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Wow, that was a lot of drama. 

How many of us thought we would dig ourselves a hole and then make a come back just to come up short? 

Congrats on the road win and getting back to .500.

We've had so many of those games this year.  Our season was a couple of key components short of being something much more pleasing. It's really easy to underestimate the effect of Fazekas on our recent turnaround.  With him in the game, the 3-point attempts from those who haven't proven themselves to be consistent have gone down.

ISU has nothing-to-lose on their side.

Sackey just had one of the worst back-to-back plays I have seen in a long time.  A lazy ass pass, and then didn't hustle back on defense, until it was too late.

He would have given the opponent the and-one if he had caught up, too.  One of his many frustrating plays tonight.

[Many folks have said THIS IS THE YEAR!!!]

This program is a joke. No other way to put it. The Lottich-apologists will be the only ones left on the boat when it's all said and done... alongside the eternal optimists ... and us long-time Valpo faithful. But, make no mistake about it - the boat has been taking on water for some time now with no real signs of stopping. We need a change. We've almost entirely turned over our roster. What's the only remaining variable? The coaching staff. A 4-year extension at this point would be celebrating what? Another below-average season? Blown opportunities? Declining attendance? More excuses? Give me a break. Many folks have said THIS IS THE YEAR!!! Well, we're now 5-7 in the conference.

In conference, we beat:

1. Evansville (x2). They are now 9-16
2. Drake. They are now 16-9
3. Indiana State. They are now 14-9
4. Illinois State. They are now 8-16

What good non-conference wins do we have .. apart from being 5-7 in the conference?

1. Toledo (back on 11/5). They're now 11-13.
2. SIUE? (back on 11/12). They're now 6-19
3. Grand Canyon (back on 11/22). They're now 10-13
4. Trinity Christian (back on 11/27). They're not even D-1...
5. Central Michigan (back on 12/8). They're 13-9 (So, I guess that's a good one...)
6. High Point (back on 12/18). They're 7-17

Who in the hell said "this is the year"?

["no . . . you score]

...

...

Even before Fazekas' return we had inexperienced players (with each other) and there was a goodly amount of "no . . . you score" going around with the team.  ...

...  Forget the three ball, drive and dish!  ...

Part of the reluctance to score and the inability to drive and dish might be that the outside threat was not taken seriously. It's difficult to space properly for it when the defense clogs the interior and dares you to shoot from the perimeter. 

Deep rotations allow you to maintain fresh legs to apply intense defensive pressure, keep the shooters in a comfort zone, and make you hard to scout, but it can sometimes be at the expense of identity, which leads to inconsistency. JFL is our go-to guy offensively, but beyond him it's been murky.  UNI is the opposite with the starting five logging serious minutes.  AJ is their offensive leader, but when he's off there's no confusion about who's supposed to pick up the slack and that's why they're so consistent.

Fazekas' return can't be undervalued as it adds clarity, brings a new weapon, and changes the way teams defend us, which improves the output of our other players. We've seen it already. In many ways, UNI is facing a vastly different team. If we use our depth to aggressively force turnovers and work the inside game early, we should be able to endure foul trouble better than they can and test their bench strength. It should be a great game.

[Who cares?]

left]

John Kiser and Javon Freeman-Liberty of Valparaiso rank first and second among the MVC's steal leaders with a combined total of 3.8 steals per game during league play.

[/left] This is true in conference only.

Who cares? That's still a great stat and if we can turn UNI over like that we can stay in the game. Them living up to that stat and giving us four extra possessions could be key in this game.


No one cares about stats. They are completely meaningless.

Only 65% of them are.

What's a Valpo game without a double-digit deficit?  Amiright?

Haha it was a typo on my behalf but actually end up unintentionally interesting how you read that.

A good typo must never go to waste. 

Nothing is ever easy with this team.

Will we ever have two dominant halves?

Sackey's got really bad hands.

20 3's in 20 minutes. A 3 a minute. I've never seen that before - anywhere.

With no inside game we live and die by the 3. I still wouldn't be surprised to see it close at the end but such a big hole.

And we are not a good 3-point team, unfortunately. Oh, we can have a good day from the perimeter, but it's far from being a strength.  Let's see how much of a come-from-behind team we are.

Ugly, ugly shooting.

Please tell me that other game isn't going to go into OT.

No, Delaware wins with a traveling drive to the basket.

I guess I'm fine with any of the 3 you mentioned.  Not saying you're right or wrong, but what is it about Crusader Nation you don't like?

I will say that it has a kind of silly tribal connotation that's a bit overblown.

I do the same!  He's worth the listen.  Sometimes I prefer the home games when he gets relegated to the radio.  Maybe it's just me, but his tv partner is not my favorite.

Maybe it's me, but Dave Huseman (if that's the partner you're talking about) reminds me a little of Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad.

Oops, forgot about Drake (they'd have to lose) and if Bradley loses, an opportunity for 3rd-place tie.

If UNI, Loyola, and Bradley prevail, we'll have the chance at sole possession of the 4 spot in the standings.

Great team win.  This is a deep team and it would be nice to see it at full strength the last 2 weeks going into tourney. 

Again, Krikke is showing very good skill level for a frosh.  His footwork and defensive positioning, and body/arm control on drives have been very good.  It would be nice to see McMillan pick up some of that. Krikke doesn't pick up cheap fouls by swinging arms or trying to block people once they drive past.  Offensively, in the 1st half he was helpful in keeping us in the game when Gordon and Jevon were out.  The offense was moving and passes were being made to the cutters.  All players still need to swing the ball weak side faster, and hit open players faster.  Also, make the entry pass to Morgan or big guys who are posting up (Lost art -- post entry passes).  Noticed the t-shirts said "Do Simple Great."  Wholeheartedly agree!  Make the simple pass.  Execute the cut.  Box out.  Make the layup. 

Also, kudos to Clay for 39 minutes.  Would like to have him play like a 6'8" player -- don't settle for the "off the glass" shot.  Go up strong and dunk the ball.  Make them have to foul you to stop you.  I'm guessing he still has 6'3" habits in the paint, but he is getting to the box and needs to convert at higher rates.  And, Gordon stepping up.  He is going to be a stellar Y league player for decades. 

Good thoughts, 84. The offensive movement seemed improved and the reward was a balanced scoring attack that we haven't seen in some time. While we're talking about about players and their stubborn habits, we'd be remiss in not talking about Sackey, whose absence may partially explain the improved offensive flow.  His speed, which may have served him well in high school, has become his Maslow's hammer (when all you have is a hammer, you tend to see everything as a nail).  He needs to realize that it is not sufficient at the D1 level. Not only are there fast players, but the chances of outrunning even the slower defenders is slim when you are predictable and too out of control to pass or shoot your way out of a premature drive to the basket.

I don't have an astute coaches mind, so I'm not sure what adjustment he needs to (and can) make, but if I continue to see him drive straight into a small gap, at full acceleration and without an apparent outlet, I'll lose faith in him as a point guard. What would you have him do to be less dependent on his speed and reduce his turnovers?

It's interesting to observe what happens when the point is played in control.

Sackey is quickly moving from asset to liability.

You would expect him to do everything quickly.

The term 'hater' pre-dates social media, sorry to say .  I am now 38, and remember it being thrown around while I was at Valpo.  I don't need to 'stop' anything, as it is my generation's communication style .

I would have taken "Ok, boomer" as a correct response too.    That said, I do hope no generation so completely characterizes "critical thinking" as "hating" that it becomes offensive and intolerable.

I know that there are a lot of Kiser haters out there, but I am still a fan.  The guy does so many little things for us, and it showed today.

I meant to respond earlier to this, but got sidetracked. I don't think there are ANY Kiser haters out there, unless you're using "hater" in the social media sense, meaning "critic" (in which case, you need to stop).  I think there is just a frustration some of us feel when he gets big minutes because it reminds us that one (or many) of our top-level recruits is under-performing, such as yesterday. Nevertheless, I think the frustration needs to be directed at the under-performing players and any criticism of Kiser needs to consider that that he is the ultimate utility player and not some specialist whose going rack up any particular stats on the offensive or defensive side of things. Honestly, I think everybody loves Kiser, but wishes we needed him less frequently.

[Too slow for you?]

Finished a first class air-conditioned dedicated practice facility and in the process of utilizing a $ 2 million dollar contribution dedicated to men's recruiting. Added a $700,000 upgraded to the broadcast capability with more in progress (soon to be able to broadcast from Eastgate).  Apparently fund raising is well underway for basketball arena upgrades.  Too slow for you?  Its been 36 months.  There are more sports in the Valley than just basketball.  Money to upgrade players needs to be spent on all sports, not just men's basketball.

Not too slow for me as I'm not prone to judgement, but I'm certainly not the one that matters either. The question (and it was in earnest because I don't rigorously follow the details) had more to do with whether our investments have been sufficient (in amount and realized benefits) to produce quicker results and compensate for what I assume were declines in coaching salary and experience.

[How much time do we give him?]

How much time do we give him? We've seen minimal, if any, progress and nothing but excuses. You could even say we've regressed. How long do we have to hear "we are a young team" and give it time? It's a yearly thing and it falls on deaf ears now.

Lottich doesn't play the games but he's ultimately responsible for who is on the court and the results. The results have continuously been mediocre at best. At some point, he has to own up and take responsibility for that.

Invoking the tradeoff triangle, if you want to maximize the quality of the output and constrain investment, then you must wait for as long as it takes.  What has Valpo done investment-wise to expect a quicker turnaround on success in a tougher conference?