Game #9. Valpo @ Central Michigan 12/6/23 at 6pm CST When the Chips are down

[valpotx]

Loved the last 10 minutes, absolutely hated the first 30 minutes.  I don't mind the missed shots, but it was the bone-headed turnovers in the first half that get me riled up.  The lazy passes, Palm traveling when no one was within 10 feet of him to an open dunk (I get that he was surprised, but come on!), trying to throw the ball through people, etc.  Sepp was a calming presence, and might be a sign that we need to play small with him and Ajiboye, versus any more significant minutes for Palm.  I had high hopes for Palm going into this season, but he just looks lost playing defense.  We don't need him for offense, we need him for defense and rebounds, and he isn't doing either.  Kudos to Darius.  That dude couldn't shoot at all the previous 2 seasons, but he is displaying a lot of confidence, and we need that from someone other than Stafford.  Stafford scares the crap out of me, as he harkens back to our days of playing against Helms/Oakland, Watson/UMKC, and several others in the old Mid-Con.  These were teams that could surprise you if that one dude goes off, but were otherwise harmless when the star was off.  We are that team right now, until he gets more support.

[historyman]

Excellent comeback. Turned a potential blowout loss into a positive learning experience. Nice to see Roger shakeup the lineup and the new guys deliver.

W. Michigan looked gassed down the stretch.

Considering the Broncos lost to Notre Dame last night in South Bend 86-65 it's no wonder they looked gassed down the stretch.

[historyman]

Beacons  69


Central Michigan  74

Predicted 5 point loss, was 4 point loss. Still have much work but I do think we'll get there. At one point Coach Powell challenged the end of his bench to pick up the team on the floor which was starting a comeback. I was a little surprised he spent a whole time out individually challenging each man on the end of the bench.

[historyman]

Hopefully Darius is okay. Randomly noticed it looked like his last name was missing a letter on the back of his jersey "DeVEIRO". Unless I'm seeing things

Good eye, you were correct. Hopefully it gets corrected. Or did it happen when Harding plastered Darius to the floor?

https://cmuchippewas.com/galleries/mens-basketball/cmu-mens-basketball-vs-valparaiso/cmu-mens-basketball-vs-valpara/2210/106950

[historyman]

Men's Basketball Surges to 71-67 Win Over Valparaiso - Central Michigan University Athletics (cmuchippewas.com)
Central Michigan outrebounded Valparaiso 44-36 and grabbed a season-best 18 offensive rebounds. The Chippewas also outscored Valpo 34-22 in the paint and converted nine 3-pointers


We have got to make up this rebounding difference!!!!!

[vu72]

So now we are turning to  a walk-on to shake things up?  Wow!  That  looked like a Lottich coached team till late in the second half. Turnovers, sloppy passes and rebounding? What's a rebound?  Man, we have a lot of stuff to work on.

[Valpofamfan]

To be fair we don't have a deep bench and while others were not playing great Sciarroni was on the court excited to play and was pretty active on defense; that's better for me than a player who is just going through the motions and looking a bit flat/lost

[justducky]

To be fair we don't have a deep bench and while others were not playing great Sciarroni was on the court excited to play and was pretty active on defense;

He may have been active on defense but I double checked the stat sheet and didn't find any interceptions or solo tackles.

[AB]

10-13 wins is about right with this team. Road wins will be elusive, as you would expect with a young team and a lacking of a consistent interior presence. Lottich had a core of 3 older players the last few years, that can't be said for this team. Expect more nights like last night. This season, will be a few surprise wins followed by a few head scratching losses. The best comp in my mind is Indiana State. Schertz was a winner at Lincoln Memorial, now they are in year three. Each year, steady improvement for the Trees. You can see where Powell is headed, getting all his players in here, establishing his system, getting a year experience underneath your belt for the players he has. Always going to be transfers, but you would like to think Powell keeps his core group to return for next year! This year, bumpy Expect Valpo to take a leap next year.

[David81]

Growing pains with some positive signs amid the disappointing result.

It was an impressive comeback that just fell short. Perhaps they'll be winning these games by the end of the season.

The bench is thin, but the three guys who got good minutes -- Weatherspoon, Ajiboye, and Sepp -- all produced. And they're all young. By next year this team could have a combination of young, experienced talent, promising newcomers, and a lot more genuine, playable depth.

[VULB#62]

Right now, IMO, the one thing we lack is a deterrent in the paint. I've seen too many easy layups off of penetration so far and seldom anyone to challenge easy back doors.

Part of it is we don't have a  Vashil 2.0.  Coop doesn't have the bulk for it and is better moving around outside the paint (like AP used to do).  And AP had the benefit of Vashil inside both on D and O.  Jerome was never developed for that role last year (just discarded IMO) and needs further work but might fit the role wih more work (hey, it took Vashil a couple of years to become VASHIL).  Ola is more of a 4 than a 5. And Lual has been out and is a total unknown so far.

IF/when.... we get these four sorted out, it could mean a few more conference late season wins and, by Arch Madness, we could surprise a few folks. 

[JD24]

Is Williamson hurt since he didn't get in.

[VULB#62]

Is Williamson hurt since he didn't get in.

Never made the trip. Flu I think. Cuddah used him.