Game #22 Vs Missouri State Tues 1\29\19 7 PM ARC

[VALPO LI]

We better find some offense soon. Or this is gonna get ugly...

U.G.L.Y you ain't got no alibi you ugly!

[VUSL98]

Thoughts at the half:
1.  Missed free throws mean no lead.
2.  Still no go-to guy on offense.
3.  What happens to going inside to Smits?  We do it in the first two or three minutes and then forget all about it.
4.  Hang onto Freeman.  This guy is a "franchise player."
5.  Bad basketball by Sorolla.  Bad pass on the steal (net-net, a non issue), and when is he going to learn to take it hard to the rim?

[wh]

Derrik is way bigger than anyone they have - should be dominating this game. Instead, he takes himself out of the game with a dumb backdown offensive foul against a guy 6" shorter. We're woefully short handed as it is. He needs to learn how to stay on the floor in situations like that. It's called having basketball I.Q.  Speaking of which, will Mileek ever learn to quit committing moving screen fouls?  Did his coach at Merrillville teach him anything?  Then there's Jay.

By the way, in case you can't tell on TV, MSU is gawd awful. If we lose this game, clearly we will have beaten ourselves.

[wh]

This officiating is trash, the usual from Gerry Pollard.

Worst I've seen in a long time.

[Valpo2013]

So we dribble our final possession away and don't get a shot, then let them dribble through the whole team for an uncontested layup in 4.5 seconds to score at the buzzer. What crap.

Some of the worst basketball I've ever seen
1 on 5 and we give up a layup
Awful Defense

[ValpoDad89]

Freeman is amazing working those passing lanes...

2 point game w/ 15 minutes to go...hopefully they strong and finish

[Valpo2013]

We get exposed with Sorolla in
He's not developed at all in his time here...may have regressed

[ValpoDad89]

Freeman with a double/double...I'd hate to think where this game would be without him out there tonight. Plus he's doing the little things, filling passing lanes, crashing defensive (and offensive boards), making good decisions for the most part. Plus his tap out off the offensive board saved a possession and led to points.

[crusadermoe]

Smits just picked up the dumbest two fouls I have ever seen in a span of one minute.     

He needs to keep his head in the game.  Not enough concentration and restraint.   

May have cost the game by having to leave with 4 fouls.

[crusadermoe]

And now a minute later Sorolla picks up two dumb ones in a single minute.     

[wh]

Smits just picked up the dumbest two fouls I have ever seen in a span of one minute.     

He needs to keep his head in the game.  Not enough concentration and restraint.   

May have cost the game by having to leave with 4 fouls.

If we lose, Smits owes Javon an apology for personally wasting his great game.

[FieldGoodie05]

Smits just picked up the dumbest two fouls I have ever seen in a span of one minute.     

He needs to keep his head in the game.  Not enough concentration and restraint.   

May have cost the game by having to leave with 4 fouls.

If we lose, Smits owes Javon an apology for personally wasting his great game.

Least situationally aware player on the court every game.....tie between Smits and McMillan.  Astounding.

[mj]

Well we dodged a bullet and got to OT. Let's see who steps up,

[hailcrusaders]

haha they're going to overtime and the University closes in five minutes...

[VUSL98]

Why no timeout and set up a play?

[mj]

Seriously, this team is a  mess. Absolutely pathetic.
Won't be surprised if Freeman leaves.

Lottich is in over his head.

[valpotx]

I don't know how many times I cursed at Lottich for not making some key decisions in the last 5 minutes of regulation, and then in OT.  We were either tied or up by 1 with 2 minutes left, and instead of taking one of his timeouts to try and set something up, we end up with some BS isolation play.  His play calls were terrible, and led to a stymied offense in key situations.  What a horrible loss.  There went any chance at a top 4 seed.

Smits should have sat out another game, as he was very ineffective.

[valpolaw]

Welp we deserved to lose that one. Other than Freeman and Sackey, the rest were pretty bad.

It would be nice if we could run a good play out of a timeout for once. We might as well not ever take a timeout....

[nkvu]

Well, I didn't expect to win but we had a chance.  As it turns out we hit one more free throw and we win in regulation.  Lavender misses everything on a one and one in overtime.  Sorolla goes one for two in ot. We have a lead with 35.2 left in ot. No call on an obvious foul of Freeman. Bakari dribbles the ball off his foot. Sorolla gets called and that's the ball game when they hit both free throws.

WE HIT FREE THROWS WE WIN!

We don't we lose.

[jloose128]

Make your free throws....

Won't be surprised if Freeman leaves.

Why would Javon leave? Calm down dude.

[VUSL98]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but on the television it appeared as if Bakari wasn't even in the huddle at the 21.8 se ins timeout. Was there even a play called?

[SanityLost17]

12-20 from the free throw line including some key front ends...
Several layups that went in and out...
12 foul calls on Valpo players playing the 5, most of them correct calls on insanely careless play...
Terrible plays out of timeouts...
Bakari dribbled it off his foot on our last play, but didn't somebody dribble it off their foot to end the 1st half??  Was that Bakari too?
Putting the ball in the wrong players hands over and over and over again.   Why was Bakari the one driving the last 3 offensive plays when Sackey/Freeman/Lavender were doing a better job getting to the basket?  Why, because he hit 1 floater??? 

We had an astronomical amount of chances to win this game. 

[VUGrad1314]

EVERYBODY SHOOTS 1000 FREE THROWS EVERY NIGHT UNTIL SHOOTING IMPROVES! UNACCEPTABLE!

F THESE TRASH MVC REFS. WORST OFFICIALS I'VE EVER SEEN. CONSISTENTLY. THEY REALLY F'D US TONIGHT

WHY CAN'T WE EVER EXECUTE And CLOSE OUT A HALF?! IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!

OUR FRESHMEN ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO EXECUTE DOWN THE STRETCH OF GAMES OUR UPPERCLASS "LEADERSHIP" SUCKS

OUR BIGS PLAY SMALL ON OFFENSE WHAT GOOD IS THE HEIGHT WHEN YOU PLAY LIKE YOU'RE 6'8?

RYAN HURRY UP AND GET HEALTHY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD THIS TEAM IS LOST ON OFFENSE WITHOUT YOU AND MARKUS

I'm so mad right now. I'll be able to process this and analyze it in a calm levelheaded manner later. Shorthanded or not we blew this game. Our "leaders" let our freshmen down.

[crusadermoe]

Is the glass half empty or half full tonight? 

On the half empty side, the careless fouls by Smits and Sorolla were maddening and so was the puzzling shot selection and too much self-confidence by Bakari.  We blew a home win.  The refs blew the clear foul against Freeman.  Who made dat call?

On the half full side, I thought Sorolla played good defense with quick feet apart from those dumb fouls.  Even better, our two freshmen guards were able to penetrate to the hoop even without outside shooting from Nick or Markus.  That bodes well when or if those two return.

[nkvu]

Would somebody please impress upon these kids that free throws matter?  Seriously, if we shot 70% we win. Shooting 60% we lose. When two of your three top scorers are out and your third is clearly not at full strength, YOU CAN'T GIVE POINTS AWAY AT THE LINE!