LU had a tremendous year in 2014-15, beating one, or more, times 20 of the 25 teams they faced. LU’s tremendous team play, defense, FG & 3 point shooting worked wonders.

With respect to the 5 teams LU could not beat, they all had something in common, they dwarfed LU’s interior size which consisted of a combination of shooting guards & small forwards. We could not compete against talented teams with size.

At center LU went with
6-7, 220, Earl James (20.6 mpg), backed up by
6-6, 215, freshman Donte Ingram (18.3 mpg), with cameos, by
6-9, 215, freshman Julius Rajala (3.2 mpg).

At power forward LU used
6-5, 220, Christian Thomas (27.0 mpg), backed up by
6-6, 205, freshman Jay Knuth (7.8 mpg), with
6-4, 200, Joe Crisman putting in the remaining minutes.

The 5 teams, that LU couldn’t beat, were Michigan St, Tulane, & the MVC’s top 3: Wichita St., Northern Iowa, & Illinois State.

MSU at center had:
6-9, 245, Matt Costello, backed by 6-9, 240 Gavin Schiller
power forward: 6-6 225, Braden Dawson
small forward 6-5 225, Denzel Valentine
In the 35 point loss, MSU had a 32 point edge in points in the paint.
They beat us on the boards, 40-23.

Tulane at center had:
6-11, 250, Ryan Smith, backed by 6-9, 255 Dylan Osetkowski
power forward: 6-6, 225, Tre Drye & 6-8, 215, Payton Henson
In the 13 point loss, Tulane had a 16 point edge in points in the paint.
They beat us on the boards, 37-22.

Wichita at center had:
6-7, 245, Darius Carter; 6-11, 232, Tom Wamukota; &
6-10, 242, Rauno Nuger.
6-7, 261, Shaquille Morris, at power forward & back up center
power forward 6-7, 232, Rashard Kelly plus 2 others, & the huge guard/forwards Ron Baker, 6-4, 220, & Evan Wessel 6-4, 218.
In the 11 point loss WSU had a 12 point edge in the points in the paint.
In the 14 point loss they had a 12 point edge in the points in the paint.

Illinois State at center had:
6-10, 257, Reggie Lynch; 6-9 262, John Jones; & 6-8, 252, Will Ranson.
Power forward 6-7, 234, Mike “Elbows” McIntosh (who elbowed Christian Thomas in the head, away from the ball, giving him a concussion, out for that game & the next, with no flagrant, or any foul called), &
6-8, 219 Deon Hawkins.
In the 3 point loss, the elbow game, ISU had a 6 point advantage in 2nd chance points & 5 more blocks than LU (though only a 1 rebound edge & LU led in points in the paint).
In the 7 point loss, ISU had 4 more points in the paint, 7 more 2nd chance points, a 6 rebound edge, & a 4 block edge.

Northern Iowa at center had:
6-8, 240, MVC MVP Seth Tuttle; 6-9, 232 Bennett Koch;
power forward 6-6, 237, Marvin Singletary (backs up center too)
& 6-9, 212, Nate Buss.
In the 9 point loss, NIoU had a 16 point edge in the points in the paint.
In the 19 point loss, they had an 8 point edge in points in the paint & an 11 rebound edge.
In the 14 point loss, they had a 9 rebound edge, a 4 point edge in the points in the paint, & a 9 more 2nd chance points.

LU did very well in 2014-2015, but they will need more size to move up to the next level.

The addition of 6-9, 235, JC transfer Maurice Kirby will help, & hopefully 6-7, 220, freshman prep graduate Pernell Adgei will be ready to play, & that 6-9, 215, Julius Rajala will grow in muscle & minutes next season. We may see continued improvement from James & Ingram, if Kirby & Adgeio are able to take opponents’ attention off James & Ingram.

With Montel James graduating after next season, signing at least 2 big men next season should be a priority.

Hats off to the coach’s signing 2 very good point guards in the spring, following the good fall pickups of Kirby & Adgei. Last season’s addition of James & Peterson & Ingram was huge. The Richardson signing also looks good and hopefully Rajala & Knuth will continue to develope next season.

It should be noted the 3 MVC teams that LU could not beat last year are all losing their starting centers for 2015-2016. Northern Iowa is also losing their starting power forward, Singletary, & their sub at both positions, Buss who was the team’s number 2 scorer. Illinois State is also losing its top back up center (Jones).

Nice analysis, Wolfie !!! With our newbies and the development of Rajala et al--plus our opponents' losses , I do believe it will all come down to coaching . I am darned glad we have Porter--Our league is evening out somewhat--WSU still the Class but by not so much--

I really feel we will give this league a run, and I do mean RUN for its money this coming year.

We have to hit big on a big man this year who will be able to contribute immediately for Doyle's final year. I still think that's the only way we can make a run at a valley championship and an NCAA bid