Top 20 returning forwards to the Valley next season

[electricmayhem]

Here's the follow-up to the guards article... this time, the format is different!

http://www.examiner.com/missouri-valley-basketball-in-national/top-20-missouri-valley-returning-fowards

Thoughts?

[Braves4Life]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Weems have a fall off in overall production from last season. After all, his coach is gone,his supporting cast has changed significantly, and he'll have to adjust to a new system; he'll have a big target on his back and be a marked man next season.

[PTownHawkeye]

Did I miss Taylor Brown?? I would think he'd fit in the 3-5 range somewhere.

As a whole, I think this is a very good list. My only real disagreement is listing Ekey 9th.

I agree he has potential...but he was the 7th leading scorer on the worst team in the Valley, and his only truly dominant game was in December. If he were on my team, I would trade him for literally any member of the list except Caleb Patterson, and would probably rate him around 20th overall once TB is included.

Both Wragge and Scheer (#19 and #1 are sophomores like Ekey, but I think Ekey is a level below both in terms of talent and potential impact on a game. Wragge could be the best shooter in the Valley and I would project Scheer as one of the most improved players in the MVC.

I'd also love to think that JP could be the 10th best forward, but I think that may be wishful thinking :-)

[electricmayhem]

I probably should have put a blurb on TB (I might still add it to the intro) - we don't know if he's returning or not. If we knew it was a definite yes, I would have ranked him 5th.

[Da Coach]

He'll be back.

[lightsout]

Taylor Brown?? If healthy he is easily one of the top 5 forwards in the Valley.

[electricmayhem]

I added the blurb about TB in the intro.

DC -- is that with 100% certainty? Am I the only one who is going to be scared to death for the entire season watching him play?

[electricmayhem]

Taylor Brown?? If healthy he is easily one of the top 5 forwards in the Valley.

LO - I added the TB story in the intro --

[Da Coach]

I added the blurb about TB in the intro.

DC -- is that with 100% certainty? Am I the only one who is going to be scared to death for the entire season watching him play?

99.99%, waiting on one final test result, but he'll be cleared once it comes back. I talked to him tonight.
No reason to be concerned. He's checked out fine and does not have cardiomyopathy, which is what he was tested for.

[45otseoj]

Fanstasy Valley BB:
1) Weems
2) McDermott
3) Seck
4) Richard
5) Echenique
6) Carmichael
7) Koch
Harris
9) Simons
10) VanDeest
11) Egolf
12) Smith
13) Ekey
14) Prosser
15) Stutz
16) Walker
17) Clarke

[TheGuy]

Did I miss Taylor Brown?? I would think he'd fit in the 3-5 range somewhere.

As a whole, I think this is a very good list. My only real disagreement is listing Ekey 9th.

I agree he has potential...but he was the 7th leading scorer on the worst team in the Valley, and his only truly dominant game was in December. If he were on my team, I would trade him for literally any member of the list except Caleb Patterson, and would probably rate him around 20th overall once TB is included.

Both Wragge and Scheer (#19 and #1 are sophomores like Ekey, but I think Ekey is a level below both in terms of talent and potential impact on a game. Wragge could be the best shooter in the Valley and I would project Scheer as one of the most improved players in the MVC.

I'd also love to think that JP could be the 10th best forward, but I think that may be wishful thinking :-)

Correction......second worst team in the valley by tiebreaker rules.

As a redbird fan, I wouldn't trade him for any guy on the list, but there are certain ones I would consider. Too much potential. He's only a soph and defensively will always be solid (as pointed out in the article by his blocking numbers). When he starts finding a certain level of comfort on a more consistant level, he could definitely be in the top of all forwards, but until puts some more meat on those bones and develops a better inside game, it could be a while. He's definitely not terrible by any means.