#267 R.P.I. Valparaiso @ #113 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s hoops are back on the winning track.

The Hokies do have some tire tracks to iron out, however. This is not a clean playing team despite Mr. Popcorn’s near-efficacious compulsion towards the same. (As I will document below). VeeTee is a bit off this year… and that makes them game-to-game; available… in a, word. Now we catch 4 up vs. 5 down and winless on the road (o-3) (cool-name): Valparaiso. Valparaiso -no longer the Crusaders as the p.c. crowed went pee-pee on thaty- now the Beacons(?!?, LOL), and yet still of post-season spoiler fame. Of 15 Conference crowns in nearly twice as many years (was: Mid-Continent Conference, now: Horizon). Of nine, that’s (9) NC2A appearances over the same timeframe. wow. Impressive St.David or little-man work here, n’est-ce pas? Nonetheless, what you wanna know is… who is gonna win and by how much, right(s)? So, read on… to finds, out!

Valparaiso Head Coach: Roger Powell Jr:. age=4o, overall, and at Valparaiso.
Has a rep’ for: relationship building, pure coaching the verb.
$620,620.oo ($25k in bonuses).

Baller Powell went: 6 ft. 6 in. (1.98 m); at: 22o lbs. (1oo kgs.). He went to: Joliet Township High School (Illinois) with no word from Joliet Jake or Elwood, Blues. Roger that. As Powell grabbed 4-letters, and 1 bronze medal before his Sr. Prom. Whereafter he was considered a consensus Top 1oo prospect in the nation; as 1st-string All-State for Abe Lincon State itself.

After that baller Powell stayed home (+1 for that) and went to IllinoisU. Okay, enuff digits: 12.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg does not P5/BIG-X suck. Good enuff for: honorable mention All-Big Ten. After he caught a whiff of a cup of Sonics and Jazz Association coffee. Bounced around the C.B.A., Italy, Israel (St.Vitalis of Gaza help), France, Spain, and the Germania pro circuits. His very own Dale Solomon or a hooping Globetrotter to be sure. +several; good pay, neat life… balling. Never sucked.

Then he picked up a ‘whistle’ at the other end of the bench. In June 2o11, Powell joined the coaching staff of the Valparaiso Crusaders men’s basketball team, as an assistant. April 2o16, and Powell followed Bryce Drew to Vanderbilt and joined the coaching staff of the Vanderbilt Commodores men’s basketball team, as an associate head coach. Then from: the 2o19 through ’23 seasons, Powell was an assistant under Mark Few at Gonzaga in the W.c.c. Where he was regarded as one of the tip-top-ass.coaches in America. Maybe the toppest. Finally, on April 7, 2o23, Powell made his return to Valpo as the Beacons’ new head coach.

Off the court, Powell founded RPJ Ministries Organization, which mentors, and trains young leaders to be Godly examples on their sports teams and school campuses. He also founded Integrity Sports Corporation, a company focused on building basketball skills and integrity of high school and junior high athletes.

.edu.Powell is a 2oo5 graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in speech communications and received his master’s degree in Sports Administration from Valpo in 2o16. PROPPERs, plural!
👊🏿

Powell is a Christian. He is married to Tara Powell. They have four children.
Bria, Liam, Gabriel, and Faith

Valpo’ at a glance:

• 36th best in 3-point percentage D!
• 48th best in Turnover Margin.
• 61st best in Swats.
• 3o3rd best in Rebounding Margin!
• 325th best in Effective FG percentage O!!!
• 1 injury listed; Coach God Bless!

Returning Starters=ZERO. (o). Nadda. None. Nil.

Valparaiso Strengths:

• Coaching itself… as you will read… winning 4 games with what nothing they have left is stunning, staggering; even.
• Seriously… as this D-1 little man went and got class rank, smaller…
• 1 JuCo.
• 3 Division I’s.
• 5 High School seniors from all over North America.

Eye’ve never seen this before… there is burn it to the ground, there is scorched Earth and then there is Powell’er-ball and Valpo’. Godspeed bro’.

• One, #19, now #5, Isaiah Stafford G1, your Southern Indiana superstar, your John A. Logan star, and now your Valpo’ hooping alpha male. As Isiah prophecies and mails in: a team-leading: 18.8 ppg, with 4.8 rpg on 2.4 apg and 1.7 spg. That’s all. Cut; him, now! As Stafford only drives the way as scoring, assisting, and stealing goes or quite the Beacon indeed. Good work here, all ’round roundballer with: 36.4 long and yet 37.6% reg’ tells you where he shoots from and how often he trinaries there. Old-school actual tabletop board-game player; +several there. Indianapolis Player of the Year for 2o21 did not suck. Neither did his scholastic 51%, long! This at Crispus Attucks H.S. God Bless. Academic All-State twice at his second H.S. (Bolingbrook H.S.). Which is 2 high schools and 3 colleges in 5 years if you are keeping score @home. You know how I flag feel about this… Still, yet, this is a lifeline raised to the lifesaver get for Valpo’ As I.S. is their Drones raised to the Tuten power to mix my sporting metaphor. Neat kid, could ball in the A.c.c., might be a (6′2″, 175 lb., 3-Jr.) fringe overseas pro’. Does look the ‘hood-tuff part to me upon breaking tape as well. Legit. Some dawgg lives here.
• 6′9″, 21o lb., Cooper Schwieger, is your de facto F1 in the paint for Valpo’. Thinly, springy kid who gets you: a second-best 11.8 ppg to go with his silver medal of 5.4 rpg. Though the 42.9% deep shows you he does have some skills downloaded and installed onboard. Likewise, nearly ~48% floor and ~82% FTA’s. Neat tradecraft bandwidth lives here. Looks like a mo’ auburn Opie Taylor or something Richy did when slummin’ the po’ side of middle America out back of Arnold’s way way way back in the day. Has a (fraternal) twin brother Carson, who is a similar height and plays at Wright State. So, there must be some hooping D.n.a. to genome or project here somewhere. Tho’ very average H.S. digits; so, what he is doing now is a very pleasant surprise. Very.
• Frank BeamerU {sic: Murray State} transfer Jaxon Edwards is your Qb1. Or, Pt.G1, at: 6′5″, 195 lbs. Long, lean, tho’ kinda strapping kid on film. Was a McDonald’s All-America nominee following his senior season, when he led Cathedral H.S. to the 2o21-22 Indiana 4A state championship. In one of -if not the most- hoops-happy State, that; counts. And now you can count on Jaxon to find his way to: 8.6 ppg with a team pacing and surprising 6.1 rpg with a 1st-place near ~89% rating from the chartiy-stripe. Sr. Prom marksman with nearly 43% H.S. makes from 3-point-land. Has a rides clutch late-game heroics rep’ as well. ex-Footballer who got some looks here, and is known for his ‘poster’ dunks. Also, for hand injuries (St.Julia bless). Neat player. 3-D(unk) with 1 spg and a team topping 1.8 bpg makes you wonder about future-tense headroom here from a kid who can shoot and slam alike. (Bonus points for the showtime era massive Jheri-Curl fro’ to boot). That and somewhere A.C. Green’s wife is (finally), smiling.

  

• 6′1o″, 23o lb., Jerome Palm F, this is one of the few schollie guys who did elect to come back —or, was actively invited back some say… …either way… Hillsborough Community College brought in last-minute BIG. From: Almere, Netherlands, or not exactly an Amstel, Lyte. Looks the enforcer mean-muggin’ part in the film room. Bumps, thumps, and grinds his way to a modest-looking: 5.8 ppg with 5.o rpg and a sendback on D. Had near 9 & 9 (ppg and rpg) digits for Dayton State as a rookie (now: a r-Sr.). Then fell off after that. Although ‘rome did championship-winning Netherlands national team swagg it out back in the 2o21 3×3 national tournament. So, that is one mo’ 3-on-3 bling than you and I, combined. Has a history of dings… Coach God Bless. Does kinda have a brawler look-n-feel to him. Physical guy to be sure.

Valparaiso Weaknesses:

• F1, Ben Krikkie (Iowa) departure left things rather frontcourt hawkish here. As this is a major BIG-man departure for a smaller mid-major. –21 & –6 per game in the key really hurts Valpo’ down-low.
• 5×5, that’s every single one of your 1 through 5 2o22-2o23 starters went bananas and, split. ZERO starters return.
• Three, that’s (3), only three schollies returned!?! Seems umpossible… tho’ (Barnett, Palm (funny name), and DeAveiro () are all that is last spring left! They and their career 216-combined, points! wowowow.
• Twenty. As in only 2o% of this last spring team showed back up this, fall.
• As Coach Powell put the tear it down to the studs and pour a new foundation itself word: “LOUD” out.
• Accordingly, this new fab team will take a moment or three or several years to cook.
• Most inexperienced team, ever. Truly. Nearly 7o% of them are D-1 year, one.
• And as if allllllll of ^that^ were not enuff? Big-ole: 6′1o″, 21o lb., Lual Manyang, by way of: Twic, SSD, (or, So.Sudan) is done for the duration. He has some sorta knee hurt (St.Nikon help). He only took up hoops 3-years ago to boot. Technically a r-Soph., ex-Post-up-facto of: Hofstra. Was listed by 247Sports as the 17th-best center and the 142nd-best overall player in the class of 2o22. wow. As that makes this BIG a big dang hurt here for po’ Valpo’.

Beaconing Bench: (depth=8 to 10)

6′7″, 2oo lb., Ola Ajiboye: is your pine-squad frontcourter. He is a true-Soph’. Who slid over from Central Michigan to find easily available P/F, P.T. (playing time). 5.8 ppg with 4.7 rpg and 1 bpg with a team second-place 53.1% shooting and we shall see…  stud table-tennis player, did field a good H.S. touring-team tenure that helped elevate/sell his game. Tough one to headroom peg or read… time=tell…

Darius DeAveiro G 6′, 17o lb., r-Fresh. by way of: Kanata, Ottawa, Canada; “eh”. Does not look his listed metrics to me nor to Bob & Doug. Could use an Elsinore or three. Is your one backcourt shooter subbin’ in at the scorer’s table at nearly 39% from behind the arc. 5.3 ppg and 2.3 rpg with not much else. Well besides his Canadian Medal and Medal. Plus, his N.A.F.T.A. 2o2o Academy Schools Defensive Player of the Year award. Father David is the former basketball head coach at McGill University in Montreal; so, you knows he gets his N.b.a. X’s and O’s. He was also a scholastic exported soccer player to Europe. So, he prolly has the Hakeem Olajuwon cross-sport cross-pollination footwork. Did suffer several thumb-dings (St.Murna help). Interesting prospect… is he anything mo’ than that?

Nugget or debut ballers: Jahari Williamson Qb2. 6′1″, 161 bantamweight lb., and 6′2″, 18o lbs., Sherman Weatherspoon IV (no relation) round out your pine squad here. ‘spoon is supposed to be an instant-O blow-torch scorer who has yet to truly D-1 spark up (5.8 ppg on 33% floor and 25.9% from downtown). Jahari is your caddie or backup Pt.G. 7.o ppg with 2.o apg on 37.9% from 3-point-land is rookie year reasonable enuff. Does have all kinda Great White North awards/experiences: per numerous gold medals, won two championships as a junior in high school, and beat several high-level teams at state his junior season. And as a senior, Williamson led his team to an Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association championship. For which he earned a spot on Canada’s U19 World Cup Team. So, this one is a curious prospecting one for down the road… IF, Valpo’ can keep him presuming he does develop.

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Beacons who could beckon @Tech=1'ish, 2-max'.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is…

…(see: below): as there is just not as much to be about ≅⅓ Tech taken with here.

That’s the news-news folks…

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…the good news is that you need not be as taken with this 2o23-’24 incarnation of Valparaiso as in past years. They have dropped off a bit… some might argue a bit mo’ than that.

As they have only engineered one L at less than 5-shots… and they have no quality wins in their four wins thus far.

i.e., as slingshot or giant-killer Valpo’ squadron this is… not.

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for a late ’23/early ’24 re-up.

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… v.Tech is up a moderate looking +3% in shooting percentage margin (per: being a bit better on O tho’ just a little bit worse on D); tho’ it is Valpo’ who is up a curious looking +4% in 3-point percentage margin (all: in defensive betterment vs. the trinitary same), and yet Vah.Tech is up +3 caroms corralled in |absolute value| terms in rebounding margin terms year-to-date. (‘cuse both teams’ are negative off the fiberglass for the duration, it is just that Valparaiso is mo’ negative than V.P.I).

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… the Beacons’ have gone repo’ and is now up a disconcerting near ~+5% in shooting percentage margin of late (mainly: due to chilly balled Hokie missing recently); they are up another and no less disconcerting +5% in 3-point percentage margin (as the Beacons are nearly downright shinny from range ¡ although the Gobblers are just a smidgeon better in 3-D terms recently), and then it is the Beacons going Recency Effect 3by3 as they are now up +1 Windex Wipe in  |absolute value| terms in rebounding margin for the last fortnight of backboarding. (from: both clubs are negative off the ‘glass, it is rather that the Hokies are really stuck to the floor in D-rebounding terms in the last couple of weeks’ worth of work).

Armchair Pt.Guard’s:

VT is up a whopping +15% at the charity stripe for the year!
V.P.I. is a 1.oo host; whereas Valpo’  is .ooo as a guest.
For a change, VT is up a useful-looking +8 in R&R.

No.294 Net Ranking Valparaiso @ no.74 Net Ranking Vah.Tech:

…to call this (current) ’23-2o24 menz Hurrying Hokie hoops team: ‘good’ is to miss-call itself.

Check it out… (’cause beyond 4th best straight Aces on 15′ set-shots with 1o-secs to shoot— what good are they???)

Vah.Tech at a glance:

• 4th best in FT-makes!!!
• 78th best in Assist:Turnover ratio (A Mike signature/must-have).
• …then…?
• It averages out; literally, nearly entirely…
• 118th best (bench ppg) over to 293rd best (bpg)… in nearly all of the 33 D-1 Team categories Eye, track.

Do you see what I mean TSL?

I mean, this is not a bad roundball club, every bit as much as it is not a good set of hardwoods, either. Centrist. Mean. Median. Mode. Basic. Middleocore, in a word…

…and yet the kra-kra part is that our end-game ’23 (Spring) Net.Ranking has moved, just; one… that’s (1) point ever since. Ever since… our following metrics have moved in the following, ways…

• FG-percentage (overall) ⇓ nearly a bicentennial or 2-hundy (2oo) spots!!!
• Effective FG percentage (overall) ⇓ by nearly 185 spots!!!
• 3-point-percentage ⇓ by nearly 158 spots!!!
• Scoring D allowed ⇓ by nearly a centennial or 1oo-spots!
• Assist:Turnover ratio ⇓ by a near-shocking 75 spots!
• Do you see a pattern(s), here???

As this team cannot score, shoot, or defend as well as it did during a reasonable -tho’ ungreat- and ultimately only ≥5 games north of .5oo itself 22-’23 campaign.

Yikes… therefore, ergo, to Whit…

You do the recanting… maths!

–oOo–

The VerdicT:

This is (early; thus far) a helluva a coaching the verb job outta Chillè.
Or, outta Indiana itself.

As sister-city names not withstanding… nobody predicted anything in any of my 2023-2o24 preview magazines other than last place or hard times for the hardwood Valpo’ club here.

12th of 12th or the view that never changes as the Missouri Valley Conference (M.V.C.) goes.

On top of that, Valpo’ suffered, zilch, zero, zip pre-season nominees of anything. No 1st-stringers, no 2nd-stringers, no 3rd-stringers from the M.V.C. media pool. Narcissism this is not, drowning this be.

XX/OO

In addition to that, Va.Tech was busy and their S&C was challenged by a November that included eight games in a span of 24 days! With five of them @away.

Now however the Road Warriors gone Road Weary Techmen are amid a run of four games, all at home, spanning a stretch of 3o end-of-year New River Valley, days.

i.e., this recently sagging team should refresher and hopefully regain ‘fresh-legs’
@home sleeping in their very own, beds.

the digits:

So, and although Valparaiso is better than anyone thought -to their credit(s)- this should not be an all that and a: “snap” team. Not at sojourning 595 miles So-by-So-East with an R&R disadvantage in tow.

Nevertheless, if they upset us @Home in defense of our very own Cassell here?

🦃 >>> 🏀 >>> 🔦

We are worse than anyone’s thought just the same.

As a middlecase A.c.c. P5 team getting homesteading done out by a lowest-case Missouri Valley Conference total CTRL+ALT+DEL reboot clean-wipe squadron would be a worst-case indeed.

Prolly in ♠‘s at that…

They have one player (Isaiah Stafford).
Take him away and make this a much easier hosting day.
Drive at him on O, wear him down, and knock him down a bit.

Do whatever it takes to make someone else— anyone else, beatcha.

Or, would ^^^that^^^ just make too much, sense?

Do this and the end of the bench should get their cleats after intermission, dirty.

As Valpo’ should need some Hokie help to nick this one, here.

And yet our overall slumpyiness of late seems a bit helpful, indeed…

💯

 

(88% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=75, Valparaiso=59

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**