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I count 56 fans in the mezzanine

Keeping expectations low, hoping to be pleasantly surprised...

1-6

'm curious whether anyone else on this board attended the VU/Evansville game on January 8, 1966 - VU beat #1-ranked Evansville 83-73, ending UE's 25 game winning streak. I suppose anyone who did, and who can remember the game, would have to be close to my age (67).

It is hard to describe the atmosphere - Hilltop was completely jammed. There was even an extra set of bleachers set up along the south side. You could not find a seat anywhere. I sat in the second row from the top of the bleachers and they were shaking from the students down below who were swaying back and forth with arms held high in the final seconds as they chanted "Ding Dong! Ding Dong!" My brother was scared the bleachers would collapse. I was too.

At that time UE wore long satin warm up robes when they came out on the court (not sure what else to call them; sort of like what a boxer would wear when he enters the ring). They were different colors  - some were purple, some were blue - as well as orange, red, and white ones. Their attire was fitting, I suppose, since they were the kings of small college basketball, having won several national championships.

Tom Smith and Dick Jones were superb in that game.

When the game ended the UE players stood around for a few seconds as if they could not believe they lost.

My brother, dad and I did not miss a game at Hilltop for 10 years. I'm kinda proud of that. We saw some good ballgames, I can tell you that.

I was 10 years old and it was an unforgettable experience. I have been to several thrilling athletic events in my life, but nothing as memorable as this game.

Paul

I'm sure I was at the game -- I remember the robes, and I remember the temporary stands, but other than that I have no specific memories of the game.  That entire era was an exciting time for Valpo basketball.  The Hilltop stands were full (maybe not all the way up to the top of "Gym 2" stands) and the environment was electric. 

As excited I am with the win, I can't give our defense as much credit as some posters have.  It wasn't great defense that limited the Redbirds to 55% from the free throw line.  Their 1-18 shooting from 3 included plenty of open looks.

I won't deny that we played with energy (in spite of a couple of three minute droughts); still, any fair assessment has to recognize that Ill St had a bad night.

An area that has improved over the last couple games has been our three point shooting.  At Bradley, we shot 42%, and we shot 35% at UIC (we were shooting at a 40% clip before the last eight minutes).  In those games our accuracy outside of the 3 pt line was as been as good as that within the the line.

Should there be any discussion about the use of timeouts for the team that has been running out of gas.  In the second half, Coach Powell sat on all of his timeouts until there was just over a minute left...

I thought the most noteworthy comment from the press conference was the indication (or, perhaps, implication) that this will be the last year for Jerome and Conner in a Valpo uniform.  It seems that we'll have a couple scholarships available even if all of the underclassmen decide to stay.

Do we have any scholarships to offer?  If we don't, could we offer anything more than  PWO status to a recruit?

Love the post game press conferences this year. Much better than recent years. Fire me up. Who wouldn't want to play for Roger...

Great questions lead to great answers...

And the great thing about not being able to hear the questions is that we enjoy reading The Victory Bell all the more!

Counter seems to be quite the jerk.  He had an altercation with Stafford early in the game, and I wonder if he got into Isaiah's head.  At this level it shouldn't happen. I can only imagine what Counter said or did to Jaxson as he (Counter) left the game.

The game reinforced my concerns about shooting that I had after the scrimmage and exhibition game.  After the Trinity game I hoped that those two earlier appearances were anomalies.  Now I fear that the anomaly was the strong shooting performance against the Trolls.  Still it showed possibilities.

We have an emerging star in Cooper, and I really like what I have seen from Edwards.  I guess we'll have to continue to look for positive aspects from the stats other than the team point totals.

The PA system is all the more important as the new scoreboards do not have an area that states who committed a foul.  If it could have been called on tow or more players, the only way to know who committed the foul is to hear it from talksalot (unless you have memorized each player's total number of fouls and notice a change in their total).

Yeah, he is a lock. Coach Powell's first offer. I think his Uncle is best friends with Roger. Joliet West is same high school The Rev graduated from.

It's nice to know that there is a relative whispering good things about playing for Valpo in his ear. That hasn't always been the case with quality recruits.

• The 3 players I referenced above were an incredible 18-27 from 3.

I believe 5-6, 2-3, 4-5 adds up to 11-14.  An even higher percentage, but fewer attempts. 

Edwards - 15.5 points and rebounds - UNDER
Palm - 5.7 rebounds per game - OVER
Barrett - 0.9 3 ptrs per game played - OVER
Weatherspoon - 41.6% from the floor - UNDER
Ajiboye - 1.5 Blocks and Steals/game - OVER
DeAveiro -120.5 assists for year - OVER
Williamson - 1.5 assist / turnover ratio - OVER
Schweiger - 11.25 points per game - OVER -he'll benefit from being overlooked
Stafford - 16.5 points per game - UNDER -- defenses will learn to focus on him
Team Field Goals Attempted 60.5/gm - UNDER
All Newcomer Team for MVC - 0.5 - UNDER -- plenty of other choices (see my comment about Stafford above)
All League Team 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 0.5 - UNDER
Valley Road Victories - 1.5 - OVER --  I plan to be at the SIU and Ill St games, and I hope to leave happy
Final Standing in Valley - 10.5 - UNDER
Total Wins - 10.5 - OVER

And we have our first negative post of the Powell era after one exhibition game. Glad I took the under.

Please note that my post was not a negative comment about Coach Powell; rather, it is an indication of the challenges he faces trying to win in the Valley with what we have seen from this group of players

I'm glad that you all saw the light as I left the gym with nothing that increased my optimism for the season.

As a team we shot under 25% from 3, and without Stafford we were 2/14 -- under 15%.  This was a problem in the scrimmage a couple weeks ago.  If we are to be a run and gun team, the gunning has to find its mark. I don't know how much shooting develops once players are at this level, but it seems this will be a stumbling block,

We only outrebounded SMWC by 2.  You've got to get the boards if you're going to run.

SMWC, an NAIA team, played us evenly until the bottom of their bench was put on the floor for the final five minutes.

Stafford was impressive, but he didn't seem to be the dominating sort of player that can put the rest of the team on his back as we have seen Tucker DeVries, Roman Penn, or even Ben Krikke do.

I'll attend every game that I can get to, but I will be looking for signs of progress rather than Ws.

Often in exhibition games we play teams that are disciplined and shoot well.  We tend to be taller and a bit more athletic.  It has not been unusual for the opposition to hang with us through the first half before running out of steam.

It will be interesting to see how the Beacons respond their first time playing together with a real opponent in front of fans.  I can't say "in front of a crowd" as publicity has been for next Monday's game.  It seemed that yesterday's tweet that there actually is a game tonight was sent out as an afterthought

True statement. Chicago is home not Valpo. United Center is in Chicago not Valpo. I care. Top four Valpo player of all time. Brought us to finals. Times have changed with transfers. If you don't care keep scrolling.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion about embracing JFL, just as Chairback is entitled to his without it being summarily dismissed. I could easily use your point about how times have changed with transfers as a good reason not to care. As you may recall, he announced he was leaving after his freshman year, then changed his mind. Not much of a relationship there from the get-go.

Not to mention that mention that he assured fans that he was staying in Valpo shortly before entering the transfer portal.

I would guess around 250. Many left between periods of the scrimmage.

Maybe Paul will give a report on shooting percentage — we seem to have the run and gun going, but we need to gun with much more accuracy for the strategy to work.

"Naysayer" is a highly subjective term. So is "negative." All coaches, even the best in the business, will make a decision during a game that might be a mistake at the time and open to criticism. Observers can be critical of that decision, but is that considered being a naysayer for the purposes of this poll?  Or must it be negativity that is directly about Roger, himself? 

Examples of the former:  "he didn't call time out quick enough" or "he shouldn't have substituted out the guy with the hot hand"

Examples of the latter:  "he's a terrible coach" or "he never fights for his players"

Depending on which of these interpretations is used would govern my response to this particular poll. I'm thinking it has to be the latter, because normal critiques are just a part of the game.

EDIT:  Duh, BTW, this is not a poll on Roger; it's really a poll on us 😜

Yes, it's a poll  on us.  It would require something like the latter of your examples or statements to the effect that he was a bad hire.

There are high expectations for Coach Powell and praise for him to date. Realistically this year's team is likely to dwell in the bottom of the MVC. Still this forum isn't known for patience. I expect that for some fans his luster will fade as the team struggles.

When do you expect the naysayers to appear?

Has anyone paid for their season tickets yet?  I got the renewal questionnaire, but nothing else nor on payment yet.  First game is Nov 1.

I paid my Purdue season tickets months ago.   

I'm in the same situation (other than buying Purdue tix).

I presumed that it was Scroggins, celebratng his birthday.

Remember that AI writes convincingly but not necessarily accurately.

These offers may pay off later in the players' careers after they sign with a P5 and decide to transfer after a year or two.

I would think a "Boom" would indicate a commitment/signing, not just an offer.

It has been so far. I guess we need to be patient.