As somebody who was expecting a 15-20 point win tonight, I thought we played “meh” but not downright bad. If we hit our free throws we win by double digits. Not to mention we led by double digits twice including by 13 in the second half.
We had two freshman in their first college game on the floor to close out a 1 possession game, and one of those hit two go ahead shots for us in the final minute.
I thought our defense looked good and the refs had a tight whistle. They scored almost HALF of their points from the line. Our length and size will cause problems for most mid major opponents.
Rebounding was not as much of a concern to me. We missed 16 more free throws + field goals than them and only lost the rebounding battle by 3. We also had 14 more second chance points.
That being said, the offense is a real concern for me. I really do think we have the tools, but Powells offense has consistently disappointed me. It has an emphasis on quick shots which has tended to translate to bad shots. His half court offense doesn’t generate enough open shots. Hoping that the improvement of Pettigrew and Hopoi throughout the season and a strong shooting season from Brody can mask that.
Whew.. 😅 a win is a win… isn't that what they say? I was pumped up and had a good time. The fan base was fired up for the 1k in attendance… really hoping Owen can bring some more aggression and intensity on both end of the court given his playing style, I just didn’t see the hustle or fire. Carter gave us good minutes at the 5. Rakim looked good and played tough. Hit shots when we needed them and was clutch on the defensive end too. JT is consistent, played with a great IQ and overall was the best player on the court tonight. He set himself apart by being in the right position on so many plays and playing under control. The ally throw down he converted had me going bonkers 😂. All three are freshman though so if they can grow through the year we should get better with time. Brody played pretty good in his role tonight if he can get open looks and knock them down at a higher clip he may be an X factor for us. Barnes is going to be a primary contributor all season, he is gonna have to be. I would have liked to see a bit more facilitating though, there were 3 times he missed the extra pass for a wide open 3 but instead tried to create for himself, that’s fixable… We are gonna have to find a way to get more out of Shon, find where he is best utilized but it’s still early. Improving the flow of the offense, getting guys in the right positions to be successful, and improving the shooting is a must if we expect to win ball games. There were times the offense looked lost. Defensively though it was encouraging. I’m a big Justice fan, I thought he was underutilized tonight. Turnovers will lose us games this year, if we don’t get that under control. Lastly, free throws all I can say is ouch. Play on, see you all at the next one.
Defense lookd pretty good until the second half when EIU started getting open looks (mostly for 2s). Defensive switches seemed quite poor in the second half. Offense was pretty poor throughout, which seemed driven by too much dribbling by the point guard and not enough movement off the ball. Will need to play a lot better than that to get even 10 wins for the season.
IN re watching the game, I saw that EIU was still forced to take a ton of tough shots in the second half. Mostly consisting of contested mid range jumpers. Simply put, those shots were falling for EIU, and nothing on the offensive end was falling for Valpo.
I see shooting as a major point of emphasis going foreword
For the "Glass half full" take on this. It was game 1. Lots of improvement to be had, and, ultimately, conference slate is king. It was nice to see some semblance of defense being played, especially high level defense to force arrant shots from EIU.
Thought the defense was pretty good. EIU's offense only looked better because Valpo's offense was downright awful along with the poor free throw shooting. Since this is a new gang, I'm not going to offer any thoughts on whether that improves or not. Last year's team I'd have called it an anomaly.
The thought has occurred to me that, since this has been an ongoing issue in the team struggling in the half court, that Powell does not have a strength in structuring a set offense. Last night it was compounded by maddening sequences of a forced turnover followed by a nothing trip in transition either because of a poor shot selection, a miss on a good opportunity or missed free throws.
Obviously if the shooting continues in this fashion it will be a long season but hopefully it does not.
34.5% from the field
22.6% from thrre
60% from the free throw line
14 turnovers
Hopefully this is an outlier and Valparaiso can be a more fundamentally sound and efficient team. If you’re going to take over half of your shots from three, you better make more than 22.6% of them.
I'm choosing to make it an exception and not the rule. Particularly because the stat sheets of the new upper classman from previous seasons dont show in the 2 games we have of reference.
Kentucky will be a tune up. Sometimes you just need those games against the creme de la creme to whip you into shape
It was an exception. Sometimes shooting is cold, which it was. But defense was impressive. Optimistic.
It was an exception. Sometimes shooting is cold, which it was. But defense was impressive. Optimistic.
We hope it’s an exception. We don’t know that, and unfortunately, we have plenty of recent years to point to as reasons to be concerned.
I disagree with using recent years as a determinant for anything in the modern era of college athletics. With the amount of roster turnover its hard to do so
I disagree with using recent years as a determinant for anything in the modern era of college athletics. With the amount of roster turnover its hard to do so
In general, I agree, but it feels like the roster turnover results in a poor shooting team every year. Valpo hasn’t shot above 32% from three since 2020 and hasn’t finished inside the top 100 nationally in three-point shooting since 2016.
True. If it is any consolation. Bradley also was playing a slew of new faces for their game against st Bonaventure and failed to shoot above 30%. Ultimately, I believe it's an issue with all this turnover causing a lack of synergy amongst the players on a new roster. Sure they have all these months to get to know each other in practice. But knowing someone in practice is vastly different from knowing someone in a game scenario.
I think the issues with the portal format are becoming more clear each year. Sure, these athletes are getting paid, but that money will run out faster than if they went to the league or finished their degrees. Learning 4 coaching styles in 4 years isnt great for a player's skillset in the slightest.
The shooting (free throws woof woof) was bad all the way around and nearly cost us the game. Way to much one on one tonight, very little scoring in the flow of our offense and the screen/slips to the basket lack the right chemistry between the right two players. The forced turnovers were a plus and so was Chaney's play. Anyone think Eastern will finish in the top half of the OVC? 30-40 point loss at Rupp.
Which team has a higher ceiling? The one we saw in St. Louis last year or this years team?
A 2025-26 team led by a junior Cooper Schwieger and a sophomore All Wright, along with other returning players and promising newcomers, would've been poised for a very successful season. They would've captured the VU success formula of days of yore, taking talented, but oft-overlooked freshmen and turning them into all conference-level players who stayed for 4 years and put Valpo in consistent competition for post-season invitations.
This is not a knock against the current players. It is a reminder of the brief elevated optimism about the MBB program after that Arch Madness run.
