Time to start another string. We are 7-2 as of tonight. We're battle tested. ISU is 3-3 as of tonight.
Wins:
Wyoming
Norfolk State
Hofstra
Losses:
IUPUI
Tulsa
EIU
They play Butler on Saturday and then Valpo this coming Wednesday.
Based on our record against Murray and Belmont these past couple of years we'd be a decent player in the OVC. We've played some competitive games against the MVC teams as well. Will this game against Indiana State (and later Missouri State) give us a barometer of where we would be if we got the bid instead of the Loyola freaking Ramblers? Just throwing a little gasoline on the fire for fun.
We also beat Eastern Kentucky a few times. We would OWN the OVC...
Good to win the ugly games. We need to beat Indiana State, as the MVC road games are always tough due to the refs ALWAYS giving the MVC team the calls on their home floor. It would look terrible if we lose to them, and IUPUI already beat them.
Valpo 71
Indiana State 64
Anyone going to the Haute/stinky town on a Wednesday night? You could be back in Valpo just after midnight CT. ISU will not have a big crowd on a Wed and a good showing from NWI might sway the refs slightly.
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 03, 2015, 11:24:48 PM
We've played some competitive games against the MVC teams as well. Will this game against Indiana State (and later Missouri State) give us a barometer of where we would be if we got the bid instead of the Loyola freaking Ramblers? Just throwing a little gasoline on the fire for fun.
How close are these guys to the bottom of the MVC?
I expect a significant challenge, on the road. But I expect tougher tests at Milwaukee and at Oakland. Perhaps also in the Milwaukee and Oakland games at the ARC.
That said, I am pleased to hear it begins a four-year series with Indiana State.
http://m.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/inside-vu-sports/breaking-down-valparaiso-vs-belmont/article_136f01fe-9862-11e5-b42a-cb96923fbbc5.html (http://m.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/inside-vu-sports/breaking-down-valparaiso-vs-belmont/article_136f01fe-9862-11e5-b42a-cb96923fbbc5.html)
Looks like the Butler game is on FS1.
Are all of IN state's home games on ESPN3? Looks like at least some of them are.
Hopefully grinding out the big Belmont win last night will create a spark for our guys. I want to see some improvement these last couple non conference games to have momentum going into conference. Hopefully we can get Tevonn back for this one, I haven't seen anything official on him but from who I talked to the staff was hoping to have him back last night. He's such an explosive athlete he can make plays that others on this team can't and his absence has been evident the past two games.
Quote from: valpo4life on December 04, 2015, 10:10:33 AMHopefully we can get Tevonn back for this one, I haven't seen anything official on him but from who I talked to the staff was hoping to have him back last night. He's such an explosive athlete he can make plays that others on this team can't and his absence has been evident the past two games.
It is interesting to note that with Tevonn out only 4 minutes have been played by Max in the last 3 games. The reason we have been able to do this is because EVN has only 5 turnovers in 78 minutes against OSU, Ball St, and Belmont. It appears that EVN will remain our first choice backup point plus his fill in minutes at the 2, the 3, and the 4.
As the season progresses I do not expect Max or Lexus to remain invisible. EVN has played 30 min in each of the last 2 games but I would think the staff would prefer a 15 min limit for many of our less challenging opponents. Because they play so well together Tevonn's return could also help reintroduce Max to the rotation. I hope that Max and Lexus are waiting patiently because they should get their opportunities to play somewhere in the near future.
Quote from: agibson on December 04, 2015, 09:19:44 AM
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 03, 2015, 11:24:48 PM
We've played some competitive games against the MVC teams as well. Will this game against Indiana State (and later Missouri State) give us a barometer of where we would be if we got the bid instead of the Loyola freaking Ramblers? Just throwing a little gasoline on the fire for fun.
How close are these guys to the bottom of the MVC?
I expect a significant challenge, on the road. But I expect tougher tests at Milwaukee and at Oakland. Perhaps also in the Milwaukee and Oakland games at the ARC.
Lindy's had both teams in the middle of the pack pre-season (ISU 6th of 10 and MSU 7th of 10) DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell from ISU was picked first team all conference. He is a 6'5" 200# senior.
Here are the Sycamore's stats...
http://www.gosycamores.com/fls/15200//statistics/0809-mbb/SeasonStatsMBB.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=15200 (http://www.gosycamores.com/fls/15200//statistics/0809-mbb/SeasonStatsMBB.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=15200)
and here's the recap of their game with Eastern Illinois... who came into the game 0-4...
http://www.gosycamores.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210550007&DB_OEM_ID=15200 (http://www.gosycamores.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210550007&DB_OEM_ID=15200)
RPI (Warren Nolan) on their opponents:
Wins:
Wyoming 3-2 #126
Norfolk State 1-4 #262
Hofstra 4-2 #21 Nice win, other loss is to South Carolina, they beat Florida State at the Jam.
Losses:
IUPUI 1-6 #334 (Beat ISU Game #1...losses to: Marquette, NC State, Kennesaw St, So Alabama, Georgia State and Ball State.
Tulsa 5-2 #31
EIU 1-4 #259 (Losses to IU, Ball State, WIU and Green Bay... before beating Indiana State)
Butler is #37
Good to hear that we have a four year deal with ISU!
Valpo 67
ISU 56
Quote from: covufan on December 04, 2015, 12:01:22 PM
Good to hear that we have a four year deal with ISU!
Valpo 67
ISU 56
We should be playing them fairly regularly as our FCS scholarship game in FB as well (going back to when we competed with - and beat - them as a part of the old ICC).
Valpo gets healthy and finds it's offense.
79-61 winner!
Valpo needs to learn to be more offensive.
In their 3 losses so far ISU scored an average of 63.67 ppg; in their 3 wins they scored an average of 69 ppg.
Maybe Butler will shut them down a bit tomorrow, but they haven't experienced a D like ours yet. We've held Iona (58), URI (55), Oregon State (57) BSU (69) and Belmont (57) all under 70. And nationally ranked (now #15-#17) Oregon got only 73.
I'm with covufan......
ISU 54 (or less)
Valpo 67
Quote from: vu72 on December 04, 2015, 11:49:13 AMLindy's had both teams in the middle of the pack pre-season (ISU 6th of 10 and MSU 7th of 10) DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell from ISU was picked first team all conference. He is a 6'5" 200# senior.
Akoon-Purcell was picked preseason First Team All-MVC, but he plays for Illinois St, not Indiana St. The Sycamores had one guy, Brown, on the honorable mention list. I'm pretty sure he's a senior, but they also have last year's MVC Freshman of the Year (Scott), so it is a mix of veterans and talented young players who are picked to finish middle of the pack in the MVC.
Butler up on ISU 53-47 with 12:22 to go at Hinkle. Even if Butler pulls away, it says something about ISU's staying power to be within 6 this far into the game against a good Big East team on their court.
Butler finally pulled away for a 14-point (favored by 16). That said ISU basically played them even up for the first 30 minues.
Quote from: wh on December 05, 2015, 01:05:06 PM
Butler finally pulled away for a 14-point (favored by 16). That said ISU basically played them even up for the first 30 minues.
SIU-E played Butler straight up for a half. It was the only thing I could find to listen to on my forlorn drive back from Muncie ;)
Valparaiso's defense carries the day and their offense hits a few more shots.
Valpo 69
Indiana State 58
VU 72 ISU 67 a close win Take that Larry!!! :lol:
Looking at Indiana State's record a little bit.
It seems like, were they to beat us, we'd be the biggest scalp they've collected in a few years... and that's playing in a league where they get their chances at top-50 teams on their home court.
Of course, we were the biggest scalp that Ball State's collected in a decade or so, so that's no kind of insurance policy.
If they didn't have any big wins last year, they did knock of a decent (beat Green Bay in the NIT) Illinois State team a couple of times, and Loyola a couple of times.
They're used to playing quality MVC teams, and did come close on the road at Northern Iowa last year.
Loyola went on to smash Indiana State 81-53 in the first round of the MVC tourney last year. But, I guess Loyola was halfway decent last year, going on to _win_ the CBI. I know, the CBI, but still, it's five tournament wins in a row.
P.S. Hmmm... biggest scalp. Is that racist? Biggest... feather in their cap? Not sure what a better metaphor might be.
Consensus in the Indy Star Indiana round table
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/purdue/2015/12/04/state-hoops-iu-among-states-big-four/76753776/ (http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/purdue/2015/12/04/state-hoops-iu-among-states-big-four/76753776/)
seems to be "worse than Ball State, IPFW, better than IUPUI".
I know we are much more athletic now. Our upside is huge as shown vs Oregon State.
But..there is just something about early December games vs. in-state teams. Rationally I know we should win, but the Loss at Ball State wakes me up in a cold sweat.
My psyche is still scarred by the 50 to x? first half drubbing of Anti Nikilla and crew we received from Purdue in an Indy tourney.....2001? And we thought we were ascending.
I need more therapy.
Spread Valpo -8
RealTime RPI has us LOSING to ISU 75-74...
they also have us losing at Belmont, Cleveland State, Milwaukee and Green Bay... ALL by 1 point!
Quote from: talksalot on December 08, 2015, 09:12:38 PM
RealTime RPI has us LOSING to ISU 75-74...
they also have us losing at Belmont, Cleveland State, Milwaukee and Green Bay... ALL by 1 point!
Pessimistic! We've not given up 75 points this season. Even in a loss.
For another computer prediction, RPI Forecast gives us a 71% chance of beating Indiana State, with a 6.7 point spread.
Indiana State played Butler pretty close and has probably worked up its confidence to come out hungry in this game. I'm thinking Valpo comes out of this one with a win by 5-8 points and it is a fairly close throughout the game. Of course, I'd love to see the Crusaders win in a blow out, but I don't see that happening.
Using anything with RPI in the name as a predictor tool is absolutely asinine.
Quote from: vusupporter on December 09, 2015, 09:25:19 AM
Using anything with RPI in the name as a predictor tool is absolutely asinine.
Heh. I don't know if there's anyone out there who _actually_ uses RPI as the basis of predictions. RealTimeRPI has their own algorithm. RPIForecast uses Sagarin ratings as the base for predictions, etc.
For RPIForecast the goal is to _describe_ the RPI. For RealTimeRPI, near as I can tell, the predictions are just a nice feature tacked on to the RPI reporting service.
Quote from: agibson on December 09, 2015, 09:56:14 AM
Quote from: vusupporter on December 09, 2015, 09:25:19 AM
Using anything with RPI in the name as a predictor tool is absolutely asinine.
Heh. I don't know if there's anyone out there who _actually_ uses RPI as the basis of predictions. RealTimeRPI has their own algorithm. RPIForecast uses Sagarin ratings as the base for predictions, etc.
For RPIForecast the goal is to _describe_ the RPI. For RealTimeRPI, near as I can tell, the predictions are just a nice feature tacked on to the RPI reporting service.
Right - RPI forecast's predictions actually have nothing to do with RPI. Their score predictions come straight from Sagarins predictor.
The expected RPI (forecasted) uses the same Sagarin formula, but it stimulates an entire season 10,000 times.
heck, I just reported it here for Bulletin Board material for the team...
Quote from: talksalot on December 09, 2015, 11:27:28 AM
heck, I just reported it here for Bulletin Board material for the team...
It's interesting to see, at least. Makes you wonder if one model or the other is obviously better, when the results can be so divergent.
Without Tevonn: Valpo 65 I St. 61
With Tevonn: Valpo 73 I St. 59
Quote from: hailcrusaders on December 09, 2015, 12:41:01 PM
Without Tevonn: Valpo 65 I St. 61
With Tevonn: Valpo 73 I St. 59
Bryce's weekly video said that David continues to improve and that Tevonn had practiced and was a "game time" decision (read--he'll be playing) ;D
Quote from: vu72 on December 09, 2015, 12:54:21 PM
Bryce's weekly video said that David continues to improve and that Tevonn had practiced and was a "game time" decision (read--he'll be playing) ;D
I don't have the quote, but what I heard was along the lines of "had practiced a little".
My hunch is that, at most, they'll try to use this game to get Tevonn some game-intensity minutes. Maybe that happens when we have a big lead. _Maybe_ that happens earlier, and we see how he feels. We've seen this go both ways in recent memory, I think. Sometimes just a few minutes, sometimes a number large enough to surprise even the player.
But, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we don't see him on the court. I guess I'd be a little surprised if he doesn't dress.
[tweet]674730265151987712[/tweet]
I'm a little surprised. But not very.
Very nice facility. IN tax dollars at work. Looks like money well spent.
Rik Smits in the house.
Ok I realize we're spoiled with a pretty good announce crew and generally good crews in the conference. These guys are really bad. Ferdinandez?
Vashil is in foul trouble. Where have I heard that before?
Quote from: NativeCheesehead on December 09, 2015, 06:10:03 PM
Ok I realize we're spoiled with a pretty good announce crew and generally good crews in the conference. These guys are really bad. Ferdinandez?
Yeah these guys are awful.
Peters made the trip.
Love this new kid David Sarkira
Let's stop running the play where Carter dribbles into the lane and turns it over.
Yeah. And the matador defense can stop anytime after the 10-run we just gave up.
Quote from: NativeCheesehead on December 09, 2015, 06:10:03 PM
Ok I realize we're spoiled with a pretty good announce crew and generally good crews in the conference. These guys are really bad. Ferdinandez?
Or Sarkira (Skara). Awful
That was a bad foul call at the end of half.
Can't complain too much about a 10 point lead, but that was one of the ugliest halves I've seen in a while.
It may be just me but are the refs making some strange calls? I'm not going to say that all the calls are going against Valpo but the refs sure have missed a lot of calls and then inconsistently make calls that make you go 'huh?'
13-3 free throws advantage Indiana St. Vashil has shot all 3 of our free throws.
Has Peters shot a free throw yet? He's getting mugged every time down.
Quote from: covufan on December 09, 2015, 06:42:17 PM
Quote from: NativeCheesehead on December 09, 2015, 06:10:03 PM
Ok I realize we're spoiled with a pretty good announce crew and generally good crews in the conference. These guys are really bad. Ferdinandez?
Or Sarkira (Skara). Awful
How in the world do you get Sa-kar-uh out of S-K-A-R-A?
Peters has got to make shots.
We seem to be getting out rebounded on the defensive end.
Who is Nickels? Sakira? Ferhernandez?
Two questions for the forum:
1) We just can't get the offensivement movement we had vs. OSU again. Is Tevonn the entire difference because he is so strong to the hoop?
2) Why was our defense strong vs OSU and most others, but leaks like a sieve tonight so often?
NICE WIN... ANOTHER nice ROAD win... 69-63! PHEW is all I can say about that... enjoy the bus trip... hope EVic's wrist is OK...
I couldn't turn the ESPN(ot)3 broadcast off soon enough. They were just awful. Ask the sports info guy from Valpo for pronunciations but don't fake it.
Quote from: bbtds on December 09, 2015, 08:16:11 PM
I couldn't turn the ESPN(ot)3 broadcast off soon enough. They were just awful. Ask the sports info guy from Valpo for pronunciations but don't fake it.
Unprofessional. No preparation. Plain lazy. Shows a lack of respect. We need to remember that.
It sounded like they threw two undergrads out there.
It's pretty easy to be disappointed in the slim margin of the game, but I think it's more a reminder of how difficult it is for a mid-major, even a very good one, to win on the road against other mid-majors. The fact of life for good mid-majors is that, on the road, you'll get the best game from your opponent without them ever really being intimidated. Also, I think we're seeing how important Skara and Tevonn are.
I don't think that we should be disappointed. A win on the road is a win on the road :clap:. Especially with the big target that Valpo is right now, every team we play is going to give us their 110%.
One thing is for sure though: We do miss Tevonn... A LOT!
Quote from: ValpoFan on December 09, 2015, 10:06:52 PM
I don't think that we should be disappointed. A win on the road is a win on the road :clap:. Especially with the big target that Valpo is right now, every team we play is going to give us their 110%.
One thing is for sure though: We do miss Tevonn... A LOT!
That sounds suspiciously like what I said put through the sports-talk translator. ;)
General Impressions:
1. A road win is a road win. That being said, if this team is to eventually live up to the hype they have embraced, we need more offensive consistency. T Walk will help with that, but others need to step up as well.
2. Vashil needs to become a factor again. Yes, he continues to have trouble staying on the floor, and yes, he had 6 boards and 2 blocks tonight, but he seems to disappear for long stretches of time on both ends of the floor.
3. Really happy with what I saw from Darien tonight. Still hasn't found his jumper but is now starting to go to the basket rather than rely on a shot that just isn't there right now. Great aggresiveness.
4. We saw flashes of the type of impact player Skara can be late last season, and since his return he's becoming a versatile, consistent factor in every game. He'd be starting on a lot of other teams.
5. Shane seems lost. Two very poor defensive plays in key moments and a couple of turnovers trying to drive into two or three opponents. His talent is clearly as high as anyone on this team, but his head and roll seem up in the air right now.
6. This was looking like the Ball State game for awhile. Read where Alec said after that loss they wouldn't let something like that happen again. Like to hear that. Love to see it backed up. His shot wasn't great tonight but his will and determination really stand out in games like this.
7. Chicago State has one of the worst DI RPI rankings in the country. Blow them out.
8. Holy Heck those announcers were terrible. The fact that they were likely students is no excuse. I watch a lot of the ESPN3 games during the week and there are plenty of students calling the low-mid major games and the vast majority of them are actually pretty good. I believe it was students calling our women's game tonight and they did a very good job. Again, i realize we have a good announcer who has years of experience with our program and that spoils us a bit. But my goodness.....those two.......
(https://abullseyeview.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Target-Shakira-Exclusive-Album-1.jpg)
Sakira, Sakira.
Ooops! I'm busted ;D
They were not students and they said they didn't need help with pronunciations.
I prefer this....
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lRNfzuxtUP4E_gOLu75vdIxcp8sNnI1-zcCOXR7mvUjaxuUsjKR3CMtGvnDZB96MekEi1xY4eFXY7g7-bxwi6fvUyo2lDyGS4vfHaTVPx20Uc5hIXsxacC7sI6CeAg1m648G-aAKrbaqPFgEnRY1xTid8bOa4uKqTXXSCef-FG2aUQT1jF1YwKDDxdokn0W07IJIsIS4VKYeg3-scuAad3w7_9Fwfa3cjjgu78wuyAeo_MhgGJO8XzENM9PSsdGcAKbASiFgMvQ_uYL44XKZr_wSynXfjvRujs7S0I407FgjysZl_Wcfuc-bq4LXM4yUPoMIkl7WVvr-LsqIf08B39FM6FVCW03YVM9jcyTzAa3HgaYvFSqLUh_Kex49rIw7k1PD3HCw1Qdi1mL5O3b-qns82GMU-yXMhObppXbkf1TU2K1dSJsOLAzO-0mig7pG5i7SFdnbrLaC9y1oeCHR9KjeRoH-3SFzlXxiKDHqqBVKcaE81qHP4WtyUkoJINqFIITprWTNoMayzl2laSINFd2HWO1osUncvdgvFbmNh6P7Qf7DQTC_iAgC4hondjse4gcF=w709-h473-no)
Bryce's 102nd career win. Tied for second most in School history with Coach J. Christiansen 1929 - 1941... over 12 years.
His picture can be found in this archived TORCH article...
http://collections.valpo.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/torch/id/2683/rec/3 (http://collections.valpo.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/torch/id/2683/rec/3)
Other fun stories are on that front page... Enrollment was spiking at 500 with Lembke and Altruria Hall's filled to capacity in 1929.
The team went 4-11 in year one.scoring a total of 320 points on the YEAR... averaging 21.33 ppg.... lowest in school history.
Quote from: chef on December 10, 2015, 12:40:59 AM
They were not students and they said they didn't need help with pronunciations.
Wow! They were at least... pretty young? 25 or less? Or do my ears betray me?
They were "professionals"? And not students? Wow.
I came on here willing to defend their broadcast, assuming they were students. And I still think there were some commendable aspects. I thought their call and discussion was mostly fairly even-handed, say. Not to much of a home-team call. As a visiting fan, on a "televised" game, I appreciated that.
But, wow. There were also many things that were not good.
We have "won ugly" a lot this year. Which is fine for now, but "winning ugly" only works so long before you start getting burned (Ball State Game). I hope the return of Tevonn gets our offense flowing again.
The way we are playing now, I would say road loses to Belmont, Detroit, UWM, and Oakland are likely, as well as one "what the hell???" game.
Quote from: SanityLost17 on December 10, 2015, 09:30:48 AMWe have "won ugly" a lot this year. Which is fine for now, but "winning ugly" only works so long before you start getting burned (Ball State Game). I hope the return of Tevonn gets our offense flowing again. The way we are playing now, I would say road loses to Belmont, Detroit, UWM, and Oakland are likely, as well as one "what the hell???" game.
I'm with you. Looking at the schedule there is a 4 game stretch at the beginning of conference play where we are on the road against Oakland and Detroit then play UWM and a fast pace UWGB. Even though Oakland plays Michigan this is the game they circle on the schedule. 4 out of our first 5 conference games are against the top teams in the league.
Quote from: SanityLost17 on December 10, 2015, 09:30:48 AM
The way we are playing now, I would say road loses to Belmont, Detroit, UWM, and Oakland are likely, as well as one "what the hell???" game.
"Likely" as in "we'd be slight underdogs for each" maybe. I don't see us, even the team we saw at Ball State and ISU, dropping all four of those. Maybe two.
And, yes, hopefully Tevonn's able to get healthy and re-integrate. Sounds like it might be a while. SID Aaron was thinking maybe available for MO State. I'm not sure Bruce was even that optimistic.
Seems like we haven't quite found a flow as an offense. Or I've not figured out our identity, at least. Interesting flashes from people like Skara, Hammink, D Walker, E Vic, but maybe no coherent vision.
Quote from: SanityLost17 on December 10, 2015, 09:30:48 AM
We have "won ugly" a lot this year. Which is fine for now, but "winning ugly" only works so long before you start getting burned (Ball State Game). I hope the return of Tevonn gets our offense flowing again.
The way we are playing now, I would say road loses to Belmont, Detroit, UWM, and Oakland are likely, as well as one "what the hell???" game.
If we're complaining about our wins not being majestic enough, we're probably still in good shape. Entering conference play with only 2 or 3 losses is great, no matter what the schedule is. Even before the year began, it was likely Valpo would lose a few conference games, and I don't think seeing the last few games really changes anything.
Quote from: chef on December 10, 2015, 12:40:59 AM
They were not students and they said they didn't need help with pronunciations.
Quote from: agibson on December 10, 2015, 08:23:14 AM
Quote from: chef on December 10, 2015, 12:40:59 AM
They were not students and they said they didn't need help with pronunciations.
Wow! They were at least... pretty young? 25 or less? Or do my ears betray me?
They were "professionals"? And not students? Wow.
I came on here willing to defend their broadcast, assuming they were students. And I still think there were some commendable aspects. I thought their call and discussion was mostly fairly even-handed, say. Not to much of a home-team call. As a visiting fan, on a "televised" game, I appreciated that.
But, wow. There were also many things that were not good.
Color me shocked, too, agibson.
Positives: they only complained once about a foul against the home team. They had a minimal understanding of our team's strengths and weaknesses. Their delivery was fairly smooth.
Negatives: their analysis was very unsophisticated, and they did not do well cutting short their narratives when something exciting was happening. I've heard more knowledgeable analysis from our WBB announcers (yes I know you probably thought you'd never hear me say that).
I was prepared to give them a bit of a break since I assumed they were students, but if they're not, then saying they didn't need any help with pronunciations is the height of incompetence since they had no idea and kept inventing invisible letters. If they were paid for that gig, they should be ashamed of themselves.
Fortunately, someone on twitter reminded me that you could pause the TuneIn app and sync up WVUR with the picture, so that's what I did :) I watched it on replay this morning, so that's how I heard their pbp.
Quote from: historyman on December 09, 2015, 07:32:03 PMHow in the world do you get Sa-kar-uh out of S-K-A-R-A?
I think they were actually thinking of the psoriasis medication.
http://www.stelarainfo.com/ (http://www.stelarainfo.com/)
A few things the annoucers said:
You got to do what has got you here (when Indiana St. was down by about 8 with 4 minutes left).
He needs to be more decisive with his decision making.
A discussion with appx. 36 seconds left about Indiana St. fouling, down by two possessions (one announcer was adamant they didn't need to).
One of the announcers (the color commentator?) using like more than anyone should ever use like.
All of that said, Valpo did what they needed to do. Not pretty, but is it ever? Hoping we beat Chicago St. by about 25, although they have had a few close games recently (including against a mediocre BIG school in Illinois).
This team has regressed. If Tevonn's absence truly makes that big of a difference, then he's definitely co-MVP of this team during the first semester.
Quote from: atkins on December 10, 2015, 11:50:05 PM
This team has regressed. If Tevonn's absence truly makes that big of a difference, then he's definitely co-MVP of this team during the first semester.
I sense what you're getting at, but that feeling comes from the mistaken view that "they returned everybody" means they should have played the same, only better. The truth is, that while they returned everyone of consequence, it doesn't mean that there were no changes. There were additions that needed to be evaluated and integrated and injuries that needed to be a tended to that were bound to challenge last year's balance. Even one new player, especially a good one, can be disruptive. Hopefully it's temporary and eventually good, but in the mean time, if the disruption means one bad loss and handful of close contests but a better record, I'll take it.
Also, if you're implying that Tevonn may have been underrated by us last year, you may be right.
All of the parts of this team are not playing as well together as the team was at the end of last year yet. :crazy:
Quote from: Valpower on December 11, 2015, 12:11:59 AMAlso, if you're implying that Tevonn may have been underrated by us last year, you may be right.
I have seen enough to comfortably call us a top 35 team with Tevonn and the rest all healthy. Put him in street clothes and we may still be in the top 75. If any of the other key players then join Tevonn on the bench we drop well out of the top 100.
I don't even want to calculate our fall if we also lost Alec. :(
Quote from: Valpower on December 11, 2015, 12:11:59 AM
Also, if you're implying that Tevonn may have been underrated by us last year, you may be right.
Tevonn Walker was a stud last year. Watching his defensive positioning as a Freshman really surprised me, you rarely see a kid who plays so hard on both ends of the floor. He also comes up big in big games and seems to accept every challenge. Love this kid and hope he gets better soon because we are going to need him big time.
Just can't forget the slam over the 6-10 UWM guy. That was awesome
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 11, 2015, 09:31:19 PM
Just can't forget the slam over the 6-10 UWM guy. That was awesome
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NEVER4GET
Most of the reason for my post was I was there and it was a monster. Tape doesn't do it justice. TW's stock skyrocketed that day in my book. He is just such a steal. And a great kid.