Messages

The only reason these guys will leave is if they get NIL.   That Valpo can't provide.

I believe we had a European recruit big locked and loaded last summer that bailed on us for NIL.  Took NIL vs his strong program connection.  And is getting very little playing time with the team he went to.

Did he go P6 or was it a mid major?

105 freshman minutes, 33 from the sophomores, 63 from juniors and Palm made a very brief (1 minute) appearance to represent the senior class. Wait until next year! 

And waiting in the wings are Scroggins and Lual. 😜

Ya gotta view this!

It's a master class in how to put together a video that will blow recruits away.

https://youtu.be/rp-dKnIuRuE?si=jh37wRMmi0vrcU7y

FRESHMEN. Sheesh 🙄  Cooper diasappears for a couple of games then gets a 16/13 double double.

This is gonna be a fun crazy ride.

Refresh my memory. When were we last ahead at the half in an MVC game?

It is what it is until it changes. And change takes time. 

Maturity is not instant, it requires experience.

Experience is additive, it requires mistakes.

We are blessed with  the opportunity to witness this evolution.  Think about what we will reminisce about (I was there/ remember when..........) three years from now.

Marist is a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) member. MAAC doesn't include FB. Schools with FB have generally gone to the NEC as associates in order to play (or in Marist's case, the PFL).

The Patriot League is a more a academically  prestigious conference with most members playing football. Its footprint is about the same as the MAAC that  stretches from Buffalo to Boston, except it goes more along the I95 N-S corridor from Boston to DC. For FB, at least., it would mean no more flights to NC, FL, IA, OH, KY, IN or, CA

If the rumor has any legs, I'd bet they are gonna move.

Marist's new coach just hired a pretty high powered staff by plucking from a number of IVY programs. Lots of deep experience - I'm seeing 10-15 years + experience, not all guys in their twenties. That suggests Marist is pumping $$$ into the program and changing philosophy.

In addition, Patriot League execs were in attendance at the Bucknell/Marist football game. Rumors are flying there  that Marist may switch, but it's not clear if it is all sports or just FB.

Worth watching.

I occasionally lurk on MVCFANS a bit, and saw some stuff that disturbed me. After the Bradley game, a couple of veteran posters were discussing when/if Valpo would get their first MVC win.

Paraphrased comment's:

* They have home losses to IUPUI and Chicago State [my interpretation of this is =  ] and 0-5 on the road.

* Don't play very hard. Not like they were under-talented dudes grinding it out.

* Announcers played the inexperienced card a lot.

* Bradley, with its lousy offense, could have scored 100.

* DeAverio only notable player and would be a good MVC backup PG. [Did note the absence of VU top scorer]

* Noticeably worse than Evansville last year.

* The amount of half-ass shots was astounding.

The thing is that these guys are pretty knowledgeable fans, and I didn't detect any mean agenda or Bradley bias - just matter-of-fact off-the-cuff observations. Then the discussion moved on to Indiana State.

[Drake]

How did other schools do with first year coaches in MVC?

Drake, Bradley, Indiana State, Evansville,etc.

FWIW.... just a sample

Drake - DeVries: 2018-19 (24-10).  Previous coach: Giacoletti (32-69) 2017-18 (1-7 resigned)

Evansville - Ragland: 2022-23 (5-27). Previous coach: Lickliter (15-33) 2021-22 (6-24)

Bradley - Wardle: 2015-16 (5-27).  Previous coach: Ford (46-86) 2014-15 (9-24)

ISUB - Shertz: 2021-22 (15-10). Previous coach: Lansing (181-164) 2020-21 (25-15)

ISUR - Pedon: 2022-23 (11-21).  Previous coach: [two coaches] 2021-22 (13-20)

Valpo - Powell:  2023-24 (TBD).  Previous coach: Lottich (108-117) 2022-23 (11-21)

We are incredibly young and overwhelmed inside.  The Tale of the Tape tells us all we need to know...

RBs: B-40, V-27
ORBs: B-14, V-5
2CHANCE: B-19, V-5
P IN THE P: B-36, V-18

We will develop both in experience and physically as the season continues and into next season, but we also have a big player gap under the basket both Drake and Bradley (didn't see Belmont) leveraged throughout the game.  Cooper, at 185,  can't  match up with most bigger centers, but he is being asked to play there because we have no one else.  Jerome shows flashes, but often loses concentration.  Sepp and Ajiboye both have skills and a little bulk, but are both undersized and lost rebounds to taller guys with longer arms going up over their backs.  The antidote for the current situation is, ummm.....consistent lights-out shooting.  Oops.

Our youngsters growing up combined with Roger's scouring the portal  will, hopefully, produce the ingredients for much greater success next year. In the meantime, fans need to be positive and patient.

PS:  Darius, awesome game. 

I would add one more thought. I really like Roger's fast pace approach to offense. And even in defeat games are much more exciting to watch than in the past. However, I have felt increasingly frustrated over watching easy, uncontested layups and back doors being given up. I can't recall a charge being taken. I've seen few times when an opponent big was prevented from backing in close for a basket. You know, stuff like that. Granted, I am no defensive expert, and don't have the knowledge to suggest a fix, but I'd feel less frustrated if we could make it harder to score against us on every possession instead of scoring and then immediately giving up a quick return bucket.

We are incredibly young and overwhelmed inside.  The Tale of the Tape tells us all we need to know...

RBs: B-40, V-27
ORBs: B-14, V-5
2CHANCE: B-19, V-5
P IN THE P: B-36, V-18

We will develop both in experience and physically as the season continues and into next season, but we also have a big player gap under the basket both Drake and Bradley (didn't see Belmont) leveraged throughout the game.  Cooper, at 185,  can't  match up with most bigger centers, but he is being asked to play there because we have no one else.  Jerome shows flashes, but often loses concentration.  Sepp and Ajiboye both have skills and a little bulk, but are both undersized and lost rebounds to taller guys with longer arms going up over their backs.  The antidote for the current situation is, ummm.....consistent lights-out shooting.  Oops.

Our youngsters growing up combined with Roger's scouring the portal  will, hopefully, produce the ingredients for much greater success next year. In the meantime, fans need to be positive and patient.

PS:  Darius, awesome game. 

On probably the only positive note:  two of the top three VU scorers were first years. And a great angle is that those two are identical twins!  From Ft. Wayne even.

Per PO in TVB, upbeat and confident post-game presser from Roger.  According to Roger, the staff are gonna pound the transfer portal going after some "dudes" to complement the underclass core.    .

This team keeps showing up even though their current record looks bad. Consistency compounds...if we keep growing like we are we will eventually have a great basketball team. We need more pieces but the ones we have are showing a bright future.

2025-2026 could be special if Cooper, Kaspar, Jahari stick around. 3 building blocks for Roger to build around , frustrating now but long term we'll be alright...in theory!

Hate to take positives in another loss, but think about this:  68 of 78 points were scored by freshman and sophomores, seniors scores zero and true freshman contributed 51 of 78.  We are so short handed, the guys played their asses off.

And in the final minutes when the game was on the line, GameTracker showed 3 freshmen, a soph and Darius as the closers on the floor.

Merry Christmas back to you as well.

Great find TX. Started 15 games last season and has started all games this season. Leads team in a couple of categories. UNH just beat URI. They are decent. Glad he found the right home.

Just thinkin....  the kid could be the next Bryce Drew if he comes to the program. And look what Bryce did in getting NATIONAL attention to Valpo. Him playing in the "new" arena in his hometown would guarantee great gates.  The other thing is that he is a natural southpaw jump shooter which is thing defenders need to adjust to, but can go with either hand for everything else. It also looks like he has a high motor and looks for teammates. And that is what Roger is seeking.

Ya know,  the fact that this post was placed in "Other Sports" tells you something, doesn't it.  In previous seasons, WBB and MBB always shared the Basketball string. Not this year.

Pal, when I saw your corrective post, I said no-way.  I checked the final box score and you're right about the ORBs. TBT, I was going by the trend that I was seeing on GameTracker early in the second half or so and just extrapolated.   My bad.

But in doing that review, I noted that Samford shot almost 51% from the floor and went YIKES  . 

Big blow to WSO next season. But Nikki deserves to give it a shot. Best of luck young lady!

https://twitter.com/UKWomensSoccer/status/1737410673598927047

I sporadically watched the Samford game or resorted to Game Tracker. What jumped out at me (no pun intended) was the number of times there were 3-4 freshmen on the floor together.

Even with that, we held Samford to like 12 points under their average (remember, they beat Belmont 99-93). 

Another thing that the stats revealed, that was also kinda obvious in the video when you think about it, was the number of offensive rebounds we gave up to them - sometimes 2-3 put backs.  We have got to learn to box out under the boards or else it undermines any good defensive play leading up to a shot.

Thought we just played Samford in the ARC in 2017 or 2018. Joe Burton had a big game, a big three towards later part of the second half.

'17 as part of The Savannah Invitational.  Beat them 88-67.  Unclear from the All-Time Scores whether it was at the ARC or in Savannah. But the game is listed as one of our two unbracketed games, so probably at Valpo.

Congrats to Evan. Have to imagine next one will be a transfer

So far two for two for Punters in the Portal.

Many of the proposed projects that were granted had something to do with bringing campus and community closer.  That's something we've discussed on this forum.