Messages

Brodie could have scored 60 if they just fed him the ball every play.    We just do not have anybody on this team who can compete with a guy like him.   

I will reiterate that we need to add at least one upperclassmen big guy, preferably a 5th year senior type, for next season.   It's still a youth movement overall, but we need experience at the 5 and allow Schweiger to be more of a stretch 4 while we develop some other big guys for the following seasons.   

I'm not saying we are going to find our own "brodie" in the transfer portal.   But if we can get a guy that is 65% of his talent think about how many more games we would have won this season.

Somebody mentioned Scroggins and Lual.    Is Lual actually ever going to be healthy and Scroggins is a slender 6'9" according to the roster stats.   Both guys are probably 1 more year away from being truly impactful players and thus should be treated like they are another year away.

I think this team, if possible, needs to get a couple of upperclassmen transfers for next year.   We have a highly touted guard coming in as a freshman and we have some redshirt guys who I suppose will also join that freshman class to go along with a whole bunch of sophomores.

Our guard play should be stellar next year     Go grab at least 1 BIG STRONG 4th or 5th year senior from the portal to immediately impact the wins/loss record and build excitement for the future.   I don't think it is wise to go another year without a proven big man.   At some point you have to balance long term goals of player development and getting some W's to build excitement for fans/players/coaches/etc.   

We will all start to lose faith if we go another year of a million "close loss" moral victories because there is still a gigantic hole in the roster that needs filled to make this a complete team.   

That 7-8 minute stretch where we had 4 turnovers in a row and missed shots after that point, leading to a 23-3 run, was a killer.  I was surprised that we kept it close after experiencing such a thing, which shows a rare sign of maturity with our young team.

I agree with the worry on Cooper bolting after this season, but if he has the right folks around him, he would stay for at least one more season, before considering such a thing.  He would just be placed into a lower impact role at a P5, whereas if he left after his SO or JR seasons, he could make an immediate impact pretty much anywhere.  I want him to stay all 4 years, and may get pleasantly surprised if he does so, but he would be wise to stay a minimum of two seasons.

Just out of curiosity I searched Cooper's brother Carson at Wright State and he hasn't played at all this season....

Did we get the better of the twins or are they redshirting him or what?    Powell got here late.   Was Carson picked by wright state BEFORE cooper?   or were they both late to commit?     Just curious how that dynamic turned out....   Who was the more highly regarded recruit and why hasn't Carson played? 

We don't have a backup point guard on this team.   Williamson shows offensive potential but he is a pretty terrible point guard right now.   The 4 minute stretch he was playing point they outscored us like 16-3.   I checked the box score last night and it said he didn't have any turnovers but he should have had several.    I'm not going to re-watch the game, but I don't think I have gone crazy.   

If he can settle down and learn how to be a leader and control the offense he could be REALLY good, but he doesn't seem to have the natural point guard instincts right now.   His offensive upside is tremendous, but at his size he really needs to be a point guard so I he grows into the position between this year and next year. 

I would say we played better than SIU for 32 minutes.   But the 8 minutes we played bad, it was like high school JV bad.    I still had more fun watching last nights game then any game I watched in the last 3 years. 

As everyone has noted, we have major holes in this roster, particularly a lack of a "Mid-Major-D1 Big man", whether that be a true PF or a C.     The more game film other teams have on us the more they are going to exploit that.   

Don't take that to mean the team is not improving.   On a man to man level individual players have definitely progressed as the season has gone on but a lot of that progression has been taken away from coaches having game film on us and exploiting the holes in our roster.     

Every freshman and sophomore has had moments of showing their potential.   Some of that potential would show through more with a complete team.   You put Brodie from Drake on our team and all the sudden every single one of our freshman and sophomores look better as some of the pressure is taken off them and they get more open looks as Brodie stretches the defense and pulls the occasional double team.   

Also, somebody help me out here.   After this season the average age of the college athlete should drop, right?    Or is next year the last year for COVID extra eligibility?   It is a tough time to be a freshman right now.   This team would be doing better 5 years ago when they were not encountering as many 5th or 6th year seniors.   Just a thought.   

Effort for the 1st 25 minutes was ALL OUT.

The last 15 minutes all our shots, including free throws, were short. 

I'm not convinced you can play players at that pace for 40 minutes without less minutes and a deeper rotation.   

As a cross country and track coach, I'm telling you that level of intensity over the 1st half was borderline too much.   It's going to take these players another year of conditioning to build up the stamina to hold that pace.   Literally, from a scientific point of view, the aerobic capacity needed for this pace of play cannot be developed in 1 season without a deeper roster and nobody playing over 30 minutes.   

If you want, I can send Powell some articles on aerobic adaptation.     

This season will be a bit of a catch-22.      The only way we are going to win games is max effort.   Going to be hard to give max effort for a full 40 and still hit shots and avoid fouls.   We fouled a lot in the last 12 minutes because we had dead legs.   

Watching my 1st game in almost an entire year.    I quit by this time last year.

I can actually watch this team.   Even if all our 3's didn't fall and we were down by 12, I could STILL watch this team.   

I saw more effort off the ball in the 1st half of this game than I did the last 10 games I saw before giving up. 

My thoughts on recruiting........

There is a SURPLUS of basketball talent (athletes) in the world.   Athletic ability and basketball potential is abundant.   Now more than ever.   

Coaches who are smart in enough to recruit the talent, fit the talent together in a meaningful way, motivate the talent, develop the talent, and have a basketball mind capable of running and effective offense and defense with the talent.......... RARE..... 

There are lots of kids in the world that can play ball.    Coaches who can legitimately coach are at a premium.

Let's hope we have one of those coaches.   

[3PT % 45.7]

Isaiah Stafford #24 G John A. Logan

GP 35
PTS/G 12.5
FG % 50.6
3PT % 45.7
FT % 73.5
REB/G 4.0

• 45.7% is better than anyone in the MVC this year.
• Valpo's best 3-pt shooters:
Barrett 26th
Nelson 35th

Probably drops at least 10% at the D1 level, but 35% is better than 25%

[The coach with MVC experience is the one I am stumped with]

The name of this thread is call let's speculate not let's recommend assistant coaches. I would not shocked if some of the names mentioned end up the bench. I think he will tap into his Vanderbilt days and Baylor connection. Not sure if a Valpo connection will end up on the bench. The coach with MVC experience is the one I am stumped with.

I think Gregg Marshall is unemployed.

Greg Lansing had a winning record at Indiana State over 11 seasons, and he did that with the worst budget in the league over that time.   What is he up to these days?

Best news in forever with this program. I figured this was the longest of long-shots a couple weeks ago. Credit to AD Small and President Padilla for pulling this off. I didn't think this was possible and boy was I wrong.

I love the "unfinished business" comment. Let's not forget that Coach Powell's last few weeks at Valpo involved one of VU's best teams ever getting snubbed by the NCAA (they were a second-weekend of the Dance team, minimum) and then the heartbreak of losing in the NIT title game at the Garden. There's undoubtedly a lingering painful memory that he's seeking to make right.

Now, announce something with the facilities along with this hire and Powell will be unstoppable on the recruiting trail!

I actually keep thinking in my mind Powell and his agent may have been negotiating some sort of tentative agreement for future facilities upgrades for him to say yes to this gig.....

Maybe that is why this dragged on longer than you think it would considering he is a former Valpo guy.   

All speculation, but that is what message boards are for.    Wishful thinking at it's finest.   

It's important that this is a guy who knows his limitations. 

8 years ago he wasn't ready so he didn't take the job.    Went and got some Final-4 experience as an assistant coach under one of the greatest program builders in the country, Mark Few.   

Now he was ready and takes the job.   That is a sign of maturity.   I think I saw he is only 40 years old.   

Over on the MVC board they are trashing Valpo as the "worst coaching job in the league" based mostly on our gym. 

With this coaching change, we are about to find out if that is true or not.      Personally, I think there are LOTS of good basketball players out there.    There is plenty of talent to go around.    Coaching is the hard part.   

Would love to see a list of everybody who applies.   Would tell us a lot on what people nationally think of Valpo.       

Does history of success trump a bad gym as far as talented coaches thinking they can win here.     We are about to learn what we are or what we are not.   

I have just been watching Baylor all year.

They just got one of their better players back from injury.    I can start a thread called "Bandwagon Baylor" if anybody needs to get through the rest of this season.   

Clay over at Missouri State is having a decent season.    9 points a game.  3.6 assists.   Decent shooting percentages and rebounds.   Good defender (even though I remember him abandoning he post from time to time that was frustrating but overall he is a good defender).   He is the "little bit of everything" guy on an 8-8 team that I say is underperforming.   

Clay and Edwards with the right coach I think would have played very well together.    Unfortunately both are gone, but neither are "star players".   Both, playing within their means in the right system could help sustain a winning program. 

Unfortunately both left and they both left because the system at Valpo sucks.

I used to defend Lottich because the team played aggressive hard defense for 40 minutes, used to fight back to win or be in close games, and we had some decent early player development where you saw guys get better each year, at least the ones who stayed anyway.   

But I don't see that anymore and I think it's because the offensive system is so bad that player moral is at an all time low.   Hard to play 40 minutes of hard defense when the offensive system sucks so bad you know you are not going to score enough points to stay in the game.           

Mid-Season change?    100% No
End of Season Change?   100% YES

I have no regrets on giving Lottich ample time to prove himself.   Was worth a shot to see if he could get some traction.   He showed flashes of brilliance.   I don't think Fazekas or Kiser were great talents or anything.  Fazekas was a bit one domanial, graet shooter but not great at defense and Kiser was all guts.   Lottich really maximized the talent on that team I believe.  Since then he just hasn't found away to replicate that.   

Maybe it's not all his fault.   Lack of administrative commitment to the program over the last 30 years certainly didn't help.   However, Lottich has not come around when it comes to building a balanced team that compliments each other, running an efficient offense, consistent defense, play calling, in game adjustments, consistent player motivation, etc. etc etc. 

Maybe Valpo will never be great again, but we can put a better product on the floor then what we have now.    This problem does go well beyond Lottich, but I think its safe to say Lottich is a part of the problem and a fresh start is required. 

A plausible scenario if this team continues to significantly underperform: A negotiated mid-season resignation and buyout that allows (1) Coach Lottich to have some flexibility and consider his options for the next year and a half, and (2) the MBB to start planning its future.

I don't know if Coach Gore is a viable contender to become head coach, but if so, this would be a great trial run.

Recall that President Padilla has a background in law, including University general counsel, so such negotiations are hardly new to him.

"Coach Gore is a viable contender" 

I know everyone loves Gore as he is a holdout from the Bryce and Homer era.   But I don't know why he gets a pass on team success/failure?    He has a lot of coaching power within the program as the top assistant, top recruiter, most experience, etc.   If we see Lottich as a failure I think we also have to see Gore as a failure, do we not?   

If things don't turn around by the end of the season it is probably time for Lottich to go, but that means its time for Gore to go too.   

Sorry.  I miss read your message.     But in general I don't see a lot of Gore criticism.   If most have decided against Lottich, my point stands that we must decide against Gore as well.    If a change is made it needs to be a whole sale change.   

I'm against mid-season changes.    Lottich has until the end of the year but I need to see something.     

A plausible scenario if this team continues to significantly underperform: A negotiated mid-season resignation and buyout that allows (1) Coach Lottich to have some flexibility and consider his options for the next year and a half, and (2) the MBB to start planning its future.

I don't know if Coach Gore is a viable contender to become head coach, but if so, this would be a great trial run.

Recall that President Padilla has a background in law, including University general counsel, so such negotiations are hardly new to him.

"Coach Gore is a viable contender" 

I know everyone loves Gore as he is a holdout from the Bryce and Homer era.   But I don't know why he gets a pass on team success/failure?    He has a lot of coaching power within the program as the top assistant, top recruiter, most experience, etc.   If we see Lottich as a failure I think we also have to see Gore as a failure, do we not?   

If things don't turn around by the end of the season it is probably time for Lottich to go, but that means its time for Gore to go too.     

Despite the good play, albeit against a bad team, the fact remains that MoSt is our absolute worst matchup nightmare. 

Even if we play really really really really (too many reallys?) well we are going to lose.   MoSt is a team that could beat us 9/10 or even 10/10 times we play them.   We match up better agianst UNI and Loyola.   

Reminder. 

If Clay would have stayed at Valpo we would have been touting him as our best player. 

at MoSt he is usually a role player. 

Let that soak in.   

It's a must win... 

and like all Valpo "must win" games in recent years...

We will lose...

Because that is what we do.     

Just Saw LSU was playing.   Commentators praising head Coach Will Wade....

How in the hell is Will Wade still a coach after the audio was releases a few years back proving he paid players?!?!?! 

Weird year to be a true freshman or a returning sophomore for that matter....

There is a part of me that wishes the NCAA never granted that extra year so we could see what we really have in our frosh/soph class.     

Sure we wouldn't have guys like Gordon, Anderson, and Kevion (and probably no King?) but other teams would be without important/impact players as well.

If Young doesn't get a medical redshirt playing him this year will be a big waste.    To a certain extent waiting this long for Preston to start playing also feels like a waste.   

Part of me wants to know how we would have competed with a young talented roster in a valley not impacted by the "free" year and all the transfering and retention of players that caused around the entirety of the NCAA landscape.   

Coaching was actually really good tonight.  We were hurt by player execution.   Only real complaint i have is that Gordon continues to receive minutes.   I hope Kobe King changes all that.   

"we should have won" is not an accurate statement.    It should have been a nailbiter though.

The stretch that changed everything (between the 3 and 5 minute marks) :
2 missed front ends of 1 and 1's
Gordon drives to the basket for offensive foul
Krikke wide wide wide open 3 misses 

With 3 minutes to go we should have been leading by 2, tied, or down by 2 depending on how those 4 things played out.  Instead I think we were down by 6.  We simply did not execute.   

Even then we still got back into it at the end of the game and we proceeded to miss more shots and another careless turnover.   

Progress is being made, but we need to execute.   Defense was really good inside the arc for the most part, need to extend that beyond the arc.   

This was on the road at the pre-season favortie playing with their backs against the wall after 3 dissapointing games in a row.  Drake is DEEP and talented.   We were supposed to lose this game.   

The good: we're putting up a fight! We're switching up defenses.

The bad: Rebounding.


The ugly: defending the 3 point shot.

Very Good:   We are not chuckin up 1 million 3's.   We are actually for the most part trying to get to the basket and shooting a good % because of it. 

The word "Ugly" doesn't describe it well enough:   "Defending" the 3 point line.   We are sooooo bad at it.   I put "defending" in quotes because I'm not sure you can call what we do defense.   The weird part, I think we are doing pretty good at the other areas of our defense.   Very strange.