks will be imparitive before starting the Horizon League season with an early December game at Butler.

About the opponent:
Arizona comes in ranked at #16 in both the AP and Coaches poll.  The Wildcats have not played well in their two preseason games, losing the first and needing a late rally to pull out the second.  Two guys to watch are forward Jesse Perry (6'7'' Senior) and center Kyryl Natyazhko (6'11'' Junior).  Both of these guys know how to rebound and score and will be a handful for the Crusader big men.

If Valpo wants to give this blogger a birthday present and come away with a victory.....

* The new faces of Will Bogan and Richie Edwards will need to have similar offensive outputs that they produced against Augustana.

* The Crusaders must slow the speed of the Arizona guards and limit the number of trips to the foul line the Wildcats get.  They don't necessarily shoot them well, but in their last preseason game they got there a bunch.

* Valpo needs to find the touch from the outside early and often.  It is no secret that VU teams like to shoot the deep ball.  I think they will need to be connecting on 35-40% of their three point attempts to have a real shot at winning.

* Quick double teams and rotations.  The defense needs to recognize when to double the post and when that double comes the perimeter guys cannot be a step slow in their rotations.

* Rebounding, the Crusaders must win the rebounding battles on both ends of the court.

Prediction: Arizona has struggled in their two preseason games losing the first one by a point and winning the second game by nine.  Valpo is better than both of those teams.  However, I think Valpo comes out shooting the ball poorly in the first half (ala the game at Butler last season) and digs themselves too big of a hole to overcome.  Also, the interior size and strength of Arizona will prove too much for the Crusader big guys.  Valpo does play better in the second half and makes a game of it.  In the end, Arizona pulls out the victory 68-59.  Be sure to watch the game on ESPN3.com!

SectionEE Making A Difference

Now by no means am I claiming that I alone am responsible for the Valpo/Arizona game being shown on ESPN3.com this coming Monday.  However, Thursday night after checking ESPN3.com for their schedule of events and not seeing the game listed I emailed ESPN.  The following is the coorespondence between myself and ESPN employee John T.

Any chance the Arizona vs. Valparaiso game will be available on ESPN3.com?  I'd love to watch it on my Xbox Monday night.
Thank you.

ESPN Customer Care support@espncustomercare.com to me

show details Nov 3 (1 day ago)

Dear ESPN Fan,

Thank you for contacting us.

We value feedback and suggestions from our fans. Your suggestion regarding broadcasting the Arizona vs. Valparaiso game on ESPN3 is very much appreciated and will be forwarded to the appropriate department for review.

For live assistance with this or any other issue, please call Customer Care at 1-888-549-3776 (ESPN) between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. EST.

Regards,

John T
ESPN.com Customer Care

Game Wrap Up: Showing Improvement

I was unable to attend tonights preseason finale.  After a long evening of parent teacher conferences I received a call that my boys weren't feeling well and that my assistance was needed at home.  Tonights game wrap up will be written by Valparaiso University freshman Danny Mosco who was in attendance.  Folks if you ever need game updates Danny is your man.  I got numerous detailed text messages, probably detailed enough I could've wrote this myself. Thank you Danny for helping me out tonight!


The Game:

I guess there is a reason these games are called exhibitions, since they are not exactly perfect. Thursday night the Crusaders welcomed the visiting Augustana Vikings, a Division 3 school that is nationally ranked in the preseason polls. The game was not as close an affair as the Crusaders’ last time out against Hillsdale. The Crusaders came out playing pretty good defense, but did not come out rebounding well. Augustana pulled down a total of 16 offensive rebounds in the contest, outrebounding Valpo by a margin of 6. The Crusaders did move the ball pretty well throughout the night as they racked a total of 15 assists. In the early going, Matt Kenney showed signs of improvement from beyond the arc, hitting 2 of them. Overall the Crusaders shot 11-25 from the 3 point line, much improved from Saturday’s game against Hillsdale. At the half, Ryan Broekhoff and Kevin Van Wijk were leading the way offensively with 9 points each. So far, in these two games Broekhoff and Van Wijk appear to be to be the strongest offensive presences for the Crusaders.

In the second half, Valpo begin to take control of the game, playing consistent defense. Erik Buggs was playing his usual tight defense, and Bogan and Edwards appeared to be staying with their guys much better as well. Valpo began to pull away during a sequence in which Buggs beat his man to the basket for a layup, followed up by a steal that Broekhoff was able to clean up for a layup. On the next possession the ball was once again poked loose, leading to a Broekhoff dunk, Augustana timeout, and and excited crowd. The game continued on without Augustana getting too close. Valpo ends up winning by a respectable 74-65.

The Positives:

As mentioned before, the Crusaders ball movement was pretty good, racking up 15 assists. Production from Richie Edwards was also substantially higher, shooting 4-9 from the field and scoring 14 points. He also shot 2-4 from the 3 point line. Matt Kenney played much better offensively, scoring 13 on 5-9 shooting. He went 3-6 from 3 point range, which is a good sign from him. Also, he had 4 assists. Will Bogan shot well from the 3 point line, going 3-4. For a guy labeled as a shooter, it’s good to be seeing him knock down shots. Scoring was pretty balanced overall, with Edwards being the high point man and Broekhoff once again putting in a solid effort (13 points 5 rebounds). Team shooting was a bright spot as well, shooting 42% overall and 44% from 3 point range. Team defense was pretty solid for the game, ending up with 7 steals, and forcing 22 Augustana turnovers. 

Needs Improvement:

Despite playing good defense, the Crusaders did not rebound as well. They were outrebounded 37-30 on the night. Turnovers were also a big story, and many of them were ugly. I recall several unforced turnovers were someone was trying to force a pass into traffic, not catching a pass, and even one teammate knocking another out of bounds after a rebound. I hate to single out a guy, but Will Bogan did poorly in this area. He shot well, but led the team with 5 turnovers and only had 2 assists. It is early on, so we can only hope it won’t be long before he gets comfortable playing with the team and doesn’t have as many unforced turnovers. The Crusaders are going to have cut out all of the unforced turnovers, and need to improve upon a 15/20 assist to turnover ratio. With the Arizona game looming on the horizon, there is still some work to do with gelling with each other. Overall, it was an enjoyable game, with the crowd never really doubting the outcome. Coach Bryce Drew gets his second win, and Valpo gets more experience before opening up the regular season at Arizona on November 7^th.

"The Game", "The Positives", and "Needs Improvement" written by Valparaiso University Freshman Danny Mosco

Up Next:
The Crusaders take to the road for their season opener.  The opening round of the 2k Sports Classic Benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer matchup with #16 Arizona awaits the team on November 7th.  Look for our preview to come out Saturday.