Clash with Concordia - 11/6/18, 7pm, ESPN3

[crusadermoe]

OMG.   The Cougars have a 6'5" freshman and no one else over 6'4".     

That's not a great prep game for Myrtle Beach. 

I'm not doing the pay-per-view for this one.

[VU2014]

OMG.   The Cougars have a 6'5" freshman and no one else over 6'4".     

That's not a great prep game for Myrtle Beach. 

I'm not doing the pay-per-view for this one.

What are the chances Smits still gets pushed around and boxed out on a frequent basis? Nothing would surprise me anymore.

[M]

Smits will score 20 like he typically does versus undersized teams, but only grab 5 boards. Valpo by 22.

[VUBBFan]

OMG.   The Cougars have a 6'5" freshman and no one else over 6'4".  That's not a great prep game for Myrtle Beach. I'm not doing the pay-per-view for this one.

Don't know if I should tell you or not, but this one is free. It on ESPN3 not ESPN+ (the pay site).

[VU2014]

OMG.   The Cougars have a 6'5" freshman and no one else over 6'4".  That's not a great prep game for Myrtle Beach. I'm not doing the pay-per-view for this one.

Don't know if I should tell you or not, but this one is free. It on ESPN3 not ESPN+ (the pay site).

Also it's not exactly a true PPV model. Consumers have the option to pay monthly $5 and cancel at anytime or pay a yearly fee of $50 and save a little money if you intend on using the service for more than just the CBB season. I'm going with latter.

Here is VU's TV schedule:
https://twitter.com/ValleyHoops/status/1058448664635498496

[nkvu]

Fazekus needs to hit about four 3's to get his confidence back, or the upcoming preseason tournament could be a wipeout. Much of our season seems to depend on his shooting. If he just hits 3 of his 11 shots in the Indi game, we would have won. If he can't live up to the high expectations we have placed on him our season is in trouble.

[vu72]

Fazekus needs to hit about four 3's to get his confidence back, or the upcoming preseason tournament could be a wipeout. Much of our season seems to depend on his shooting. If he just hits 3 of his 11 shots in the Indi game, we would have won. If he can't live up to the high expectations we have placed on him our season is in trouble.

Um, it wasn't just on Ryan.  Everybody sucked. 3 of 19 from the 3.

[nkvu]

Fazekus needs to hit about four 3's to get his confidence back, or the upcoming preseason tournament could be a wipeout. Much of our season seems to depend on his shooting. If he just hits 3 of his 11 shots in the Indi game, we would have won. If he can't live up to the high expectations we have placed on him our season is in trouble.

Um, it wasn't just on Ryan.  Everybody sucked. 3 of 19 from the 3.

True, but I think he is the go to for the three. Seems like shooting good is contagious as is shooting bad. If the go to is going good everyone else follows. If the go to struggles everyone else struggles.

[VUBBFan]

OMG.   The Cougars have a 6'5" freshman and no one else over 6'4".  That's not a great prep game for Myrtle Beach. I'm not doing the pay-per-view for this one.

Don't know if I should tell you or not, but this one is free. It on ESPN3 not ESPN+ (the pay site).

Also it's not exactly a true PPV model. Consumers have the option to pay monthly $5 and cancel at anytime or pay a yearly fee of $50 and save a little money if you intend on using the service for more than just the CBB season. I'm going with latter. Here is VU's TV schedule: https://twitter.com/ValleyHoops/status/1058448664635498496

There is a difference between ESPN3 and ESPN+.  ESPN3 requires no fee or subscription to view. For ESPN+ you have to pay the monthly or yearly fee.

[VUSWIM08-12]

We need to put the pressure on from the start and hammer them the entire 40 minutes, Valpo by 35+

[VU2014]

We need to put the pressure on from the start and hammer them the entire 40 minutes, Valpo by 35+

I think we can beat them by 35 but it depends on the mindset and the confidence of this team. I just want to see us play well and I want to see us run an efficient offense. And I want to see Smits, Mileek, Ryan, and Markus absolute dominate them on the boards, specifically Smits and Mileek. There is absolutely no excuse to not completely and utterly dominate them on the boards.

I'm really looking to see how they respond from that debacle on Thursday. 

[crusadermoe]

I honestly think that playing our bigs against this team for more than a few minutes is a "no win."   

We would be better served not using Derek, Ryan, and Markus simply because they have too much length for this team and won't have any shots contested.  We will learn nothing.

[VU2014]

I honestly think that playing our bigs against this team for more than a few minutes is a "no win."   

We would be better served not using Derek, Ryan, and Markus simply because they have too much length for this team and won't have any shots contested.  We will learn nothing.

This team needs to learn to play together and it needs all the pieces (including the bigs) to gain experience together. IMO, they should play this like any normal opponent early on, but they should beat them to a pulp by the end 1st half which will allow for experimentation in the 2nd half.

[VUSWIM08-12]

We need to beat Concordia like Duke beat Ferris State last week, make them question their entire basketball program! I'm not sure if this was posted anywhere else on the board, but Duke won 132-48, 84 POINT SPREAD , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kx0APyohjc

A team which in 2017 played Michigan St. very well, ended up losing by 8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzXEQ8xeGcU

[IrishDawg]

We need to beat Concordia like Duke beat Ferris State last week, make them question their entire basketball program! I'm not sure if this was posted anywhere else on the board, but Duke won 132-48, 84 POINT SPREAD ,

A team which in 2017 played Michigan St. very well, ended up losing by 8.

2 completely different Ferris State teams.  This year's is missing 4 starters from last year, including D2 player of the year in 6'11 Zach Hankins who transferred to Xavier and he may start for them.  Plus all I think that goes to show is that exhibition games ultimately don't indicate anything about the season.  Michigan State had enough talent to win the National Title last year, won the Big Ten regular season, and beat a D2 team by 8 (albeit one that won the D2 National championship and lost 1 other game all year).  Duke might get bounced early in the tourney this year as has become a habit with these young teams and won an exhibition game by 84 points.

As others have said, get the shooters some confidence, beat up a small team on the glass, and really just get comfortable running the offensive sets and learning the defensive rotations in a game situation.  That's about all you can hope for to max out in a game that really shouldn't challenge this team in the slightest.

[crusadermoe]

Can we beat anyone?    Ferris?? ....... Anyone? ......Buehler?....   Anyone? 

[VUSWIM08-12]

We need to beat Concordia like Duke beat Ferris State last week, make them question their entire basketball program! I'm not sure if this was posted anywhere else on the board, but Duke won 132-48, 84 POINT SPREAD , A team which in 2017 played Michigan St. very well, ended up losing by 8.

2 completely different Ferris State teams.  This year's is missing 4 starters from last year, including D2 player of the year in 6'11 Zach Hankins who transferred to Xavier and he may start for them.  Plus all I think that goes to show is that exhibition games ultimately don't indicate anything about the season.  Michigan State had enough talent to win the National Title last year, won the Big Ten regular season, and beat a D2 team by 8 (albeit one that won the D2 National championship and lost 1 other game all year).  Duke might get bounced early in the tourney this year as has become a habit with these young teams and won an exhibition game by 84 points. As others have said, get the shooters some confidence, beat up a small team on the glass, and really just get comfortable running the offensive sets and learning the defensive rotations in a game situation.  That's about all you can hope for to max out in a game that really shouldn't challenge this team in the slightest.

Yeah,I watched that MSU/Ferris St. Game last year on BTN, definitely two different teams but UIndy was supposed to be different as they lost several starters and we still  played uninspired. Nov 15th is the date I'm looking forward too!

[IrishDawg]

Yeah,I watched that MSU/Ferris St. Game last year on BTN, definitely two different teams but UIndy was supposed to be different as they lost several starters and we still  played uninspired. Nov 15th is the date I'm looking forward too!

They'll be playing #25 Washington on ESPNU November 6th at 9:30 PM CT - definitely a good time for some early scouting.

West Virginia also lost an exhibition (proceeds went to Hurricane Relief, so they were allowed to do it by the NCAA) to Penn State on their home floor, 84-82.  Again, doesn't mean a ton other than they aren't unbeatable on their home floor either.

As for Valpo's play, the rebounding figures definitely look uninspired, but without being there at the game to see it, I can't judge if that was actually the case.  If you were then you'd definitely know.  Butler trailed Southern Indiana for a good portion of the first half this weekend, but other than the first few possessions, I can't say they were playing uninspired.  USI was just nailing everything they threw up and Butler had guys missing wide open shots that they should make.  I'm hopeful this result isn't an indicator of Valpo's play during the regular season, and it is harder for the guys to get up for a game against a D2 team that they know they should beat handily.  This team should certainly be better than what they showed last week based on the roster and the experience that they have.

[VU2014]

"Hopefully we'll (We Better damn) see a better performance..."

I'm sorry for being so blunt but there is no excuse to not play better. I believe in this team but I don't want to hear any of the "hopefully" stuff. Rise to the occasion and take care of business.

https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/status/1059563467672350720
https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/status/1059564082733432833

[EddieCabot]

I honestly think that playing our bigs against this team for more than a few minutes is a "no win."   

We would be better served not using Derek, Ryan, and Markus simply because they have too much length for this team and won't have any shots contested.  We will learn nothing.

This team needs to learn to play together and it needs all the pieces (including the bigs) to gain experience together. IMO, they should play this like any normal opponent early on, but they should beat them to a pulp by the end 1st half which will allow for experimentation in the 2nd half.

I hope it plays out like you predict.  After a competitive closed scrimmage and competitive exhibition game, the team hasn't really had a chance to experiment much.  Having a chance to try a bunch of different combinations and different types of defenses would be really helpful in preparing the team for the Myrtle Beach tourney.

[VU2014]

Is it just me or did the exhibition performance take some excitement out of the balloon from fans? Just getting a sense over social media the season opener enthusiasm just isn't there right now. Maybe it's just me.

[VULB#62]

Perhaps a good barometer is the lack of furious postings today to this thread less than 4 hours out ?

[78crusader]

Election night will take away much enthusiasm/interest from tonight's game.

Paul

[crusadermoe]

Certainly true for me.   Hoping to see some sad faces on many of the networks by 9 p.m. 

Regardless of your side of the fence, it seems the polls are now useless and therefore the TV drama escalates.

No one answers stranger phone numbers anymore or has landlines.  Some polls could not get a sample size after 10,000 calls to a House  member's district.  I have to wonder if these companies are hedging against that with their suspicious number of dead ties and toss ups.

[wh]

I want to stop seeing us run every offensive set through the 5. Derrik and Mileek both take too much time setting up and clearing space for an entry pass, take too much time backing down their opponent once they get the ball, giving other defenders all the time in the world to slide over and stop them in their tracks. By the time they pass it back out, there's 8 or 9 seconds left and invariably someone ends up forcing a shot from somewhere. Remember the MJ-led Bulls. Feed it inside to Cartwright on the first trip down the court, and never feed him in the low post the rest of the game. This team's offensive strength is not now or ever will be playing inside out. Our stars are perimeter/slashers. Give them the ball and put them in a position to score as much as possible. Tell the bigs to crash the boards, get some freaking offensive rebounds, and get some garbage 2nd chance points. If they can't/won't do that (Derrik), put them as far as possible on the end of the bench. BTW whichever reporter (Osipoff maybe) said one of the few encouraging things from the exhibition game was Derrik on offense or some such thing must have been following the game on live stats. They could not possibly have been there in person.