Valpo at MoSt 2/1 ESPN+ 7 pm

humbleopinion · February 01, 2023, 10:34:40 AM

The Bears have defeated Drake twice but have lost to Illinois State. At least Ben doesn't have to battle with Prim this year.

We need Green, Max, Conner to connect on their threes for us to match the Redbirds' success.

vu72 · February 01, 2023, 10:56:08 AM

Quote from: humbleopinion on February 01, 2023, 10:34:40 AMAt least Ben doesn't have to battle with Prim this year.

Or Mosley. Mosley is a great player and showed it against us. He averaged 24 points over three games with us last year.

AB · February 01, 2023, 11:23:27 AM

We will struggle to contain the dribble drives of their guards and will draw fouls. Much more athletic team than us. Only way to win is if we hit a minimum of 8 three pointers. Not a good recipe for a win. They ofcourse will try to shut down Krikke and force others to beat them. Green can't go 1-8 and four fouls. Bayu may struggle against their front line to stay out of foul trouble. This is not a good matchup for Valpo from an athletic standpoint. Ford has never impressed me with the X's and O's. Mosley... Here's the ball, now go make a play.

crusadermoe · February 01, 2023, 01:45:12 PM

True Mosely was a huge problem for us. Now he is at Mizzou. Two keys will be 3=pt shooting percent (duh) and hustle. We need all the 50/50 balls. The crowd will be bored on a mid-week night vs. Valpo and turn on the Bears a bit if we get ahead of them at the half.

wh · February 01, 2023, 03:47:46 PM

Kobe had 3 of his worst games last year against MSU:

1 - 8pts (3-7FG) 43%FG
2 - 11pts (2-11FG) 18%FG
3 - 5pts. (2-10FG) 20%FG

Avg. 8pts. (7-28) 25%FG

The message is pretty obvious. He needs to get himself involved in the offense early and often and shoot mid-range in and drive the hoop whenever possible.

Message to Matt Lottich: Regarding your comment that you allow players to continue to shoot 3's so long "as they put in the work," doesn't the fact that Kobe is shooting 6% from 3 despite putting in extra work tell you something? Every Kobe 3 is equivalent to a TO. NO 3's! Please!

historyman · February 01, 2023, 07:06:45 PM

My flu laced letter to Donovan Clay has worked and he is out for the only Valpo game of the year. hmmmmmmmmm

King & Edwards two of our worst 3 point shooters take 3 point shots. Anybody see anything wrong here?

historyman · February 01, 2023, 07:13:17 PM

Thanks, Maximus.

mj · February 01, 2023, 07:20:07 PM

I'm starting to really like Barrett.

AB · February 01, 2023, 07:21:40 PM

No Clay. Big loss. Opportunity to steal one. looks it's gonna be a track meet up and down.

wh · February 01, 2023, 08:02:55 PM

2-14 from 3. Hopefully, MSU doesn't go zone.

mj · February 01, 2023, 08:46:25 PM

Q is putting this team on his back.

historyman · February 01, 2023, 08:58:22 PM

Those MSU announcers didn't know that the replica of the Valpo court on the play draw board has a Crusader on it.

Well, the real question is why we can't afford a new play drawing board.

Dr. T · February 01, 2023, 09:12:52 PM

Well, I suppose I should've stopped watching with a minute and a half or so left in regulation. From that point on, it wasn't pretty. End up losing by 9 ...with Drake coming to town on Saturday. I long for the day when a loss like this stings, rather than expecting it and feeling numb to it.

AB · February 01, 2023, 09:18:11 PM

Golden opportunity to steal a game with Clay out. Shot selection shot selection! Inability to seal the deal with the lead in the closing two minutes! Common theme last few years... way too much freedom from the arc. Could have worked it along the baseline get some two's, Krikke had to once again work hard just to get shots to fall. Both teams are pretty sub par. The level of detail when you watch Ben Jacobson's, Wardell, Devries teams play D. Not in this game!

historyman · February 01, 2023, 09:21:06 PM

Quote from: AB on February 01, 2023, 09:18:11 PM
Golden opportunity to steal a game with Clay out. Shot selection shot selection! Inability to seal the deal with the lead in the closing two minutes! Common theme last few years... way too much freedom from the arc. Could have worked it along the baseline get some two's, Krikke had to once again work hard just to get shots to fall. Both teams are pretty sub par. The level of detail when you watch Ben Jacobson's, Wardell, Devries teams play D. Not in this game!

How many shots did the MOIST Bears block in the O.T. Had to be 3 I believe.

nkvu · February 01, 2023, 09:29:13 PM

Checked the score at half. Surprised to have a lead. Checked again with 18 seconds to go in game. Figured we wouldn't get a shot off, let alone score. Didn't fail to disappoint. Didn't bother to check again as I assumed we would lose in ot. Just saw that we did. Same old same old. I still check from time to time on games I think we have a reasonable chance to win. There are not many of those any more.

oklahomamick · February 01, 2023, 09:32:25 PM

Easy money.

Put money on Valpo 1st half and fade second half.

covufan · February 01, 2023, 09:42:15 PM

Quote from: oklahomamick on February 01, 2023, 09:32:25 PM
Easy money.

Put money on Valpo 1st half and fade second half.

I remember this suggestion last year. Really need to try this

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

AlaskaCrusader19 · February 02, 2023, 09:29:36 AM

A close, overtime game only having 17 replies by late the next morning tells you all you need to know about the morale of the fan base. Apathy has set in.

valpopal · February 02, 2023, 09:53:13 AM

Quote from: AlaskaCrusader19 on February 02, 2023, 09:29:36 AM
A close, overtime game only having 17 replies by late the next morning tells you all you need to know about the morale of the fan base. Apathy has set in.

"I told him, 'Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.'" —Coach Frank Layden

Valpo89 · February 02, 2023, 10:20:04 AM

Going into the final possession of regulation, I told my wife, "The Beacons have trouble executing in these situations."
And that led to Krikke having a shot blocked. Ugh.
But you all are right - when the loss is expected, it's not as disappointing to fans. Even when you blow a game in the final minutes.
If this was 10 years ago, a lot of us probably would have had trouble sleeping.

valpo64 · February 02, 2023, 10:36:36 AM

Why is it that with the team holding the ball for 1 shot before the buzzer, so many teams stand around until the 9 or 10 second mark then have to force up a shot or try a desperation shot to beat the buzzer? My guess is that that play works about 10% of the time, if that much.

Just Sayin · February 02, 2023, 02:13:22 PM

Virgina has mastered the art of taking shots near the end of the shot clock. They practice it and are very successful. They generally have THE slowest pace of all division 1 teams year after year.

usc4valpo · February 02, 2023, 04:06:59 PM

Just Sayin - that is the benefit of having great coaching and collaboration, which Virginia has.

valpo95 · February 02, 2023, 04:25:50 PM

I'm old enough to remember UWGB vs. Valpo.

Tony Bennett the floor general, and Dick Bennett his father as coach. UWGB was a great team, with great fundamentals.

At the time, VU was overmatched - there were chants about firing Homer Drew and questions about not being able to compete in the Mid-Con. Once Tony Bennett graduated in 1992, UWGB had much more uneven performance year on year. 1992-93 was the first year of the Redmon/Schmidt teams and good success for VU over decades.