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Nice game by Gordon. Good to see him play well. Krikke and King's turnovers at key points toward the end and bad play on the boards gave me some indigestion, but hitting all their free throws provided relief. Nice to see the team pull out another close one.

That was a refreshing change of pace. Down double digits in the second half yet came back to win going away by double digits. Once they figured out how to guard Eastern's point guard and hit a couple of three's in a row, they looked like a different team. If they just shoot decent from three they have a chance. Hopefully this will give them some confidence going forward.

We could get a good start on building a new arena with all the bricks we lay from three.

Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory once again.

Same old same old.  Just good enough to lose close.

Good win. Not much to complain about other than missed free throws, but they made enough to seal the win. They showed they can win without Krikke's best game. Also showed that if the other team pays too much attention to Krikke, Kithier is capable of taking advantage. Makes us tough to defend on the interior if both are in the game.  Looking forward to see what King will bring.

Got to say expectations (including mine) are extremely high for King. I hope he is up for it as if he can live up to expectations we could be a top five or better MVC team. If he doesn't, from what I've seen so far we are just good enough to lose close.  Can he be the guy who can knock down the clutch shot when needed?  I sure hope so cause that guy hasn't emerged so far. Frankly, I'm tired of seeing the team mostly gag when a close game is on the line.

Well we gagged that one up.  Every time we had a chance to make it close in the second half we either blew the shot, missed the front end of a one and one or turned it over. As well as we played at times that half when it counted we didn't have it. I hope King is a clutch player cause we sure need one.

Follow along and you'll have your answer:

• If/When Coach Matt Lottich's teams start winning consistently, he will go from bad coach to good coach.
• If/When he goes from winning consistently to winning championships, he will go from good coach to very good coach.
• If/When he goes from winning championships to winning NCAA tournament games, he will go from very good coach to great coach.

Following suit, the identical coaching decisions that he gets lambasted for now in the "poor coach" category will be deemed brilliant in the "great coach" category.

It's no more complicated than that.

Add one more point.

If/When he goes from winning (occasional) NCAA tournament games to consistently winning NCAA tournament games, he will go from being Valpo's coach to being some P5 school's coach.

Then we can start this crap all over again. The circle of life for mid-major basketball.

Had to stop listening early in the second half. I take credit for the comeback because when I watch or listen in the second half, they blow it.

Has to help build confidence that when the 2 K's don't score a lot they can still win. Looks like Edwards had a big game and iced it at the line. Good for him and a nice comeback win for the team.

Another game we could have/should have won slips away. This is getting old.

At last, a win!!  Really dialed up the D in the second half, made plays, and hit free throws in the clutch to win it. Great coming out party for Krikke. Fingers crossed that the ankle holds up. When he and Kithier can play without one or the other getting in foul trouble, they will be really tough to handle. Confidence builder for the team. Now do it again tomorrow!

I'm not sure what experience this team is getting from the out of conference schedule except how to lose to different level teams in different ways. A solid loss to a good but still division ll team. How to lose close to an even better but still division ll team. How to lose even closer to a mid major & now how to lose worse than the score reflects to a P5 team. Would it have killed Matt to schedule one bunny so the team could actually experience what it's like to win a game?  I don't know, maybe there's a winnable game in the upcoming tournament. Of course if Kithier's hurt we could go 0 for out of conference.

Had some moments but bad shooting, no scoring down the stretch, and lack of poise in the clutch killed us. Don't know who our clutch player will be as no one stepped up tonight. Weren't prepared to handle their press. Disappointed as they were in it. Just didn't perform at the end.

In case we lose a hard fought game by 4-6 points  (my prediciton).    Just a reminder that that is progress and we can look positively about that result if we chose to.   

Toledo returns a lot of players from a very good mid-major team from last year.   They are going to be solid this year.   

I'm kind of in the same place. For the second game in a row, I think the team will play better but it may not matter. If they win I'll be surprised and pleased. If they lose by less than seven I'll be satisfied. Losing by more than that would be a disappointment. Needless to say I've lowered my expectations for early success. This team needs time to get it together.

Enjoyed the podcast. I think he captured my feelings pretty well. I'll judge the team on how they do when they get all their pieces playing together. Till then I think they will struggle to be competitive against any decent team.

One thing Paul did point out at length was that the teams we just played and the top teams in the MVC have all played together for years and our team hasn't. That's true. But whose fault is that?  Our best player left the program via transfer two years ago. There was a mass exodus of players last year. You could argue that in some cases the players who left were an addition by subtraction, and that some of the new guys have more talent. I won't argue that. Still, I don't like the trend. Either we are recruiting the wrong players or something about the program is causing the players to bail on it.  That's all on the coaching staff. It makes little sense to redshirt freshman if they just transfer after a year or two. I hope Valpo has addressed how to retain their best players or we will never compete with the top teams in our conference.

Coulda shoulda won this game. Woulda been nice, but like I said earlier, I'm satisfied with a close loss as I was afraid it was going to be a blowout. Team played better tonight on defense overall, but was way to weak giving up points in the paint. Kithier is a horse, but he can't do it all. Bench didn't contribute much once again.  Still, I want to see how they play with Ben and Conner available before I declare this another lost cause.

The Ashland game may have exposed a big weakness this year, that is how thin we are in the front court. To be successful this year the two K's may each need to play 35 minutes a game. Having one on the bench for an extended time seems to disrupt the offense, too often reducing it to jacking up quick threes.  If Big Joe can't contribute valuable minutes, we are going to struggle when one of the K's are out.

As for this game, I expect the team will play better, particularly on defense.  I'm afraid however that it may not be reflected in the score as Flagler appears to be a better team than Ashland, at least on paper. If we were to win by more than 5 I will be surprised and pleased. If we win or lose by 5 I will be satisfied. If we lose by 6 to 15. I'll be disappointed but not surprised. Lose by more than that and well, I'll say we have a long way to go to be at all competitive this year. 

As usual, I try to keep my expectations low early as I prefer to see them exceeded rather than have high expectations dashed.

B(e)acon got burned.  If they don't find some defense the next game will be worse.

Wow...Stanford. Love it!   

When the Lighthouses battle the Trees it will come down to quickness.

So.... Will the Trees throw shade on the Lighthouses, or will the Lighthouses shine through. Stay tuned.

You sound as bad as I do when trying to use cliches, puns and synonyms. It's great, isn't it?

Yep. The new nickname will provide many new opportunities.

Wow...Stanford. Love it!   

When the Lighthouses battle the Trees it will come down to quickness.

So.... Will the Trees throw shade on the Lighthouses, or will the Lighthouses shine through. Stay tuned.

The next thing up is the Mascot. According to the Torch issue the person in charge of the selection is Steve Janowiak.
following are quotes from the Torch article:


In addition, Mascot Recommendation Chair Steve Janowiak said that the Valpo Shield will still be a part of VU.

"The shield is still a symbol at the University. It's been around for a while and it's going to stay around,"  Janowiak said.

Although the current logo for the Beacons, a lighthouse, will remain the primary design, Janowiak noted that variations are in the works.

As the school year is set to begin, creating a new mascot will be a task that administration will bring students into as a collaborative effort.

"The mascot is going to be something we ask the students to really participate in choosing or designing," Janowiak said. "[We'll] probably ask students with creative majors like art and other areas to be involved in this. Right now, we have something going for the indoor courts."


So does these mean there will be no Alumni input, but the people responsible for the initial Logos are going to be the main factors in choosing the Mascot?

How about this for a mascot. A killer bee dressed up in prison garb and you have a BEE CON!  (Have to credit my wife for that one)

So now we live with this stupid nickname.  It is a disgrace  IMO.  Of course what can you expect when the decision was made by a committee, who for the most part, the members were unqualified, should not have been chosen to serve on it in the first place.   The committee  then compiles a final list of very poor options and what do you get, a very poor final choice.

The artwork/logo shown on the t-shirt looks like a YMCA summer day-camp shirt.  I would be embarrassed to wear it.  Of course that will never happen.  Even though my wife and I are proud graduates of Valpo, this choice is a disgrace in our opinion.  You will never hear me say I am a proud

It is unconceivable to me that the name chosen is also the name of our yearbook and a dorm...unbelievable.

I don't know.  The "Alpo Bacon" might be very appealing to my dog, if I had a dog, which I don't at the moment. 🐶🥓

Ben made a significant leap from his freshman year and I actually think he will be even better with players who can actually shoot.  He had to do everything last year. 

He wasn't a bench player in the big ten but was one of the most talented in the MVC last year.

Ben is going to be ready good. Even better with practicing against the transfers vs Mileek

Third team all conference last year plus conference most improved team selection. If any of the new players can put him on the bench they will have to be a first team all conference level player. I expect him to just get better and better.  The only thing he didn't do well last year was shoot the three, and with the shooters we have now, we may only need him to show he will shoot it occasionally. I agree that playing with players who can hit from three will only open up the inside more to allow him to operate in the post. I see him getting 25-30 minutes per game, averaging 14-16 points and 6-8 rebounds.

The battle for playing time should be fierce at the 2 & 3. We have a lot of possibilities if we need to go small, but some guys who saw the court a lot last year are going to see it a lot less next. I expect Hedstrom and the two K's will take most of the minutes at the 4 & 5 in various combinations except when one or more get into early foul trouble, then maybe Young breaks through. Anderson should see the most minutes at point with Gordon getting most of the rest. Going to be tough for any of the freshmen to see a lot of playing time, but if one or more does you know they are going to be really, really good. Just hope the freshman are patient because they have a lot of experienced guys ahead of them now. Would hate to see a lot of transfers from them because they didn't get a lot of playing time right away.

I have no horse in the race.  It's a MASCOT!!!  The figure running around at basketball games doesn't have to have anything to do with the name.  So if we are "The Gold" we could have a person dressed up as a lightning bolt if we wanted to.  Witness Alabama, who are the "Crimson Tide" but have an elephant running around.   

Nobody outside of the alumni base or those is NW Indiana know us as the Crusaders.  We are Valpo.

Just to try to put this all in perspective, consider some examples:

Harvard is "The Crimson" yet their mascot is John Harvard

Stanford is "The Cardinal" yet their mascot is a Tree

Michigan is "The Wolverines" yet they have no mascot.

Tulane is "The Green Wave" but have been fighting over what or who the mascot should be for decades.

North Texas is "The Mean Green" yet their mascot is Scrappy the Eagle.

I rest my brain cells.

Xavier University has two mascots. The musketeer (obvious), and a fuzzy blue blob. I call the blue blob "Cugot".  Get it?  "Xavier Cugot".   (Rimshot). Ok I guess you have to be over a certain age to know who he was. I'll be here all week.