so... coming off finals week. Will there be a new starting line-up? Let's take a numbers look at the opponent. The Cougars are the only D1 Independent - No Conference Affiliation.
Hoping for not a repeat of the historically bad loss to EwwyPewwy earlier... the Cougars are an up and DOWN team.
3-9 on the season, 1-5 on the road, 1-3 at home and 1-1 Neutral court, with one game to play before heading to the Vale of Paradise... they get to travel to Welsh-Ryan-Northwestern on Wednesday night.
So far:
Lost at Bowling Green 70-41
Lost to Mercer 66-61 at home
Beat Southern Indiana 78-67 in Evansville
Lost to Cal-State Northridge 74-64 at home
Lost at SIU-Carbondale 71-55 in the Cancun-Challenge
Lost to Northern Colorado 78-77 in Overtime in Cancun
Beat Morgan State 84-83 in Cancun
Lost to UT-Martin 94-71 at home
Lost to Loyola 62-53 at the Gentile
Lost to Delaware State 76-69 at home
BEAT Stetson 77-54 at home (a home-home, going to Florida 1/15)
Lost to University of St Thomas Tommies at home 66-50
They have 2 more home D1 games this season. UT-RioGrande on 12/18 and Bethune Cookman on 12/20. They have three home non-D1 games in 2024 (East-West, St Xavier and finish their season on 2/19 against IUN. More Scheduling Fun... Tuesday 1/2 they play at Kansas State and Wednesday 1/3 they play at Oklahoma State.
Anyway... Who are these guys?
Here's the recap of their big win over Stetson...
he Chicago State men's basketball team beat Stetson 77-54 Sunday afternoon at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago. The Cougars took a six-point lead into the locker room at halftime and used an early second-half 14-0 run and maintained the lead through late pressure to increase the margin to 20 for the eventual 23-point victory.
Four Cougars players were in double figures led by Jahsean Corbett with 23 points. Wesley Cardet added 16, Noble Crawford 13 and Brent Davis 12 while both Crawford and Corbett each pulled down nine rebounds.
The Cougars will be back in action a week from today, Sunday, December 10, at home against St. Thomas with tip set for 2 p.m. at the JCC.
1st Half - Chicago State 31, Stetson 25
-Noble Crawford opened the scoring in the game with a dunk on the Cougars possession and Stetson answered with a layup before Greg Spate, making his first collegiate start, hit a three to put CSU up early, 5-2
-The Hatters responded with a dunk and a three to take their first lead, 7-5, at the 16:45 mark
-Brent Davis hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 7-7 when Stetson went on a modest 4-0 run to lead 11-7 at the 14:32 mark
-Deshawn Jean-Charles then ignited a 9-2 Cougars run with a three with additional buckets by Jahsean Corbett (2) and Davis to turn the four-point deficit into a three-point lead, 16-13, with 11:03 remaining until the end of the half
-Stetson stopped the run with a three to knot the game at 16-16 when CSU went on another run, this time 7-0, with two hoops by Corbett and a Davis three and the Cougars led 23-16 at the 8:24 mark
-Both teams failed to score for the next two minutes when Stetson stopped the drought with a jumper and free throw to cut the margin to four, 23-19
-The Cougars responded with a 6-2 run with four points from Corbett and a driving layup by Jean-Charles to CSU led by eight, 29-21, with 2:54 until half
-The teams exchanged hoops with Wesley Cardet providing the Cougars score and the Hatters closed the scoring for the half with a pair of free throws and Chicago State led 31-25 at the half
2nd Half - Chicago State 46, Stetson 29
-The Hatters came out of the halftime locker room hitting back-to-back buckets to cut CSU's lead to two, 31-29, just a minute into the half
-Chicago State responded with an 14-0 run with Cardet, Crawford, Jean-Charles and Corbet contributing to the scoring and Chicago State led by 16, 45-29, with 13:36 remaining in regulation
-Stetson stopped the run and ended a scoring drought of nearly six minutes with a dunk before Corbett made a pair of free throws and CSU's lead was 16 at the 12:55 mark
-Chicago State scored on their next possession, a driving layup for Cardet and CSU's was 18. The teams exchanged scores when Stetson hit a three and, following a Cougars score, a Hatters hoop and pair of free throws left the score 55-42 with 7:49 left in regulation
-The Cougars then went on a 7-0 run with scores by Corbett, Crawford and Jean-Charles and CSU led 62-42, at the 5:32 mark
-The Hatters responded with a 6-2 run to cut the margin to 16, 64-48, at the 4:23 mark
-Crawford hit a three and the lead was back to 19 and climbed to 21 following a Davis rebound, 70-51, with 3:02 left to play and cruised to a 23-point win, finishing with 44 points in the paint
=====
#1 Wesley Cardet 6'6", 204lb Jr, Tallahassee-Transfer from Samford two years ago. 17.3 ppg, 5 rb/gm 36 minutes/game, 46% from the field, 33% from 3, leads the team in both Assists and Turnovers (29 and 24)
#24 Jahsean Corbett 6/7" 210lb Jr, Orlando. 13.0 ppg, 6.8 rb/gm, 35 minutes/game is second on the team in assists and turnovers (18 and 23). 41% from the field, 26% from three.
#12 Brent Davis, 6'3" 190lb Jr, Miramar, Fl9.7 ppg, 3,3 rb/gm, shooting 49% from the field, but is only 8 of 42 from 3pt (19%), so he's 31 of 45 from inside the arc, 69%.
#2 Deshawn Jean-Charles, 6'7" 200 Sophomore, Fort Lauderdale. 7.4 ppg, 35% from the field 26% from 3, playing 28 minutes/gm.
Yes, those 4 starters are all from Florida. Practically their entire team is from Florida. Exceptions:
Cameron Jernigan a Junior from Gary
Tehshaundre Cole a Sophomore from Toronto
Alex Raiford, Junior from Chicago
and...
Their 5th starter (Kedrick Green) hasn't played in 2 weeks, and they've tried several others in that role. He's from Georgia.
Their tallest players are twin 6'9" freshman brothers... who have not played all year.
team stat comparison
CSU VALPO
PPG 65 67.8
FG% 40.2 39.7
FG/Gm 22 24.6
Shots/gm 55.1 62.0
3pt % 27.6 30.7
3pt /gm 5.6 6.7
FT % 68.6 69.2
FT /gm 15.1 17.2
Reb/gm 31.7 36.1
Asst/gm 9.5 12.1
TO/gm 14.0 11.3
Steals 9.6 7.2
Blocks 2.6 4.4
CSU Average Home Attendance: 156 (not a typo)
Valpo Average Home Attendance: 1,458
Twice this year, they have MADE 27 free throws in a game, against Delaware State they were 27 of 26, and at Morgan State, they were 27 of 39. and they were 20 of 30 against Mercer.
In their last game, they were only 7-12 against St.Thomas.
They have MADE more Free Throws (181 of 264) than we have attempted (119 of 172), in two more games.
NET ranking:
Chicago State 327 (RPI 352)
Valpo 296 (RPI 286)
How many/who are returnees from last year's team that beat us? And of those, how much damage did they contribute to our loss?
Most of their team is back... Here's their box score from the CSU Win last year... notice the free throw shooting 27 of 28
Leads: 0
Chicago St.
NO STARTERS POS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB RB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
00 Weaver,Elijah G 34 4-10 2-3 6-6 0 2 2 1 0 1 2 4 16
01 Cardet,Wesley G 34 5-8 2-2 12-12 1 3 4 1 0 2 5 2 24
12 Davis,Brent G 24 3-4 3-4 2-2 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 2 11
23 Cole,Teshaundre F 20 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 2 1 0 3 2
24 Corbett,Jahsean G 37 2-8 0-3 4-5 1 7 8 0 0 0 4 2 8
NO BENCH POS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB RB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
02 Jean-Charles,Deshawn G 24 5-7 1-2 3-3 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 14
03 Johnson,Bryce G 22 4-5 2-2 0-0 1 5 6 1 1 1 0 1 10
04 Meran,Faheim G 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
05 Green,Kedrick G 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
TM TEAM - - - 1 2 3 2 0
TOTALS 25-46 54.3% 10-16 62.5% 27-28 96.4% 5 23 28 6 4 5 13 16 87
Just checked our stats and DeAverio easily leads his teammates in minutes played. He doesn't have a great shooting % but is 8 of 23 from 3 and has retained his solid assist to turnover ratio with 51 vs 23. He may be our biggest surprise of the season.
Can we assume that Williamson will return for Sat? We may need the added depth. At home this is a game we could win. It is also a game that might test our open floor fast paced strategy. Seems like this could be a good test both for our players and for our coaching staff scouting and game planning.
A game we need to win. Play to our potential. We can play a full 40 minutes.
Valpo 74
Chi St 62
We are lucky that those twins are not allowed to play this season. Both are 5 star recruits that followed their AAU coach to Chicago State.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/38809045/chicago-state-brothers-sue-ncaa-denied-eligibility
Valpo 78
Chicago State 65
I think we'll be fine in this one. The biggest reason for our loss (Lottich) is NOT returning so we should be good. That said I am happy for Chicago State that they have found a D1 conference home in the NEC. Their D1 existence has truly been a wild ride being members of a defunct conference (Great West) a western league (WAC) and an eastern league (NEC). Sounds like they have been given full membership this time so they don't have to worry about being kicked out when they are no longer needed but I hope this is a springboard for them into a more geographically sensible league in the future.
Quote from: VUGrad1314 on December 11, 2023, 03:30:55 PM
I think we'll be fine in this one. The biggest reason for our loss (Lottich) is NOT returning so we should be good. That said I am happy for Chicago State that they have found a D1 conference home in the NEC. Their D1 existence has truly been a wild ride being members of a defunct conference (Great West) a western league (WAC) and an eastern league (NEC). Sounds like they have been given full membership this time so they don't have to worry about being kicked out when they are no longer needed but I hope this is a springboard for them into a more geographically sensible league in the future.
And the NEC is, finally, a league that makes sense for them. And it also has low level FCS football, which they are jumping into in '25 (I think).
Valpo 72
Chicago State 64
Along with football in 2025, next year they are adding a women's triathlon team. I hope they compete in the the fall cause that lake be cold in the spring.
This is going to be a tough game. Granted that Loyola is not the Loyola of old but, Chicago State lost by 9 at the Gentile. They are battle tested and we aren't. Let's hope for a big crowd. I hate to say it but, Chicago State 72, Valpo 68.
Quote from: VUGrad1314 on December 11, 2023, 03:30:55 PM
I think we'll be fine in this one. The biggest reason for our loss (Lottich) is NOT returning so we should be good.
I thought that with IUPUI and was hoping for more against CMU.
We just need to get better each week. Maybe we can also get healthy this week
CSU has been playing together for at least 2 years. They have more frequent flyer miles than most teams and still compete in front of 900 fans at home . Playing in the ARC will not faze them. Gonna be tough. Gonna be close.
Good to see that they found a temporary conference again. Their long-term home is the OVC. I give it another 4-5 years before the OVC loses a few more teams, and has to add Chicago State.
Aside from our youth and inexperience, we're missing an athletic big that can rebound, protect the rim, and score down low. If we find that guy, we could become a major threat in the MVC next year. That would be a major success story in a very short time.
Maybe Lual will be the big we are looking
for?
Quote from: tiny707 on December 12, 2023, 09:43:23 AM
Maybe Lual will be the big we are looking
for?
Our luck with project centers and injury prone players has not been great. If healthy how long will it take him to mature into an impact player? Will his recovery and maturity match with our other competitive timetables? As scholarships become available where will Roger focus?
Quote from: justducky on December 12, 2023, 10:02:56 AM
Quote from: tiny707 on December 12, 2023, 09:43:23 AM
Maybe Lual will be the big we are looking
for?
Our luck with project centers and injury prone players has not been great. If healthy how long will it take him to mature into an impact player? Will his recovery and maturity match with our other competitive timetables? As scholarships become available where will Roger focus?
The injury question with Lual is certainly legit. I believe that if healthy, he can be an impact player. Remember that coming of high school (class of 2022) he was ranked by 247 as the 17th best center and a top 150 player overall. I would think that working with Roger will only improve the skills.
This video is from THREE years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWL4aSvqn4s
Is Lual out for the year, and is Scroggins officially redshirted at this point?
Yeah, I would to know:
1.) Will Lual see any playing time at all this season?
2.) Are we 100% certain that Scroggins is a red shirt? Isn't he dressing?
Quote from: VU75 on December 11, 2023, 05:01:28 PM
Along with football in 2025, next year they are adding a women's triathlon team. I hope they compete in the the fall cause that lake be cold in the spring.
If you grow up going into Lake Michigan in late spring or summer, you later find out it was never warm. Unless you are comparing southern most end to anywhere in Superior.
Quote from: covufan on December 11, 2023, 06:33:53 PMQuote from: VUGrad1314 on December 11, 2023, 03:30:55 PMI think we'll be fine in this one. The biggest reason for our loss (Lottich) is NOT returning so we should be good.
I thought that with IUPUI and was hoping for more against CMU. We just need to get better each week. Maybe we can also get healthy this week
I am TRYING to either be optimistic or not post at all. It's hard right now. Pretty disillusioned and beaten down from the past several years including the start to this year. Yes there are signs of hope and growth but losing to IUPUI and Central Michigan is absolutely unacceptable even in a rebuild. I'm maintaining my distance until I see a reason to come back. I had high hopes for year one of the Powell era and then the IUPUI loss really killed that for me because it made me feel like it was just more of the same. I hope this team proves me wrong as the season wears on but I won't hold my breath. Hope to get back and reinvest emotionally at some point but right now it's just not productive for me.
Quote from: VUGrad1314 on December 13, 2023, 01:35:08 AMI had high hopes for year one of the Powell era
The question for you would be why? What was there that would give anyone high hopes for year one. The recruits were a bag of no names and lower level guys. There was hope that maybe one or two of them could play. Beyond that it was hopefully that the culture and effort on the floor will have changed over the last few years. It appears the effort is there but the roster is lacking.
It was always going to take a few years to turn it around.
In this year, I believe we will lose some games that we should win or should have won and will win some games that perhaps we should have lost. When we have such a young roster we will see many ups and downs. It will be a long season but it should be fun watching the team improve as they gain experience.
Quote from: JD24 on December 13, 2023, 09:05:27 AM
Quote from: VUGrad1314 on December 13, 2023, 01:35:08 AMI had high hopes for year one of the Powell era
The question for you would be why? What was there that would give anyone high hopes for year one. The recruits were a bag of no names and lower level guys. There was hope that maybe one or two of them could play. Beyond that it was hopefully that the culture and effort on the floor will have changed over the last few years. It appears the effort is there but the roster is lacking.
It was always going to take a few years to turn it around.
My expectations were modest so I don't view us as being far off track. Best case with a near total healthy team I was thinking a handful of OOC wins, maybe another 5 in Valley play resulting in an ending NET near 230. With a total rebuild youth project MVC team, those results could be pretty respectable. Despite our struggles to compete with bad OOC teams both player and team developments are happening and that will eventually get us where we want to go.
No promises but I'll try to make it to the Chicago St game. It could be a good one!
Tonight (Wednesday) on the BigTenNetwork is the Northwestern-Chicago State game if you want to see them in action... Cats are favored by 24.5
CSU 47
Northwestern 46 13:22 minutes left in game
CSU is playing inspired basketball... they went on a 10-0 run to make a game of it...led by as many as 5 before the cats started hitting some shots.
CSU is turning defense into offense... very "Handsy"...and they can jump! very athletic. Reminds me of the Central Michigan team... uh oh.
Chicago State has taken the lead on northwestern with about 5 minutes to go in the game they lead by 2. should be an exciting finish.
EDT: It's a real battle of cats as the northwestern wildcats take a two-point lead on the Cougars with 2:20 left in the game.
EDIT: CHICAGO STATE HAS A FIVE-POINT LEAD WITH LESS THAN 10 SECONDS TO GO IN THE GAME. LOOKS LIKE A BIG UPSET!!
Chicago State 75
Northwestern 73 final score
Cardet had 30 points for CSU.
Fun game to watch. :o Whatever our game plan was I think it needs revision!
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 11, 2023, 07:18:54 PM
CSU has been playing together for at least 2 years. They have more frequent flyer miles than most teams and still compete in front of 900 fans at home . Playing in the ARC will not faze them. Gonna be tough. Gonna be close.
Whoa! I'm doubling down on this one.
Chicago State 68
Valparaiso 66
Ya think we had coaches at NU scouting in person?
Uhh, can we even do that under NCAA rules?
If we can't find a way to rebound, we could get boat raced. They are going to be sky high with confidence.
Here's the CSU box score from the win...
Chicago St. 75
## Player GS MIN FG 3PT FT ORB-DRB REB PF A TO BLK STL PTS
01 Cardet, Jr., Wesley * 37 13-21 3-9 1-2 0-4 4 0 4 6 0 2 30
24 Corbett, Jahsean * 39 4-15 2-6 7-8 2-4 6 1 3 1 0 2 17
15 Crawford, Noble * 34 2-3 1-2 4-4 2-6 8 3 1 2 1 2 9
12 Davis, Brent * 33 2-5 1-3 4-4 3-3 6 4 1 1 0 3 9
22 Jernigan, Cameron * 16 2-2 0-0 0-0 0-3 3 5 0 2 2 2 4
10 Neal, A.J. 20 1-2 1-2 3-4 0-0 0 2 0 0 0 0 6
05 Green, Kedrick 21 0-2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 4 2 0 2 0
TM TEAM 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals - 200 24-50 8-23 19-22 8-21 29 18 13 14 3 13 75
17 points off turnovers
32 points in the paint
Mid majors just don't beat B1G teams by scoring almost half their points in the paint. That's unheard of. 72 nailed it — if Valpo can't build a wall around the free throw lane we are sunk.
EDIT: just noticed - this is my 7,000th post :crazy: :rotfl: :banghead:
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 14, 2023, 10:43:42 AMEDIT: just noticed - this is my 7,000th post
Congrats on reaching the 7,000 Club!
When ELIJAH in his frustration complained to God that he was the onIy one true servant of the mid-majors God told him "I reserve seven thousand in college sports---all whose knees have not bowed down to the Big Conferences."
7000 Club is a group for those who pledge total loyalty to the mid-majors.
Chicago St. 65
Valparaiso. 69
I see continued growing pains for the Baby Beacs, but with genuine reason for optimism going into next season if the best of the young recruits return.
Chicago State 74
Valparaiso 68
Every game yields a highlight or two (or three!) in terms of player development and performance. It could start coming together in the final third or so of the regular season.
Interesting to see how Coach responds to Chicago State's five out game. They essentially play without a five man and offensively put NWs big (when the wildcats had a true 5 on the floor) in the ball screen virtually every time. Chi state also selectively dialed up some pressure that created turnovers and easy scores. As long as our wings can guard the ball - northwestern did not have an outstanding wing defender - I think Valpo has a good shot here. We shall see how much Palm and Sepp we get tomorrow. And hopefully Jahari is back because Darius needs a blow now and then.
Quote from: Bumbo on December 15, 2023, 05:34:23 PMWe shall see how much Palm and Sepp we get tomorrow
More Sepp than Palm I hope.
It is interesting that they both played Euro basket & both are good for a four letter last name. :-)
yes they defeated NW and that was a big win. One dude caught fire, NW was (no pun intended) cat napping/finals week. But if you look at the whole picture, CSU has some bad losses as well. Single moms in their 40's 64, Valpo 72
Valpo at -4 favorites , I just don't see us winning this one though, hopefully I'm wrong.
Valpo 67
Chi St 72
It's probably the most unpredictable game in Div 1 this season . Could easily go 30 points in either direction depending on who truly gets hot.
Times have changed as we have never seen this much discussion in the past regarding a Chi-State matchup.
Kouts HS band is here. Haven't heard a band that good since the last time a HS band was here.
Ughhh , down 10-2 at the first media , they're better than we are...
Williamson keeping us in it , down 22-14 with 9 to go in the first
Good job recovering from a poor start. Great bench play, especially Williamson.
I'll get over this by tomorrow and remember that we're a BIG work in progress. And I know this CSU team is sneaky good.
But back to back home losses to Chicago State is embarrassing. Period. End of story.
Heartbreaker. Ugh
Wow, that last 5 minutes was f'ing pathetic. I was going to say that was actually a good win, as Chicago State seems very athletic and tough on drives, but it turned into a bad loss. Why in the world do we have 6'0" Darius throwing balls in under the basket? I get that we got one assist to Kasper, but you are really limiting yourself when you have such a short player inbounding under the basket that you are trying to score on, which led to that ridiculous rainbow pass that was easily intercepted for an easy 2 the other way. Darius then panics when passed the ball at half court, and almost threw away another pass in the closing minute, that Edwards luckily saved from going out of bounds. He is normally someone that I trust, but his last 2 minutes were not good. I'm not going to hold that late missed bunny against Edwards, as his athletic play throughout most of the game, is what got us back into it. On the positive side, Williamson with a solid game, and Sepp is our glue guy. You have to point out that one defensive stand somewhere around 5 minutes to go, where the guy with the ball was trying to brutally back him down, and Sepp didn't move, taking a shot in the process. The guy misses that shot and we get a rebound, which I thought was going to be the defensive stand to put the dagger in Chicago State. Disappointing, to say the least...
uggggh. Young team growing pains. Ice cold the last 3 minutes, didn't put Cougs away. Good teams extend leads, something this team may or may not be capable of this year. Cooper, Palm were non existent in this game. Edwards point blank miss at the rim, a killer. Williams, nice game. Good to see Connor back.
Would have been nice to see Cooper in the game at the end for scoring.
I hadn't thought of this in a long time, but I think we should be resolved to the possibility that our 26+ year streak of having an even or winning record at home, will end this season.
Probably go 0-20 rest of year...
This team is young and completely inexperienced. I really enjoy watching this team and I'm not giving up on them. They are getting beat up and going thru growing pains. They have to be one of the youngest teams in D1.
You can see the talent is there and they are being thrown into the fire as freshman and sophomores.
I truly enjoy watching this team, more than any valpo teams in the last 5 years.
I'm going to assume Schwieger is either hurt or sick cuz I haven't a clue why he was out at the end.
Was it Darius who picked up his dribble after crossing the half court line and then threw it off Stafford's hands or the other way around? I had the sound off and was watching on a small screen. Whichever order it was...picking up your dribble in that spot should have been coached out of him at least one level down...probably two.
I didn't particularly like Powell's postgame either. He seemed quite defensive "if you can't see....I don't know what you're watching..." l
Quote from: JD24 on December 16, 2023, 09:18:26 PMI didn't particularly like Powell's postgame either. He seemed quite defensive "if you can't see....I don't know what you're watching..." l
Are you saying that Powell is falling into the "excuse trap" pressers that Lottich was imfamous for?
Could Powell be getting over frustrated with the results because he really has never had to do these kinds of press conferences over and over?
The growing pains this season are also going to happen on the coaching side. We started to run clock and get out of our offensive rhythm way too early. If we learn from this, then it's a tough but tolerable lesson.
Other than the first and last 5 minutes, I thought this team looked and played well.
I agree, we started running clock to early, then were forced to take late shots that were not in normal good rhythm. I hate it when teams play not to lose. Play to win.
Don't take your foot off the gas and hope to coast to a win. Slam the foot down and drive away.
I check the ESPN site before going out to dinner and saw Valpo up by 10 with 5 minutes left. I check the site today and wow, this is a journey starting with a lot of learning.
This isn't going to be easy of course. However, you certainly need to have patience in this situation and think about how this program will improve over time and hopefully enjoy the long term improvement. My feeling is that we'll see good things in the future; Powell is not a used car salesman.
Quote from: historyman on December 17, 2023, 01:18:59 AMQuote from: JD24 on December 16, 2023, 09:18:26 PMI didn't particularly like Powell's postgame either. He seemed quite defensive "if you can't see....I don't know what you're watching..." l
Are you saying that Powell is falling into the "excuse trap" pressers that Lottich was imfamous for? Could Powell be getting over frustrated with the results because he really has never had to do these kinds of press conferences over and over?
I don't give a crap about Lottich and never watched his PC's anyway.
Powell seemed to be arguing against some unseen opinion that he doesn't like. It came across to me as quite defensive. I thought it called for "we can't lose a game like this but we're growing and will learn to win" or something like that. Instead of being positive in that regard he seemed to take an adversary angle I thought is way premature.
Back to Cooper. Where was he at the end? He may be the team's smartest player basketball wise in addition to giving them some size. Hurt? Sick? Anyone ask?
In reality Powell needs the 2023-24 season to be his honeymoon period. He inherited crumbs talentwise and building the team from the foundation up.
I was actually ok with Roger's post game presser , he was frustrated , wants to win, but his team has improved tremendously from that IUPUI loss, 2025-2026 will be right at .500 and we'll be on our way IMO...patience, D1 basketball is highly competitive and overnight success is nearly impossible...
He's saying everything he needs to say at the presser. He knows that this year they are going to take it on the chin. A lot of times, the coaches do nothing differently, guys just get older and figure things out the next season. I also like how he said, Connor, Palm...Better start producing or your playing time is in jeopardy. Bringing in older guys etc.. We all know this will be a tough season to watch. We know the young guys are coming but have we seen the ceiling with Palm and Connor? Powell will have to figure out how to get the most of them.
Quote from: mj on December 17, 2023, 07:23:09 AM
The growing pains this season are also going to happen on the coaching side. We started to run clock and get out of our offensive rhythm way too early. If we learn from this, then it's a tough but tolerable lesson.
Other than the first and last 5 minutes, I thought this team looked and played well.
Yes, the 10-0 start and the 10-0 finish for Chicago State were both the result of tentative play that spotted CSU 20 points in a one-point loss. The pace and play calling during those spells were the problem. That is on the coach, who in this instance showed he is as much a freshman in his role as some of his players are in theirs.
We need to fix the first five minutes of the game, and soon!
We just looked out of sorts the last five minutes, like their bodies were rejecting the slow down. Keep the pace up. Need to bring ball up against pressure better and find the mismatches quicker - there is always a mismatch when other team is trapping.
Quote from: Chairback on December 16, 2023, 07:18:48 PM
This team is young and completely inexperienced. I really enjoy watching this team and I'm not giving up on them. They are getting beat up and going thru growing pains. They have to be one of the youngest teams in D1.
You can see the talent is there and they are being thrown into the fire as freshman and sophomores.
I truly enjoy watching this team, more than any valpo teams in the last 5 years.
Agreed. This season is nothing more than a dress rehearsal for next year. In the meantime it's fun to watch this young group buying into the process and working their tales off.
Quote from: wh on December 18, 2023, 03:06:32 PM
Quote from: Chairback on December 16, 2023, 07:18:48 PM
This team is young and completely inexperienced. I really enjoy watching this team and I'm not giving up on them. They are getting beat up and going thru growing pains. They have to be one of the youngest teams in D1.
You can see the talent is there and they are being thrown into the fire as freshman and sophomores.
I truly enjoy watching this team, more than any valpo teams in the last 5 years.
Agreed. This season is nothing more than a dress rehearsal for next year. In the meantime it's fun to watch this young group buying into the process and working their tales off.
Totally agree with every word quoted above! Double thumbs up to Chairback and wh :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I thought the most noteworthy comment from the press conference was the indication (or, perhaps, implication) that this will be the last year for Jerome and Conner in a Valpo uniform. It seems that we'll have a couple scholarships available even if all of the underclassmen decide to stay.
We not only have a young, inexperienced team but we also have a young first year HEAD coach who is learning the ropes being in charge of the entire program. I would expect him to also make "Rookie" mistakes as the season progresses. Overall, I believe the future is bright and both players and coaches will get better as the season progresses. I hate to say it, but sometimes it gets very frustrating to watch this team play. But let's all hang in there and watch it get better as the season moves along.