Starting this after the Valpo Win over Southern, and while watching Drake trying to hold on at home against winless Texas Southern. Bulldogs led 43-30 at the half, ... was trailing 69-68... and now has a 72-70 lead with 1:53 to play... Drake was favored by 16.5, and won it 77-71
Starters: Points/Rebounds
Brodie 18-6
DeVries 14-7
Wright 9-4
Overton 6-3
Enright 5-3
Ferguson off the bench with 9-3, Garland 8-3
As a team, shooting 59% from the field, only 1 for 11 from 3 TexSo was 10 of 31 from 3 point range.
Other Drake games this year:
Lipscomb: 85-70 win
(D3) W 87-67
Oakland - 85-77 - Cayman islands - win
Stephen F Austin - 92-68 Cayman Islands - LOSS
Akron - 79-59 - Cayman Islands - win
So, the nemesis comes in 6-1; we will be their first true road game.
Including Tonight's Game, here is what the starters have accomplished:
Tucker DeVries - 6'7", 210 pound Junior Forward Averaging 19.8, and just under 7 rebs, 30+ minutes/game
Kevin Overton - 6'5" 180 pound freshman Averaging 14.4, 30+ Minutes / game
Atin Wright - 6"1" 185 pound junior, Averaging 15.2 30+ minutes / game
Darnell Brodie 6'10" 275-pound Graduate Student- Averaging 12.8 (did not play in their non-D1 game against Southwest Minnesota State) 23 Minutes/game
Conor Enright - 6'0" 180 pound Sophomore Averaging 6.2, shooting 58% from 3, 23 minutes/game
As a team, they are averaging just over 80 points per game and over 30 rebounds per game, and shooting 77% from the line.
going into tonight's game, no player on Drake has committed more than 10 fouls in their first 5 games
We need the crowd to get behind this team on Wednesday. I haven't seen the full event list... but the game day experience will be worth the weeknight trip to Union Street.
We've played Drake 18 times, and we are 8-10 all time... including that crusher double overtime loss in the ARC last year 85-82. Bulldogs have won 4 straight since our 74-57 win on February 7, 2021 during the weird covid back-to-back games in the ARC. The last Valpo win over Drake with a crowd in the ARC was 1/11/2020 66-61.
That was NOT the first time we played Drake on back-to-back nights. December 22, 1944, we beat them in Hilltop 62-42; and then on December 23, 1944, we beat them 66-41 in a game played in Michigan City!
This is NOT the first time we played Drake in November. November 28, 2014, we beat them 66-46 in the opening round of the Challenge in Music City (Nashville, TN)
They are averaging 2,779 at home.
They have NO Indiana Players on their roster
They have ONE Iowa Player on their roster (DeVries)
OK. Can We Put a Stamp on this team and pull the upset?
Last year we played well against Drake, but would lay complete eggs against teams we had a chance to beat. I don't think we'll see a full 40 minutes from the team that played against IUPUI. This team is young and just getting to know each other on the court and in pressure situations.
I want to see improvement and some consistency. A full 40 minutes. Keep getting some of the good looks we've had the last two games. Good defense.
Drake outlasts us with FTs, as Schwieger and Palm in foul trouble.
Drake 74
Valpo 68
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Brodie's going to be a problem in this game. Any team with frontcourt players who are physical are going to give Valpo big problems.
I'm afraid it's not going to be that close.
Drake "Male Duck" Bulldogs 68
Valpo "are we starting to see a brighter brotherhood of the light" Beacons 54
Scoring against the team from Des Moines will not be easy. Our defense will have to get a whole lot better in order to have a chance against the "Male Bulldogs" (or is that just a high school in Louisville?) The Male Bulldogs - ScoreStream (https://scorestream.com/team/louisville-male-high-school-bulldogs-243064)
Drake: 66
Valpo: 56
Crowd will be a non factor Wednesday. Local community is not that interested at the moment until we start stringing together some wins against known opponents. Maybe 1,800 show up. Valpo will start hot, and keep it close the first 15 minutes. Drake will pull away from us late. 72-62. Not enough offense and interior defense. Stafford has put together one stellar half and thats it. I hope I am wrong on all this. Not saying Connor Barrett will be the savior to the season, but no detailed report on his injury?. Was it that bad? Was he injured during the games he played or did he injury occur in a practice? This why he played so sparingly in the first two games?
Quote from: AB on November 25, 2023, 10:34:08 PM
Not saying Connor Barrett will be the savior to the season, but no detailed report on his injury?. Was it that bad? Was he injured during the games he played or did he injury occur in a practice? This why he played so sparingly in the first two games?
I'm sure that Barrett and Manyang are progressing nicely.
My guess is that we don't get updates because it is a privacy issue.
My concern is that we have not seen Scroggins yet. Injury? Coaches decision? Red shirt year? If red shirt, why him and not Sepp? I realize we may not get complete answers, but any nuggets of information is welcome
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quote from: covufan on November 25, 2023, 11:10:21 PM
Quote from: AB on November 25, 2023, 10:34:08 PM
Not saying Connor Barrett will be the savior to the season, but no detailed report on his injury?. Was it that bad? Was he injured during the games he played or did he injury occur in a practice? This why he played so sparingly in the first two games?
I'm sure that Barrett and Manyang are progressing nicely.
My guess is that we don't get updates because it is a privacy issue.
My concern is that we have not seen Scroggins yet. Injury? Coaches decision? Red shirt year? If red shirt, why him and not Sepp? I realize we may not get complete answers, but any nuggets of information is welcome
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm just not seeing Barrett or Sepp contributing much. Barrett is too slow to play the 3 and too small to play the 4. All he can do is hang out on the perimeter and spot up threes if someone can penetrate and kick. Same with what I've seen from Sepp in the limited time he's been on the floor. The eight man rotation we've seen is I'm afraid the only available players that Roger sees as being contributors this year. With that short a bench, the 8 contributors better be aware that they need to stay out of foul trouble if we're going to have a chance to win a few games in the conference.
I am so tired of Brodie. Those big bodied Centers have always given us trouble in the MVC. Whether it is Brodie, Rienk Mast (now at Nebraska), Gaige Prim, Cameron Krutwig, etc. But yay, no Roman Penn! He is another that seemed to be on Drake's roster forever, and got the most ridiculous amount of fouls calls I've ever seen in watching Valpo basketball opponents.
Valpo 71
Drake 74
Quote from: valpotx on November 26, 2023, 01:43:08 AMRienk Mast (now at Nebraska)
Speaking of Rienk Mast, there was a unfortunate incident that happened to him while he was in Lincoln at Nebraska.
https://www.on3.com/college/nebraska-cornhuskers/news/nebraska-cornhuskers-basketball-rienk-mast-nick-deluca-assault-arrest-ndsu-lb-all-american/ (https://www.on3.com/college/nebraska-cornhuskers/news/nebraska-cornhuskers-basketball-rienk-mast-nick-deluca-assault-arrest-ndsu-lb-all-american/)
10/27/23
Mast was assaulted by Nicholas DeLuca, who was an FCS All-American at North Dakota State University. Nicholas, who also goes by Nick DeLuca, played at NDSU from 2013-17. He was nominated for the Butkus Award two times during his college career.
KETV reports that DeLuca got out of his car and knocked Rienk Mast off of his scooter.
DeLuca was taken into custody for aggravated assault, while Mast was taken to a local hospital, according to KETV.
Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg revealed earlier Friday that Mast was the victim of "a random act of violence" last week, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
"The authorities right now are gathering more information on the incident. That's really all I can say about it at this time, but he will not play on Sunday," Hoiberg said.Mast is back after the incident and wearing a protective mask, Yes, Mast has a mask.
(https://huskers.com/imgproxy/PwU9MGRi6UF2Z5DiRi3n0pQCcCnk3lO661CzM9VBGaM/rs:fit:1980:0:0:g:ce/q:90/aHR0cHM6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmdvb2dsZWFwaXMuY29tL2h1c2tlcnMtY29tLXByb2QvMjAyMy8xMS8xOS90MHJVd3M1U1JaeE0yVlBaWU5KY2RHM3R6Tk9haHhsN1I3U3g5UzRZLmpwZw.jpg)
Huskers Run Past Oregon State, 84-63 - University of Nebraska - Official Athletics Website (https://huskers.com/news/2023/11/18/huskers-run-past-oregon-state-84-63)
Sioux Falls, S.D. -- Brice Williams had a game-high 25 points while Rienk Mast and Juwan Gary put together double-doubles in Nebraska's 84-63 win over Oregon State Saturday afternoon.Rienk Mast finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Juwan Gary added 12 points and 10 boards off the bench, as NU had a pair of double-doubles for the first time since 2021. Nebraska out-rebounded OSU, 44-31, and had 22 second-chance points, including 18 in the first half when the Huskers built a 44-24 advantage.
Quote from: nkvu on November 26, 2023, 12:54:02 AMQuote from: covufan on November 25, 2023, 11:10:21 PMQuote from: AB on November 25, 2023, 10:34:08 PMNot saying Connor Barrett will be the savior to the season, but no detailed report on his injury?. Was it that bad? Was he injured during the games he played or did he injury occur in a practice? This why he played so sparingly in the first two games?
I'm sure that Barrett and Manyang are progressing nicely. My guess is that we don't get updates because it is a privacy issue. My concern is that we have not seen Scroggins yet. Injury? Coaches decision? Red shirt year? If red shirt, why him and not Sepp? I realize we may not get complete answers, but any nuggets of information is welcome Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm just not seeing Barrett or Sepp contributing much. Barrett is too slow to play the 3 and too small to play the 4. All he can do is hang out on the perimeter and spot up threes if someone can penetrate and kick. Same with what I've seen from Sepp in the limited time he's been on the floor. The eight man rotation we've seen is I'm afraid the only available players that Roger sees as being contributors this year. With that short a bench, the 8 contributors better be aware that they need to stay out of foul trouble if we're going to have a chance to win a few games in the conference.
I'm in agreement regarding Barrett. I've never seen anything much from him which would indicate he could be of any value whether under Lottich and in particular this group which requires different skills going beyond shooting a jumper from the corner. Sepp when I saw him in a couple of games I had the same feeling. He'll probably be a short timer. I think Barrett was kept around as one less place to fill and as a bit of a reward for coming back.
Most colleges don't give injury reports in any sport.
Drake 72, Valpo 57
Drake 77
Valpo 67
Throughout DeVries' time at Drake, they have only 1 loss (Missouri State in OT, 1/18/23) when he and Brodie combine for 30+. Stop them and Drake is beatable. But that's much easier said than done.
Drake 78
Valpo 64
Brodie has really improved his game. I wish Valpo could a dude like that
Quote from: usc4valpo on November 26, 2023, 12:49:50 PM
Brodie has really improved his game. I wish Valpo could a dude like that
Who knows, maybe we do have a dude like that. Time will tell. The experience and quality coaching they are receiving is something few beginning D-1 players ever experience.
DU: 76
VU: 67
Exerpting from Talksalot's kick-off post.
Winless Texas Southern.
In Des Moines.
Let them back in the game in the second half and actually lost the lead before putting them away 77-71.
Brodie played.
I think this will be a close, exciting game. Gonna enjoy the up and back pace.
Line has Valpo at +12, I really think Drake covers, but maybe not ??
Drake 73
Valpo 65
Valpo 67
Drake 66
Reckless. Optimism.
Besides the outcome of the game itself, I am very interested in the student and overall attendance. First really good home game and school is in session. I don't expect the ARC or student section to be packed, but attendance tonight could be a first checkpoint at progress on developing new/renewed interest.
Drake 74
Valpo 66
Quote from: usc4valpo on November 26, 2023, 12:49:50 PM
Brodie has really improved his game. I wish Valpo could a dude like that
Well, I think we have one. Jerome Palm has clearly improved his game and I expect him to have an impact tonight. He is averaging 7 ppg and 6.5 boards in 20.6 minutes this season, versus 1.9 ppg and 4.0 boards in 13.5 minutes last year. Lottich had guys in the wrong spots a lot last year. I just think Jerome is being used more effectively this season.
Other than an email, no marketing for this game.
Why do we keep missing the boat here? I wonder who is in charge of it? Does someone own it at the university?
One of the previous post game interviews, you can tell Powell was frustrated with lack of attendance. I hope the university is supporting him with the marketing.
Quote from: Chairback on November 29, 2023, 09:12:19 AM
Other than an email, no marketing for this game.
Why do we keep missing the boat here? I wonder who is in charge of it? Does someone own it at the university?
One of the previous post game interviews, you can tell Powell was frustrated with lack of attendance. I hope the university is supporting him with the marketing.
I think the issue here is all the different places where people can see marketing. Valpo is definitely hyping this game on social media. There have been numerous graphics made and they're all over Twitter and Instagram.
The Bots are all over our Social Media too. What is up with that?
Odds
Drake is a big 12.5-point favorite against Valparaiso, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Bulldogs as a 11.5-point favorite.
There was a color ad for the game in this Sunday's paper as well
Line up to 13.5
Ou is 143.5... so like 78-65 is the better line
I hear we have some NBA scouts in the building...wonder why.
I assume NBA scouts are in to see Tucker Devries.
Line keeps moving , now at -14.5 for Drake , hmmmm! Pondering a last minute dump on the money line for Valpo at +650 🤣
I'll take being down 1 at the half. Let's go Valpo!
Watching my 1st game in almost an entire year. I quit by this time last year.
I can actually watch this team. Even if all our 3's didn't fall and we were down by 12, I could STILL watch this team.
I saw more effort off the ball in the 1st half of this game than I did the last 10 games I saw before giving up.
The crowd is really into this game. Our defense for the most part has been solid. Palm is getting owned. I'm sorry but coopers hair cut looks like Lloyd Christmas. I think we could win.
Still lots of bad shots IMO, but Staffords went in so oh well! Like it , wish we had someone to rough up Brodie , palm stresses me lol, but generally played well!
Darius !! Edwards with the block , if we somehow win , an absolute massive win for Valpo and RJP early in his career ! Keep it up fellas !!
Just because this was expected doesn't make it any less disappointing. Good effort Valpo.
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.
What does everyone think? Have to be impressed with Darius improvement. Need more from Edwards consistently. Cooper impresses. Interior post presence on defense still a major flaw that can only be fixed so much this year. I think this team will be growing before our eyes as the season continues and if they stay together next year, will see continued improvement. Drake in my opinion is not as dangerous as last year.
Need to make free throws.
Bench needs to score more than seven
points.
Overall I'd say as expected, just obviously disappointing being up 10 at one point. Schweiger getting two early fouls was a big blow.
The good - DeAveiro looked promising. Seemed more confident than he was to start the season. DeVries was held tight first half, just broke free the second half.
The not so good - Palm was not very convincing whatsoever. Let Brodie slip past way too many times and was well outmatched (granted, guarding Brodie is a challenge for anyone). Bench didn't really contribute much but hopefully that's a one day thing.
Also just one other comment - I know the crowd was pretty upset with the refs but I think it was overall a well-officiated game. Called it tight but fair calls both ways. (I'm a ref too - gotta give credit where it's due!)
I think.....
Can't wait to see Coop in the next year or two as he bulks up. Has the right instincts but can be overpowered on D. Proved he can score against anyone and belongs on the floor.
Darius has found himself (and his offense). Yay!
Entertaining to the end. But we need the same crispness as our first halves. It'll come as the players continue to grow (physically as well as technically) in Roger's system.
We need Manyang healthy so that he can split the 5 position minutes with Jerome instead of having Coop play out of his natural position. It'll make Jerome better too.
vu72 - cannot agree with your assessment on Palm at the same level as Brodie, who was dominant last night. Drake is what we expected them to be.
Quote from: usc4valpo on November 30, 2023, 08:11:07 AM
vu72 - cannot agree with your assessment on Palm at the same level as Brodie, who was dominant last night. Drake is what we expected them to be.
I don't remember saying he was on the same level, which he clearly isn't. What I said (or meant to say) was that Jerome has improved significantly over last year--or at least is being used in a more effective way this year. The team needs to continue to grow but will also struggle because of lack of depth, and youth. Roger said in the presser that Manyang will be out for a while as he is just now starting to run. Conner also will not be available as he is once again dealing with injuries.
Drake gives us an accurate gauge of how difficult our MVC season will be. We fought and hustled, hit many of our too few wide open shots, defended pretty well but still lost at home by 18. We should all like the direction we are going but it will be a lengthy trip with many obstacles. Lets not get too discouraged as Roger works to get the team caught up with league.
Effort for the 1st 25 minutes was ALL OUT.
The last 15 minutes all our shots, including free throws, were short.
I'm not convinced you can play players at that pace for 40 minutes without less minutes and a deeper rotation.
As a cross country and track coach, I'm telling you that level of intensity over the 1st half was borderline too much. It's going to take these players another year of conditioning to build up the stamina to hold that pace. Literally, from a scientific point of view, the aerobic capacity needed for this pace of play cannot be developed in 1 season without a deeper roster and nobody playing over 30 minutes.
If you want, I can send Powell some articles on aerobic adaptation. :)
This season will be a bit of a catch-22. The only way we are going to win games is max effort. Going to be hard to give max effort for a full 40 and still hit shots and avoid fouls. We fouled a lot in the last 12 minutes because we had dead legs.
Agree Sanity 100%. Hard to make free throws and not foul in second half when you are gassed and have no legs. Still think we should play Lucas Scroggins and Kasper Sepp. Anything is better than zero
minutes. Fresh legs. Hell, I'd be happy with three minutes each at this point.
Quote from: SPEEDYPITCHER37 on November 29, 2023, 09:27:35 PM
Overall I'd say as expected, just obviously disappointing being up 10 at one point. Schweiger getting two early fouls was a big blow.
The good - DeAveiro looked promising. Seemed more confident than he was to start the season. DeVries was held tight first half, just broke free the second half.
The not so good - Palm was not very convincing whatsoever. Let Brodie slip past way too many times and was well outmatched (granted, guarding Brodie is a challenge for anyone). Bench didn't really contribute much but hopefully that's a one day thing.
Also just one other comment - I know the crowd was pretty upset with the refs but I think it was overall a well-officiated game. Called it tight but fair calls both ways. (I'm a ref too - gotta give credit where it's due!)
The tight calls against Valpo and the blatant fouls and travel calls let go against Drake were very obvious in the 1st half. The refs got the message from Coach Powell and the crowd & it was called much more fairly in the 2nd half.
Unfortunately Valpo did not respond in the same way.
The Ajiboya high lite reel didn't impress me in the least but he has some talented high mobility quickness. Similar take on Edwards. Both of these projects could pay off big time as they develop their offense.
Maturity and discipline shown by Cooper as he stayed in the fray with 4 fouls. Nothing but pluses with this kid. :thumbsup:
All out quick paced play resulted in only 10 VU TOs. That is a solid number for a thrown together group like this!
51 bench minutes for our 3 vs 70 bench minutes for their 4. That was a factor for our second half production.
Good stat on bench minutes Justducky. Agree it was a factor. Our coach is learning too...not just the young players.
Agree with sanity
DeAveiro especially and others were gassed. Coach should consider managing minutes a bit more closely. He carried three timeouts into the final 5 minutes. I thought he could have used one of those during their 10-0 run that broke the game open after Darius' three gave us our final lead. Guys are also more susceptible to minor injury when playing gassed let alone the number of front rims and lack of energy defensively. Those high post sets that Drake ran there were several missed switch outs a symptom of a tired mind. But one has to be encouraged by the effort. One or two more guys who can play even 2-3 minutes per half
Quote from: SanityLost17 on November 30, 2023, 09:04:56 AM
I'm not convinced you can play players at that pace for 40 minutes without less minutes and a deeper rotation.
This relates to a question I raised before the start of the season, and I have never heard adequately resolved. I liked Coach Powell's idea of an up-tempo game plan, but it appeared this strategy would be more difficult when the action became limited to fewer participants, mostly due to injuries and a decision to redshirt Scroggins. The team has now been restricted in the last three games to an 8-player rotation, including a number of freshmen who have yet to fully build Division-1 strength and stamina. My question was why didn't VU fill the final scholarship spot. Does anyone have an answer? It would have been nice if there were a planned surprise of a mid-year addition to the team. However, otherwise the lack of a 13th scholarship player on the bench seems merely a self-imposed handicap.
Quote from: valpopal on November 30, 2023, 06:33:55 PM
Quote from: SanityLost17 on November 30, 2023, 09:04:56 AM
I'm not convinced you can play players at that pace for 40 minutes without less minutes and a deeper rotation.
This relates to a question I raised before the start of the season, and I have never heard adequately resolved. I liked Coach Powell's idea of an up-tempo game plan, but it appeared this strategy would be more difficult when the action became limited to fewer participants, mostly due to injuries and a decision to redshirt Scroggins. The team has now been restricted in the last three games to an 8-player rotation, including a number of freshmen who have yet to fully build Division-1 strength and stamina. My question was why didn't VU fill the final scholarship spot. Does anyone have an answer? It would have been nice if there were a planned surprise of a mid-year addition to the team. However, otherwise the lack of a 13th scholarship player on the bench seems merely a self-imposed handicap.
Just my opinion but the grand plan seems to have little focus on this year other than to develop the players and their player mentality. Maybe it doesn't matter to Roger or us if we could win 6 MVC games by using that last scholarship or settle for less wins by opportunistically holding it in reserve for a perfect fit situation. In fact I'd be surprised if the staff doesn't already have a handful of players in mind as this first semester progresses. Long term I'm still viewing this choice positively and think it is very likely to work out in our favor. Meanwhile lets be patient!
Nuther redshirt thought. Based on his knee cap injury and the slow recovery we've seen, might Manyang need to go on a(nother) medical red-shirt? Can he even do that? Is there a limit? Of course, if he did, he'd probably wind up with a Valpo PhD ;) )