I thought it might be appropriate to segregate our thoughts, reactions and comments about this trip into a separate string so that the information and observations are concentrated and easily referenced in the future. (BTW, what happened to the sports message icons? There used to be football, basketball and soccer icons but I don't see them anymore.)
The Montreal games are against much younger squads I am assuming. And there ate two games on Sunday. I am also assuming that we will not be able to judge minute allocation in these games as Bryce will be trying all sorts of combinations and giving everyone opportunities. He might even divide the team into two squads -- who knows? In the remaining three games, we might begin to see more set rotations, however. Thoughts?
Quote from: VULB#62 on August 09, 2015, 11:03:13 AMHe might even divide the team into two squads -- who knows?
I think this whole Canada thing is just a ruse for the staff and players to get away from wives and girlfriends so they can sneak in a little fishing. So this division into two squads is a great idea. I can imagine the coaches and players all drawing straws with the losers having to suit up while the winners hightail it to the nearest lake.
Twitter had a picture of the team exiting from their charter plane. Does the team usually charter or fly commercial? I have a part time job at Delta and I know the WNBA teams fly commercial. When our team charters flights do they leave from Gary airport or the one in Valpo? Just curious.
Great close win!!
Just in case anybody has missed it, we have a blog going at ValpoAthletics.com/Canada. (Cheap plug!) I'm updating it each night and doing a video with a different player getting their thoughts on the day.
I'll touch on it more in tonight's blog post (which should be finished shortly), but the first game today, against the Montreal All-Stars, was against a team of guys who have played professionally. These guys were grown men, and it showed during the game. The second game today was against an AAU squad, which Max and Tevonn both came out of.
There should be more detailed coverage available of the rest of our games. We're hopeful there will be live webcasts, whether audio or video, of at least one or two of the three upcoming games against Universities, and we'll most likely have full box scores as well. Any links for any live coverage will be available by mid-day the day of game on the schedule online.
it seemed like there were about seven or eights travels called across the two games that would have been let go in the NCAA game. (from Aaron's blog)
It has been inherently clear that NCAA referees need to enforce the rules of basketball. Call the traveling that refs from around the world already call and the players will adjust. NCAA players should not be having to adjust to the way interbnational referees call the game when they play international games. Call the games the way they are supposed to be called. Why have the NCAA refs changed the way the NCAA games are played by calling the games the way that they do?
I'm guessing some of the rule changes in the NCAA might have had to do with television needing the officials to keep a flow to the game, and eat the whistle at key moments to add drama?
Quote from: valporun on August 10, 2015, 12:43:52 AMI'm guessing some of the rule changes in the NCAA might have had to do with television needing the officials to keep a flow to the game, and eat the whistle at key moments to add drama?
Except that if an official is eating his whistle, it means the rule hasn't really changed. I think we let our players travel to perpetuate the myth of American exceptionalism.
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOOQhoN4vGs#)
Quote from: Valpower on August 10, 2015, 09:47:48 AM
Quote from: valporun on August 10, 2015, 12:43:52 AMI'm guessing some of the rule changes in the NCAA might have had to do with television needing the officials to keep a flow to the game, and eat the whistle at key moments to add drama?
Except that if an official is eating his whistle, it means the rule hasn't really changed. I think we let our players travel to perpetuate the myth of American exceptionalism.
IMO, this country won't be great until our national soccer team can beat a big name country like Russia or China.
Always good when you can beat a team with professional players!
http://valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2015-16/14759/crusaders-win-pair-of-games-on-first-day-of-action-from-canada/#.Vcj1dPlViko (http://valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2015-16/14759/crusaders-win-pair-of-games-on-first-day-of-action-from-canada/#.Vcj1dPlViko)
Very newsy piece - injuries I didn't know people had, etc.
Valparaiso heads to Canada in advance of expectations-filled season
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-mens-basketball-valparaiso-st-0810-20150809-story.html (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-mens-basketball-valparaiso-st-0810-20150809-story.html)
Quote from: wh on August 10, 2015, 03:21:22 PM
Very newsy piece - injuries I didn't know people had, etc.
Valparaiso heads to Canada in advance of expectations-filled season
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-mens-basketball-valparaiso-st-0810-20150809-story.html (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-mens-basketball-valparaiso-st-0810-20150809-story.html)
Would you please copy and paste the article? Can't view it without paying. Thanks!
Valparaiso heads to Canada in advance of expectations-filled season
By Michael Osipoff
Post-Tribune
Tevonn Walker spent a week at home in Montreal in May, and another in June.
The sophomore guard welcomed another opportunity to see family and friends as Valparaiso embarked on its foreign tour to Canada, with stops in Montreal and Ottawa.
The Crusaders departed Saturday and return Friday, with five games in between. Their schedule began with two games Sunday, against the Montreal All-Stars and Brookwood Elite.
David Skara's 15 points led VU to a 67-66 win in the first game, played at Vanier College, the post-high school institution Walker and fellow sophomore guard Max Joseph attended before Valparaiso. Alec Peters scored 16 points and Skara had 15 as the Crusaders won 85-60 in the second game, which was against Walker and Joseph's former AAU program.
Any words of wisdom for teammates on what to expect in Walker's home country?
"Don't expect eagles, and don't expect snow all the time," he said with a smirk.
The Crusaders are making their first such trip since 2010 to Cancun — the NCAA allows one every four years — using the allotted 10 practices and games to get a jump on what they envision will be a special season.
The return of Vashil Fernandez for a final season of eligibility pushed the Crusaders' stock even higher. However, the reigning Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year is expected to play sparingly in Canada, if at all, having barely practiced this summer because of a lingering knee problem.
How much Alec Peters plays remains to be seen. The standout junior forward has been dealing with a sprained ankle, and is "nowhere near 100 percent," coach Bryce Drew said, though he has been improving.
"I know he wants to play," Drew said. "It would be nice to get him out there for some periods of time."
The one player who has been ruled out is point guard Lexus Williams, though he remains on target for the start of the season. He missed all of last season after tearing his left ACL last August, also breaking his kneecap in January before the Crusaders' game at Green Bay.
E. Victor Nickerson, who underwent left wrist surgery on June 5, and Keith Carter, who took time off to allow his injured left big toe to heal, were limited earlier in the offseason. But both seniors are expected to be fine for the trip.
Drew has been especially anxious to see freshman center Derrik Smits and LSU transfer Shane Hammink in game conditions.
"We want to play different lineups and different people together," Drew said. "We'll get a better feel after the five games on combinations and positions."
The Crusaders on Tuesday play McGill, which won its conference regular-season title in 2014-15 and lost its title game, before facing likely their two most difficult games.
On Thursday, they play Carleton, which has won five straight national titles and 11 of the last 13. Carleton went 4-1 last summer against NCAA teams, losing to Indiana and beating Memphis, though it lost 63-59 to Murray State on Aug. 3.
On Friday, the Crusaders play two-time national runner-up Ottawa, which routed Murray State 81-57 on Aug. 2. Ottawa went 3-1 last summer, losing to Memphis and beating Indiana.
"We've been practicing hard, working for this trip, so I'm excited to get between the lines and play," junior forward Jubril Adekoya said. "We have a lot of goals for the season, so this gives us a head start to get there."
The Crusaders also have been emphasizing the non-basketball elements. Among the activities, they are scheduled to attend Mass at Notre Dame Basilica, do community service at a youth center, take a tour of Parliament, and participate in speed boat and river rafting excursions.
"A lot of the positives will be off the court, as far as being in a different culture," Drew said. "It should be impactful on their lives. It will allow us to bond as a team and a family."
The McGill University athletics website is showing a portal for watching the Valpo at McGill game Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. central / 8:30 p.m. eastern time from McGill's Love Competition Hall.
http://www.mcgillathletics.ca/index.aspx?path=mbball (http://www.mcgillathletics.ca/index.aspx?path=mbball)
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/mcgill/portal.htm?eventId=224049&streamType=video (http://portal.stretchinternet.com/mcgill/portal.htm?eventId=224049&streamType=video)
McGill's roster includes 2 Americans (one from Maine and one from Vermont) and three other foreigners (Brazil, Phillipines and Nigeria).
FYI, the McGill vs Xavier women's game, which proceeds the Valpo vs McGill men's game, is going into overtime. So it looks like the Valpo game will be starting a little bit late. OT in international rules is 5 minutes also.
Big line up to start with Carter, Hammick, Skara, Peters and Vashil.
Adekoya is playing absolutely horrible.
Quote from: Valpofan00 on August 11, 2015, 09:11:16 PM
Adekoya is playing absolutely horrible.
I think he read this because he's looked a lot better in the 4th quarter (that's weird to say).
I love our ball movement on the offensive side of the ball, but I don't think we used or size advantage enough. It's tough to get a ton set up in 15 seconds, but I would have liked to see more post ups.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
Quote from: Kyle321n on August 11, 2015, 09:27:36 PM
Quote from: Valpofan00 on August 11, 2015, 09:11:16 PM
Adekoya is playing absolutely horrible.
I think he read this because he's looked a lot better in the 4th quarter (that's weird to say).
I love our ball movement on the offensive side of the ball, but I don't think we used or size advantage enough. It's tough to get a ton set up in 15 seconds, but I would have liked to see more post ups.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
I agree he caught fire right after I posted this!! I'm sorry I doubted you Jubril!!
Smits has such a smooth jump shot. That's going to be fun.
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Remembering days past when the Crusaders played with one 6'7" center and very little talent beyond the starting five, I am definitely enjoying announcers describing Valpo as having "so much depth, so much size, and so much athleticism." :)
This team is going to be very very good come March. Anyone can score 15+ any given night. This is going to be a fun year! I'm very impressed with smits' jumper. Vashil needs to work on his floaters.
This was a bottom of the horizon league team at best we played.
We certainly have depth and probably could have won by 40+ but Bryce was changing up the lineups frequently.
jabril should not be shooting threes. He looked terrible out there and had to have a turnover per min played. I don't see him realistically getting more than 4 mins per game.
Hammik and skara are quite the combo out there. Really athletic and take it to the hoop. Good to see Max get a lot of PT.
Also like how smitts used his height to get off shots!!!!! when he gets stronger look out. we have a good one on our hands for the future.
What a treat to watch valpo basketball in August.
I was very impressed by a few things, Smits, for one with a smooth jump shot in the post, clearly Hamminks game and, unlike others, Jubril's improvement from the 3. all these things make Valpo very hard to guard as one weakness in another's strength. Alec clearly had an off night and I would expect his numbers to be down this year with all the other options on the table.
As stated many times last season, Jubril is not a flashy player. He is a glue guy, and we win when he plays many minutes. He is not an offensive powerhouse, but does all of the small things to help the guys around him. Just like with me defending Vashil over the last few seasons, you need to understand that not everyone can be a superstar all over the court. Vashil and Jubril have very important roles to play on our team, and we don't win without them.
I thought it was a very enjoyable game to watch, and it offered up so much promise even as it showed us with a few things to work on.
A few thoughts. Jubril played like crap for 3/4 of the game. Yet in the fourth quarter he was outstanding. He defended well on switches and caused a couple of turnovers. If hitting a couple of threes shows real improvement on his three point shot that must be respected it will open up other things. And he made free throws!! I went from wanting Bryce to bench him to cheering him on.
Smits. First time I've seen him play and I am exited about what he brings. A sweet shot and his size alone makes him a rim protector. Better than I expected. Can't wait to see him against better competition.
Overall I wasn't impressed until the team got it together in the fourth quarter. I thought they were slow in recognizing that these guys could shoot a bit and that open shooters could knock down shots. Yet when they needed to put the hammer down they did. I liked that. I thought that I would be disappointed if they didn't win by 20 and they won by 20.
All in all I look forward to seeing how they do against the two best Canadian teams. If they win both I'll know this could be a breakout season.
Quote from: Chairback on August 11, 2015, 09:49:33 PMjabril should not be shooting threes.
Quote from: vu72 on August 11, 2015, 09:59:56 PMunlike others, Jubril's improvement from the 3.
Jubril had the green light for the three as a freshman but that changed to red when he couldn't keep his 3 point % above 25. So last years playing time came about with his reinvention into a mobile but powerful ball handling center. This year may require a new reinvention because we now have less of a need for last years Jubril. The way I see it Jubril with a 3 is an enormous team asset which gains him additional playing time both at the 5, and the 4, and the 3. If he can hit better than 30% I think the green light wlll stay on as long as his shot selection is prudent. If Jubril has to be guarded out to the 3 point line you will be surprised how frequently he may be able to take those defenders to the hole off the dribble.
I was tied up this evening and didn't have an opportunity to check in on the game. I know it's only 1 game, but does anyone have any "way-too-early" thoughts about how big a role our new guys like Hammick and Smits might play this year? Thanks in advance!
Quote from: wh on August 12, 2015, 01:51:40 AM
I was tied up this evening and didn't have an opportunity to check in on the game. I know it's only 1 game, but does anyone have any "way-too-early" thoughts about how big a role our new guys like Hammick and Smits might play this year? Thanks in advance!
I will chime in on that! Hammink is electric! It will be hard to keep him off the court. He showed range, good defense and an ability to slash to the rim. Smits is the offensive threat we haven't seen at the 5 since Cory Johnson(who shouldn't have had to play there!) He showed good defense and passing as well.
I don't have a clue how Bryce will handle this but based on what I saw last night, if Vashil and, say, Skara went down , we wouldn't miss a beat. I guess one thing that could happen is that Bryce turns up the defensive pressure as foul trouble won't be a concern.
Stats posted on Paul Oren's Twitter page:
https://twitter.com/ValpoBasketball/status/631293777445912576
Quote from: vu72 on August 12, 2015, 07:13:44 AM
Quote from: wh on August 12, 2015, 01:51:40 AM
I was tied up this evening and didn't have an opportunity to check in on the game. I know it's only 1 game, but does anyone have any "way-too-early" thoughts about how big a role our new guys like Hammick and Smits might play this year? Thanks in advance!
I will chime in on that! Hammink is electric! It will be hard to keep him off the court. He showed range, good defense and an ability to slash to the rim. Smits is the offensive threat we haven't seen at the 5 since Cory Johnson(who shouldn't have had to play there!) He showed good defense and passing as well.
I don't have a clue how Bryce will handle this but based on what I saw last night, if Vashil and, say, Skara went down , we wouldn't miss a beat. I guess one thing that could happen is that Bryce turns up the defensive pressure as foul trouble won't be a concern.
I'll second the Hammink is electric train of throught. He's quick, long and had a knack of getting in passing lanes. I could see him starting at the 3 later in the season along Alec and Vashil. He's a more polished version (and bigger body) of Skara and having both those guys on the court while Alec gets a break will be nice. He'll add something we didn't have last season when Alec was resting.
Smits is going to be a stud in the HL. It's great that he gets a season to practice against Vashil and to work on the defensive aspect of his game. I don't think he had many 7 footers to play against in HS so getting one everyday in practice will be a huge benefit. His shot is smooth as silk. His offensive game is really refined. Having Roger Powell put the finishing touches on it will make him a real threat. Defensively I saw him get out of position once, but he has recovery speed for a big man and got a block on that play. He was credited with 3 blocks but he disrupted more shots than that I believe. 6 points, 3 boards and 3 blocks in 9 minutes though, I think he'll probably average 15-20 a game and really I'd love to see a rotation where Smits, Vashil, Walker, Walker and Carter are out there and they fall into a 3-2 zone with the twin towers patrolling the paint. Good luck getting a shot off on our guards who play shut down D and then you won't get a rebound from the 2 giants inside.
Jubril is one of those players that will frustrate you to your core when you watch him, but when you go back and look at his stats, he's actually a positive impact when on the court. When you watch him, it looks like he couldn't rebound a fat girl off a breakup. But then you look at his rebounding percentages, and they're actually pretty good. His defense seems lazy, but then you look at his defensive numbers and he had the second highest conference dRtg on the team. He's not a high motor guy, and doesn't play with a whole lot of emotion... Which is fine, since he seems to get the job done as a solid backup.
I presume Jubril will get more minutes than Smits this year - he has the ability to play the 4 and Smits may be a work in progress.
There was an earlier comment that said he thought AP will score perhaps less with the increased scoring potential of those surrounding him. I think he could score even more because the defense will not be able to help/double team as much as they did last year. While his shooting was off, he sure did get shots off in the short amount of time he played. I don't think he got that many shots off per minutes played last year, at least on a consistent basis as I remember.
Is there any type of audio or video coverage for Thursday night's game?
Based solely on watching this one game...
Smits is a bigger offensive threat than Vashil and deserves most of, if not all, of the backup minutes at the 5 spot.
DWalker, Skara, and Hammink are all making a great case for lots of playing time this year.
Just because Jubril hit a few shots does not make up for how terrible he looked early on. He just seems like he hasn't improved much from his freshman year? When he was making those mistakes as a freshman we were thinking "oh, he is young". Well, he is not a freshman anymore. If he doesn't fix the turnover situation he will get 5 minutes per game or less this year.
This was only one game, in August, so it all comes with a grain of salt.
http://valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2015-16/14761/crusaders-take-down-mcgill-improve-to-3-0/#.Vcv7EaMo7IU (http://valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2015-16/14761/crusaders-take-down-mcgill-improve-to-3-0/#.Vcv7EaMo7IU)
Quote from: SanityLost17 on August 12, 2015, 08:36:06 PM
Based solely on watching this one game...
Smits is a bigger offensive threat than Vashil and deserves most of, if not all, of the backup minutes at the 5 spot.
DWalker, Skara, and Hammink are all making a great case for lots of playing time this year.
Just because Jubril hit a few shots does not make up for how terrible he looked early on. He just seems like he hasn't improved much from his freshman year? When he was making those mistakes as a freshman we were thinking "oh, he is young". Well, he is not a freshman anymore. If he doesn't fix the turnover situation he will get 5 minutes per game or less this year.
This was only one game, in August, so it all comes with a grain of salt.
I'm not going to be concerned about Jubril. We saw him mature during last season, so much so that he performed great in conference play and led the team with a field goal percentage of almost .600 (.593)! He also averaged less than one turnover per game last year while playing almost 20 minutes (19.8). If the two 3-pointers (twice his output for all of last year) as well as his 3-4 free-throw shooting are indications that he has developed a jump shot to be respected and will be more effective at the foul line, that can only help his game.
Looks like we have an early question for Over/Under.
Jubril Adekoya -- O/U 5 mpg.
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
Wednesday's very interesting trip report. Looks like Valpo and Baylor players and coaches will be spending some time together over the next couple of days.
http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/canada/#.Vcw42bqUDjQ (http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/canada/#.Vcw42bqUDjQ)
All I have to say is this. .... How is Bryce going to know who to play with 14 real options .. (really could play a lot of them for a lot of minutes - maybe we should petition the ncaa for longer games)
Quote from: Smj on August 13, 2015, 07:27:20 AM
All I have to say is this. .... How is Bryce going to know who to play with 14 real options .. (really could play a lot of them for a lot of minutes - maybe we should petition the ncaa for longer games)
They're young, up the tempo so that everyone gets quality time until they're tired!
Our game tonight can be seen using the website, http://portal.stretchinternet.com/oua/ (http://portal.stretchinternet.com/oua/)
On Monday, Murray State Racers scored a 63-59 exhibition win against Carleton University Ravens. Should be a good game.
I'm going to miss this one (the one on the Canada tour I was looking forward to).
Hopefully they have it in their on demand section.
Very ugly/sluggish quarter from Valpo. Carleton looks good as their reputation would suggest. Let's get some rhythm before half! No Vashil yet either...
Wow we suck at guarding the 3. Get jurbil off the floor.
They are just bombing away!
Game's half over and I'm still waiting for our defense to show up. Looked like they had their shoes nailed to the floor trying to get out on shooters. Don't think I saw this many open looks in any game last year. Maybe the whitewater rafting took something out of them yesterday.
I like the way Jubril's jump shot looks so much smoother this year: 3-4 in the first half after hitting the two 3-pointers the other day.
Hammink looks like a much quicker Alec Peters. No disrespect to Mr. Peters. The speed down the lane and reactions was just pure. They are shooting the lights out and certainly part of that was wide open looks. We look like a deer in headlights. No Vashil. Is he injuried or just resting. Very little Carter as well if I'm not mistaken. My guess is we win in a very tight game or either get blown out by 20 or so. Shud be a fun second half.
Quote from: nkvu on August 13, 2015, 06:51:09 PM
Game's half over and I'm still waiting for our defense to show up. Looked like they had their shoes nailed to the floor trying to get out on shooters. Don't think I saw this many open looks in any game last year. Maybe the whitewater rafting took something out of them yesterday.
Or, doing push-ups till you drop on game day.
[tweet]631932887420416000[/tweet]
I don't believe I've seen E.V. either.
Almost to the 4th quarter, only positive was the home run play.
I've never heard more undeserved compliments for a team getting completely outplayed than we are receiving from these home team announcers.
Quote from: wh on August 13, 2015, 07:31:57 PM
I've never heard more undeserved compliments for a team getting completely outplayed than we are receiving from these home team announcers.
Well, Canadians are known to be unfailingly polite...
Well, a pretty good butt kicking. Not necessarily a bad thing in an exhibition game if it reminds the players that they can't win on their reputation or the fact that they have everybody back from last year. They will have to actually play well to win.
Without Vashil, EVN and having a 70% Alec the defense was very unimpressive. Skara and Carter both looked like they would rather be somewhere doing some fishing. Not much to hang your hat on except we saw some unusual combinations of players.
Turns out that Baylor played UOttawa twice yesterday. BU won both. AM game: 92-73 and PM: 100-84. Ours will be Ottawa's third game in two days.
Just checked the Baylor v. Carleton AM game
1st Qtr - Carleton 28 BU 23
Half - Carleton 39 BU37
3rd Qtr - Carleton 60 BU 56
Final - BU 72 Carleton 68 w/ 4:21 in the 4th. Have no final score yet
They play again tonight at 7:30 EST
No webcast for tonight's game?
No webcast from Ottawa, but I will be attempting something new tonight and using Periscope to stream the game. For those who haven't heard of it, Periscope allows you to live stream video from your phone. So it'll be a stream from my phone on press row - no actual commentary, but there is an option for chat on the app and if there are any questions, I'll do my best to answer.
The links for each quarter will be available when they go live, and posted to Twitter at Twitter.com/ValpoBasketball.
Quote from: aleavitt on August 14, 2015, 04:26:52 PM
No webcast from Ottawa, but I will be attempting something new tonight and using Periscope to stream the game. For those who haven't heard of it, Periscope allows you to live stream video from your phone. So it'll be a stream from my phone on press row - no actual commentary, but there is an option for chat on the app and if there are any questions, I'll do my best to answer.
The links for each quarter will be available when they go live, and posted to Twitter at Twitter.com/ValpoBasketball.
From your phone? Just make sure its horizontal, not vertical.
Quote from: a3uge on August 14, 2015, 04:28:57 PM
From your phone? Just make sure its horizontal, not vertical.
(http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/oaotkrhkyiclynvbutyj.jpg)
Cool broadcast! Not sure the rotated camera actually even matters with periscope.
Baylor used Periscope for their Ottawa games.
Baylor falls 79-73 in nightcap to finish with split in doubleheader at Carleton.
Nice writeup on the Valpo Athletics website: http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2015-16/14765/crusaders-take-down-ottawa-to-close-out-foreign-tour/#.Vc8lasa4ko8Valparaiso (http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2015-16/14765/crusaders-take-down-ottawa-to-close-out-foreign-tour/#.Vc8lasa4ko8Valparaiso)
Only eight guys played, four of whom scored in double figures. Bryce held Peters, Fernandez, EVN and Lexus out.
Jubril had a double double (20 pts, 10 RBs), was the leading scorer in 26 minutes of playing time and drained 6 of 6 FTs. That's not too shabby. He certainly showed he belongs in the rotation and can rise to the occasion. Shane came off the bench, played 29 minutes and hit for 14 (double figures again). The firm of Walker (11), Walker (11) & Joseph (11) accounted for 33 points ;) Good to see Max up there with 27 minutes.
Glad to see the boys bounce back after a terrible showing at Carleton. Also good to see that Baylor lost to Carleton as well -- makes our loss a little less painful despite our lackluster play. BTW, in the earlier game Baylor only won by 2 with Carleton's last shot falling off the rim. Bet the Crusaders would like to have their game back.
We know a lot more about this team now. Shane is gonna be a significant contributor. Derrik showed a great upside. The depth is evident. But its time to rest the guys with injuries, review the goods with the bads, learn from mistakes, and look forward to a great season ahead.
I think this tournament shows the Dunking Dutchman Jr (the Layup Dutchman?) won't get minutes above Jubril, or at least, not to start the season. Jubril looked good, strong. Smits not so much, although you can't really expect much from a freshman before even playing a D1 game. There was a sequence in the second quarter where Smits came in and surrendered two straight three pointers off a switch. Bryce yanked him shortly after. He's going to have to get comfortable guarding small-ball lineups, since Horizon teams rarely feature true centers. Before that, he did have a nice bucket from a P&R, showing he may have the best hands from a big man since KVW. The high P&R is something Valpo loves to run, and he's going to excel on offense in the future once he bulks up a bit and learns to set a strong screen.
Some things that jumped out to me:
* Hammink is a men among boys. Very excited about his defense.
* I thought Max Joseph played great. He seems a bit bigger.
* Thank you Aaron for the stream! Hope your battery was okay after that.
With last night's terrific performance, Jubril seems to have verified my previous complimentary comments in this thread. As I had stated, his game appeared to mature in conference play last season, and with an added jump shot plus good foul shooting, his play could advance to a new level this season and only add to the already strong depth of this team.
A cursory comparison between our performance v Baylor's against Carleton and Ottawa seems to indicate we are still 10 to 16 points or so below Baylor's level. This seems about the same performance level we show when we play high major teams historically for the most part. However, given that Vashil wasn't available to protect the rim, that E Victor played limited minutes and that Alec was obviously dinged up for the Carleton game and didn't play at all against Ottawa makes me think we will be much closer to the Baylor level once we have all our weapons available. Overall, I'm encouraged about this team's potential to play at a high major level once the season starts. But they will need to break through and get some wins to really get over the hump.
Hope all who got a chance to tune in to the Periscope enjoyed it - obviously it's not the same as an ESPN3 broadcast, or even the webcasts McGill/Carleton had, but I feel like it worked well to at least give an option to watch. Even if you did have to deal with coaches/referees blocking the view every so often! And a3uge, I was charging for the entire second half.
Final blog post is up at ValpoAthletics.com/canada - hope you have enjoyed following along with the recaps, my blog posts and the interviews with the players each night!
Quote from: aleavitt on August 15, 2015, 10:43:28 AM
Hope all who got a chance to tune in to the Periscope enjoyed it - obviously it's not the same as an ESPN3 broadcast, or even the webcasts McGill/Carleton had, but I feel like it worked well to at least give an option to watch. Even if you did have to deal with coaches/referees blocking the view every so often! And a3uge, I was charging for the entire second half.
Final blog post is up at ValpoAthletics.com/canada - hope you have enjoyed following along with the recaps, my blog posts and the interviews with the players each night!
You covered the entire trip in amazing detail - trip reports, game recaps, pictures, tweets, player interviews, etc. Thanks for all the hard work!
Our combined 3 point shooting vs Ottawa and Carleton was 6-34. One of our biggest strengths turned out to be a weakness. Lucky to have escaped with a split!
Quote from: aleavitt on August 15, 2015, 10:43:28 AM
Hope all who got a chance to tune in to the Periscope enjoyed it - obviously it's not the same as an ESPN3 broadcast, or even the webcasts McGill/Carleton had, but I feel like it worked well to at least give an option to watch. Even if you did have to deal with coaches/referees blocking the view every so often! And a3uge, I was charging for the entire second half.
Final blog post is up at ValpoAthletics.com/canada - hope you have enjoyed following along with the recaps, my blog posts and the interviews with the players each night!
Great Stuff! Thanks!
Quote from: aleavitt on August 15, 2015, 10:43:28 AM
Hope all who got a chance to tune in to the Periscope enjoyed it - obviously it's not the same as an ESPN3 broadcast, or even the webcasts McGill/Carleton had, but I feel like it worked well to at least give an option to watch. Even if you did have to deal with coaches/referees blocking the view every so often! And a3uge, I was charging for the entire second half.
Final blog post is up at ValpoAthletics.com/canada - hope you have enjoyed following along with the recaps, my blog posts and the interviews with the players each night!
Aaron,
Thoughtful and insightful work as usual. Thank you.
I'm curious to see who you think impressed and who didn't during this trip. For me Hamink was impressive. Joseph certainly showed improvement. And Jubril in the Ottawa game showed a much better offensive game. If he can actually hit a few jump shots it could really open up a lot of things not just for him but for others. On the other hand, Skara didn't show me a lot of improvement over his freshman season which to give credit was better than I expected. But I'm no expert. What do you others think.
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXvDVSXFgtY#)