Friday, November 14, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago

Loyola kicks off the 2014-15 season against Rockhurst, a Division II Jesuit school from Kansas City. The Ramblers have a played Rockhurst four of the past six seasons, including a loss in the 2008-09 season opener. Last year the Ramblers won 83-65 behind 24 points from Milton Doyle and domination on rebounds.

The Ramblers did not play any exhibition games this year, but Rockhurst has-- they lost to UMKC last Saturday at Municipal Auditorium, 83-67. Russell Burns, a 6’5” senior forward from Bollingbrook, led the Hawks with 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field. Burns also led his team with nine rebounds as the Hawks out-boarded UMKC 37-28 (and led by five points at halftime), but UMKC’s 18-6 turnover advantage and 19 trips to the foul line made the difference at the buzzer.

The Hawks are likely to start a three forward, two guard lineup of Burns, 6’5” junior forward Josh Brannon, 6’5” sophomore forward Adam Fatkin, 5’10” juco newcomer Josh Roberts at point, and 6’4” junior shooting guard Logan Souder. Coming off the bench for significant minutes will be 5’9” freshman point guard Sam Briscoe, and 6’5” senior guard/forward Liam Duffy. The Hawks also have some size and bulk in 6’8” center Cooper Beckett; 270 pound, 6’6” center/forward Dominique Washington; 6’7” sophomore forward Adam Ellwanger; and 6’5”, 230 pound junior forward David Wingerson.

As they showed against UMKC, Rockhurst’s deep frontcourt-- while not imposing in height and prone to turnovers -- has the ability to control the boards. Duffy is the biggest threat from behind the arc, shooting 48% (58 for 120) on three pointers last season. The backcourt is a weakness-- cobbled together from a freshman and a juco transfer sharing point guard duties and a senior shooting guard just promoted to the starting lineup.

Loyola game notes: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/loy ... 114aaa.pdf

Great preview. While I am really looking forward to tonight, it won't tell us much about the team. Unless, of course, we lose--then we are in big trouble. But a win against an average DII team is expected.

Any word if Milton will be playing tonight? If not, when, if at all, is he expected back?

This reminds me...

Is anyone going to buy Rambler Vision?

_________________
Cigarboy sucks!

I signed up a little over a month ago. The quality is excellent-- no drop outs so far. It covers most, but not all home events. So far, I've watched men's and women's soccer and volleyball. Some events have announcers, others don't, so you might need to also have the stattracker open to keep track of time remaining, foul trouble, starting lineups, etc. At $9.95 per month, it's more than a similar services at Illinois State ($8.95) and the same as Southern Illinois and Bradley, but less than Evansville ($14.95). Many schools offer individual event or 24-hour passes, but Loyola doesn't as far as I know. They automatically renew your subscription each month without notice until you cancel, so keep it in mind if you have a tendency for low bank balances.

Word is that with Jeff White out for the first few weeks, Doyle will be starting at the No. 1 spot and Turk at the No. 2.

Thanks LGB! (Why not add a "T" at the end to cover all the bases? LadyGreyBeeTerrific works)

I hope Doyle has improved his point guard skills over last year. He doesn't seem to have real good court vision, and gets himself trapped in awkward places sometimes. With Turk and Doyle starting, it seems like Porter is going for offense over defense. Don't get me wrong, I like Turk, and I think he's one of the hardest working players on the team.

I hope Jeff's recovery from surgery is quick and uneventful. We need him.

If I recall correctly, in the loss to Rockhurst J.R. Blount scored something like 35 points. I happened to be sitting behind J.R.'s parents, and I jokingly said if J.R. had scored 40 we would have won.

They were not amused...

The word is (Part 2). . . . . . Turk is the most improved player on the team!

If Turk has developed his ability to drive and create for himself it would make him a lot better player and a lot harder to guard. Last year the defense didn't really need to respect his ability to drive and could just plan on him shooting around the arc.

Assuming Doyle and Turk start in the backcourt, I figure the rest of the starters are Thomas, James and ?

My guess for the 5th starter is Crisman, who could help out Doyle with ballhandling duties and is a good rebounder for his size. I wouldn't be shocked, however, to see Ingram get the nod, if Porter wants a little extra size to counter Rockhurst's strong frontcourt.