Pretty good crowd for an exhibition game. Any thoughts?
At least for one half…. the flow of the offense, quality of shots, and shooting percentage are all noticeably better than what we have seen in the Powell era. Could be the quality of opponent (although we have played other poor teams in previous seasons) but I’m hopeful it is more a reflection or returning players and more practice time together this summer.
I looked through ONU's naia history and they seem to be a perennial top of their conference.
All in all I see a lot more potential contributors than in years past
Score? Who looks good/bad/so-so?
ONU is equivalent to a 5A high school team.
valpo not looking that great.
i can see why we struggled in secret games.
We need lots of work
No radio broadcast for this game?
Final score was 85 - 48. Valpo basically had a greater than 20 point lead from 10 left in the first half
JT - 15 (JT really didnt get going until the back end of the second half)
Hoppoi, Walker, Chaney - 10. Rest I am unsure of.
Every available man played outside of injuries and walk-ons. I wouldn't be surprised if the minute total had 12 guys with significant play time. Definitely not pretty at times, but I wouldn't say the team played poorly. Should be a very deep squad but certainly still needs to get the rust off
ONU is equivalent to a 5A high school team.
valpo not looking that great.
i can see why we struggled in secret games.
We need lots of work
Disagree. ONU is a better-quality NAIA program than any Valpo has faced since Powell arrived. Valpo has some early-season things to work through, just like most teams at this point. I didn’t see anything overly concerning in the exhibition. As for the secret scrimmage, I won’t judge a game I didn’t watch, but traditionally they are poor indicators for the direction of a season.
ONU is equivalent to a 5A high school team.
valpo not looking that great.
i can see why we struggled in secret games.
We need lots of work
(IHSAA only has up to 4A in basketball and the teams in 4A vary in size and stature drastically. That is a whole nother can of worms)
Did we watch the same game? The CCAC is a well respected NAIA conference and ONU is a top team in that league. They are frequently in the NAIA tournament. Sure they are not even close to being on the level of a D1 roster, but that doesn't make them CCSJ, whom are bottom feeders in that same league.
Powell ran a deep rotation. The starters were on the floor together for all of 5 minutes before the roster became a revolving door of guys. Would you have rather all the starters get significant minutes and drop more points on ONU and not get anyone else significant minutes?
Is there work to be done? Absolutely, its game 1, no one expects any team in the country to be fully prepared to play. Thats what these games are for. Get the rust off and be prepared for each game after. The team played fine
Valpo took care of business in its lone exhibition, cruising past Olivet Nazarene 85-48. The final score wasn't the most interesting part, though. The Beacons showed off a deep and athletic frontcourt, some encouraging floor spacing from the five spot, and plenty of defensive energy.
I broke down what stood out to me, who made an impression, and what we may have learned before the games start counting.
Who started the game? Who were the first guys off the bench?
@valpo64 I cover all of that in my recap located here please feel free to check it out. https://bryanfoley2.substack.com/p/beacons-cruise-past-olivet-nazarene?r=3w51dd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
"Roger Powell Jr. opened with a starting five of Rakim Chaney, Justus McNair, Bruno Alocen, JT Pettigrew and Carter Hopoi."
"Rajan Roberts was the first Beacon to check in, followed by Tarron Garrett, Sader Servillus and Kai Yu. Kobe Walker, Hudson Scroggins and Dylan Moles also saw first-half action as Powell kept a deep rotation throughout the opening 20 minutes."