Official 2013-14 MVCfans.com Prediction - 8th Place

[ahunte1]

HAVING SAID THAT

There is something to be said about the grind of the Valley vs the Horizon and it being all new to Loyola. The grind of hitting WSU, UNI, ISUb 6 times this year is going to be a shock to their system...

This is why I'm inclined to vote Loyola 7th or 8th.

The ramblers could t compete in the horizon why will they compete in the valley.

I don't think this is quite accurate, though I wouldn't expect someone who didn't watch the Horizon league last year to think otherwise.

Loyola won on the road at Valpo, who was the league champion, and lost six conference games by 10 points, combined.

Close losses:

Home vs Youngstown St. by 2 points. Led by 10 with 8:00 left. YSU hit a fall away jumper with 5 seconds left.
Home vs Wright St. by 1 point. Led by 8 with 7:00 left. Missed close range shot at buzzer.
Road vs UIC by 2 points. Regained lead late, UIC made a layup with 2 seconds left to win.
Road vs Wright St. by 3 points. Led by 11 with under 6:00 left. WSU hit a three with 8 seconds left.
Road vs Youngstown by 1 point. Down big. Led by two, YSU hit a three with 10 seconds left.
Road vs Detroit by 1 point. Close game. Layup by Jeff White gave Loyola a 1 point lead with 9 seconds left, but Detroit scored at the buzzer.

Also lost by 2 on the road in the first round of the conference tourney.

(Yeah, it wasn't fun to watch these games.)

To me, that's a team that competed pretty well in the Horizon, especially considering that four freshmen got almost half of the minutes in many of these games.

Is that the same as competing in the Valley? Of course not. But it's not right to say we couldn't compete in the Horizon.

[Rambler63]

Although I'm a Loyola fan, I've lived in Normal for the past 6+ years, and have been to Arch Madness twice. I thought I was pretty well attuned to the "grind" of the MVC until I saw the actual conference schedule this year-- 9 games in the first four weeks of January, with 3 single-game road trips, and never more than 4 days between games. That is indeed a grind. It helps to explain why so many totally unforeseen upsets happen in this league.

In the Horizon, games were usually on Thursdays and Saturdays in paired road trips. Loyola also had the benefit of three other conference foes within an hour and a half. Most years, there was usually one week during the conference season with only one game on the schedule, allowing time for recovery and regrouping. I think there might be a bit of an adjustment, at least in year one. But the reason I've decided to vote for Loyola for 7th place has nothing to do with the "grind." It has to do with our history, and my experience as a longtime fan. It also doesn't help that I'm a Cubs fan.

In a way, ahunte1 alludes to it above, with his list of close losses.... I've learned that if there is a crazy way that Loyola could possibly end up at a disadvantage in a close call, it'll happen. So I'm guessing Loyola ties for 6th place and ends up seeded 7th and playing on Thursday as the result of the second tiebreaker: non-conference schedule strength.

[Aargh]

The Valley has a long conference schedule. 18 games is a lot. The Valley tourney is a week earlier than most for TV purposes, so the Valley plays a heavy schedule in a conference season that's a week shorter than most conferences play their schedules.

On a completely different note, IlSU may have to be re-evaluated. They've lost a lot, but it looks like Deontae (Teddy) Hawkins is either going to be a full qualifier (eligible all season) or a partial qualifier (eligible second semester, which is, essentially the conference season).

Hawkins was a legitimate top-150 player out of HS, but wasn't a qualifier, so he took a prep school year. Hawkins has the talent to raise IlSU a notch or two if he can keep his head on straight, which has not been established.

Hawkins situation is still unknown. If the league office rules that after signing a LoI with a Valley school, going to any other Valley school is a "transfer", then Hawkins loses 2 years. If voiding a LoI because a player is not eligible on the enrollment date for the year of the LoI negates the "transfer" rule", then Hawkins can play this year if he's passed the clearinghouse.

[rlh04d]

I don't see Evansville here but can see why some would think that. I believe it's very close between Aces and Ramblers. For 7th that is.

That would be my guess as well. I'm inclined to say that the Ramblers avoid Thursday night.

Why are you inclined to say that other than you are a fan? The ramblers could t compete in the horizon why will they compete in the valley.

Could say something very similar to this about Missouri State.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Could say something very similar to this about Missouri State.

I'm really trying to understand what you are saying. Is this some Mid-Continent Conference reference from when we joined the Valley that I am somehow missing? Thanks in advance.

[Bluejay09Bear06]

Could say something very similar to this about Missouri State.

Is that so? Yeah, MSU really couldn't keep up in the MCC. That's why the Bears were earning AT-LARGE BIDS to the Dance under Charlie Spoonhour back when the MCC did not have an automatic bid to the NCAAs. What an ignorant statement.

Loyola hasn't come close to competing in the Horizon since the 80s. That being said, I think adding Loyola was a smart move for long-term purposes. But they weren't added because they were successful in the Horizon. I know that because they weren't successful there.

[glm38]

Could say something very similar to this about Missouri State.

I'm really trying to understand what you are saying. Is this some Mid-Continent Conference reference from when we joined the Valley that I am somehow missing? Thanks in advance.

For once I agree with Casey.

I generally have a lot of respect for your posts rlh but this one doesn't make sense to me? We've had a few bad years (including last year) but overall the Bears have competed pretty well in the Valley since joining. Definitely top half and probably a little higher than that.

[stl scooter]

Could say something very similar to this about Missouri State.

Is that so? Yeah, MSU really couldn't keep up in the MCC. That's why the Bears were earning AT-LARGE BIDS to the Dance under Charlie Spoonhour back when the MCC did not have an automatic bid to the NCAAs. What an ignorant statement.

Loyola hasn't come close to competing in the Horizon since the 80s. That being said, I think adding Loyola was a smart move for long-term purposes. But they weren't added because they were successful in the Horizon. I know that because they weren't successful there.

The Horizon didn't exist until 1994.

[BTbird]

Can we please get back on topic with how bad ISU is going this year? This is our week in the spotlight.

My best guess at a starting lineup. Disclaimer - I personally have not seen one of them play in person. I read articles, watched highlight video and I took some feedback from other redbird fans who have seen the players. In other words, you can take these comments to the bank.

Daishon Knight(PG)-JC player who seems to be a good all around player. Hopefully he can be a steady presence at PG. We didn't have that last year.
Zach Lofton(SG) - JC player who seems smooth with the ball. Good shooter and can create his own shot.
MiKyle McIntosh(SF)- Great athlete with a huge upside. Might be a project as a Freshman. Our expectations are probably going to be too high for him this year after all the recruiting hoopla.
Michael Middlebrooks(PF) - Good with blocks and rebounding. Had a high shooting percentage in JC but averaged under 10 pts.
John Jones(C) - Built like an NBA player but and has plenty of practice experience. Probably our best post player.

Kaza Keane (PG), Nick Zeisloft (SG/SF) and Bobby Hunter (PG/SG) are also possible starters.

All in all, it's hard to predict what this team will do. I've seen some of our JC players rated pretty high but not really high. One website has almost all of them between the 40-60 JC ranking which I know means nothing. We seem like we are going to be thin in the post. I know we lost Tyler Brown and Johnny Hill gave us some quality minutes but I am expecting our guard play to be better this year as a whole.

[Wufan]

I expect Ill St to have a slightly disjointed offense as a whole. Only two guys that have ever run an offense for Mueller in a live game. I expect the defense to be near the bottom of the league. JUCO guys aren't known to be good on the effort side of things, and I expect there is more talent than effort in RedBird Arena next year. That's not a knock against the ISU recruits or JUCO players. It is a difficult transition for most, and w/o many role models to base their effort, I don't expect to see the redbirds excel.