I've heard your cries.....With my topic starting help, the team has won back to back MVC games for the first time in school history :lol: Looking to keep the streak alive vs. a down on their luck UNI team.
Gimme the Crusaders 78-70!
Being superstitious, I'd suggest you, as the originator, switch the Message Icon to Game Thread just like the others you did :thumbsup:
Very tough one. I haven't followed UNI to see why they have lost 7 in a row, but winning on their court can't be easy. I will be pessimistic:
UNI 69
Valpo 63
So... who is UNI...
11-10 at N. Carolina 13-4 (2-2) 9 69-86 L
11-13 Alcorn St. 0-13 (0-4) 349 73-45 W
11-18 Chicago St. 0-16 (0-1) 310 82-44 W
11-22 vs SMU 12-6 (2-3) 91 61-58 W - Battle for Atlantis
11-23 vs N.C. State 11-5 (1-2) 116 64-60 W - Battle for Atlantis
11-24 vs Villanova 15-1 (3-1) 3 50-64 L - Battle for Atlantis
11-29 UNLV 13-4 (2-2) 154 77-68 W
12-07 TX Arlington 10-6 (2-1) 139 62-58 W
12-16 vs Iowa St. 9-6 (0-4) 114 65-76 L
12-22 Xavier 15-3 (3-2) 6 67-77 L
12-28 Southern Ill. 9-8 (2-3) 150 53-56 L
12-31 at Bradley 12-5 (3-2) 102 53-72 L
01-04 at Missouri St. 12-5 (3-2) 72 55-62 L
01-07 Loyola Chicago 12-4 (3-2) 96 50-56 L
01-10 at Indiana St. 6-9 (3-2) 165 67-69 L
and realtimeRpi predicts this:
01-13 Valparaiso 9-7 (2-3) 130 76-70 W - Scouting
Roster:
1 Adam McDermott G 6-4 183 R-So. Cedar Rapids, Iowa / C.R. Xavier/North Dakota
2 Klint Carlson F 6-7 218 R-Sr. Waverly, Iowa / Waverly-Shell Rock STARTER
3 Ted Friedman C 6-9 245 R-Sr. Ankeny, Iowa / Ankeny
4 Tywhon Pickford G 6-4 202 Fr. Minneapolis, Minn. / Maple Grove STARTER
5 Rafael de Souza G 6-1 185 Sr. Jundiai, Brazil / Gulf Coast State College
10 Miles Wentzien G 6-3 190 Jr. Fort Madison, Iowa / Fort Madison
12 Lincoln Conrey F 6-5 203 R-So. Waterloo, Iowa / Waterloo West
13 Juwan McCloud G 5-11 170 So. Germantown, Wis. / Germantown STARTER
15 Justin Dahl C 7-0 261 R-So. Carver, Minn. / Holy Family
21 Hunter Rhodes G 5-10 170 Sr. Canton, Ill. / Canton/Kirkwood CC
22 Tanner Lohaus F 6-7 205 R-Fr. North Liberty, Iowa / Iowa City West
24 Isaiah Brown G 6-7 180 So. Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound STARTER
25 Bennett Koch F 6-10 239 R-Sr. Ashwaubenon, Wis. / Ashwaubenon STARTER
30 Spencer Haldeman G 6-1 175 R-So. Peosta, Iowa / Western Dubuque
33 Wyatt Lohaus G 6-2 192 R-Jr. North Liberty, Iowa / Iowa City West
34 Luke McDonnell F 6-9 212 R-So. Dubuque, Iowa / Dubuque Senior
50 Austin Phyfe F 6-9 235 Fr. Waverly, Iowa / Waverly-Shell Rock
GAME STATISTICS
Player GP MIN PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TPG FG% FT% 3P%
Bennett Koch 17 24.8 13.2 6.6 0.5 0.6 1.0 2.2 .561 .800 .000 STARTER
Tywhon Pickford 17 30.6 10.2 8.9 1.4 0.6 0.2 1.0 .384 .750 .241 STARTER
Wyatt Lohaus 9 22.1 9.2 3.3 2.0 0.3 0.0 1.0 .403 .750 .485 29-MINUTES 12 POINTS, 1 REB 3 AST
Klint Carlson 17 31.9 9.2 5.8 1.8 0.6 0.3 2.1 .397 .650 .322 STARTER
Juwan McCloud 17 29.1 8.0 1.6 2.4 1.2 0.1 1.8 .340 .680 .288 STARTER
Spencer Haldeman 16 19.6 7.1 1.7 1.2 0.6 0.0 1.3 .453 .680 .467 3-MINUTES, NO STATS
Isaiah Brown 17 24.4 6.5 2.6 1.6 0.8 0.2 1.1 .394 .667 .382 STARTER
Miles Wentzien 4 13.3 3.3 1.3 1.5 0.8 0.0 1.8 .333 1.000 .333
Adam McDermott 8 9.8 2.0 0.9 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.3 .357 1.000 .417
Austin Phyfe 14 9.0 1.9 1.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.3 .571 .429 .000 11-MINUTES, 6 POINTS 3 REBS 3 FOULS
Hunter Rhodes 10 9.8 1.6 0.9 0.4 0.4 0.0 0.2 .462 1.000 .600 12-MINUTES, NO STATS
Lincoln Conrey 4 3.3 1.5 0.5 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 .600 .000 .000
Tanner Lohaus 6 5.5 1.3 1.5 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.0 .250 .500 .500
Luke McDonnell 7 4.9 1.1 1.4 0.1 0.3 0.7 0.3 .444 .000 .000
Ted Friedman 12 6.7 0.8 1.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.3 .571 .400 .000
Justin Dahl 2 4.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 .000 .000 .000
Totals 17 -- 65 36 11 6 2 12 .418 .715 .349
UNI's take on the Indiana State Game
The PRE-game notes:
UNI MEN'S BASKETBALL STORYLINES AT INDIANA STATE
• The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team (8-8 overall, 0-4 MVC) will head to Indiana State (7-9, 2-2 MVC) for a matchup on Wednesday. Tip is set for 6 p.m. (CT) at the Hulman Center.
• UNI freshman guard Tywhon Pickford is tied for third among freshman guards who have recorded double-doubles this season. Oklahoma's Trae Young (8) and Duquesne's Eric Williams Jr. (6) are the only freshman guards with more than four double-doubles this season.
• Pickford (6'4") is the nation's top rebounder (9.1 rpg) under 6'5". Pickford ranks No. 7 in the nation among all freshmen.
• UNI ranks No. 7 in the nation in scoring defense. The Panthers are giving up 60.8 points per game.
• UNI has played the 12th-toughest schedule in nation. UNI's opponents have combined for a record of 130-74 (.637).
• UNI is ranked No. 15 in the nation in field goal percentage defense (38.2).
• UNI has made at least one 3-pointer in 577 straight games – the longest active streak in the Missouri Valley Conference. It also ranks as the 32nd-longest active streak among all NCAA Division I teams.
and the outcome:
TERRE HAUTE, Indiana - The Indiana State Sycamores scored on a tip in at the buzzer to post a 69-67 win over the University of Northern Iowa men's basketball squad on Wednesday at the Hulman Center.
UNI had rallied from a five-point deficit in the final 20 seconds to knot the score at 69-69 on a three-pointer from Wyatt Lohaus and a layup by Tywhon Pickford after a steal.
Indiana State's Jordan Barnes brought the ball down the floor with the score tied at 69-69 and launched a three-pointer that was missed, but the errant shot was tipped in by Brandon Murphy as the buzzer sounded to give the Sycamores a two-point win.
The Panthers started slowly and fell down 9-0 early, but came right back and scored the game's next nine points. UNI went on a 24-6 run after the early nine-point deficit. UNI would eventually lead by as many as 11 points in the first half at 26-15 with 7:34 on the clock.
UNI would lead by seven points at the break at 38-31. But the Sycamores came out and buried its first four three-pointers of the second half and tied the game at 44-44. Barnes led the Sycamore charge with a game-high 27 points. Barnes also added nine rebounds.
The Panthers trailed by eight at 61-53 with 5:43 left in the game before battling back to even it up at 67-67.
Pickford tied a career-high with 18 points and he added seven rebounds. Isaiah Brown scored 13 points, grabbed six rebounds, handed out five assists and tallied four steals.
Games are played t the McLeod Center...
It was talked about for years and in November 2006, the McLeod Center opened for business. A 6,500-plus seat venue that houses UNI's basketball and volleyball programs, it is connected to the south end of the UNI-Dome.
Seating
3,200 East and west chair backs
1,662 South wooden bleacher seats
655 North retractable seats
328 North concourse removable bleachers
500 Standing room observation decks
137 Court side seats
268 Concourse seats
6,750 Total sellable seats (including handicapped)
Total capacity 7,018
After starting 0-5 in the MVC UNI will be coming to play on their home court. Tough game.
I think that we've found some starting and substitution combinations that are really working. I'm hoping that we are able to break UNI of their slower approach during stretches of this game. If we continue to play well...
Valpo 71
UNI 69
Well, I'll have you know I've never messed with the icon on any thread. If it's been changed in the past it wasn't by me! So my superstitious self is going to leave it as is. :thumbsup:
Quote from: covufan on January 11, 2018, 02:29:47 PM
After starting 0-5 in the MVC UNI will be coming to play on their home court. Tough game.
I think that we've found some starting and substitution combinations that are really working. I'm hoping that we are able to break UNI of their slower approach during stretches of this game. If we continue to play well...
Valpo 71
UNI 69
Valpo 54 UNI 63
OH, THE OTHER stat...
first meeting: 1979-80
last meeting: 2004-05
all-time VU record: 2-22
The UNI teams of the old AMCU-8/Mid-Con were always tough. Have we ever won at UNI? The years I most remember are the Eldon Miller years. After he "left" Ohio State and went to UNI. At OSU he had the Clark Kellogg and Brad Sellers years and some good outcomes. At UNI, the 89-90 team was very memorable and upset an excellent Missouri team (Anthony Peeler and Travis Ford among others). They used to play in the inflatable dome if I remember correctly. It is good to renew some of these old AMCU-8 match ups like UNI, and SMST (Missouri State).
http://wcfcourier.com/sports/college/uni/mens_basketball/panther-tracks---team-relives-glory-days/article_af87b686-0913-11e1-b0ec-001cc4c002e0.html (http://wcfcourier.com/sports/college/uni/mens_basketball/panther-tracks---team-relives-glory-days/article_af87b686-0913-11e1-b0ec-001cc4c002e0.html)
I'm going with Valpo by about 10 if we can limit our turnovers. I think we've got some good confidence going and rotations that are starting to click fairly well.
A good chance to get our First MVC road win, this team is having problems, but they have some good wins VU 74 NIU 67. :)
Any thoughtful ideas on why UNI has lost every single game since December 7th? That is so weird. What the heck changed? This is so strange. What are we running into here?
Quote from: M on January 11, 2018, 02:32:39 PM
Well, I'll have you know I've never messed with the icon on any thread. If it's been changed in the past it wasn't by me! So my superstitious self is going to leave it as is. :thumbsup:
...I've done my part ;)
Is this a must win game for uni? Seems like a "circle the wagons" type of game uni. We will get a desperate uni team that will give us their best shot.
Is the team driving or flying?
Quote from: oklahomamick on January 12, 2018, 08:37:14 AM
Is this a must win game for uni? Seems like a "circle the wagons" type of game uni. We will get a desperate uni team that will give us their best shot.
Is the team driving or flying?
I think it has become a must win for UNI. It's at home and it's going to be on ESPN2. They don't want be playing in the 1st rounds of Arch Madness in the bottom 4, I think those games are on a Thursday. They are 2 games behind 9th place. I'm guessing the team is driving to Cedar Falls.
Hitting a bunch of threes, again, is one way to beat UNI or anyone else in the league--but if you look at most of the results this year it is the defense of a team that will give them a win. Offense comes and goes but you can always play with intensity on the "D" side of the ball (you CAN do that but we have inexplicably forgotten to do that several times already :lol:). UNI will pack it in on defense and dare you to hit the outside shot
I watched UNI several times early in the season. Based on those viewings I would have said they were going to win the MVC this year. I simply do not understand how that team can be 0-5 right now.
They are going to wake up sooner or later. They are at home on national TV playing with their backs up against the wall. We lose in overtime by 2.
Quote from: SanityLost17 on January 12, 2018, 09:24:14 AM
I watched UNI several times early in the season. Based on those viewings I would have said they were going to win the MVC this year. I simply do not understand how that team can be 0-5 right now.
They are going to wake up sooner or later. They are at home on national TV playing with their backs up against the wall. We lose in overtime by 2.
They looked really good vs UNLV. I remember thinking how much better the competition was between those two schools vs the schedule Valpo had played. That's still probably true, but how does a front-runner lose to SIU at home?
Quote from: SanityLost17 on January 12, 2018, 09:24:14 AM
I watched UNI several times early in the season. Based on those viewings I would have said they were going to win the MVC this year. I simply do not understand how that team can be 0-5 right now.
They are going to wake up sooner or later. They are at home on national TV playing with their backs up against the wall. We lose in overtime by 2.
They are a very good team.
UNI played better competition by a wide margin than any MVC team not named Illinois State and showed extremely well again at it. Even though the MVC is a more than solid conference with tough road environments and good competition from top to bottom, I believe their 0-5 start is absolutely perplexing. Conference front-runners don't do that. This is an absolute must win for them and I believe it is for us as well if we want to avoid playing on Thursday come tournament time. I hope we're ready because we're going to be walking into a very difficult road environment against a truly desperate and hungry team packed with talent on national TV.
Quote from: VUGrad1314 on January 12, 2018, 10:18:18 AM
UNI played better competition by a wide margin than any MVC team not named Illinois State and showed extremely well again at it. Even though the MVC is a more than solid conference with tough road environments and good competition from top to bottom, I believe their 0-5 start is absolutely perplexing. Conference front-runners don't do that. This is an absolute must win for them and I believe it is for us as well if we want to avoid playing on Thursday come tournament time. I hope we're ready because we're going to be walking into a very difficult road environment against a truly desperate and hungry team packed with talent on national TV.
Very well said, I'm also in agreement. 0-5 makes it even more paramount that we don't fall behind early. They are hungry, far hungrier than our 2-3. This is a proud team that plays solid defense in the games I've watched, they just aren't filling it up. But home games are where Offense gets healthy quick.
Quote from: VUGrad1314 on January 12, 2018, 10:18:18 AMUNI played better competition by a wide margin than any MVC team not named Illinois State and showed extremely well again at it.
I'm surprised to see how the NCSOS shook out for the conference. Looking at kenpom stats. Ours is middle of the pack in the MVC, 233rd of 351 in the country. Loyola 329, Bradley 294, Evansville 283. Maybe we just front-loaded our cupcakes, and plenty of teams saved them for dessert.
Quote from: oklahomamick on January 12, 2018, 08:37:14 AM
Is the team driving or flying?
Sounds like they flew
https://twitter.com/ValpoBasketball/status/951915762914152449
It will be important to match up strong with Bennett Koch. He isn't strongly built. But he has really good footwork and a nice touch so you may see the twin 7'0" line up so they can share the fouls.
Winning at UNI would be a strong statement. I see a 6 point loss, but a soiid game from us still trending in the right direction..
Both teams should desperately want this game.
I am expecting a close, wire to wire, all out effort which might initiate a long and strong rivalry. As for winners and losers, yes we will have one of each. :-\
Kampe calls out his student body for not attending their games... here's a story from last week from Cedar Falls...
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- This winter, the turnstiles featured a downturn in the McLeod Center.
The Northern Iowa men's basketball squad ended the regular season with an average home attendance of 4,908 fans per game. That represents a fairly significant drop from last year's average of 5,642 per game.
For the greater good of UNI's entire athletic program, athletic director Troy Dannen hopes for better attendance in the future.
"Basketball is at a level now that we haven't seen historically, but we're not filling the building," noted the UNI athletic director. "We have to find ways to fill the building.
"Really, the basketball revenue is where there are significant growth opportunities."
This season represented the second-worst per-game attendance average for UNI since it moved into the McLeod Center, in 2006.
The UNI men currently rank sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference entering this winter's final weekend of regular-season action - and the Panthers' home average isn't far off from the team that ranks last in attendance, Southern Illinois (4,106).
Dannen said he'd prefer to play more home games when UNI students are on campus, which could help remedy his program's so-so attendance. However, his hands are tied.
"I'm still searching for what it takes to get crowds coming before Christmas. That's a question we've never found an answer to," Dannen said. "We've had pretty good home, non-conference schedules, (yet) we haven't done much (in terms of attendance) before Christmas.
"A full one-third of the (conference) schedule is played without students on campus. I don't know if there's anything we can do about it," Dannen added. "But the students are critical to our attendance; we'll average 1,500 students when school is in session and 100 when it's not."
Kampe? Dannen, right?
My suggestion is to double Koch every time he gets it on the blocks we (SIU) did it and he turned it over a bunch (4 turnovers, eight points, 2-5 shooting)
Northern Iowa favorite:
Sagarin 5-6
Sportsline 4.5
Realtime RPI 5
Interesting comments on attendance by Northern Iowa athletics director Tannen. He says student attendance is 100 when classes in session and 1500 when they are on campus. I wonder what percent of enrollment is 1,500? Perhaps it is 10%? Probably higher?
Let's hope we have a higher percent of students coming. Can they measure it at Valpo? Certainly a student I.D. bar code would do that. 300 per game would seem to match their percent. I will look up the UNI enrollment.
Let me help...
UNI ---- > 11,928 total enrollment (as of 2014) from Wikipedia. 1500 comes to ~12.6% of total
Valpo (2016) ----> 4500 total (3300 undergrads, 1200 grads) from Wikipedia. 300 comes to ~6.6% of total. Just UGs comes to ~9%
A small, close-knit, non-commuter university like Valpo should not be below 10% IMO. Actually it SHOULD be in the 15-20% for any game while students are on campus. :twocents:
It's very hard for me to understand why students would opt out of what used to be an integral part of the on-campus experience. But these are different times and these are definitely different kinds of students with different likes and priorities.
Quote from: VULB#62 on January 13, 2018, 11:37:33 AM
Let me help...
UNI ---- > 11,928 total enrollment (as of 2014) from Wikipedia. 1500 comes to ~12.6% of total
Valpo (2016) ----> 4500 total (3300 undergrads, 1200 grads) from Wikipedia. 300 comes to ~6.6% of total. Just UGs comes to ~9%
A small, close-knit, non-commuter university like Valpo should not be below 10% IMO. Actually it SHOULD be in the 15-20% for any game while students are on campus. :twocents:
It's very hard for me to understand why students would opt out of what used to be an integral part of the on-campus experience. But these are different times and these are definitely different kinds of students with different likes and priorities.
Are you referring to the 15% that don't integrate socially.
I make frequent trips to the Cedar Valley often for my job. There is a great Italian restaurant north of downtown, the Brown Bottle. Also, Whiskey Road on Main Street is good. there is also an outstanding micro brewery on the north end of Main Street.
Cedar Falls is a really nice town, Waterloo on the other hand has some rough parts. do not, I repeat, do not stay at the Ramada inn in downtown Waterloo.
Quote from: wh on January 13, 2018, 01:28:29 PM
Are you referring to the 15% that don't integrate socially.
There are those on every campus. That leaves the other 85%, and it is this segment of the student population that I was generally referring to in regard to opting out of an integral part of the college experience. Why can't we get 15-20% of them?
Just going back (proabably too far) to my college days at Valpo, those several weeknight home games as I remember them (and even more so on Saturday night if there was a home game) were circled on the calendar by a majority of the student body and many tried to attend even if there was a paper due that week -- "hey it's only 2 hours, let's take a break and go."
The expanded Hilltop (before the ARC was built) would have what was the equivalent of the whole ARC chairback section filled with students on one side of the gym across from the team benches. The seating behind the team benches was for town folk and faculty. More seating was added above and behind the student section above the 1962 pool and gym expansion. That seating consisted of roll out bleachers somewhat as high but maybe not as wide as the AA to EE sections in today's ARC. Hilltop maybe maxed out at like 4+k.
Given that backdrop, in comparison, that's kinda what I mean in not understanding what appears to me to be the lack of involvement in campus life. Different eras, different values I guess. Have to hand it to those students today who do make the effort though there aren't that many anymore who are there consistently.
What happened on Walkers bucket? (Watching in bar with no sound)
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Golder ALWAYS fouls jumpshooters.
These refs are terrible
Too bad, was looking forward to the second college basketball game in 3 years without a combined 50 fouls.
Here we go again.
Feels like we have a tendency to embarrass ourselves in tv games.
Quote from: JBC1824 on January 13, 2018, 07:39:29 PM
Feels like we have a tendency to embarrass ourselves in tv games.
No casual sports fan is watching this game anymore anyways. The NFL playoffs are on and if someone kept this game on after the first five minutes, they're probably asleep or too drunk to understand what's going on.
Bradford shooting free throws:
Back rim.
Front rim.
Repeat
I love Marty. Very high on him long term. But he is not ready to play DI ball on a night in, night out basis. That said, he's only going to get better by getting out there. Just have to bear through the tough times.
Quote from: NativeCheesehead on January 13, 2018, 07:56:59 PM
I love Marty. Very high on him long term. But he is not ready to play DI ball on a night in, night out basis. That said, he's only going to get better by getting out there. Just have to bear through the tough times.
He was the most active of our 3 bigs by far.
Putting this out there, we were absolutely getting homered early in this game.
Bradford might be the worst shooting PG or SG at Valpo since Eric Buggs. I'm amazed at how Valpo's staff saw him as a shooter for a year and a half, instead of a PG that should only shoot once a game to keep defenders honest.
As if they forgot the lesson from the past two games, the big men are back to playing soft instead of aggressive. Smits missed a layup he could have dunked. Ironically, when they play soft they seem to collect more fouls. Therefore, the result in first half: Smits and Sorolla combined for 0 points and 4 fouls, which limited them to a total of 11 minutes on the court.
Is Micah Bradford becoming the new Eric Buggs? I can see teams just letting him shoot it all he wants. A real mystery to me how a high school lights out shooter can suddenly completely lose his touch.
Quote from: FWalum on January 13, 2018, 08:00:43 PM
Putting this out there, we were absolutely getting homered early in this game.
Between that and that and combined 1-11 shooting from Max, Tevonn and Micah, it's surprising that we're still in the game. UNI didn't set the world on fire themselves. We can still pull this game out.
Quote from: wh on January 13, 2018, 08:00:12 PM
Quote from: NativeCheesehead on January 13, 2018, 07:56:59 PM
I love Marty. Very high on him long term. But he is not ready to play DI ball on a night in, night out basis. That said, he's only going to get better by getting out there. Just have to bear through the tough times.
He was the most active of our 3 bigs by far.
Linssen outscored the other two bigs combined and tied their total of rebounds in the first half despite playing 3 fewer minutes than Smits and Sorolla. I wish they had Marty's aggressiveness and hustle.
Quote from: FWalum on January 13, 2018, 08:06:13 PM
Is Micah Bradford becoming the new Eric Buggs? I can see teams just letting him shoot it all he wants. A real mystery to me how a high school lights out shooter can suddenly completely lose his touch.
I wonder if he should get his vision tested. The basket does not seem to be where he thinks it is.
Where is Sorolla ? Did I miss something?
Surprise, the same ineffective lineup that started the game has trouble scoring to start the second half. How many times is Lottich going to make the same mistake?
Transition year. I get it. But boy do I hate watching us get our butts kicked like this.
I have watched a lot of Valpo games. This is the 1st time where I am legitimately embarrassed to be a fan of this team.
Quote from: crusadermoe on January 13, 2018, 08:16:06 PM
Where is Sorolla ? Did I miss something?
He got 2 fouls so he was disqualified from playing the rest of the first half. I think it's a new rule.
Looks like my reign of terror starting game threads is coming to an end tonight.
Quote from: NativeCheesehead on January 13, 2018, 08:22:14 PM
Transition year. I get it. But boy do I hate watching us get our butts kicked like this.
For some reason lately for the big network tv games we play poorly. And UNI though not setting the world on fire tonite either is desperate for a W.
Live by the 3 and look good when they drop but really bad when they don't.
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We double team and end up with our pants down every time.
Quote from: SanityLost17 on January 13, 2018, 08:22:38 PM
I have watched a lot of Valpo games. This is the 1st time where I am legitimately embarrassed to be a fan of this team.
Embarrassed... Eh, every team in the MVC has had embarrassing moments this year. UNI is 0-5 and lost to SIU at home. Missouri State lost to ORAL ROBERTS. Loyola lost to UW-Milwaukee by 17 (And UWM had lost to a D2 school by double digits)! Those are veteran teams that were expected to be very competitive. We're a young team that was projected to be somewhere in the middle, playing with Horizon League recruits.
We were out scored 9-3 and 12-2 in the first 5 minutes of the 2 halves, respectively. So unprepared to compete coming out of the locker room.
1st time to watch uni and I'm impressed. How are they 0-5 in conference? Especially with those quality out of conference wins.
Quote from: wh on January 13, 2018, 08:31:37 PM
We were out scored 9-3 and 12-2 in the first 5 minutes of the 2 halves, respectively. So unprepared to compete coming out of the locker room.
Bob knight used to say the most important minutes are the first five in each half
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This team is an attitude and emotional roller coaster. Pouting when things don't go our way looking down and defeated on the bench and then just the opposite when something positive happens, then we're over the top. I think Matt needs to get things evened out attitude wise.
I think it's clear Valpo doesn't match up well with teams that have good interior defense, and a couple of 3 pt shooters.
Our team commits the dumbest fouls. When will Markus Golder learn not to jump out at a jump shot 3 pointer? He has done that in 4 of the last 5 games. Why is our program the only one that seems to foul 3 point shooters? I only remember Missouri State doing that to us last year, but can't remember it happening very often in our favor over the last 5 years, yet we do it like 10+ times each season.
Also, why is Bradford allowed to shoot more than 5 times? He cannot hit a shot. I would rather have Sorolla attempt another 3, versus see Bradford take another 3 for the rest of the year. He is nowhere near the basket...
Since moving far away from the midwest I have had few chances to watch Valpo this season. As such the only games I have been able to watch have been these blowout games.
While I am overall very disappointed with this seasons level of play and coaching, the one thing I have consistently seen is how much Max Joseph continues to hustle.
Max has been the only reason I have not turned the tv off in disgust. He is a great leader and represents the type of player I hope to see more of at Valpo in the future.
hell of an effort at the end of the game, finally had a game we didn't quit when down. 19-3 run, still down 6
When we play uni at home we play small and press.
I'm okay with this. We can build on that finish.
Half an hour ago I did not expect that this would end up being a five point game, I think I feel better?
Lexus Williams on ESPN2 right now.
Well, they didn't quit. We hit a few 3s in the first half and Bradford hits a couple of free throws and we could have pulled this one out
Oh, and Max got jobbed on that last foul. But we had two shots within 3 feet and couldn't get either to drop so....
Wow, UNI needed a Herculean effort by the refs to prevent that meltdown. It's clear Valpo needs to play WAY more small-ball, and that every team needs to just pressure UNI because they still haven't figured out how to handle it since that A&M meltdown in the NCAA tournament a couple years ago.
Three quick notes:
1) Valpo made their big run with five of the most aggressive players on the court. That should be the lesson to everyone on the team.
2) At some point, Lottich needs to get a Technical Foul from the officials to gain some respect. That last call against Joseph was terrible, and whenever a call can go either way, it seems Valpo gets the short end of the stick.
3) Former starter Hazen did not even touch the court, even when Valpo was behind by more than 20 points. Again, he is absent from the boxscore. Something is odd here.
Quote from: a3uge on January 13, 2018, 08:02:23 PM
Bradford might be the worst shooting PG or SG at Valpo since Eric Buggs. I'm amazed at how Valpo's staff saw him as a shooter for a year and a half, instead of a PG that should only shoot once a game to keep defenders honest.
Tonight's Contest, is between Vashil Fernandez's Senior year free throw shooting percentage, Eric Bugg's Senior year free throw percentage and this year star. Micah Bradford's free throw percentage.
here are the stats!
Vashil: 50%
Eric: 51.3%
Micah (so far): 43.2%
AND THE LOSER IS!!!!! MICAH BRADFORD!!!! Congrats!! :(
A couple more observations:
Other than poor shooting in the first half, the game was lost in two places: 1) at the rim Valpo was out-rebounded 40-27, and we can't blame that on the youth or inexperience of our big men since the center for UNI was a freshman making his first start, and he had 20 points, 8 rebounds in only 23 minutes because he was more aggressive; 2) at the foul line Valpo had 22 fewer free throws (16-38), some of which can be attributed to careless defense (especially on 3-point shots), but some also must be attributed to the officiating.
Quote from: vu72 on January 13, 2018, 09:42:43 PM
Quote from: a3uge on January 13, 2018, 08:02:23 PM
Bradford might be the worst shooting PG or SG at Valpo since Eric Buggs. I'm amazed at how Valpo's staff saw him as a shooter for a year and a half, instead of a PG that should only shoot once a game to keep defenders honest.
Tonight's Contest, is between Vashil Fernandez's Senior year free throw shooting percentage, Eric Bugg's Senior year free throw percentage and this year star. Micah Bradford's free throw percentage.
here are the stats!
Vashil: 50%
Eric: 51.3%
Micah (so far): 43.2%
AND THE LOSER IS!!!!! MICAH BRADFORD!!!! Congrats!! :(
Should be noted that Bradford looks GREAT as a point guard though.
Wow. I checked the stream only a couple of times and we were down by 20 both times. Didn't check in again until after it was over. Lost by only 5!!!!
Checked the stats immediately. We had fewer TOs than UNI (Yay!), but we killed ourselves on the FT line and were trrible on 3FGs.
Good point on the aggressive thing Pal.
I can't remember a Valpo team that has been out rebounded in so many games. As Pal pointed out, rebounding is purely about will and aggressiveness.
Quote from: oklahomamick on January 13, 2018, 08:28:32 PMWe double team and end up with our pants down every time.
They exploited our doubles by finding the open man every time. We can't expect Micah to rotate to an open big and have good outcomes. Had we an experienced 4 with size we could have contested about 6 of their easiest baskets.
Quote from: a3uge on January 13, 2018, 09:24:12 PMIt's clear Valpo needs to play WAY more small-ball, and that every team needs to just pressure UNI
In truth our small-ball 4 guard defense was outplayed 80% of the game. Our 5 guard press was new to me so I'm pretty sure it was new to UNI also.
We can only take small-ball so far with the personnel available. In the early second half I was actually hoping that Matt would try a few minutes of double bigs with any two of the Linssen, Smits, Sorolla trio being worth a go. For 15 second half minutes we just couldn't seem to stop them inside.
Micah is a great PG, but needs to be shooting on dribble drives, and not take any more 3's, until he can hit them with more regularity. If he is shooting 5 shots/game, I am happy. Great effort at the end, and it was pleasing to see that the guys do care.
Quote from: valpopal on January 13, 2018, 09:28:32 PM
1) Valpo made their big run with five of the most aggressive players on the court. That should be the lesson to everyone on the team.
Nice to see Lottich acknowledge this in his post-game comments: "With five minutes to go we were finally the aggressive team."
Quote from: valpotx on January 13, 2018, 10:19:58 PMMicah is a great PG, but needs to be shooting on dribble drives, and not take any more 3's, until he can hit them with more regularity.
With the adjustments Matt has made Micah must take the 3 when he is given the open look. Tonight several of those shots went halfway down before spinning out. I can live with that because he can not be an Erik Buggs type point.
20 extra lbs on Micah would be so helpful. :o Whatever Max has been eating needs to be force fed to Micah! Did you see him have good defensive position then get repeatedly bumped under the basket until it became a 5' shot? How is that not a foul?
Yeah, it amazes me how little they call the extended arm foul on the offense. I caught myself yelling 'foul' at the TV around 5 or 6 times, any time that the offensive player created space by pushing off. Some games they call it, while other games they do not. Just be consistent!!
Playing a game in Iowa can also be an intimidating experience... :)
What happened to Tevonn? Sick?
No doubt max could play linebacker or running back somewhere. But micah's Small skinny frame should. It should not be an excuse. And has nothing thing to do with his 3point or charity stripe failures. The Naismith player of he year this year will be a freshman who is very skinny and small. Micah should study freshman Trae Young from Oklahoma. Both have similar build and game (without the shooting) Micah has great vision and some of he best handles we have had at valpo.
This also gave me an opportunity to brag on Oklahoma! Football player of the year and basketball player of the year. Ou first accomplished that with Sam Bradford and Blake griffin. Only school to have that feat. And now the Sooners will do it again.
Quote from: nkvu on January 13, 2018, 07:47:15 PM
Bradford shooting free throws:
Back rim.
Front rim.
Repeat
Quote from: a3uge on January 13, 2018, 08:02:23 PM
Bradford might be the worst shooting PG or SG at Valpo since Eric Buggs. I'm amazed at how Valpo's staff saw him as a shooter for a year and a half, instead of a PG that should only shoot once a game to keep defenders honest.
If you look at the stats, if Bradford who at one point was 1-7 on FG and 0-5 on FT with 6 assists would have just passed the ball instead of shooting we might have had a real chance to overtake UNI at the end of the game. Micah's talent is clearly in passing and not in shooting.
Quote from: bbtds on January 14, 2018, 08:57:46 AMIf you look at the stats, if Bradford who at one point was 1-7 on FG and 0-5 on FT with 6 assists would have just passed the ball instead of shooting we might have had a real chance to overtake UNI at the end of the game. Micah's talent is clearly in passing and not in shooting.
I agree. Micah shot 4 for 12 and a 0 of 5 from free throw. He took the second most shots on the team last night. Rebounding killed us.
I know most people who aren't valpo fans probably weren't watching the game due to the patriots/titans game being on at the same time, but I wish we would actually show up to play when we're on national TV. I don't know how the national exposure alone isn't enough to pump the team up and get them to pay aggressively.
Next game please.
Micah had 9 assists last night. That's not just a good night distributing the ball - it's a great night. As to his shooting, it seems that he has a pretty extreme arc. The ball is traveling a lot farther than the distance he's shooting from when he adds unnecessary loop to it.
Ben Jacobson's postgame press-conference. I think starting Austin over Koch was completely for strategic purposes. They saw how we flip Smits and Sorolla 2 games ago. I think that threw our coaching staff and Smits off early in the game. He was probably mentally prepared for Koch. Just total speculation on my part but I thought that was huge. Smits got into some foul trouble and was never able to get him or Sorolla going in the post.
We weren't able to establish our post players early in the game which was the huge difference between the previous 2 games. Also we just weren't able to make shot for the first 35 minutes of the game.
https://twitter.com/Panther_media1/status/952383423854690304
As for the suggestion that Bradford shouldn't shoot the ball I disagree with that. If you start doing that then teams will pick up on it quickly and they will completely cheat on him defensively like they did on Buggs back in the day. Also Micah is not nearly the athlete Buggs was to be able to blow passed defenders and drive to the hoop. He needs to figure out his shooting woes AND his free throw shooting in order for this team to have consistent success, imo. He is one of the x-factors on this team.
I hope I'm wrong (of course), but its probably unlikely that Micah figures out his shooting woes this year. He's not in a slump. His shooting averages are consistent from last year to this. He is a 20-25% FG shooter and a 50% FT shooter - period. While it's very common to see players make major improvement from 1 season to the next, it's not often that a player wakes up 1 morning and becomes something he hasn't been for the past 2 seasons.
For Micah, it is important for the staff to use some data analytics. What is Micah's percentage from the various spots he hoists shots from. TOP of the key from the naked eye his % and close to makes is higher than anywhere else. He's like 0 for whatever from the right side of the 3 line and almost the same from the corner. There may be something to the question about his vision. He is driving and dishing well and his inside 3 ft % is very good. His runners need some help but that shot is there too. This is clearly a growing and transition year. The defences are bigger, stronger and more intense every night. UNI did some things with Tevonn last night to keep him out of the game (plus the 2 early fouls). They were switching wherever he went. Teams are going to do that after seeing 26s on the board, same with Max. I'm still trying to figure out how games are going to be called by the refs. And, please oh please, stop lunging at 3 shooters and don't foul when someone is making a layup. And UNI starting Fyphefife last night really was a wild card and he's big. But still, the rebounding was not good but aggressiveness was taken away early with the way the game was called. Tremendous effort late and at our house, we were talking about "hey wasn't it UNI who blew the big lead in an NCAA game a couple years ago...."
It should be noted, as previously stated, that when our bigs are playing smart, strong and aggressive, the team does well. When they are MIA we falter. T Walker wasn't there tonight . It sure would have been nice to see him on his game, along with Smits and Sorrola because I think we would have won the game. However it sure was a great effort to come back at the end...give credit to the Coaches and the Team for responding...just too little too late.
Quote from: valpo64 on January 14, 2018, 05:24:30 PM
However it sure was a great effort to come back at the end...give credit to the Coaches and the Team for responding...just too little too late.
At the very end. 35-37 minutes of subpar basketball. The guys looked like they didn't have confidence till the last 5 minutes. It was a snowball effect. When one guy made a shot the rest of the team had confidence. It was a pretty dismal shooting night, till the very end when we couldn't miss for a stretch. Guys weren't making open looks. I thought UNI did a pretty good job of interior defense but we had open looks from the outside and guy weren't hitting them. Another factor was 38 free throw attempts for UNI to 16 for us. That is partially due to our lack of aggressiveness at times and UNI enjoyed a little home cooking from the officiating last night.
The last 5 minutes they proved to themselves they can play that way. Hope that can carry over to the next game!
OK, Next Man Up. Who's going to start the MoSt thread for Wednesday's matchup in Springfield?...
It remains mind-boggling to me that there is a foolproof method for shooting FTs that has been perfected (with data to back it up) for 40 years right across town and yet VU coaching staff after coaching staff refuses to explore implementing it team-wide. Virgil Sweet Method for everyone shooting less than 75 percent, guys. FTs are 100 percent mechanics.
Quote from: bigmosmithfan1 on January 14, 2018, 09:18:09 PM
It remains mind-boggling to me that there is a foolproof method for shooting FTs that has been perfected (with data to back it up) for 40 years right across town and yet VU coaching staff after coaching staff refuses to explore implementing it team-wide. Virgil Sweet Method for everyone shooting less than 75 percent, guys. FTs are 100 percent mechanics.
As I recall from my high school days, the biggest component of the techniques was the requirement to shoot 100 free throws before school, another 100 at lunch, and 200 after school. I wondered if they took hook shots form the charity stripe with that amount of practice and they would hit a high percentage.
There is no way that Micah could have shot this poorly in high school. I remember that back in the 80s basketball players were referred to Dr.Harris, a psych professor at VU who used techniques akin to hypnosis to improve confidence.
Quote from: bigmosmithfan1 on January 14, 2018, 09:18:09 PM
It remains mind-boggling to me that there is a foolproof method for shooting FTs that has been perfected (with data to back it up) for 40 years right across town and yet VU coaching staff after coaching staff refuses to explore implementing it team-wide. Virgil Sweet Method for everyone shooting less than 75 percent, guys. FTs are 100 percent mechanics.
I have always wondered the same thing. Why aren't poor free throw shooters made to use the method perfected in Valpo. Especially when Bryce was coach, I would have expected him to insist on the style. Some of our best free throw shooters at VU used the method, and a number of them still live in the area, so could be consultants. (Also, Micah played with Alec Peters, one of VU's all-time best at free-throws. Didn't he learn something from Alec?) My wife was taught to throw foul shots by Virgil Sweet himself, and she could make a higher percentage than Micah.
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2016/05/11/meet-man-who-made-409-straight-free-throws-over-lunch-break/84227840/ (https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2016/05/11/meet-man-who-made-409-straight-free-throws-over-lunch-break/84227840/)
Concentration and practice, practice, practice!
Quote from: bigmosmithfan1 on January 14, 2018, 09:18:09 PM
It remains mind-boggling to me that there is a foolproof method for shooting FTs that has been perfected (with data to back it up) for 40 years right across town and yet VU coaching staff after coaching staff refuses to explore implementing it team-wide. Virgil Sweet Method for everyone shooting less than 75 percent, guys. FTs are 100 percent mechanics.
And don't forget that Virgil can also teach the guys how to put on their socks without stretching them out. He is a pro with over 30 years of teaching the Sweet method of putting on socks.
BTW, VU's all-time career leader in FTs (86.5%) is Chuck Kriston, who played under Sweet at VHS in the 60's.
Quote from: VULB#62 on January 15, 2018, 11:17:14 AM
BTW, VU's all-time career leader in FTs (86.5%) is Chuck Kriston, who played under Sweet at VHS in the 60's.
And the two best seasons in FT percent belong to another VHS grad Casey Schmidt (92.6% in 1993-94 and 89.7% in 1992-93). Had he played all four years at VU, he likely would have been the all-time career leader.
The best free throw shooter on the team is currently red-shirting. Maybe he learned the sweets method because he's a VHS guy. Steven Helm led the state of Indiana in free throw shooting, connecting at a 94%(!) rate from the foul line his senior year.
http://helenair.com/sports/college/carroll-college/basketball/mens/carroll-s-helm-is-nation-s-best-at-the-line/article_51d2239a-8da6-5cfd-9978-dec95bbd56ac.html
With the limited amount of practice time in college I'd imagine they coaches are working on different things in practice. Free Throw shooting something guys need to be committed to on their own time and put the extra work in by themselves. It really is practice and repetition of mechanics.
Quote from: VU2014 on January 15, 2018, 11:54:28 AM
The best free throw shooter on the team is currently red-shirting. Maybe he learned the sweets method because he's a VHS guy. Steven Helm led the state of Indiana in free throw shooting, connecting at a 94%(!) rate from the foul line his senior year.
http://helenair.com/sports/college/carroll-college/basketball/mens/carroll-s-helm-is-nation-s-best-at-the-line/article_51d2239a-8da6-5cfd-9978-dec95bbd56ac.html (http://helenair.com/sports/college/carroll-college/basketball/mens/carroll-s-helm-is-nation-s-best-at-the-line/article_51d2239a-8da6-5cfd-9978-dec95bbd56ac.html)
The article suggests Helm did learn the Virgil Sweet method at Valpo High. I just watched a video of Helm in which he only shoots 3-point shots, but even on them his form resembles the Sweet method. I would hope Lottich has Helm using his redshirt time to coach Micah how to shoot free throws.
PS: Found a video of Helm shooting free throws, and it is definitely the Virgil Sweet method. He should be VU's FT coach every day in practice!
Since when is "lack of practice time" an excuse for not shooting free throws or regular shots on an accelerated basis? It sure is part of the game and a very important part and should be part of any practice session.
Quote from: valpo64 on January 15, 2018, 12:48:35 PM
Since when is "lack of practice time" an excuse for not shooting free throws or regular shots on an accelerated basis? It sure is part of the game and a very important part and should be part of any practice session.
No excuse, but I know I'd rather see them work on their half court offense then have coaches stand next to them and watching them get up free throw reps. Prioritization and time management is key to long-term success. We need guys to put in work in their off time outside of practice. There are NCAA rules limiting the amount of practice time coaches get with players.
The NCAA only allows 20 hours a week and no more then 4 hours a day. We aren't a Kentucky where they don't follow the rules. Our kids actually need to go to class/study because we actually intend on graduating these kids.
Free Throws are one of those things that need to be worked on outside of valuable practice time and really need to be worked on during the long off-seasons.
Quote from: VU2014 on January 15, 2018, 01:06:08 PM
There are NCAA rules limiting the amount of practice time coaches get with players.
The NCAA only allows 20 hours a week and no more then 4 hours a day.
All the more reason to have Helm as an unofficial FT coach to the other players on their own time.
Helm or any of our better free throw shooters could work with Micah or other poor FT shooters at anytime. Players can work together during individual sessions. There is no restriction on that by the NCAA. They just restrict the hours that coaches can be working with the players.
When or where doesn't matter, they need to PRACTICE SHOOTING including free throws! A Div. 1 point guard hitting way under 50% of one's FT is not acceptable in my opinion. Those percentages are grade school numbers.
Quote from: valpo64 on January 16, 2018, 12:23:29 PM
When or where doesn't matter, they need to PRACTICE SHOOTING including free throws! A Div. 1 point guard hitting way under 50% of one's FT is not acceptable in my opinion. Those percentages are grade school numbers.
No question practice can and will improve the numbers. I was thinking back to Brandon Wood and how at one point I suggested he shoot a jump shot from the free throw line to improve his FT numbers. He shot 66.4% his senior year and 62.2 his year at MSU. Today, in the G League he is shooting 93.1!! Practice, practice, practice. Having said that, no doubt he is getting excellent coaching now as well.
The problem is no one is around who knows how to TEACH the Valpo free throw.
Bryce doesn't know how to teach it. He barely used it himself.
College coaches don't like to be told what to do by someone else. Neither do the players. They think their way is fine.
The only person who could teach it at VU would be Skip Collins, but he's just a part-time resident and smart enough to spend most of his winters in Florida. :)
Quote from: Valpo89 on January 16, 2018, 01:26:00 PM
The problem is no one is around who knows how to TEACH the Valpo free throw.
Bryce doesn't know how to teach it. He barely used it himself.
College coaches don't like to be told what to do by someone else. Neither do the players. They think their way is fine.
The only person who could teach it at VU would be Skip Collins, but he's just a part-time resident and smart enough to spend most of his winters in Florida. :)
There are many old VHS players around that could do it. You're right, Bryce's version wouldn't have cut it with Virgil. Probably the most important aspects of the method was to reduce the likelihood of variation from shot to shot -- a stroke starting from the legs with arms starting close to the body and following though in the direction of the basket. As I indicated before, the 400 or so free throws that the VHS players shot per day had a significant impact on their success.