We're a little over 24 hours until the next game and there's nothing up yet, so I'll take the opportunity to start one of these guys.
Gary Waters and crew come into town and I think we remember last time they were here.
Also I think I heard correctly when they said first 300 fans at the game get stocking hats? Seems like a cool giveaway but a very low amount.
I think CSU brings the pressure. Valpo throws it over their press. Peters takes it back outside and finds his stroke. Valpo by 8, 73-65.
I say...
Valpo 76
CSU 70
We have a very big height advantage in this game, thus we should dominate the boards and own the paint on both ends. I do predict CSU shoots pretty well from the outside but our inside game wears them down in the end.
We need to play another 'team' game. CSU plays a little slower - I think to take the physical game that CSU usually likes to play we need to push the ball up the court when possible, then hit the open player for a three. Don't let them think we're short a guard.
Valpo 77
CSU 64
Opening spread: Valpo -7
Quote from: valpo4life on January 09, 2015, 02:24:03 PM
I say...
Valpo 76
CSU 70
We have a very big height advantage in this game, thus we should dominate the boards and own the paint on both ends. I do predict CSU shoots pretty well from the outside but our inside game wears them down in the end.
Valpo may have a height advantage but after watching CSU against Oakland what the Vikings have are some very athletic leapers that out rebounded Oakland 31-29. The Crusaders out rebounded Oakland 44-38. I don't see either team, Valpo or CSU, out rebounding their opponent by that much.
Anton Grady plays that center position well for the Vikings. CSU plays a very physically tough defensive game and if you don't play tough against them they can beat you in a low scoring game.
They are very tough to score against. When Valpo drives the basket I don't think you'll see as many shots going in as against other HL teams such as UIC and YSU.
The first 10:14 of the UIC game looked like it was going to be a shoot-out 22-26 . Neither team was playing any defense. During that time UIC had 4 layups and 3 2-point shots within 12 feet. Our height advantage didn't help us much early in this one and I don't think it helps a bunch against CSU. We allowed a number of easy entry passes early in the UIC game. This CSU game will be won on defense and the team that plays better defense wins this one.
FROM THE VALPO ATHLETICS SITE:
15-3
- This season marks the fifth time in Crusader history - and the first time in the program's D-I era - that Valpo has been 15-3 or better through 18 games.
- Valpo last started 15-3 during the 1965-66 season under Hall of Fame coach Gene Bartow.
- The Crusaders also won at least 15 of their first 18 games in 1944-45 (15-3), 1930-31 (16-2) and 1923-24 (18-0).
- The 1996-97 squad was the only D-I Valpo team to go deeper into the season before suffering its third loss, winning 14 of its first 16 games.
- Valpo won seven games in a row earlier this year to set its longest winning streak under Bryce Drew [won six in a row twice in 2012-13].
That was a fantastic season. Rakow (6'6), Cook (6'2), Eynon (6'3), Smith (5'9), and Jones (5'11) along with 6th man Vern Curtis (6'2). They blew people out of the building and just ran past bigger opponents. Kind of a mini-Gayle Goodrich UCLA team. I treasure the nights I spent cheering on this team. (They also hit their FT's!)
I hope this year's team creates a similar mystique. Beating Cleveland State would certainly send it in that direction. GO VALPO!
Valpo 71
CSU 62
I predict that the 'Shil will go for a double-double, let's say 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks. More importantly, he will have 1 or 0 turnovers. Anyone else surprised that he has 5 assists to only 18 turnovers this season? :o
Quote from: FWalum on January 09, 2015, 04:47:54 PMThis CSU game will be won on defense and the team that plays better defense wins this one.
I totally agree with this statement. Excellent point.
Sorry have to take this opportunity. ... I think scoring will win this game - the team the scores more points is going to win. .......
I thought about saying something like that, and then went to bed. kudos for the follow-thru.
Quote from: wh on January 09, 2015, 03:54:14 PM
Opening spread: Valpo -7
Moved to Valpo -5 over night
And just moved to Valpo -4.5 this morning...
Excited to get to the ARC tonight, haven't been to many games in person lately.
Like most. CSU games, this one will come down to how tight it's called. On the road CSU's defensive aggressive usually gets whistled. At the Wolstein they're allowed to hammer away on D (sort of like the old Huggybear UC squads). We have had good success at home v. CSU and need to hold serve. 70 pts is still the key in conference and for Valpo. If we can score 70 first, we win! I like this CSU team and think they are top 2 in conference. Anton Grady will give us fits. Highly respect Waters coaching. Make them shoot jumpers.
Valpo 63
CSU 62
Buzzer beater time.
Quote from: Valpo2010 on January 10, 2015, 08:03:51 AM
Quote from: wh on January 09, 2015, 03:54:14 PM
Opening spread: Valpo -7
Moved to Valpo -5 over night
And just moved to Valpo -4.5 this morning...
Excited to get to the ARC tonight, haven't been to many games in person lately.
I'm seeing 5.5, 6.
I always hate playing CSU, the game I dread most on the schedule. I'm hoping KC plays but am doubtful, originally without KC I'd say a loss but they are also without their PG in Charlie Lee, who also is one of the best PGs in the HL.
I say we win a close one, a low scoring affair, 62-59.
If CSU holds us to below 60 they win, if we score more than 70 we win. If it's in the 60s it's more up in the air but I say we have the homecourt advantage to tilt the tables our way.
Did Lee get injured in their last game? I watched part of that game and he was playing, quite well.
I'm not seeing anything about Charlie Lee missing the game.
Quote from: Smj on January 10, 2015, 03:23:41 AMSorry have to take this opportunity. ... I think scoring will win this game - the team the scores more points is going to win. .......
This has become kind of a cliche but the team that transitions from tough physical defense and turns that into offense (points) will win the game due to their tough defense. Yes, they will score the most points but it will be mainly due to their defense.
(http://everythinggeek.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/wishful-thinking-no-matter-how-bad-aint-gonna-happen-demotivational-poster.jpg)
Our 3rd and 4th string point guards are very good for being 3rd and 4th string, but I don't think they are ready for good full court pressure. We will have several long scoring droughts. CSU 65 Valpo 58
Maybe I'm crazy but I think Max is gonna surprise a lot of us tonight.
With Lexus out and now Keith, we have no one adept at feeding the ball inside to Alec. Several times against UIC Alec had his defender posted and walled off, but other players either missed him or were too slow or deliberate getting him the ball, which allowed the defender time to recover or another player time to come over and help. We got away with it because of UIC's matador defense on drives to the hoop, but that isn't going to happen against CSU's quicker on-ball defenders. Hopefully, we're working on that because we have to take advantage of mismatches when they're there.
A key to the game is our guards taking care of the ball. We have done a lot better this year with turnovers.
Quote from: oklahomamick on January 10, 2015, 06:35:24 PM
A key to the game is our guards taking care of the ball. We have done a lot better this year with turnovers.
A lot better! How's the weather shaping up?
Quote from: vu72 on January 10, 2015, 06:50:37 PM
Quote from: oklahomamick on January 10, 2015, 06:35:24 PM
A key to the game is our guards taking care of the ball. We have done a lot better this year with turnovers.
A lot better! How's the weather shaping up?
It's a crisp 38 degrees right now in Tulsa, but next weekend expecting temps in the mid 60's.
early turnovers...
1. The ESPN announcers are horrible.
2. Darien Walker takes waaaayyyy too many shots.
Win or lose, playing without an experienced point guard to distribute the ball is painful to watch.
We have had a couple 5 point leads, but CSU comes back with a couple runs. Let's try to get it to 8 at half.
That was a horrible half of basketball. No flow to the offense. Stupid turnovers. We will lose if we play like that in the 2nd half.
Weak game against 3 starters and 2 reserves for CSU.
Quote from: mj on January 10, 2015, 07:49:31 PM
That was a horrible half of basketball. No flow to the offense. Stupid turnovers. We will lose if we play like that in the 2nd half.
Actually it'll be Valpo 52 CSU 50 if we continue this trajectory.
These are typical CSU games. Its frustrating. Hand checks all night. Cant call them all.
Even more frustrating is that my video feed keeps freezing. The HL network was so much better than the espn3.
The announcers are correct -- Alec really must develop the ability to create shots off the dribble. He's not fleet-footed or agile, but he will be lethal if he can add the scoring dimension. I think he'll do it.
I hate these CSU games, because they never call their hand checks!!!!
We have fouled C. Lee twice on jump shots. He's automatic at the free throw line.
Every time we get up by 7 they cut it too 1.
Charlie Lee is giving both freshmen guards a graduate seminar in how to play D1 hoops...I was afraid of this.
These calls and non-calls against CSU every year are complete horse $h!+
I take some small solace in knowing that we'd be up 10 instead of tied were KC at the point.
Very small solace.
I know I'm usually among the most optimistic on this board, but I feel pretty BLERG about this one.
E Victor is a terrible point guard.
AT LEAST HE BRINGS THE BALL OVER THE LINE IN FEWER THAN TEN SECONDS
GAAAAAH
WHAT IS THIS BIDDY BALL
turnover, turnover, turnover. I haven't looked at the stats but I'm sure they have twice as many shots as us. The 10 second count was inexcusable.
He fuckn slapped his arm!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I count 4 fouls each possession. 6 if I was really looking for them.
HOMERUN PASS!!!!!
HOW DO THEY NOT KNOW IT'S COMING
IT'S COMING!!
Someone said free throws may hurt us. That one just may have. I don't want ot.
Especially since the head coaches are all the same, and we do it against every team. I seriously dislike CSU and the way they play. They have hands on us on every drive, and it never gets called!
In CLEE 501 I give T Walker a B and Joseph a C-.
If we could hit our FT, we'd be dangerous.
BTW: is there a more "Valpo" play than the home run pass? it's like our "thing".
Why even jump at him there??????
Escaped!
Vashil didn't get the double double I hoped for, but he had two huge plays in the last few minutes, in spite of his foul trouble.
Also, this isn't a normal F U because I respect a rivalry, but F U Cleveland State, and the crap you get away with each season.
Upon further review T Walker's grade is now a C+ for WHY ARE YOU FOULING HIM THERE but bumped back up to passing by AT LEAST HE MISSED ONE.
You know how the live stats are pretty much real time and the video behind a minute? I accidentally saw the header in my tab and it said CSU VALPO 05:00 (PRD 3) and I about died. luckily, we are NOT going to overtime.
*exhale* Ugly win is a win and this was a must win for the old Brown and Gold. Good win for the students and crowd to experience, exciting wins keep them coming back.
Yeah, I always minimize the live stats because I hate those spoilers :). I only look at them during breaks in action.
A gutty win for Valpo. Hard to beat anyone in the top half of your conference without your two top point guards, let alone a team that pressures the ball. Good coaching by Bryce to make it work out with what he had.
The missed free throw really bailed out Walker for fouling the three point shooter. In the world of basketball, that is a mortal sin.
Any idea how long Carter is going to be out?
Great win! I thought for sure it would get away the last few minutes. We got lucky, but I'll take it :)
That was a grinder there. Hopefully KC will be back and soon! With him in there tonight we probably win by 10 but I ain't complaining because we got the W. Alec showed why he's one of the best in the league. Gritty game, great win. I typically hate the week off week in HL play but this one couldn't come at a better time. Gives KC some rest, really hoping he'll be back next weekend against WSU.
Anyways great win.
Quote from: valpotx on January 10, 2015, 09:09:56 PMI always minimize the live stats because I hate those spoilers
well it wasn't maximized...but the title of the tab said it. should have closed it, except that coming off a couple timeouts i peeked before that because i couldn't take it.
man, a win is a win, but we needed that like 10x more than they did. way to go.
also: 4/11 FTs = VU - (Peters)
Nice win in spite of massive turnovers. Very key win in the long run. Let's hope "point guard by committee doesn't last long!
As bad as our free throws were, CSU only shot 1% better. The game would have been over if walker would have made his to complete the three point play off the home runner.
The difference in the game was Alec making his 3 FTs to tie the game and Lewis missed 2 of 3 thus the 2 point win.
Long live the home run ball!
Good analysis :crazy:
Great win in spite of how terrible our pigs played and some real boneheaded decision making. Also, Alec needs to quit diving when there is no hope of getting the ball.
I agree with Alec limiting his diving for the ball. Only dive if there's a 50% chance.
E victor had 6 turnovers. Our bench had 6 turnovers.
Very good win considering the opposition and we were playing without our true point guard.
I love the fact that our home run play still works. As soon as Darien Walker moved himself on the other side of the half court line to the side of the court that Valpo was inbounding the ball and Alec went back to inbounding the ball instead of Jubril that we were running that play. There will be an opposition coaching staff that finally scouts us and will realize what is happening. But until that happens Valpo will keep running that play.
Valpo did play some very good defense most of the night. When Charlie Lee started hitting threes that really got CSU back into the game. If CSU would have hit more of there open threes in the first half and first part of the second half they probably would have won by 6 or 7 points. Alec Peters excellent FT shooting, three point shooting and ability to help get the ball down the court in some key situations made him the player of the game. It will be interesting to see if Alec is chosen POTW. I really hope valpofan00 doesn't think that Alec had a "bad" game in this one. Do you?
Oren tweeted about Tevonn getting a welt on his face in the first half. You can really see it in the photo.
Quote from: historyman on January 10, 2015, 10:14:21 PMIt will be interesting to see if Alec is chosen POTW
Reading the UWGB site... I'm thinking I can guess who is the POTW....
Four days after scoring 23 second-half points in a 79-55 win over Wright State, Sykes totaled 22 in the first half on Friday night. on his way to 34. The reigning Horizon League Player of the Year made 8-of-11 shots from the field, with all eight makes coming in succession.
Quote from: oklahomamick on January 10, 2015, 09:52:14 PM
I agree with Alec limiting his diving for the ball. Only dive if there's a 50% chance.
So do you expect that he will have the time to weigh the chances before he decides to dive or not dive?
Hahaha Alec played great. i wasnt thinking when i said that. i shouldve looked at his other stats instead of just points. im sorry guys. Evic played terrible in my opinion. Max played well had some nice passes! Any idea when Keith will be back?
Quote from: classof2014 on January 10, 2015, 12:47:50 PMthey are also without their PG in Charlie Lee
Where do you hear that gossip? It certainly wasn't true.
Ha! His dive vs YSU on that horrid pass and the one tonight where he was, ya know out of bounds where a tad unnecessary and he got up slow after both. Glad to have a handful of days for guys to heal up and go wax Wright State and that pouty foot stomping head coach of theirs.
Quote from: bbtds on January 10, 2015, 10:26:50 PM
Quote from: classof2014 on January 10, 2015, 12:47:50 PMthey are also without their PG in Charlie Lee
Where do you hear that gossip? It certainly wasn't true.
According to ESPN stats he didn't play/accumulate any stats in the last few games he played. Obviously they were wrong since he was very much present...
I Beg to differ with a majority of the posters. T Walker held CSU's top scorer to only 5 points. This was 12 points under his average. Yes one silly mistake, 3pt shot foul with 2 seconds remaining. So I make it an A-. Comeon guys he is a freshmen playing really good basketball. Thanks!
Quote from: bbtds on January 09, 2015, 04:16:54 PM
Quote from: valpo4life on January 09, 2015, 02:24:03 PM
I say...
Valpo 76
CSU 70
We have a very big height advantage in this game, thus we should dominate the boards and own the paint on both ends. I do predict CSU shoots pretty well from the outside but our inside game wears them down in the end.
Valpo may have a height advantage but after watching CSU against Oakland what the Vikings have are some very athletic leapers that out rebounded Oakland 31-29. The Crusaders out rebounded Oakland 44-38. I don't see either team, Valpo or CSU, out rebounding their opponent by that much.
Anton Grady plays that center position well for the Vikings. CSU plays a very physically tough defensive game and if you don't play tough against them they can beat you in a low scoring game.
They are very tough to score against. When Valpo drives the basket I don't think you'll see as many shots going in as against other HL teams such as UIC and YSU.
Let's see.
Neither team out rebounded the other by much Valpo 31, CSU 29-----
checkLow scoring game-----
checkAnton Grady and Charlie Lee both played well and were CSU's leading scorers-----
checkValpo missed a lot of shots when driving the basket that went in during the YSU and UIC games-----
checkValpo wins close game.-----
checkIf I have to say so myself I think I made some pretty accurate predictions in this game. :P :P :P
Well done, bbtds!
While we're giving ourselves pats on the back....way back in the 2nd post of this thread I made the bold prediction Alec would find his outside stroke! check :thumbsup:
Quote from: RS on January 10, 2015, 10:36:33 PM
I Beg to differ with a majority of the posters. T Walker held CSU's top scorer to only 5 points. This was 12 points under his average. Yes one silly mistake, 3pt shot foul with 2 seconds remaining. So I make it an A-. Comeon guys he is a freshmen playing really good basketball. Thanks!
Without Tevonn Valpo doesn't win that game. He had a tough time driving the basket and scoring but that was to be expected against CSU. I agree with the A grade given by RS to Tavonn. It would be nice if he didn't foul three point shooters at critical times in games but I have a feeling he will learn that lesson as he progresses as a Valpo player. Tavonn played an excellent defensive game which did lead to Valpo scoring more points.
Darien missed some big shots in the first half but he had an important three in the second half at a very critical time. I agree he really shouldn't be forcing shots but it seems that is what the coaching staff is encouraging him to do or they would be telling him during the game not to shoot so much. It didn't seem that Bryce or the other coaches were talking to him about his shooting.
Quote from: RS on January 10, 2015, 10:36:33 PM
I Beg to differ with a majority of the posters. T Walker held CSU's top scorer to only 5 points. This was 12 points under his average. Yes one silly mistake, 3pt shot foul with 2 seconds remaining. So I make it an A-. Comeon guys he is a freshmen playing really good basketball. Thanks!
Point well made and supported by high praise for TW's defensive play from Luke Gore in the post game.
This was a hard-fought win and one of the roughest games you will see, despite the low amount of fouls called. In fact, with about 2:30 left in the game Bryce shouted to one of the officials, "I can't believe they have only 4 fouls!" This probably contributed to the crucial foul call on Alec's 3-point shot with 2:06 left in the game. Valpo players clearly were battered a number of times, especially under the basket. Tevonn was a victim various times and finished the game looking like a fighter after a boxing match, as can be seen in my photo from the press conference.
(http://i61.tinypic.com/wbqgqs.jpg)
I am going to defend Nickerson.
1. Dude was absolutely exhausted by the end of the game. Yes, you are going to miss free throws when you are exhausted.
2. Three of his turnovers were simply him not being on the same page with the other players. The guys are used to keith. The dump down to Vashil would have been a great play, but Vashil wasn't ready for it. This communication will get better every game.
3. He did a decent job on defense considering he was often playing a smaller quicker guard.
4. He had some GREAT drives that he simply didn't finish, probably because he was exhausted. He has an ability to get to the basket and I was very impressed with a 6'8" guy that can weave through traffic like that.
Side Question:
If Carter can't play the rest of this season, will the NCAA grant him an extra year? Think about it... If he is out the rest of this year, he will be starting his senior year only having played 2 complete semesters of basketball.
Missed the first half. Couple points.
Enthusiastic crowd.
There were some classic Horizon League ref moments tonight like the over and back after the CSU player tipped it back. The 10 second call was clearly a second early. And the foul on the put back with a minute left - Peters was completely shoved over and flew into Jubril.
The mark of a good basketball team is that they find different ways to win games. Being able to win in a low scoring grind-it-out way is great, even with your starting point guard. I feel like I've seen Valpo lose this game a couple times before, and it was difficult seeing T Walker channel his inner Jarryd Lloyd at the line, but in the end it was nice being on the receiving end of some free throw misses.
Nickerson can't play the point. He's only playing point because he can't play inside and can't shoot in the corner. He's an intriguing player due to his length (point-forwards are fun), but he's really hurting the team when he's running the offense. I think Max Joseph looked more component tonight.
Peters is a stud. Knocking down those three free throws was huge.
This was not one of the most important plays, but it was one of my favorite photos from the game with the intensity of Alec's facial expression reflected in the facial expression of Coach Waters. This image depicts the intensity displayed on both sides during the whole game.
(http://i58.tinypic.com/2eol9ht.jpg)
Quote from: SanityLost17 on January 10, 2015, 11:24:43 PMSide Question:
If Carter can't play the rest of this season, will the NCAA grant him an extra year? Think about it... If he is out the rest of this year, he will be starting his senior year only having played 2 complete semesters of basketball.
The answer is simply "
NO." You can't combine partial missed seasons to get a full season back. You also can't play a half season and then have your eligibility expire. Unfortunately Keith has played way too many games this season to red shirt this season (2014-15). It seems to me that it would be fair to Keith since he missed so much time at SLU also but that is not the way the NCAA operates.
Quote from: a3uge on January 10, 2015, 11:24:56 PM
Missed the first half. Couple points.
Enthusiastic crowd.
There were some classic Horizon League ref moments tonight like the over and back after the CSU player tipped it back. The 10 second call was clearly a second early. And the foul on the put back with a minute left - Peters was completely shoved over and flew into Jubril.
The mark of a good basketball team is that they find different ways to win games. Being able to win in a low scoring grind-it-out way is great, even with your starting point guard. I feel like I've seen Valpo lose this game a couple times before, and it was difficult seeing T Walker channel his inner Jarryd Lloyd at the line, but in the end it was nice being on the receiving end of some free throw misses.
Nickerson can't play the point. He's only playing point because he can't play inside and can't shoot in the corner. He's an intriguing player due to his length (point-forwards are fun), but he's really hurting the team when he's running the offense. I think Max Joseph looked more component tonight.
Peters is a stud. Knocking down those three free throws was huge.
I completely agree on the over and back call being a complete joke, as it was very evident that CSU hit that ball over half-court. I was also thinking the same thing about that 10 second call. While we should never have that close of a call, the ref made the call as soon as the clock hit 25. Well, to go a full 10 seconds, you need to be making the call the very instant that you see it hit 24 on the clock, as he didn't take into account the microseconds counting down when it switches from 26 to 25. Max crossed over as soon as it hit 25, which means it would have been something like 25.7+, or less than 10 seconds. I was astutely watching the shot clock all game because of their constant press, and it usually took us 6-7 seconds to break their press.
Btw, that homerun ball goes back to at least my first years at Valpo, and it has always worked. I have to imagine that coaches tell their kids to watch out for it since that is at least 15 years of the HR ball from Valpo, but their kids just don't execute in time.
Quote from: valpotx on January 10, 2015, 11:50:22 PM
Quote from: a3uge on January 10, 2015, 11:24:56 PM
Missed the first half. Couple points.
Enthusiastic crowd.
There were some classic Horizon League ref moments tonight like the over and back after the CSU player tipped it back. The 10 second call was clearly a second early. And the foul on the put back with a minute left - Peters was completely shoved over and flew into Jubril.
The mark of a good basketball team is that they find different ways to win games. Being able to win in a low scoring grind-it-out way is great, even with your starting point guard. I feel like I've seen Valpo lose this game a couple times before, and it was difficult seeing T Walker channel his inner Jarryd Lloyd at the line, but in the end it was nice being on the receiving end of some free throw misses.
Nickerson can't play the point. He's only playing point because he can't play inside and can't shoot in the corner. He's an intriguing player due to his length (point-forwards are fun), but he's really hurting the team when he's running the offense. I think Max Joseph looked more component tonight.
Peters is a stud. Knocking down those three free throws was huge.
I completely agree on the over and back call being a complete joke, as it was very evident that CSU hit that ball over half-court. I was also thinking the same thing about that 10 second call. While we should never have that close of a call, the ref made the call as soon as the clock hit 25. Well, to go a full 10 seconds, you need to be making the call the very instant that you see it hit 24 on the clock, as he didn't take into account the microseconds counting down when it switches from 26 to 25. Max crossed over as soon as it hit 25, which means it would have been something like 25.7+, or less than 10 seconds. I was astutely watching the shot clock all game because of their constant press, and it usually took us 6-7 seconds to break their press.
Btw, that homerun ball goes back to at least my first years at Valpo, and it has always worked. I have to imagine that coaches tell their kids to watch out for it since that is at least 15 years of the HR ball from Valpo, but their kids just don't execute in time.
I had a good look at the over and back call. Jubril got a piece of it after the Cleveland State defender, thus making it an over and back violation. Refs were spot on there in my mind. 10 second call was close, but my point is don't make it that close. Just get across then pull back n start the offense.
To give an idea how rough the play was under the basket throughout the game, here is E. Victor getting mauled. One defender raked him across the arm while the other hit him in the face with an elbow, but no foul was called, and it counted as a turnover. Perhaps if Nickerson's name were Felder....
(http://i61.tinypic.com/20jec0.jpg)
Quote from: bbtds on January 10, 2015, 10:37:37 PM
Quote from: bbtds on January 09, 2015, 04:16:54 PM
Quote from: valpo4life on January 09, 2015, 02:24:03 PM
I say...
Valpo 76
CSU 70
We have a very big height advantage in this game, thus we should dominate the boards and own the paint on both ends. I do predict CSU shoots pretty well from the outside but our inside game wears them down in the end.
Valpo may have a height advantage but after watching CSU against Oakland what the Vikings have are some very athletic leapers that out rebounded Oakland 31-29. The Crusaders out rebounded Oakland 44-38. I don't see either team, Valpo or CSU, out rebounding their opponent by that much.
Anton Grady plays that center position well for the Vikings. CSU plays a very physically tough defensive game and if you don't play tough against them they can beat you in a low scoring game.
They are very tough to score against. When Valpo drives the basket I don't think you'll see as many shots going in as against other HL teams such as UIC and YSU.
Let's see.
Neither team out rebounded the other by much Valpo 31, CSU 29-----check
Low scoring game-----check
Anton Grady and Charlie Lee both played well and were CSU's leading scorers-----check
Valpo missed a lot of shots when driving the basket that went in during the YSU and UIC games-----check
Valpo wins close game.-----check
If I have to say so myself I think I made some pretty accurate predictions in this game. :P :P :P
Not to be "that guy" but we shot much better from inside the arc tonight than we did against YSU (54 to 41 percent) and the UIC game was just ridiculous how easy they made it on us. Granted we took about 15 less shots tonight than we do in a normal game because this was super physical across the board. If they called every foul out there we may all still be in the seats watching the managers play it out. And also, how can one say their predictions were accurate without making any predictions in your post? The only prediction you made was the rebounding one, which you were correct in. So I guess you were pretty accurate ;)
Quote from: vu84v2 on January 10, 2015, 09:11:24 PMGood coaching by Bryce to make it work out with what he had.
If you had told me before the game that we would have 19 turnovers I would have predicted a 10 point loss. That 19 number might have been even bigger had Bryce not made the adjustment to have Alec or Jabril bring the ball up against specific defenders while the rest of the VU team quickly cleared the backcourt. Its nice that our back up center (Jubril) and our 4 (Alec) have both played significant minutes at the 3 position!
(http://i.imgur.com/0JANgZ0.png)
Also rewatched that over-and-back and still think it was a terrible call. It was tipped out of Jubril's hands - 95% of balls like that (out of bounds, etc) the offense keeps possession. Calling an over and back on that was complete bush league.
Quote from: valpo4life on January 11, 2015, 12:09:22 AMwe shot much better from inside the arc tonight than we did against YSU (54 to 41 percent) and the UIC game was just ridiculous how easy they made it on us.
That is not what I said. I said we wouldn't score as much driving to the basket. Not "we would shoot better inside the arc."
QuoteWhen Valpo drives the basket I don't think you'll see as many shots going in as against other HL teams such as UIC and YSU.
I may not have made flat out statements but those were predictions.
QuoteAnton Grady plays that center position well for the Vikings.
low scoring game.
if you don't play tough against them they can beat you in a low scoring game.
The Vikings could have beaten Valpo in a low scoring game if they had hit two additional free throws--but Valpo did play tough against them.
Another good game for Adekoya. In the four games of conference, he has been a different player, except for his free throw shooting. His field goal shooting is 86% on 12-14. In fact, the big men have been excellent, as Vashil is shooting 71% on 15-21 from the field, giving the two a combined 27-35 (77%).
Quote from: bbtds on January 10, 2015, 10:46:53 PM
Quote from: RS on January 10, 2015, 10:36:33 PM
I Beg to differ with a majority of the posters. T Walker held CSU's top scorer to only 5 points. This was 12 points under his average. Yes one silly mistake, 3pt shot foul with 2 seconds remaining. So I make it an A-. Comeon guys he is a freshmen playing really good basketball. Thanks!
Without Tevonn Valpo doesn't win that game. He had a tough time driving the basket and scoring but that was to be expected against CSU. I agree with the A grade given by RS to Tavonn. It would be nice if he didn't foul three point shooters at critical times in games but I have a feeling he will learn that lesson as he progresses as a Valpo player. Tavonn played an excellent defensive game which did lead to Valpo scoring more points
Especially in the first half, I thought that Tevonn was the key to Valpo's success. His willingness to jump into scrums and his ability to win them, gave evidence to his intensity. His strength , quickness, and tenacity bode well for the team over the next four years.
Two other notes:
Given the description of the injury, I would be surprised to see KC on the floor before February.
Can we abandon the term "Horizon refs?" The refs that we see in our games are the same refs that are on the court for BiG 10 as well as games for other conferences.
Quote from: HC on January 10, 2015, 09:35:32 PMhow terrible our pigs played
indeed
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/83/57/c7/8357c79869e3a487c9bf45bfdb250554.jpg)
I will be "that fan" and say that for some reason I feel that our opponents seem to be getting the calls from the refs. When it is close and could be either a no call or go either way I feel like it is against us. A good ref (to me) is one that I forget even exists. One of the refs in this game is one who I feel I always notice and not in a good way. ...
As for this Cleveland team they seem to get away with beating the crap out of their competitors. Some might be incidental but at one point I thought Bryce was going to need to do something to "protect" the players. You start questioning if the hard contact is accidental when you notice a trend ..
As for trends, why near the end of this game would our best option have been D.Walker shooting from the outside. The trend shows he is not a good option from there. He needs to drive - seems to do better. The defensive runs away from him when he gets the ball outside. (Also, I want to be clear that I am not saying he is bad because he does so much to impact the game - just don't like his outside shot lately.)
I have put my foot in my mouth on this before but here goes. I did not like the announcers. ... I missed T.Ickow. The espn3 announcers did not know player's names and kept saying the A. R. C. Their stories showed they did not know the players and at times said things about players doing something unusual when if you watch game after game you know it to be different. ... I tried watching and listening to 95.1 but the time was too different. Who can I email to tell (the right people) what a great job Todd does?
wow - I just wrote a book; anyone know a good publisher?
I miss T.Icknow too. I also miss the HL feed. I had better luck with the HL network. Although the Lavante Dority story got old, Better halftime videos.
Quote from: valpopal on January 11, 2015, 01:31:44 AM
Another good game for Adekoya. In the four games of conference, he has been a different player, except for his free throw shooting. His field goal shooting is 86% on 12-14. In fact, the big men have been excellent, as Vashil is shooting 71% on 15-21 from the field, giving the two a combined 27-35 (77%).
In conference or post suspension?
I agree, he has played quite well. His defense and rebounding is important as well.
The pigs were about as bad as our point guards (pgs)! Lol...I would pay to see a swine soccer game before I'd pay to see a real one!
I enjoyed having replays and proper audio quality.
Attendance: 4155
The band wagon is starting to fill up.
If KC isn't back next game I would imagine Max will be our starting PG. He played well considering the type of opponent he went up against. In 20 minutes of play he had 3 assists to only 2 TOs, which isn't terrible for a freshman PG that was little used up until now. EVN was out of position last night, he's not a PG so he struggled playing a position that he shouldn't be playing.
If we want to win the conference we will need KC, we can't win every game like we did last night and teams will pressure our PGs more and more knowing that they are inexperienced, which will lead to turnovers.
I agree E.Vic is not a point guard. I still think he can do it from time to time. Did he get the job done last night? My opinion no, even though as pointed out several of his turnovers were miscommunication. Remember against other HL opponents, their defense is not as demanding. CSU is good 1v1 defending with their guard play. I don't think we will be pressured as much as we were last night.
This was a great win last night. That was a hard fought, gritty performance. These guys are tough. CSU will beat you up. They are aggressive defensively. They get in your shoes and shorts. They focus on defense to the point their offense suffers. But frankly it was a consistently reffed game last night. Should it have been called closer? Maybe but unlike some games it didn't effect the outcome.
1. Nickerson played huge. We asked a 3 to move to pg and he averaged 22 mins, 3 assts, 3.5 turnovers and 4.5 pts. He handled last night against the toughest or 2d in conference. An experienced team and backcourt. As mentioned there were 3 Tos that were miscommunication. He was exhausted in that 2d half. He had hip surgeries in the offseason. I am impressed by his heart.
2. Darien had a breakthrough game. He was 0-4 from 3 in 1st half. They were open shots in the O. It's the shot the 2 and 3 have to hit. He's struggled. But 2d half, bam he hits a big top of key 3 and then hit another. Tenacious. We need him hit that shot and it looks like something was said at the half. Hey shoot the freakin ball like you mean it. And the shot late was a 12 ft wide open baseline jumper. But he and Tevonn are playing ahead of expectations.
3. Jubril has looked focused and clear headed since conference started. Sometimes event + response = outcome. His response has been the correct one.
4. Sometimes we have to remember to run the O through Alec when we struggle a little. Just like Ryan or Oppland or Bryce, you need to get them involved. They ran a couple plays late for him and good things happened.
5. Even with the mistakes, we effectively shut down Lee and Lewis. Lewis 1 for 9 and Lee 3 for 8. Lee's 3 s were way deep. Vashil should be commended for playing nearly 10 mins with 4 fouls.
Need to go get a win at Wright State and then we will be in good shape in conference and hopefully Keith is back after that. Depth is good, but we need this full week, esp for EVN.
Quote from: chipper955 on January 11, 2015, 09:28:03 AM
Attendance: 4155
The band wagon is starting to fill up.
I was sitting in my seat looking around and thinking the same thing. I haven't heard the ARC rock like that in quite some time. The noise in the last 2 or 3 minutes was deafening, so much so that my ears were still ringing several minutes after the game ended. It's times like this that I really wish everyone on the board had the same opportunity we "locals" have to enjoy the moment in person.
The ARC may be a bit behind the times, but there isn't an arena in the HL that is louder than ARC when it is full. I would rather be in the ARC then some of the nicer arenas that are way too big for what it is needed, like the Resch Center, Nutter Center, Wolstein Center. On most nights 3000ish people show up and the place is dark and empty and there is little to no noise. While when 3000 people are in the ARC the noise is noticeable and when 4000+ show up the place can be defining. The small confines of the ARC make for a great gametime atmosphere.
Quote from: classof2014 on January 11, 2015, 10:58:58 AM
The ARC may be a bit behind the times, but there isn't an arena in the HL that is louder than ARC when it is full. I would rather be in the ARC then some of the nicer arenas that are way too big for what it is needed, like the Resch Center, Nutter Center, Wolstein Center. On most nights 3000ish people show up and the place is dark and empty and there is little to no noise. While when 3000 people are in the ARC the noise is noticeable and when 4000+ show up the place can be defining. The small confines of the ARC make for a great gametime atmosphere.
I spoke to a couple of players' parents who commented about how great the atmosphere can be in games like this one. A pair of my crowd shots:
(http://i62.tinypic.com/1zqbio8.jpg)
(http://i58.tinypic.com/156uyiq.jpg)
Quote from: classof2014 on January 11, 2015, 10:58:58 AM
The ARC may be a bit behind the times, but there isn't an arena in the HL that is louder than ARC when it is full. I would rather be in the ARC then some of the nicer arenas that are way too big for what it is needed, like the Resch Center, Nutter Center, Wolstein Center. On most nights 3000ish people show up and the place is dark and empty and there is little to no noise. While when 3000 people are in the ARC the noise is noticeable and when 4000+ show up the place can be defining. The small confines of the ARC make for a great gametime atmosphere.
Much to be said for an environment like this -- when we get into those inevitably redundant facility discussions, we'd be well served to remember how important home court advantage is and do everything to leverage it. For example, UNM has the 12,000 seat PIT, Duke has 9,300 seat Camron, and there are more of this type of venue around the NCAA. Those facilities were built to intimidate visiting teams.
Within our scale (5,000-6,000 capacity), when we renovate the ARC, we need to not lose sight of that.
Quote from: chipper955 on January 11, 2015, 09:28:03 AM
Attendance: 4155
The band wagon is starting to fill up.
This is so true. Majority of Valpo fans around this time and in big games are bandwagoners. I wish we had more dedicated ones.
Quote from: Valpofan00 on January 11, 2015, 11:52:57 AM
Quote from: chipper955 on January 11, 2015, 09:28:03 AM
Attendance: 4155
The band wagon is starting to fill up.
This is so true. Majority of Valpo fans around this time and in big games are bandwagoners. I wish we had more dedicated ones.
The time to build this "dedicated" future fan base is NOW!
It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who has watched this team that we are already very good, should be much better by the end of the season, and could be exponentially better next year and beyond. Does the average northwest Indiana basketball fan have any clue as to the potential success this group of kids could achieve??? Get kids in the building! Almost free tickets for youth! Maybe Homer or somebody needs to turn promoter and have some lengthy phone chats with HS coaches and athletic directors all across the area and invite them to the ARC. Lets use our imagination and not squander yet another opportunity to expand the fan base. Excuse me for using the same wording for this challenge as I did for the challenge that we need to vastly improve next years scheduling. But---
Get err done!!!
Quote from: justducky on January 11, 2015, 01:19:08 PM
Quote from: Valpofan00 on January 11, 2015, 11:52:57 AM
Quote from: chipper955 on January 11, 2015, 09:28:03 AM
Attendance: 4155
The band wagon is starting to fill up.
This is so true. Majority of Valpo fans around this time and in big games are bandwagoners. I wish we had more dedicated ones.
The time to build this "dedicated" future fan base is NOW!
It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who has watched this team that we are already very good, should be much better by the end of the season, and could be exponentially better next year and beyond. Does the average northwest Indiana basketball fan have any clue as to the potential success this group of kids could achieve??? Get kids in the building! Almost free tickets for youth! Maybe Homer or somebody needs to turn promoter and have some lengthy phone chats with HS coaches and athletic directors all across the area and invite them to the ARC. Lets use our imagination and not squander yet another opportunity to expand the fan base. Excuse me for using the same wording for this challenge as I did for the challenge that we need to vastly improve next years scheduling. But---
Get err done!!!
I think a lot of people take VU as a joke and haven't watched them play in a while. There needs to be better/more promoting as said. Every game should be sold out. 5,000 isn't a lot compared to the size of Valpo especially NWI.
Hear, hear, Ducky and 00.
Cut seating prices. Bring in a minor league baseball marketing guy as a consultant for zany ideas. Have sausage races at half time. Pay for adds that run daily in the NWI Times and Post Trib web sites (Merrillville football has ads running all the time and they are HS). Promote, promote, promote! Make the ARC synonymous with crazy. People will want to come just to be part of the action. Oh, BTW, we have a really good BB team that wins.
Quote from: HC on January 11, 2015, 09:12:58 AM...I would pay to see a swine soccer game before I'd pay to see a real one!
(http://files.streamlinetechnologies.com/valpoathletics/DBC61971-CD02-40DF-80AC-733A4F6CB2DE/8969L.jpg)
Thanks for supporting Valpo soccer! ;)
Ha, I will cheer for ya...I just won't pay to watch. :twocents:
Quote from: valpo84 on January 11, 2015, 10:17:55 AM
This was a great win last night. That was a hard fought, gritty performance. These guys are tough. CSU will beat you up. They are aggressive defensively. They get in your shoes and shorts. They focus on defense to the point their offense suffers. But frankly it was a consistently reffed game last night. Should it have been called closer? Maybe but unlike some games it didn't effect the outcome.
1. Nickerson played huge. We asked a 3 to move to pg and he averaged 22 mins, 3 assts, 3.5 turnovers and 4.5 pts. He handled last night against the toughest or 2d in conference. An experienced team and backcourt. As mentioned there were 3 Tos that were miscommunication. He was exhausted in that 2d half. He had hip surgeries in the offseason. I am impressed by his heart.
2. Darien had a breakthrough game. He was 0-4 from 3 in 1st half. They were open shots in the O. It's the shot the 2 and 3 have to hit. He's struggled. But 2d half, bam he hits a big top of key 3 and then hit another. Tenacious. We need him hit that shot and it looks like something was said at the half. Hey shoot the freakin ball like you mean it. And the shot late was a 12 ft wide open baseline jumper. But he and Tevonn are playing ahead of expectations.
3. Jubril has looked focused and clear headed since conference started. Sometimes event + response = outcome. His response has been the correct one.
4. Sometimes we have to remember to run the O through Alec when we struggle a little. Just like Ryan or Oppland or Bryce, you need to get them involved. They ran a couple plays late for him and good things happened.
5. Even with the mistakes, we effectively shut down Lee and Lewis. Lewis 1 for 9 and Lee 3 for 8. Lee's 3 s were way deep. Vashil should be commended for playing nearly 10 mins with 4 fouls.
Need to go get a win at Wright State and then we will be in good shape in conference and hopefully Keith is back after that. Depth is good, but we need this full week, esp for EVN.
He had a lot better day than Oakland's Felder, with 8 TO's against Detroit. The kid is a scorer and an assist machine, but he is gawd awful at protecting the ball. In fact, he has the dubious distinction of having the 2nd highest number of TO's/game in all of D-1 basketball @ 4.5. I would grade him this way as a point guard: Scoring B, Assists A+, Turnovers F.
Quote from: VULB#62 on January 11, 2015, 02:44:38 PM
Hear, hear, Ducky and 00.
Cut seating prices. Bring in a minor league baseball marketing guy as a consultant for zany ideas. Have sausage races at half time. Pay for adds that run daily in the NWI Times and Post Trib web sites (Merrillville football has ads running all the time and they are HS). Promote, promote, promote! Make the ARC synonymous with crazy. People will want to come just to be part of the action. Oh, BTW, we have a really good BB team that wins.
This could be a project within the marketing or sports administration programs.
Quote from: oklahomamick on January 11, 2015, 05:18:20 PM
Quote from: VULB#62 on January 11, 2015, 02:44:38 PM
Hear, hear, Ducky and 00.
Cut seating prices. Bring in a minor league baseball marketing guy as a consultant for zany ideas. Have sausage races at half time. Pay for adds that run daily in the NWI Times and Post Trib web sites (Merrillville football has ads running all the time and they are HS). Promote, promote, promote! Make the ARC synonymous with crazy. People will want to come just to be part of the action. Oh, BTW, we have a really good BB team that wins.
This could be a project within the marketing or sports administration programs.
In the past, a number of people have legitimately suggested Valparaiso did not capitalize in the aftermath as much as it should have when Bryce was a player and led the team to the Sweet Sixteen. We now have a player who could be the best ever to wear a Crusader uniform not named Bryce Drew, and he is only a sophomore. Plus, Bryce Drew is his coach. Therefore, Valpo has a chance to market this team led by Alec Peters for the next three years, and it would be wise if the marketing blitz began right now and continued relentlessly.
Nice suggestion to contact high school coaches to try to get them to bring their teams. The problem with that is, a lot of times the high school games are going on at the same time.
$10 is pretty steep as well for a general admission ticket. No one should have to pay that much, especially for a game like Goshen.
Quote from: Valpo89 on January 11, 2015, 06:29:09 PM
Nice suggestion to contact high school coaches to try to get them to bring their teams. The problem with that is, a lot of times the high school games are going on at the same time.
$10 is pretty steep as well for a general admission ticket. No one should have to pay that much, especially for a game like Goshen.
I disagree. For seeing good D-1 basketball where every seat in the Arena is a good view besides ZZ up top is pretty cheap! But I agree For non D-1, and exhibition should be cheaper. Also I think the ARC drives fans away from coming to the games as well.
Quote from: Valpofan00 on January 11, 2015, 07:04:00 PM
Quote from: Valpo89 on January 11, 2015, 06:29:09 PM
Nice suggestion to contact high school coaches to try to get them to bring their teams. The problem with that is, a lot of times the high school games are going on at the same time.
$10 is pretty steep as well for a general admission ticket. No one should have to pay that much, especially for a game like Goshen.
I disagree. For seeing good D-1 basketball where every seat in the Arena is a good view besides ZZ up top is pretty cheap! But I agree For non D-1, and exhibition should be cheaper. Also I think the ARC drives fans away from coming to the games as well.
Sevewral hyave posted about the great, unique atmosphere at the ARC. So what exactly is it that you feel the ARC lacks that drives fans away?
Quote from: vu72 on January 11, 2015, 07:11:28 PM
Quote from: Valpofan00 on January 11, 2015, 07:04:00 PM
Quote from: Valpo89 on January 11, 2015, 06:29:09 PM
Nice suggestion to contact high school coaches to try to get them to bring their teams. The problem with that is, a lot of times the high school games are going on at the same time.
$10 is pretty steep as well for a general admission ticket. No one should have to pay that much, especially for a game like Goshen.
I disagree. For seeing good D-1 basketball where every seat in the Arena is a good view besides ZZ up top is pretty cheap! But I agree For non D-1, and exhibition should be cheaper. Also I think the ARC drives fans away from coming to the games as well.
Sevewral hyave posted about the great, unique atmosphere at the ARC. So what exactly is it that you feel the ARC lacks that drives fans away?
Oh yes the atmosphere is great. The problem is the tight seating with a big crowd. Peoples knees in your back. Not enough room very uncomfortable. I can put up with it but the "not every day fan" most likely hates it and would rather watch the game at home.
Speaking of lifeless atmospheres, tune in to GB hosting YSU on ESPN 3. GB is up by 5 at the half. Listen to the coach's instructions, squeaking tennis shoes as the teams go thru their sets, and be sure to not to miss a male cheerleader yelling "go Phoenix" in a megaphone. Then again, GB is only 13-3 and are the defending HL regular season champions. Hard to expect a whole lot under those circumstances.
Quote from: vu72 on January 11, 2015, 07:11:28 PM
Quote from: Valpofan00 on January 11, 2015, 07:04:00 PM
Quote from: Valpo89 on January 11, 2015, 06:29:09 PM
Nice suggestion to contact high school coaches to try to get them to bring their teams. The problem with that is, a lot of times the high school games are going on at the same time.
$10 is pretty steep as well for a general admission ticket. No one should have to pay that much, especially for a game like Goshen.
I disagree. For seeing good D-1 basketball where every seat in the Arena is a good view besides ZZ up top is pretty cheap! But I agree For non D-1, and exhibition should be cheaper. Also I think the ARC drives fans away from coming to the games as well.
Sevewral hyave posted about the great, unique atmosphere at the ARC. So what exactly is it that you feel the ARC lacks that drives fans away?
I would say the lack of basic stadium amenities like a proper concourse cheapens the D1 experience, delegitimizes the program, etc, but clearly there isn't much correlation between having a decent arena and attendance. Milwaukee and Green Bay have somewhat nice arenas, but it doesn't mean much in terms of attendance. UWGB's last home game had only 2800 in attendance, Milwaukee 3700 to an in-state rival on a Friday on TV.
Quote from: wh on January 11, 2015, 08:14:39 PM
Speaking of lifeless atmospheres, tune in to GB hosting YSU on ESPN 3. GB is up by 5 at the half. Listen to the coach's instructions, squeaking tennis shoes as the teams go thru their sets, and be sure to not to miss a male cheerleader yelling "go Phoenix" in a megaphone. Then again, GB is only 13-3 and are the defending HL regular season champions. Hard to expect a whole lot under those circumstances.
Packers.
No need to name call
Having been pretty strongly against building any sort of new stadium for the basketball team (especially off campus), some people who think that big crowds will come because Valpo builds a new arena should consider this...
Loyola is off to a pretty darn good start this season (every bit as good as Valpo). They play in a stadium that was renovated in the last few years and moved to the Missouri Valley, which most any of us would say is a somewhat better and more prestigious conference than the Horizon League. Loyola has double the enrollment of Valpo and cleary has more people living within easy driving distance than Valparaiso. They had 15th ranked and major recent power Wichita State at home today...at team that also has a marquee player in Fred Van Fleet. What did Loyola draw today? Their attendance was just a hair over 4,000 (I see that their listed capacity is about 4,500). Most of their seats (to my knowledge) are chairbacks and I would imagine that their ticket prices are similarly priced to Valpo's.
My opinion is that environment and the quality and performance of the home team and then, to a lesser extent, the quality of the opponent are the major drivers of fan interest and attendance. I can support sinking some money from the university into changing some of the seating and maybe adding a few more "professional looking" concession stands, but I don't think such a plan would cost a lot. I know that it is on a different scale and there are different histories, but Missouri has a spectacular arena with all chairback seating and ample parking next to the stadium... and does not draw well even when the team is good. Meanwhile, while the legroom at Allen Fieldhouse would make the seating at Valparaiso look like "all lazy-boy seating", they sellout (16,300) for even the most minor opponents. I am not saying that Kansas is the best comparison for Valpo, but wouldn't Butler and Gonzaga be reasonable comparisons? Hinkle Fieldhouse, while historic, is certainly not comfortable.
Quote from: Valpofan00 on January 11, 2015, 08:11:50 PM
Quote from: vu72 on January 11, 2015, 07:11:28 PM
Quote from: Valpofan00 on January 11, 2015, 07:04:00 PM
Quote from: Valpo89 on January 11, 2015, 06:29:09 PM
Nice suggestion to contact high school coaches to try to get them to bring their teams. The problem with that is, a lot of times the high school games are going on at the same time.
$10 is pretty steep as well for a general admission ticket. No one should have to pay that much, especially for a game like Goshen.
I disagree. For seeing good D-1 basketball where every seat in the Arena is a good view besides ZZ up top is pretty cheap! But I agree For non D-1, and exhibition should be cheaper. Also I think the ARC drives fans away from coming to the games as well.
Sevewral hyave posted about the great, unique atmosphere at the ARC. So what exactly is it that you feel the ARC lacks that drives fans away?
Oh yes the atmosphere is great. The problem is the tight seating with a big crowd. Peoples knees in your back. Not enough room very uncomfortable. I can put up with it but the "not every day fan" most likely hates it and would rather watch the game at home.
I have probably brought about 15 "guests" to the ARC over the last 5 years. They are not Valpo fans, but they like college basketball and there are 3-4 of them I have almost converted. However, they HATE how uncomfortable it is in the bleachers. They enjoy the games with small crowds more because they can actually move.
Keep the mezzanine bleachers, convert the lower bowl into all chairbacks, making it a complete bowl not two sides of seats with a student section. You could easily add more seats if the whole lower bowl was all seating and chairbacks at that.
Quote from: vu84v2 on January 11, 2015, 09:04:01 PM
Having been pretty strongly against building any sort of new stadium for the basketball team (especially off campus), some people who think that big crowds will come because Valpo builds a new arena should consider this...
Loyola is off to a pretty darn good start this season (every bit as good as Valpo). They play in a stadium that was renovated in the last few years and moved to the Missouri Valley, which most any of us would say is a somewhat better and more prestigious conference than the Horizon League. Loyola has double the enrollment of Valpo and cleary has more people living within easy driving distance than Valparaiso. They had 15th ranked and major recent power Wichita State at home today...at team that also has a marquee player in Fred Van Fleet. What did Loyola draw today? Their attendance was just a hair over 4,000 (I see that their listed capacity is about 4,500). Most of their seats (to my knowledge) are chairbacks and I would imagine that their ticket prices are similarly priced to Valpo's.
My opinion is that environment and the quality and performance of the home team and then, to a lesser extent, the quality of the opponent are the major drivers of fan interest and attendance. I can support sinking some money from the university into changing some of the seating and maybe adding a few more "professional looking" concession stands, but I don't think such a plan would cost a lot. I know that it is on a different scale and there are different histories, but Missouri has a spectacular arena with all chairback seating and ample parking next to the stadium... and does not draw well even when the team is good. Meanwhile, while the legroom at Allen Fieldhouse would make the seating at Valparaiso look like "all lazy-boy seating", they sellout (16,300) for even the most minor opponents. I am not saying that Kansas is the best comparison for Valpo, but wouldn't Butler and Gonzaga be reasonable comparisons? Hinkle Fieldhouse, while historic, is certainly not comfortable.
No, no no. Not bigger, not off campus. Just expand and renovate to provide a nice, comfortable chair-back lower bowl (north and south sides actually), two full baseline student sections and appropriate concessions and restroom facilities. Do that, in IMO, and you'd have the intimidating environment we can leverage AND the amenities that fans can enjoy. A bigger vestibule would be an asset as well. And..... for consistent 4-5K attendance we need to fill the bleacher seats above the chair-backs though. Gotta make those seats (and prices) more attractive.
I just don't get the criticism of the concession stands. Ours has a nice variety of food and drinks at great prices. What more do you want?
I have posted a gallery of photos from the game at the following link for all to enjoy: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/72157650237277852/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/72157650237277852/)
Quote from: a3uge on January 11, 2015, 12:19:09 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/0JANgZ0.png)
Also rewatched that over-and-back and still think it was a terrible call. It was tipped out of Jubril's hands - 95% of balls like that (out of bounds, etc) the offense keeps possession. Calling an over and back on that was complete bush league.
Great snapshot from the broadcast! It goes to prove our assertion that it was called at least 0.5 seconds too early (probably a full 0.8 seconds too early). With all of these facility discussions, in the immediate future, let's get clocks that show the tenths of a second left, to help these refs make accurate calls in at least one area.
I also fully support your assertion that CSU touched that ball last. It sounds like the individual arguing against us was at the game, so we had the benefit of replays. They clearly show the CSU defender knocking the ball away from Valpo into the backcourt.
Quote from: vu84v2 on January 11, 2015, 09:04:01 PMHinkle Fieldhouse, while historic, is certainly not comfortable.
Actually, I was just at Hinkle the other night for a volleyball match. It was extremely comfortable, after what I assume was a multi-million dollar renovation.
(http://i.imgur.com/TPcCIs9.png)
Attendance: As I remind students all the time, sometimes we forget to notice the most obvious factor in a situation because it seems so apparent. However, looking at the attendance figures and Valpo's schedule, there is a clear correlation with good attendance and the day of the week on which the game is played. Our two home games with attendance over 4,000 were the only two games that took place on Saturday while classes were in session. The third Saturday game, which happened after fall semester ended, still drew over 3,100. (Our lone Friday night game so far, against ETSU, almost attracted 3,000 as well, with 2,912.) Unfortunately, only one Friday night home game and one Saturday home game remain on the schedule. I am willing to bet those will be the two best-attended games of the year, though the Sunday afternoon game against Oakland should draw a big crowd as well. Playing games on weeknights in Valparaiso, usually in very poor winter weather, will almost guarantee low attendance, especially from families with young children. If I remember correctly, there was a time in the past when most home stands were Thursday and Saturday, which seemed a more fan friendly schedule.
Quote from: valpospartan on January 11, 2015, 10:46:21 PM
I just don't get the criticism of the concession stands. Ours has a nice variety of food and drinks at great prices. What more do you want?
Thank you for pointing this out. Every time that I have gone to the concession stand, I'm very satisfied with whatever I purchase as well as the speed in which I am able to get in and out and back to my seat.
at this point there will be more posts in this thread about concessions than about the opponent, leading future generations to believe that the thread title describes an argument in which "CSU" is for "concession stand umbrage" and that "CST" denotes "concession stand terrific"
Quote from: vu84v2 on January 11, 2015, 09:04:01 PMLoyola is off to a pretty darn good start this season (every bit as good as Valpo). They play in a stadium that was renovated in the last few years and moved to the Missouri Valley, which most any of us would say is a somewhat better and more prestigious conference than the Horizon League. Loyola has double the enrollment of Valpo and cleary has more people living within easy driving distance than Valparaiso. They had 15th ranked and major recent power Wichita State at home today...at team that also has a marquee player in Fred Van Fleet. What did Loyola draw today? Their attendance was just a hair over 4,000 (I see that their listed capacity is about 4,500). Most of their seats (to my knowledge) are chairbacks and I would imagine that their ticket prices are similarly priced to Valpo's.
While I agree with you that Loyola should've easily sold out that game, they did jack the ticket prices way up. Main level sideline seats were $35, upper level sideline seats were $30, and general admission tickets for the non-student section side were $25. Compare that to their normal prices of $27/$24/$15 and it would appear that they essentially priced themselves out of a sellout, much like many around here have said Valpo has done in the past with their tiered pricing for "premium games"
In terms of yesterday's Wichita State-Loyola game, a lot of the attendance was due to a ranked opponent in the house, but a lot of that attendance also came over from the Rockford, IL area to watch hometown boy Fred Van Vleet. He has a lot of followers here, and with the game being on a Sunday when football didn't matter, a lot of people from here made the drive to Rogers Park for what started out a great game, but quickly became a WSU blowout. I'm sure Loyola intended to jack up the prices for this game, as they should, being a conference game against a ranked/name opponent. I mean it wasn't like it was jacked up for UIC, Drake, Missouri St., or Illinois State.
In my opinion, the worst call of the night was the missed travelling on Lee when CSU tied it up at 47. I swear he took 5 steps through the lane before he passed the ball off to his teammate.
As for CSU, I've been saying all these things about them for 5 years now. I'm still pissed about Kevin Van Wyck being flattened by Kamczyk at the Wolstein Center in 2012, essentially costing us the auto-bid.
Quote from: mj on January 10, 2015, 07:27:47 PM1. The ESPN announcers are horrible.
Andy Maser (sp?) was mediocre, I agree. Couldn't be bothered to learn how to pronounce names.
I thought Tim Doyel was decent.
Quote from: StlVUFan on January 13, 2015, 08:49:03 PM
In my opinion, the worst call of the night was the missed travelling on Lee when CSU tied it up at 47. I swear he took 5 steps through the lane before he passed the ball off to his teammate.
As for CSU, I've been saying all these things about them for 5 years now. I'm still pissed about Kevin Van Wyck being flattened by Kamczyk at the Wolstein Center in 2012, essentially costing us the auto-bid.
Don't get that logic - we still won the regular season and played at home with a healthy Van Wijk. We just choked in the championship game.
Quote from: a3uge on January 14, 2015, 07:56:52 AM
Quote from: StlVUFan on January 13, 2015, 08:49:03 PM
In my opinion, the worst call of the night was the missed travelling on Lee when CSU tied it up at 47. I swear he took 5 steps through the lane before he passed the ball off to his teammate.
As for CSU, I've been saying all these things about them for 5 years now. I'm still pissed about Kevin Van Wyck being flattened by Kamczyk at the Wolstein Center in 2012, essentially costing us the auto-bid.
Don't get that logic - we still won the regular season and played at home with a healthy Van Wijk. We just choked in the championship game second half of the championship game.
FTFY
Quote from: StlVUFan on January 13, 2015, 09:30:55 PM
Quote from: mj on January 10, 2015, 07:27:47 PM1. The ESPN announcers are horrible.
Andy Maser (sp?) was mediocre, I agree. Couldn't be bothered to learn how to pronounce names.
I thought Tim Doyel was decent.
Actually Andy Masur moved to San Diego in 2007 and does USD (PFL member) basketball games and Padres radio on a Tijuana station. He subs for Dick Enberg on the Padres TV broadcasts when the veteran broadcaster needs a break.
Wasn't Andy Mazur at WGN in Chicago until recently ??
Andy Mazur was at WGN, until he became a radio producer for Padres broadcasts. I believe the Padres let him go after his contract ran out there. He's plausible, but does need to do some quality research about the game he's covering. If I recall, before they closed up, Mazur was a producer/host for The Game 87.7 in Chicago, the WGN sports talk radio station. It officially closed January 1st due to low ratings in a saturated market because of loyal ESPN 1000 and WSCR 670 The Score fans.
Quote from: valporun on January 14, 2015, 01:06:00 PM
Andy Mazur was at WGN, until he became a radio producer for Padres broadcasts. I believe the Padres let him go after his contract ran out there. He's plausible, but does need to do some quality research about the game he's covering. If I recall, before they closed up, Mazur was a producer/host for The Game 87.7 in Chicago, the WGN sports talk radio station. It officially closed January 1st due to low ratings in a saturated market because of loyal ESPN 1000 and WSCR 670 The Score fans.
Related: http://deadspin.com/the-moment-chicago-radio-hosts-found-out-on-the-air-tha-1661673605
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
FYI, Andy Masur is doing the Milwaukee/Youngstown game tonight.
Andy Masur - Broadcaster
3 hrs ยท
For my friends in Milwaukee, I've got @MKE_MBB v. @YSUMensHoops at 7:30 on @TWCSportsWI. http://t.co/dOPgsTtSai (http://t.co/dOPgsTtSai)
Quote from: a3uge on January 14, 2015, 07:56:52 AM
Quote from: StlVUFan on January 13, 2015, 08:49:03 PM
In my opinion, the worst call of the night was the missed travelling on Lee when CSU tied it up at 47. I swear he took 5 steps through the lane before he passed the ball off to his teammate.
As for CSU, I've been saying all these things about them for 5 years now. I'm still pissed about Kevin Van Wyck being flattened by Kamczyk at the Wolstein Center in 2012, essentially costing us the auto-bid.
Don't get that logic - we still won the regular season and played at home with a healthy Van Wijk. We just choked in the championship game.
I don't think he ever fully recovered from that injury. He did re-injure it in the championship game in the first half. Not saying it would have made the difference, but I would have loved to see a healthy Kevin in the 2nd half of that game.