Valpo vs Milwaukee (1/18 at 1 pm)

[valpopal]

[valpotx]

Tough one to pick.  Who shows up for us?  Will it be turnover-crazy Valpo, or average turnover Valpo?  I will pick average turnover Valpo shows up:

Valpo 75
Milwaukee 68

[valpopal]

Some may remember the basket by Van Wijk captured below in one of my photographs at last year's home game against Milwaukee. Kevin released the shot just before he fell flat on his back, and the ball rose in a slow arc before eventually swishing through the net. This play made the Sports Center Top Ten that night.

At the time, it was the shot of the season for Valpo that I thought would be most remembered. Of course, that was before Ryan's last-second three-point shot against Green Bay in the conference playoffs. I am hoping for memorable shots and a home win on Saturday!

[HC]

Valpo by 15...I also think Bobby is going to knock down Tiby under the hoop at least one time real with a clean hard foul.

[justducky]

There are a lot of unknowns in the mix that prevent me from throwing out some kind of score prediction. Will Jordan be able to play and contribute? Who Bryce will decide to play and how the referees elect to whistle the game may have big influences on its outcome, but I think we can pull out a win.

[ProudValpoAlum705]

I would like to see Valpo develop more of a low-post game. I have not liked what I have seen from Carter, but he under stands the 'drive and dish' concept more than dority. At least 4 times in the Detroit game, Dority went to the rack, took a few defenders with him, had a clear pass to Peters and took an ill advised, out of control lay up and thank god got whistles.

Let us hope Detroit is a turn around game. The second half of that game was the first time the team looked like they played with energy in a while.

[SanityLost17]

Anything could happen in this game.  However, I think I will take the pessimistic view.   

- When we play man-to-man defense Milwaukee's post will set high ball screens.  Vashil/Moussa will then be guarding their point guard.  Their point will drive to the basket for the foul and the bucket, or Tibby will post up Dority/Williams/Carter/Yeo for an easy score.     

- When we play zone defense Milwaukee will rotate the ball quickly resulting in wide open looks from the 3 point line.     

- Milwaukee will apply lots of pressure causing us to turn the ball over 20 times. 

- We will shoot a very high percentage from the floor, rebound well, and hit our free throws.  This will keep the game very close and we lose by 3.  71-68

[a3uge]

Milwaukee runs two children of the corn PFs down low (Tiby 6-8 and Kelm 6-9). Tiby, although practically the same guy, will shoot more 3s. They still have Jordan Aaron, whom seems to be shooting a lot less this year (which probably wasn't all that hard to do) and has been much more successful (which probably wasn't all that hard to do). McWhorter is a transfer from Indiana State that runs their offense (also turns the ball over a lot). Austin Arians is their SF and is basically their Alec Peters.

This is a game where Valpo's length could give Milwaukee some problems. Since Milwaukee lacks a true center, you'll see a lot of the P&R stuff we've been seeing. With Valpo's length, you'll see Milwaukee shoot a lot of 3s... they are about average in that department. Both Milwaukee and Valpo are about average in offensive rebound percentage, but Milwaukee defensively gives up a lot of offensive rebounds, and Valpo is pretty decent on their defensive side. Maybe Valpo can finally use their length to their advantage against a team that rolls out a 4 and a stretch 3/4.

There's nothing very imposing about this team. They're a middle of the pack Horizon team just like we are. The difference is, they're playing much better than expectations, and we're playing about as well as expected... oh and most people that go to our school know we have a D1 basketball team.

[wh]

Another thing of note...Milwaukee turns the ball over almost as much as we do. Should be a lot of empty possessions tomorrow.

[covufan]

Hopefully Bryce finds those game ending combinations of players several times during the game.

Valpo  74
Milw    65

We really need to step up the defensive side of the ball.

[wh]

We have to beat the conference frontrunners at home if we have any hope of a top 3 or 4 finish. We already lost to WSU at home.  We have to have this game.   

[LaPorteAveApostle]

hey still have Jordan Aaron, whom seems to be shooting a lot less this year

erm.  last year, a shot every 2:50 of PT.  This year, every 2:54.  So.  I think it's just that he's playing fewer minutes.

Although he still can't shoot worth a damn, he's remarkably consistent:

Except the one thing he was good at (FTs) are slacking.

[Smj]

Milwaukee has looked good in the few games I have seen this year - way stronger than last season.    It will not be easy to find a winning strategy.    However, I still think we need to spread their defense, dribble drive [pass], and dammit protect the ball.  (My keys to a win- probably in every game.   Well, these  and putting more points on the board than our opponents. lol)

hate to say it because I know it is a difficult job but not knowing what to expect from refs has to be annoying to the coaching staff.    Maybe as annoying as it is to the fans (jk).

[valpotx]

Good win, even with the 15 turnovers.  Lucky that Milwaukee was cold for the last 30 minutes or so, but I'll take it!  Hopefully Peters find his stroke soon, as that can wear on a shooter.  I believe that our alley-oop to Vashil has been successful 3 times in a row now!  The one in this game was a thing of beauty, and much higher percentage coming off a pick-and-roll vs. the usual cross court 'oop.

[wh]

This was a dominant performance in several respects. We got 49 points from our 2 guard positions and 18 rebounds, 4 blocks and several altered shots from the center position. They won the battle of the forwards with Tiby (who definitely is a good player), but we controlled everything else. 

[vu72]

Great to see Vashil and Moussa continue to grow into the center spot.  Both appear much better and, as wh pointed out, the combined performance at the 5 is as much as any of us would have hoped for.

My next observation is that Carter is indeed for real.  He is finding his role on the team, no doubt, but his ball handling, passing, shooting a poise make him a future all conference type player.
.
A gritty battle and what great rebounding! We have to be nearing the top in rebounding margin (plus 17 again today).

I sure hope it will continue to come together.

[Chairback]

They had no answer for dority.  His first half was tremendous and set the tone for the team tonight.  He absolutely gets hammered a lot on his drives.  One tough kid.

[justducky]

Bobby was ablle to play big minutes at the 4 today. UWM is just slow enough that we could do that with either Alec, Jubril or Jordan at the 3. We even played a good stretch with Bobby at 4, Jubril or Alec at 3 and Jordan at the 2. Those are some combinations that have not been working well in recent games but it all worked reasonably well today and I hope it can continue. We finally showed  a few high post looks also.

[wh]

I'm assuming that Lexus is a lock for Freshman of the Week. 

In victories over Detroit and Milwaukee he scored 33 points (16.5 PPG), 7-14 FG (50%), 3-6 3Pt (50%), 17-20 FT (85%), 8 Rebounds, 6 Assists, and 2 Steals, while playing only 25 min./game.

LaVonte should definitely be in the running for Player of the Week:

47 points (23.5 PPG), 12-24 FG (50%), 6-14 3Pt (43%), 17-20 FT (85%), and 6 Rebounds, while playing 33 min/game (not the 39 or 40 you see from a couple of 1-man shows in this league).

[valpopal]

After another slow start the team seemed to blend well. In the post-game press conference Coach Jeter said he felt the turnaround came after the second timeout in the first half. After that, he said Dority took over and they couldn't handle him. I have said in the past that the offense flows through LaVonte, and it is good to see his back seems no longer sore. In addition, the rotation seemed to be working better, especially as can be seen in the fact that 9 players had 17 minutes or more of time on the court, and Valpo's bench outscored Milwaukee's bench 25-3.

Some interesting stats: Moussa had 12 rebounds in only 17 minutes of playing time (though he also had 4 turnovers); Vashil had a very good all-around game with a couple of fine dunks, good free throw shooting, 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 0 turnovers in his 22 minutes; LaVonte was efficient, scoring 27 points on only 16 shots and committing 0 turnovers in 35 minutes of play; Carter had a perfect shooting game 3-3 on field goals, 2-2 from 3-pt line, 2-2 from free throw line, and he would have had more if not for the phony charge call against him (plus, he had 5 assists). I thought for sure Bryce was fishing for a technical foul after that call.

The crowd was not as large as I'd hoped with the attendance given as 3281, but the place was lively. I met some Milwaukee fans who were complimentary about Valparaiso, the fans, and the atmosphere in the ARC. That was good to know since it appeared a possible future recruit was attending the game. Also, it was great to see Alex Rossi at the game rooting for his former teammates.

Below are a few of my photos with Fernandez, Dority, and Drew displaying some of the characteristics mentioned above.







 

[Valpofan00]

Where can I find highlights of the game?

[talksalot]

http://espn.go.com/watchespn/player/_/id/1448229/

ESPN3 and Comcast both had the game...ESPN will have the exclusive replay

[chef]

Go back and watch the last 7 minutes of the first half. I just went through it to make sure the overall play was as outstanding as I had thought. I was not disappointed. I was also relieved that Keith Carter played up to his potential. That could give the Crusaders a huge lift going forward. I also got a kick out of the comments concerning the Valpo radio guy's wardrobe. 

[justducky]

I can't remember playing more man to man defense in a single game against a solid D-1 foe in any recent history. Yes UWM is a little slow with only average 3 point shooting but our zone play has been so consistently ugly that I am finding this gradual change to very refreshing. Our next 3 games may require longer stretches of zone but having Carter in the mix gives us a decent man defense that we should not be afraid to use when it might gain us an advantage. I am not sure that Jeder was expecting it because they seldom made us pay for some of the switches.

[vu72]

Go back and watch the last 7 minutes of the first half. I just went through it to make sure the overall play was as outstanding as I had thought. I was not disappointed. I was also relieved that Keith Carter played up to his potential. That could give the Crusaders a huge lift going forward. I also got a kick out of the comments concerning the Valpo radio guy's wardrobe. 

[/b]

So are you saying he has a wardrobe made for radio??