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Heartbreaker. Ugh

Had an opportunity to watch the game from behind the Valpo bench. Here are a few my thoughts.

The Good

This team doesn't ever give up. We fight until the final buzzer.

Coaching. They are calling plays. They don't let the players just stand around on offense.

Sepp. He reminds me of Matt Kenney in someways. He's not going to be a star but he's the type of guy that good teams need. A glue guy. Not afraid to get physical.

The Bad

Our 3 point shooting. We missed some open looks. We took some bad shots. VT played good defense against our shooters. Just needs to be better

Our inside game. Doesn't exist.

Palm. He's too soft on defense and too hard on offense. Not a light touch around the rim and he gets out rebounded. Probably would be better coming off the bench if we had depth. He doesn't let his struggles impact his attitude though. Definitely a team player.

Overall

Even though we lost by 20+ it didn't seem like a blowout. You can see the vision that Coach Powell has. There are times that our freshmen look like freshmen. They don't look scared but uncertain at times. I'm optimistic for the future.

I'll be at the game tomorrow! Hopefully we can pull an upset!

Not our night. Woof.

Well...we put up a fight for about 28 minutes. We have some young building blocks but this team isn't deep enough. Just gotta keeping growing.

I'll take being down 1 at the half. Let's go Valpo!

I loved the fight and grit that Valpo showed tonight. I started to get that sinking feeling that the game was slipping away from us but we clawed our way back.

I think this team took a small step forward tonight. If you squint, you can begin to see the outlines of what this team might eventually become.

Well...we knew it was going to be a long season.

We're not gonna shoot 12.5% from 3 every night (I hope)

Cooper is a beast. And I like Ola's game. But we don't have a ton of depth this season.

I'm want to know more about what Edwards said near the end of the game. Did he really get ejected? That is troubling, if true.

We've seem to hit a rough spot. Going to be hard to beat anyone if the 3's don't fall.

So, VU has ceded this territory to others and now wants it back. This might work, but I would not bet on it. While we were sleeping the Concordias - and others - have established relationships with these high schools that will be hard to dislodge

Concordias and Valpo are two very different types of schools, despite both being Lutheran. I'm not sure they're competing for the same students. Valpo has programs and opportunities that just aren't available at Concordias.

Valpo needs to go after Lutheran high school students who would otherwise go to other private schools or smaller state schools. 

I get that Valpo is a trendy pick for last place because of the question marks surrounding this team.

But two things to keep in mind. 1) we've seen freshmen have success in the MVC. It's not guaranteed but it's also not impossible. 2) Coach Powell has put together a terrific staff that has a record of success, including in the MVC. The idea that he would suddenly whiff on every recruit seems unlikely. Plus even if their skill level is lacking, I would expect the coaching would allow them to play above their skill.

I'm optimistic about this season. Betting against Coach Powell and the new staff seems foolish. But we shall see.

We know that:

1) Roger is a great recruiter;

2) has seen what success (Gonzaga/Valpo/Illinois) and failure (Vandy) looks like and;

3) has many connections and is well respected in the industry.

I love what he's been doing with the program the past few months and I have to believe he's going to find success.

Now we know that Roger was responsible for landing KC, Jubril, and AP. It's almost a sure bet that he also recruited Lexis. In all likelihood, he was also recruiting JFL before he left with Bryce.

https://twitter.com/RogerPowellJr/status/1681078927102550017?s=20

I think we'll really see the value of good coaching this year. Remember Ray McCallum's Detroit teams? Ton of talent but no teamwork. So they never lived up to their expectations.

I think Roger and his staff can build a cohesive unit that will play above their talent level. He's bringing hope back to the program, which is all we can ask for at this point.

I got the sense, just from Ben's measured answers, how much Lottich was in over his head. No consistency. Always changing. Just a complete mess.

Here's a though exercise. What type of player would have Ben become with Homer or Bryce as coach? Would he have reached an Alec Peters level? Or is he the product of being a very good player on very bad teams?

It will be exciting to watch him at Iowa. I'm glad Valpo can count him as an alumni.

It's interesting that Baldwin has a connection to JR Blount via his time at Loyola. I guess it's a small world for college basketball coaches.

This is a great day for Valpo basketball and the university.

I think we should go with Greg Tonagel. Why? Because he's already shown that he's loyal.

Valpo will only have sustained success with a coach who's dedicated to staying here. We'll be in the same place in a few years if we hire a coach who views Valpo as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Valpo also has limited resources, so we need a coach who can make more with less.

Hire Tonagel and maybe see if Homer Drew will release a statement announcing his support for him. Hopefully that would fire up the fans.

We shouldn't overthink this.

I'll echo what others have said. Lottich gave it a good effort but it didn't work out. Hopefully he lands on his feet.

They, like Canning, also knew no museum ethically could use its artwork as assets to fund projects outside the development of the collection.

These ethics could lead to the school closing and the paintings being sold anyways.

First, Canning is an employee of VU. He was hired as the museums director. He still gets to keep his job after the sale. It's not as though Valpo hired him and then 6 months later said we're closing the Brauer and you're fired. Circumstances in jobs change all the time. He's free to leave if he doesn't like it. And Valpo can use the savings to increase the salaries of professors.

Second, this whole thing boils down to "who gets to own the painting." It's superficial and materialistic. It's not as though the university is going to light the painting on fire. The Brauer could display a high quality picture or replica of the painting for teaching purposes. I fail to see why we need the real thing.

Finally, the money is going back into the university. If Valpo said it was going to donate the proceeds to Lutheran World Relief, would we see the same outrage? If Valpo was going to use the money to buy out Lottich's contract, then I could maybe see why people might be upset. But the money is being used to increase enrollment. Which is the purpose of the school.

However, the university president should exhibit higher scruples than a shady used car salesman trying to pull a fast one, and members of the university community also should expect nothing less than honorable behavior.

I get that the art sale makes you upset, but you're crossing the line here. You talk about "honorable behavior" but then make personal attacks that have no basis in fact. You actually weaken your argument when you reveal your bias against President Padilla.

I'm sorry, but it's insane to blame this on President Padilla. He's the president of the university; he gets to captain the ship. Furthermore, the Board approved the sale of the painting.

It's odd that Padilla faces all this vitriol but somehow the same people give Heckler a pass. Weird.

Opponents of the sale have yet to propose a solution to address the issues that Valpo faces. Apparently we should stand pat and let the university run itself into the ground. 

The idea that this painting is somehow the soul of Valpo is ridiculous. Very few people even knew it existed!

President Padilla is facing the hard task of cleaning up the financial mess of Heckler. And that means making hard decisions. Don't want Valpo to sell the painting? Then help recruit students to VU. Or start donating millions of dollars.

they removed secondary education, how about elementary education? Generally speaking, why would someone spend $55K a year, minus scholarship, to get an elementary education degree and start a teaching career with six figure in debt?  Why try to compete with teachers colleges like Ball St., Illinois State, and UNI?

This is an example of the backwards thinking of Heckler. Why would Valpo get rid of professional degree programs that are making money for the university?

For example, Social Work was proposed to be cut so they could save money by cutting a few professors. But when you looked at the number of students in the program, you realized that it was a net positive. So Heckler was going to technically cut costs...while lowering profits at the same time. 

All of this underscores how much of a mess Heckler created during his time as President. Decisions were made regarding finances and enrollment that are...baffling. It's like everyone was asleep at the wheel.

Heckler was to Valpo, like Lottich is to the basketball program.