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Actually trekked through the weather tonight because my daughter wanted to go. Becomes more clear with each game that MLB was a horrible evaluator of BB coaching talent.  Lottich. Bust. Dorow. Bust. Evans. Bust.

Thank goodness he "retired" before we ended up in NAIA.

We need a digital ticket exchange.

I have been wanting to take my 78 year old father to a game this year. He doesn't need handicapped seating but does need a chairback seat with good sightlines, so most of G,H, & I would work. But between my work schedule and him having days he doesn't feel very good I often have to wait until just a few hours before game time to grab tickets. I checked online and called the ticket office twice, once my call was not answered and once I talked to a student who was very nice but had no idea what was going on. There were no tickets that would have worked for him and we were forced to watch the game at home. Imagine my surprise to see hundreds of empty seats in the sections that would have been great for him.

Admittedly this is partially my fault, I did not renew my season tickets because I didn't want to pay $1,000+ for a poorly coached team and a rapidly declining game day experience. And this isn't the fault of the ticketholders, they paid for the tickets and they can do whatever they want with them. But there is no good way for ticket holders to resell their tickets. TickPick seems to be the only site with some reselling and it's only a few tickets that are more expensive than buying them directly from the school.

I have a couple of good friends who are Cubs season ticket holders, and if they decide not to go to a game, even last minute, it takes but a few clicks on their phone to put up their tickets and make part or all of the cost for that game back. I realize we don't have the resources of a major sports team but it seems silly Vu still uses paper tickets for their season ticket holders.

Just one more way Dr. Small is going to need to drag this program into the 21st century.

Maybe I missed the criteria somewhere? But seriously?

https://www.nwitimes.com/bestof/education-and-instruction/best-college-university/article_068d9ffe-8253-56ca-9c0e-2649e0c8ef2b.html

So with little to no news for the next few weeks, I figured I'd start a new Top Ten list every Sunday and let us debate.

We'll start with the big one. Name the top ten Vu players of all time, to you, in order. I'm going to dwell on this a bit and post mine later.

So regardless of any of our feelings on the matter, it's safe to assume Lottich will return next year. Which means we have to deal with his contract. Now we still don't know how long his initial contract was (someone correct me if I'm wrong but I couldn't find anything.) I actually hope it was a five year deal, as it would be easy to tack on a year with (hopefully) a low buy out, and announce an extension via press release for stability purposes, leaving out details.

One thing that, to me, would be unacceptable is leaving yourself without a way to move on after next season if need be. That Dorow extension still gives me nightmares. By this time next year, we should know what we have. Do we have a guy who needed a couple of years in the Valley to find his footing and grow as a coach? Or one who recruits pretty well but just can't get out of the bottom half of the league? ISUr, SIU, MoST, and EVille have already turned over coaches just since we've been here, with ISUb likely to follow. This isn't a league that lets a Gary Waters spend a decade running a program into the ground. We're going to be on pace for another year of declining attendance and lagging local interest. Next year has to be the year we get out of the cellar.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/29/ncaa-allows-athletes-to-be-compensated-for-names-images.html

We're all thinking it so we might as well start a thread.

So barring a miracle run in St Louis this year is pretty much done. And we'll have several months to dissect this season, so I'll leave that until tomorrow.

So here's my question:

What would need to happen for you to consider the 2019-2020 season a success? What needs to happen for you to be ok with a Lottich extension?

And I ask because I honestly don't know what I think yet. A top half finish? Top 3?  Very unlikely we go from back to back Thursday nights to a Sunday appearance. What has to happen 12 months from now for you to say, "I support the direction of this program."

Never started a game thread before so why not pick one ESPN gives us a 20% chance of winning?

Per Paul Oren, Burton suspended for academic purposes.

What a twelve month run of luck for this program.

Thought we could make this its own topic.

Not a ton of 2 round mock drafts out there but a pretty consistent 35-50 projection for him.

Several of the sites have him going to Philly. That would be a fun place to go with all the young talent and #1 pick they have tonight. "System" places and coaches like they have in Utah and San Antonio could makes sense as well. 

So since we have a few days to digest the season before Motor City Madness (barf), I thought i'd get the topic rolling with some grades for debate. Feel free to skewer me in every way possible.

Grades are in relation to expectation.

Team: A- 
Considering the adversity this team faced, couldn't ask for much more. 3 large losses in conference only reason this isn't a straight A.

Coaching Staff: B+
It's hard to evaluate a (mostly) new staff in year one. Overall did very well in holding the team together in tough circumstances. Lottich's sample size is still too small to really get a sense of how good of an in game coach he is, though Kampe coached circles around him in their two meetings. Big men didn't develop at all, but in fairness weren't expected to contribute much anyway before JAs suspension. This will be one of the more important off seasons in Valpo history in terms of setting the table for the next 3 years, but we'll talk about that in the offseason.

Alec Peters: A+
No comments needed

Shane Hammink A-
Took the steps forward that we needed to fill the void. With the exception of a truly careless turnover here and there, has given the team exactly what they needed.

Tevonn Walker: B+
Was going to get an A until the last two games. "But he played so well in the last two games." Exactly. This is what TWalk is capable of night in and night out. He had a tendency to disappear for stretches of games. Really improved all aspects of his shooting as the season progressed. The best rebounding guard we've had in a long time. When he's on, he's a game changer.

Micah Bradford: C+
Shows flashes of real scoring ability, and really liked his renewed aggressiveness in the last two. Lacked consistency all year, and 30 games in, "but he's a freshmen" doesn't cut it any more. Expecting big things for this kid.

Lexus Williams: B-
Played his best ball early in the season and the last few games. My guess is the first full season in three years for him was difficult to figure out his body and how it would respond. His play in the tourney is key. 

Max Joseph: B
Another player who stepped up big time when AP went down. Overall a key piece to the little depth that we have. Doesn't do anything really well but doesn't do anything poorly either. Would like to see him go to the hoop more instead of settling for jumpers.

Jaume Sorolla: C-
I'll give him a little bit of a pass because of the adaptation to a whole new style of game across the pond. But that doesn't change my disappointment at how he really struggled at times. When we needed him most late in the year he was nowhere to be found. Still very high on his future, but his present is forgettable. Hoping for a Vashil like career arc.

Derrik Smits: D
The "Ali Berdiel Award" winner for 16-17, which goes to the player that makes me want to throw my remote at the TV the most times during a season. I try to remind myself that he missed all last year injured and didn't even do much in the summer while he was healing up, but good lord this kid can be painful to watch. I don't need to go into the physical issues here since they've been much discussed on this board, but his complete lack of mental toughness drive me insane. STOP LOOKING AT THE REF AND COMPLAINING ABOUT EVERY SINGLE FOUL CALLED AGAINST YOU! Until he gets an attitude on the court I don't see much improvement or many minutes for him down the road.

Nick Davidson: A
Outside of too many shots early in the NKU game, played more minutes than expected and didn't hurt you a bit. Wish Derrik had has attitude and hustle.

John Kiser: A
Again, was needed more than we thought, yet handled himself very well, especially in the last two games. Could be a good depth guy going forward.

Jason Karys: A+
Because reasons.

CLS: A++
Has student section chanting for him more than anyone.

Jubril Adekoya: INC
Fairness of rulings aside, really hurt the team with his poor decision making. If we either A) fail to make the NCAA tourney or B) Make it and lose by less than 10, we will always ask "What If?" 

Per Coach Lottich at the meet and greet tonight, another sit one play three joining.....


http://www.cornnation.com/2016/4/12/11414258/nebraska-basketball-freshman-bakari-evelyn-to-transfer

We knew this day would come sooner or later. With Paul Oren tweeting that seems like it's happening, that's good enough for me. And hey, if nothing else this can be a good drill.

I think RP has to get first crack at this if he doesn't follow Bryce, right? Already talked about as a future head coach, handled our good recruiting of Ill. I truly don't think the importance of this hire can be overstated. With our continued lagging behind in facilities and money, if we fall off a bit under the next guy it might be a long road back to the top.

Just thought I'd share these so we can put the 4,000 plus rumor to bed. Actually enjoyed the event overall. It felt big time. But i wandered around the building most of the second half talking to various people who didn't seem to be there supporting a particular team. A few curious Detroiters, several who received free tickets due to working with some of the arena vendors. General thoughts from them were that there's just too many pro sports team, not too mention Michigan and MSU, for the hometowners to give much of a crap.

First panoramic shot was taken a few min before tip. Second panoramic was taken early in halftime. Other shots taken during second half timeout.


http://imgur.com/a/EXni0