Loyola Chicago Basketball: 3 takeaways from Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament

Culture remains strong for Ramblers

Loyola Chicago’s ‘Created by Culture’ motto is more than a snappy slogan. The players and coaching staff believe in the relentless, ‘no excuses, no entitlement’ approach to basketball. Moser planted deep roots in Valentine and the veterans on the squad and those roots are bearing fruit.

During the historic Final Four run of 2018, Loyola consistently fell behind more highly regarded opponents, only to wear down the taller and more athletic teams and hit clutch shots during crunch time.

This team has a similar look and feel. Whether they can hit those ‘big shots’ will be tested, but the culture of relentless passion, defensive integrity, and selfless offense is deeply embedded in this team. LUC averages over 18 assists per game. Only two players averaged double-figure scoring averages (Williamson is the second at 10.7 ppg), but ten average over four points per game.

Because of the way they share the ball, they are averaging .499 from the field and .422 from deep. This is a culture thing for the Ramblers. Passing up a good shot for a better one is something they prefer to padding their own individual statistics.

Whether this would last under Valentine or not, was something we were looking for during the Battle 4 Atlantis, and we saw it clearly. The Ramblers look like the Ramblers. Obviously, several of the players were on the team a year ago, but the DNA, the passionate defense, and cohesiveness we have come to understand is still evident on this year’s team.

Loyola Chicago (5-2) seems ready to be the Ramblers we expect them to be.