Next Year

[achrist70]

I figured might as well get a thread like this going

We actually return more scoring to next years team, then we did to this years team. I think Jeremy has the making of a Valley POY, and Klint and Bennett could be inside forces. Wyatt should be able to take a big step as well. I expect to see a line up like this.

PG: Juwan McCloud- Hopefully the hype is all true, we will go through growing pains, but I think it will help also having Wyatt on the floor with him.

SG: Wyatt Lohaus- I really think he could break out and be a 10 ppg player, has the makings of being a very good player, but has been able to take a back seat the last two years.

SF- Jeremy Morgan- Like I said, he could be the POY next year he has that ability, he will have to be the man and look for his shot. My only concern is that he won't have Wes to take a little defensive pressure off of him.

PF- Klint Carlson- His confidence has to be sky high, has a great inside out game, and will be a key to our success.

C- Bennett Koch- There were at least 5 games this year where he was our best player, he can't go through stretches where he disappears, also needs to work on his overall post defense, Jake and Adam were two of the best ever at post defense so there is hope.

Bench:

Luke McDonnell: Needs 20lbs of muscle, but I think the skill set is there to be a very effective Valley player.

Spencer Haldeman: I have seen him light it up in a high school game, and I think he could be very good for us, almost like a Johnny Moran (I hope)

Isaiah Brown: I would love to redshirt this kid, but I don't think we can unless be get a graduate transfer, looks like a clone of Jeremy, hopefully a year of learning from him leads to big things down the road.

Ted Friedman/ Justin Dahl: I really don't know who wins this spot, Ted is a good rebounder and works hard, Justin may have more upside, if he can adjust to the speed of the game.

Robert Knar/ Lincoln Conrey: I don't see a lot of action for either, but I could see one of these being almost the 10th player. It would have been nice to see what Robbie could have been with no knee injuries.

Redshirt: Tanner Lohaus- He's just not ready, but could be a nice piece in time.

My guess for the conference goes as followed

1. Wichita State
2. UNI
3. Illinois State
4. SIU
5. Missouri State
6. Loyola
7. Indiana State
8. Bradley
9. Drake
10. Evansville

The league is more of a toss up then I can ever remember, Wichita has the talent, but I don't know if they have the leadership, and the glue guys that they have had recently, We are the same, with just a step down in talent, Illinois State has probably the most returning but they just struggle to put it together. Barry has it going at SIU, but losing Beane is huge for them. After that it is anyone's guess, I put Missouri State at 5th because they got better as the season went on, and return quite a bit, Loyola has decent talent, but always underachieves. Indiana State finished a mess, it'll be interesting what they can do with Brenton Scott returning. Bradley has to be better. Drake is Drake, and Marty ball won't work with Marty Jr. as the key piece.

[JD720]

Re: Next Year

What's the scholarship situation? Are the 13 you listed all on scholarship?

[Panther100]

Re: Next Year

I figured might as well get a thread like this going

We actually return more scoring to next years team, then we did to this years team. I think Jeremy has the making of a Valley POY, and Klint and Bennett could be inside forces. Wyatt should be able to take a big step as well. I expect to see a line up like this.

PG: Juwan McCloud- Hopefully the hype is all true, we will go through growing pains, but I think it will help also having Wyatt on the floor with him.

SG: Wyatt Lohaus- I really think he could break out and be a 10 ppg player, has the makings of being a very good player, but has been able to take a back seat the last two years.

SF- Jeremy Morgan- Like I said, he could be the POY next year he has that ability, he will have to be the man and look for his shot. My only concern is that he won't have Wes to take a little defensive pressure off of him.

PF- Klint Carlson- His confidence has to be sky high, has a great inside out game, and will be a key to our success.

C- Bennett Koch- There were at least 5 games this year where he was our best player, he can't go through stretches where he disappears, also needs to work on his overall post defense, Jake and Adam were two of the best ever at post defense so there is hope.

Bench:

Luke McDonnell: Needs 20lbs of muscle, but I think the skill set is there to be a very effective Valley player.

Spencer Haldeman: I have seen him light it up in a high school game, and I think he could be very good for us, almost like a Johnny Moran (I hope)

Isaiah Brown: I would love to redshirt this kid, but I don't think we can unless be get a graduate transfer, looks like a clone of Jeremy, hopefully a year of learning from him leads to big things down the road.

Ted Friedman/ Justin Dahl: I really don't know who wins this spot, Ted is a good rebounder and works hard, Justin may have more upside, if he can adjust to the speed of the game.

Robert Knar/ Lincoln Conrey: I don't see a lot of action for either, but I could see one of these being almost the 10th player. It would have been nice to see what Robbie could have been with no knee injuries.

Redshirt: Tanner Lohaus- He's just not ready, but could be a nice piece in time.

My guess for the conference goes as followed

1. Wichita State
2. UNI
3. Illinois State
4. SIU
5. Missouri State
6. Loyola
7. Indiana State
8. Bradley
9. Drake
10. Evansville

The league is more of a toss up then I can ever remember, Wichita has the talent, but I don't know if they have the leadership, and the glue guys that they have had recently, We are the same, with just a step down in talent, Illinois State has probably the most returning but they just struggle to put it together. Barry has it going at SIU, but losing Beane is huge for them. After that it is anyone's guess, I put Missouri State at 5th because they got better as the season went on, and return quite a bit, Loyola has decent talent, but always underachieves. Indiana State finished a mess, it'll be interesting what they can do with Brenton Scott returning. Bradley has to be better. Drake is Drake, and Marty ball won't work with Marty Jr. as the key piece.

Very good observations. I think we go 23-12 with a first round loss in the NIT. Its fun when the team exceeds my conservation forecast though.

[SteinPizza]

Re: Next Year

Expect a lot of growing pains with McCloud at the point. People need to remember he's an incoming freshman. Wes was such a key guy for us, that Jake will have to consider some offensive scheme changes. Nobody coming in or back has the skill set he had.

Bennett needs to put on the same muscle as McDonnell, and needs footwork improvement on both ends of the floor. McDonnell has to be ready to play at least some significant minutes next year.

As for the conference, I think it will be more jumbled up that what you picture. I could see MSU or Loyola getting into the mix for second or third place. Both UNI and WSU should at least be decent.

[Codytwo]

Re: Next Year

We have three key sophomores (Bennett, Wyatt, and Klint) that felt a lot of pain last night. IMO, this pain will lead them to work harder in the offseason and to become massive leaders over the course of the next 2 years. Next year may be a transition-type year similar to the year Moran was a senior, but I think the following year, when these sophomores become seniors, will be very solid.

[Username]

Re: Next Year

The good news is Morgan and Carlson were carrying the team last night, and had Texas A&M beat. Also with wins over Texas, WSU, ISU, and North Carolina, this team is battle tested.

The bad news is 7 players on the roster are going to be freshmen.

I think the team may not be as good as last year (I think this years team was better than last) but they may have a better record. Not sure what will be needed to make the NCAA tournament. They will have another tough schedule, and can hopefully squeeze 2 more mid majors in there, but they probably aren't going to be able to scam 3 rpi top 100 wins over Evansville again. Wichita State should still be a top 50 team. Hopefully both Wichita State and UNI do not have the sort of collapse, and should be good. If UNI can go 9-4 in OOC, and 14-4 in Conference, I think that would get them in.

That's tough to say though because there may be a lot of growing pains with this team, as at least 1 starter, and the whole bench are going to be at least new to game time experience. Last year they basically plugged in 2 starters from off the bench, and the only question was Koch.
Morgan and Carlson is probably a more solid returning duo than Wes and Jesperson though. I like Lohaus, but there is still a decent amount to question. He will probably have Morgan, and another point guard in there with him, so he should be able to relax, and play his unorthodox role. Koch should be interesting. Mid season, Koch sort of saved us with his play. Then he took a back seat to Carlson, just playing his role. It will be interesting to see how Carlson and Koch play together, since we have not seen it very much this year. I think it may work out since Carlson is a true 4 to me, and can take some pressure off Koch. We're all high on Mcloud, and he will probably be the 5th starter unless we get a transfer. He is talented, but pretty small, and will experience growing pains. He will have Lohaus, and Morgan to help him, so he isn't going to be thrown into the fire.
The good news is, even though the bench is going to be young, it should be deeper. Mcdonnell is a very skilled 4, and could make for a solid 3 way rotation in the post, something we really didn't have this year. Hadelman is another guard who can be solid in a role where he comes off and plays as a combo guard. Brown may be required to play, and really does remind me of Morgan as state earlier. Another solid defender, and should have a niche as a freshmen. There may be a few spot minutes for Dahl/Friedmen, but I think a solid 8 is the rotation next year, with Mcdonnell getting the bulk of the bench minutes, and Hadelman getting a Lohaus type role. Brown may not play a ton, as I don't see him and Morgan sharing a bunch of time, but will still be important as he is the only backup 3. Overall, I'm fairly optimistic for next year. Next year should be good if we can avoid a collapse in the middle.

[UNIhoops]

Re: Next Year

Great breakdown and I agree with the lineup. I think Juwan McCloud is going to be really really good. If he had 20 more pounds on him he would be a higher recruit. Does he remind anyone of Marcus Paige in high school?

Morgan and Carlson will be going into the offseason with a ton of confidence.

Any guess how many minutes McDonnell would have played last night? I sometimes wonder if he would have played a Travis Brown type of role as a true freshmen. Some games he would have never played other games he would have been a spark off the bench that we needed. I think I would rather take him as a 23 year old senior though.

[GonzoCat]

Re: Next Year

I think we definitely have a better regular season next year. I'm not sure we have as good of post season, but I wouldn't rule it out. As Jake said as a non P5 team it is tougher to get in the tourney than it is to win a game. This is evident every year by the number of "mid major" teams beating higher seeded but mediocre P5 teams in the opening round.

[CyCarp]

Re: Next Year

What's the scholarship situation? Are the 13 you listed all on scholarship?

Conrey is not. We have 1 available.

[Panther100]

Re: Next Year

I think if we can fill the 13th scholarship for next season we need a Graduate Transfer/JUCO about 6' 5" that can play both the 2 and 3 guard spots.

[Panther100]

Re: Next Year

The good news is Morgan and Carlson were carrying the team last night, and had Texas A&M beat. Also with wins over Texas, WSU, ISU, and North Carolina, this team is battle tested.

The bad news is 7 players on the roster are going to be freshmen.

I think the team may not be as good as last year (I think this years team was better than last) but they may have a better record. Not sure what will be needed to make the NCAA tournament. They will have another tough schedule, and can hopefully squeeze 2 more mid majors in there, but they probably aren't going to be able to scam 3 rpi top 100 wins over Evansville again. Wichita State should still be a top 50 team. Hopefully both Wichita State and UNI do not have the sort of collapse, and should be good. If UNI can go 9-4 in OOC, and 14-4 in Conference, I think that would get them in.

That's tough to say though because there may be a lot of growing pains with this team, as at least 1 starter, and the whole bench are going to be at least new to game time experience. Last year they basically plugged in 2 starters from off the bench, and the only question was Koch.
Morgan and Carlson is probably a more solid returning duo than Wes and Jesperson though. I like Lohaus, but there is still a decent amount to question. He will probably have Morgan, and another point guard in there with him, so he should be able to relax, and play his unorthodox role. Koch should be interesting. Mid season, Koch sort of saved us with his play. Then he took a back seat to Carlson, just playing his role. It will be interesting to see how Carlson and Koch play together, since we have not seen it very much this year. I think it may work out since Carlson is a true 4 to me, and can take some pressure off Koch. We're all high on Mcloud, and he will probably be the 5th starter unless we get a transfer. He is talented, but pretty small, and will experience growing pains. He will have Lohaus, and Morgan to help him, so he isn't going to be thrown into the fire.
The good news is, even though the bench is going to be young, it should be deeper. Mcdonnell is a very skilled 4, and could make for a solid 3 way rotation in the post, something we really didn't have this year. Hadelman is another guard who can be solid in a role where he comes off and plays as a combo guard. Brown may be required to play, and really does remind me of Morgan as state earlier. Another solid defender, and should have a niche as a freshmen. There may be a few spot minutes for Dahl/Friedmen, but I think a solid 8 is the rotation next year, with Mcdonnell getting the bulk of the bench minutes, and Hadelman getting a Lohaus type role. Brown may not play a ton, as I don't see him and Morgan sharing a bunch of time, but will still be important as he is the only backup 3. Overall, I'm fairly optimistic for next year. Next year should be good if we can avoid a collapse in the middle.

A lot of next season depends on McDonnell, Mcloud, Brown, and Haldeman. The injury to McDonnell is a setback to development, Mcloud is small, Brown needs more muscle to play at the 3 guard spot, but he should be good to go at the 2 spot, and Haldeman needs considerable weight training. However, he has a nice jump shot. Freidman will be valuable on the defensive end. There doesn't appear to be an easy answer to improve his offensive game. Dahl is better at the offensive end, but needs improvement on footwork/foot speed. Knar/Connrey still need to improve all around. T. Lohaus needs a red shirt season. We need another really good 6' 5" player to fill in the missing pieces.

[Username]

Re: Next Year

A lot of next season depends on McDonnell, Mcloud, Brown, and Haldeman. The injury to McDonnell is a setback to development, Mcloud is small, Brown needs more muscle to play at the 3 guard spot, but he should be good to go at the 2 spot, and Haldeman needs considerable weight training. However, he has a nice jump shot. Freidman will be valuable on the defensive end. There doesn't appear to be an easy answer to improve his offensive game. Dahl is better at the offensive end, but needs improvement on footwork/foot speed. Knar/Connrey still need to improve all around. T. Lohaus needs a red shirt season. We need another really good 6' 5" player to fill in the missing pieces.

I agree we could use another wing, but we have to take what we have. Morgan may play 35 minutes a game, even though that's not Jacobsons style, but he won't play 40. Browns the only other person on the team who can play the 3. I think he can handle it. UNI's played 3 point guards before. Really makes you wonder who's gonna handle the 3 after Morgans gone. If they don't go 3 guards, it's going to be a brown/ T lohaus combo

[claw]

Re: Next Year

JacobsOn....

Not directly calling you out Username, though you just did it, but I see it all over message boards and Twitters. It's bad enough when other teams fans do it, but to see UNI fans doing it just irritates the **** out of me.

[Username]

Re: Next Year

JacobsOn....

Not directly calling you out Username, though you just did it, but I see it all over message boards and Twitters. It's bad enough when other teams fans do it, but to see UNI fans doing it just irritates the **** out of me.

No problem. Bad mistake on my part.

[CyCarp]

Re: Next Year

As much as I still can't get this game out of my head, I'm glad to look forward to next year. I like the way our team sets up. I think the most important players are Haldeman and McCloud. They're the PG and sharpshooter we need to replace Bo and Wes. I think we'll have enough leadership and experience with Morgan, Wyatt, Bennett, and Carlson to hopefully keep us strong. McDonnell is going to very important too, but at least we'll have more experience at the 4. Plus I don't think it's as important for guards to gain size and muscle, so I think it's more realistic for Haldeman and McCloud to make an impact. Either way, I'm pretty much ready for October already. Hopefully this last fades in our minds sooner rather than later.