Official 2016-17 MVCfans.com Prediction - 8th Place

[SubGod22]

I also see Bradley as fighting for that 6th/7th spot. The SO class is a solid one with a couple of really good players. Add a few JUCO guys for some added maturity and leadership and add that to a team that played much better at the end of the season and I think they make a nice jump to try and avoid Thursday. I also voted for Loyola. This is a team with a couple of nice pieces, but a lot of questions. Will Doyle finally be the star they've been waiting for? Will Custer make a significant impact? Will they ever be able to keep a post player more than a year or two? Will they finally get serious about basketball and part ways with Moser?

You could probably make a case for a couple of others here if you wanted. Indiana State has some questions. Missouri State has Lusk. SIU lost their top guy and their best big. I could see arguments for any of those and the two I mentioned above for any of the next couple of spots.

[BuBrave2006]

Bradley will be much better than people think. That being said we still have a long ways to go and people have set the bar very low for us, so it will be easy to outperform expectations, but we have some talent on this team. IDK how many wins we are going to get (I'm predicting somewhere 6-8 in conference), but we are done being the doormat of this league. We are going to be much more competitive in every game and i don't expect us to get blown out very often. This is the first year I've genuinely looked forward to the season expecting reasonable improvement in quite a while.

All that being said, I voted for Loyola solely because I think they have the best chance to finish below Bradley in this poll and I want Bradley to survive as long as possible. Although, I do genuinely believe we finish 6th/7th.

[Rambler63]

I can't for the life of me figure out why Loyola is getting votes here.

1. Loyola adds Iowa State transfer Clayton Custer at PG.
2. Donte Ingram is ready to become a MVC second-team level player; he averaged 10.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 45.5% FG% in his last 14 games last season. Had great games on summer trip to Spain.
3. Aundre Jackson is a 6'5" 230 juco forward who plays like Christian Thomas. He averaged 9.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 54.8 FG% in 23.8 mpg in the four games on this summer's Spain trip.
4. Matt Chastain is an explosive scorer, 6'6", versatile, and really able to exploit mismatches.
5. Milton Doyle is a senior and in his best shape physically since his freshman year.
6. Ben Richardson was the top 3FG% in the league last year, (44.4%) and is one of the best defenders in the league (32 steals to only 26 turnovers, plus 52 assists).
7. Other newcomers include 6'8" juco Vlatko Granic, 6'4" SG Cameron Satterwhite (former Colorado signee), and another 6'4" SG Bruno Skokna.

I've got Loyola finishing in the 3-6 range, with 4th or 5th most probable. I've got Bradley here, and SIU up next.

[BuBrave2006]

I can't for the life of me figure out why Loyola is getting votes here.

1. Loyola adds Iowa State transfer Clayton Custer at PG.
2. Donte Ingram is ready to become a MVC second-team level player; he averaged 10.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 45.5% FG% in his last 14 games last season. Had great games on summer trip to Spain.
3. Aundre Jackson is a 6'5" 230 juco forward who plays like Christian Thomas. He averaged 9.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 54.8 FG% in 23.8 mpg in the four games on this summer's Spain trip.
4. Matt Chastain is an explosive scorer, 6'6", versatile, and really able to exploit mismatches.
5. Milton Doyle is a senior and in his best shape physically since his freshman year.
6. Ben Richardson was the top 3FG% in the league last year, (44.4%) and is one of the best defenders in the league (32 steals to only 26 turnovers, plus 52 assists).
7. Other newcomers include 6'8" juco Vlatko Granic, 6'4" SG Cameron Satterwhite (former Colorado signee), and another 6'4" SG Bruno Skokna.

I've got Loyola finishing in the 3-6 range, with 4th or 5th most probable. I've got Bradley here, and SIU up next.

I'll believe in Custer when i see him. Drake thought they were in great shape when they got two B1G Transfers. Chastain is a freshman who had three good weeks and exploded onto the scene. I'll believe in him when i see it. Doyle has regressed every year and I don't see any reason why this year would be any different.

Also, it sounds like you don't have any size. Jackson going to be your starting center at 6-5? If not him, then who? Rajala? Kirby? Without Montel James, I think it will be very difficult for you guys to rebound and defend inside.

This is just an outsider's look at how Loyola shapes up this season.

[Khan4Cats]

Are the folks that are voting WSU going to vote them straight through to the end? Are they basically picking "the field"?

If its anything like past years, it is Wichita State fans voting them there to be obnoxious.

[RoyalShock]

Same goes for the ISUr and UNI votes. It's just silliness to predict any of the three as a Thursday team. That's not to say it isn't possible, but it shows either a lack of sensability or a lack of maturity.

fan - A shortened form of "fantatic", which is a person who, in certain emotional contexts, lacks sensibility and/or maturity.

- A direct quote from the RoyalShock Contemporary English Sportionary.

[Blers]

One thing Moser has proven is that he plays better with smaller mobile bigs. They won the CBI two years ago with Montel James as the only true big and Christian Thomas as a PF at a generous 6’5. That team relied heavily on freshmen like Richardson and Ingram, and JUCO transfers like James and Peterson. There are really a lot of similarities in their favor (mean’s nothing if they don’t put it on the court). The team is built on grit and grinding out rebounds and every defensive series. Last year they struggled with a leadership void; this year Richardson and Custer have filled it.

The suggestion that Doyle regressed every season is also statistically untrue. His sophomore year he shot far more efficiently just at a lower clip which slightly lowered his ppg. But all other major statistics improved. Last year he clearly wasn’t himself, there was likely uncertainty if he would return to school and it’s been suggested he went through a lot in the year. He added ten pounds in the offseason and certainly wants to go out with his stock as high as possible; I expect a solid rebound season.

Chastain’s high school career was an explosion waiting to happen; it just took Utah noticing him to light the fuse. Loyola just happened to be there first. He’ll take have freshmen moments, but all early returns show him and 3 star recruit Cam Satterwhite being a big piece.

From an outside perspective, and I’m specifically asking Sub, I’m curious where all the disdain for Moser comes from. He’s not perfect, but in the last two years the team very rarely gets blown out, he has won a post season tournament, got at least one win at every conference tournament and beat Creighton. I may be in the minority, but I think he’s a solid coach, not a world beater, not best in conference, but respectable. He’s 39-30 in the last two years and recruitment has been WAY past where it was in the past. Anyway… I have them as a five seed this year!

[Wufan]

I can't for the life of me figure out why Loyola is getting votes here.

1. Loyola adds Iowa State transfer Clayton Custer at PG.
2. Donte Ingram is ready to become a MVC second-team level player; he averaged 10.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 45.5% FG% in his last 14 games last season. Had great games on summer trip to Spain.
3. Aundre Jackson is a 6'5" 230 juco forward who plays like Christian Thomas. He averaged 9.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 54.8 FG% in 23.8 mpg in the four games on this summer's Spain trip.
4. Matt Chastain is an explosive scorer, 6'6", versatile, and really able to exploit mismatches.
5. Milton Doyle is a senior and in his best shape physically since his freshman year.
6. Ben Richardson was the top 3FG% in the league last year, (44.4%) and is one of the best defenders in the league (32 steals to only 26 turnovers, plus 52 assists).
7. Other newcomers include 6'8" juco Vlatko Granic, 6'4" SG Cameron Satterwhite (former Colorado signee), and another 6'4" SG Bruno Skokna.

I've got Loyola finishing in the 3-6 range, with 4th or 5th most probable. I've got Bradley here, and SIU up next.

The reason Loyola is getting votes here is because they don't have much size. You do a nice job explaining why they will overcome it in your next post, but that's why. I agree that Loyola has a nice group of perimeter players and MIGHT have enough skill and quickness in the post to be dangerous, but not a lock to finish higher than 8th. All that said, I didn't vote them here and I won't vote them for 7th either.

James, Custer, Richardson, and Ingram are good enough that I think they avoid Thursday. A serviceable post and one guy that has a FOY type season pushes them up the standings rapidly.

[SubGod22]

From an outside perspective, and I’m specifically asking Sub, I’m curious where all the disdain for Moser comes from. He’s not perfect, but in the last two years the team very rarely gets blown out, he has won a post season tournament, got at least one win at every conference tournament and beat Creighton. I may be in the minority, but I think he’s a solid coach, not a world beater, not best in conference, but respectable. He’s 39-30 in the last two years and recruitment has been WAY past where it was in the past. Anyway… I have them as a five seed this year!

Because he has a history of mediocrity at best in the MVC and has shown nothing to change that. I've said from day one of you guys in the MVC that if you're going to be serious about basketball, you need to make a change at the top and I still believe that. Moser was always able to recruit pretty well, but he's never been able to do much of anything with that. To me, that says he's not a very good coach. The revolving door in the post is another indication of that to me. You've had a couple of guys inside that appeared at least promising that he's run off. He's shown no desire to build any depth and I think it'll take a miracle or a couple of major injuries from other teams for Loyola to avoid Drake Night.

[Stickboy46]

I can't for the life of me figure out why Loyola is getting votes here.

1. Loyola adds Iowa State transfer Clayton Custer at PG.
2. Donte Ingram is ready to become a MVC second-team level player; he averaged 10.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 45.5% FG% in his last 14 games last season. Had great games on summer trip to Spain.
3. Aundre Jackson is a 6'5" 230 juco forward who plays like Christian Thomas. He averaged 9.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 54.8 FG% in 23.8 mpg in the four games on this summer's Spain trip.
4. Matt Chastain is an explosive scorer, 6'6", versatile, and really able to exploit mismatches.
5. Milton Doyle is a senior and in his best shape physically since his freshman year.
6. Ben Richardson was the top 3FG% in the league last year, (44.4%) and is one of the best defenders in the league (32 steals to only 26 turnovers, plus 52 assists).
7. Other newcomers include 6'8" juco Vlatko Granic, 6'4" SG Cameron Satterwhite (former Colorado signee), and another 6'4" SG Bruno Skokna.

I've got Loyola finishing in the 3-6 range, with 4th or 5th most probable. I've got Bradley here, and SIU up next.

I have Loyola anywhere from 4 to 8. There is talent there, but its all unproven. Even Doyle is unproven IMO, he's been very hit and miss over his career. While Moser isn't a bad coach, he hasn't shown he can take unproven talent and really do anything with it. Winning the CBI is great and all ... but its still the CBI. Its still where mid tier MVC teams go.