Well I started the UNLV thread and got results. Lets try it again.
I always try to watch every future opponent but Texas A&M has eluded me. Did any of you catch one or more of their games? If so please comment.
You guys may not believe this, but they're even worse on the defensive glass (338th) than Valpo (295th). The problem for the Crusaders is that they are really good at gathering their own misses. Their offense is mostly reliant on offensive rebounding and getting to the foul line.
Valpo should be able to pack things in defensively, as they're a really bad 3 point shooting team (26.6% as a team), and because of that they don't even attempt many of them. Offensively, Valpo is going to have to take care of the ball and try to take advantage of the Aggies' propensity to foul.
It is a road game. Valpo will play well and probably pull off the win. That win will buy the team and coaches a little breathing room which will either grow or come crashing down on them after they play PNW.
Trying to predict how this team will perform is like.....
First Vegas odds show A&M as 9 point favorites.
Just looked at their roster. Not packed with highly regarded guys. Plenty of size. My guess is the place will be half full, not intimidating at all. Folks in Texas are football people. Basketball is an after thought at most. Mid-week, non-big name opponent, small crowd. Great chance for a name win, if only we can hit the broad side of a barn. :(
....and put back the misses.
Quote from: vu72 on December 18, 2018, 04:23:45 PM
Mid-week, non-big name opponent, small crowd.
A&M is trying to boost their crowd with the students out of town for holidays. Our game with the Aggies is part of a doubleheader; their women play Southern Cal in the first game. All adults get admission to both games for $5 and kids get in for $3.
https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/1075117246794612736
https://twitter.com/TheReal_MG3/status/1075226363303550981
Uninformed Question: Why isn't Marcus startng and playing more minutes?
He can hit the three consistently
He rebounds with enthusiasm.
He is emotional and lives BB.
He can defend and has the blocked shots to show that.
His excitement is contagious.
I don't get the "he's better off the bench" arguement. You put the producers on the court as much as you can to secure wins.
Well, who should sit? How about Bakari coming off the bench? Nah, the lineup is set and that ain't gonna change.
I actually think Bakari would do well off the bench right now.
https://twitter.com/aggiembk/status/1075120349853966338
Starting lineup is locked lolbut why????
Marcus for sure needs more PT. Hands down. Deserves to start.
Agree 100%. Start Marcus for Bakari. Enough said!
I was on the Markus off the bench team at the start of the season...he probably needs to start. Bakari hasn't put it together yet, with the exception of one game. Whether Bakari's poor play offensively (and dare I say defensively) is due to injury recovery or something else is kind've irrelevant.
We need Markus' energy, strength, and tenacity at the start of the game.
At 6-6 with great leaping ability, Marcus, would be an additional asset on the boards big-time.
Minutes FG% 3PT% FT% ORB DRB TRBs BLK STL PTS
Bakari 345 .353 .302 .792 5 23 28 1 8 10.9/g
Marcus 251 .545 .429 .727 17 22 39 4 8 10.2/g
Marcus has played 94 fewer minutes (2.25 full games) than Bakari yet matches Bakari's production.
Nope - can't mix it up. No way. Gotta trust the process 😂
Quote from: VU2010 on December 19, 2018, 03:37:20 PM
Nope - can't mix it up. No way. Gotta trust the process 😂
Except when it comes to Mileek!
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 18, 2018, 10:10:37 PM
Uninformed Question: Why isn't Marcus startng and playing more minutes?
He can hit the three consistently
He rebounds with enthusiasm.
He is emotional and lives BB.
He can defend and has the blocked shots to show that.
His excitement is contagious.
I don't get the "he's better off the bench" arguement. You put the producers on the court as much as you can to secure wins.
Well, who should sit? How about Bakari coming off the bench? Nah, the lineup is set and that ain't gonna change.
I've been asking this since last year. I don't think he's ever going to be a primary facilitator on offense, but getting stuck with the 2nd unit hides his skills. Without a decent facilitators, he's often stuck standing around on offense. I wish they'd feature him more on offense, with more backdoor cuts and movement. I think many of us were looking for him to have a breakout year, but it doesn't seem like he's been given the opportunity.
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 19, 2018, 03:07:16 PM
At 6-6 with great leaping ability, Marcus, would be an additional asset on the boards big-time.
Minutes FG% 3PT% FT% ORB DRB TRBs BLK STL PTS
Bakari 345 .353 .302 .792 5 23 28 1 8 10.9/g
Marcus 251 .545 .429 .727 17 22 39 4 8 10.2/g
Marcus has played 94 fewer minutes (2.25 full games) than Bakari yet matches Bakari's production.
We all love Golder, but he can't dribble and facilitate. To compare Bakari to Golder doesn't work in my view. Two total different "asks" but interesting stats at the least.
Facillitator? This kid is one of the players you should be FACILITATING! A3uge said it. Find ways to use his motor and his unique skill set. He doesn't have be a dribbler to make a cut off a screen and take an alley oop to the hole.
We have lost 2 or 3 games already because Bakari couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, yet continued to shoot and shoot. Moreover, if he were really a distributor, he wouldn't be taking more shots than anyone else on the team in most games. He isn't a PG this year; he's a SHOOTING guard.
Quote from: wh on December 19, 2018, 06:44:20 PM
We have lost 2 or 3 games already because Bakari couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, yet continued to shoot and shoot. Moreover, if he were really a distributor, he wouldn't be taking more shots than anyone else on the team in most games. He isn't a PG this year; he's a SHOOTING guard.
I'm not sure what is up with his shot this season. Maybe the offseason surgery has affected his shot mechanics. It's been a very disappointing season from Bakari thus far.
The first 5-10 minutes will prove to me if this team has "it" tonight. If they don't bring the effort we have some very real issues...
Guess who are the starters. Yup, same old, same old.
The OOC schedule is set up to do two things that might onflict, but are essential.
1) Experiment with line up combinations.
2) Find the best core unit for the MVC schedule.
Experiment 1: Result - Mileek is not ready
Experiment 2: Result - Wait. Is there a #2?
In my mind #2 should have been try starting Marcus dammit.
Anybody having trouble seeing the game?
Evelyn is killing us early.
Where is Marcus?
Is Evelyn the same player as last year? :crazy:
Quote from: oklahomamick on December 19, 2018, 07:42:38 PMIs Evelyn the same player as last year? :crazy:
Not even close and it's very worrisome.
Yep... :'(
Quote from: VU2014 on December 19, 2018, 07:28:16 PM
The first 5-10 minutes will prove to me if this team has "it" tonight. If they don't bring the effort we have some very real issues...
If you're watching this game right now, you're laughing out loud. Literally everything we've been mentioning is happening. No defensive adjustments. Lacidasical. Half court offense is terrible. No rebounding. Sloppy turnovers. AND after making his first 3, a BUNCH of early bricks!!!! Horrible.
At least our uniforms are clean - with all that laundry we're doing. Team has SERIOUSLY regressed. Have a hard time believing they forgot how to play and became worse defenders and shooters. So, what gives?
8:32 left in the first half and we have 7 points?!?
I think this ship is taking on water...
This team is embarrassing.
embarrassingly brutal.
At 12 minutes in we are really locked in and killing their butts. NOT.
Wait. That's not the right game. 10:07 and we are down at 7-22.
I personally admire Matt greatly, but this team is not coached properly to deal with D-I opposition.
Build on tough defense, stop their scorers, get your points off of defensive stops.
This team is in deep trouble -- and I can't even get the video feed.
I'm starting to feel bad for the players
I hate to say it but I am on the verge of finding something else to do with my time tonight. I can't take this again after what I saw Monday. Not ready. Again. I now count at least 5 times in the past season and a half (Missouri State Purdue Northwestern Ball State and tonight and I'm sure I'm missing a few) where the team simply didn't show up and has gotten blown out. Lottich can recruit but he can't motivate. My patience is getting very thin. I'm tired of seeing Valpo get embarrassed and being told a bunch of generalities about trusting the process. A process implies forward movement and I see none. Forget waiting until next year we may have to cut bait much sooner on Coach Take-the L. MLB can't be watching this and be happy with what he's seeing. We'd better come out and crush it in conference play.
I feel your frustration. ML not going to cut Lottich. The question is how long is his contract?
Freeman can play!
Do you guys remember when we used to be good? That was fun
This is absolutely brutal on all levels
Quote from: VU2014 on December 19, 2018, 04:46:38 PM
I don't think I can ever remember a stretch of time in my fandom of this program when morale across the fan-base & student body has been so low.
What he said! :(
They aren't even running, and are jogging back. I challenge their testicular fortitude at this point...
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 19, 2018, 07:58:12 PMI can't even get the video feed.
Me too but probably not a big loss given the situation. We could make national news via a fall on your face performance. This could break their confidence for the entire season and then, if we finish in the bottom two, Whether or not Matt is the guy, needs to be called into question.
I was concerned we wouldn't get to 18 in the half! Whew!
Average recruit ranking be damned. We don't even look like we belong in D1 at this point.
Missed the first half and just tuned in. Someone please tell me the team missed the plane and A&M is playing a pick up team composed of managers, cheerleaders, and tall guys plucked out of the stands. I mean really, Valpo couldn't have scored only 18 in the entire first half could they? I hope this is a pay game so we get something out of it.
Tell me again how much talent this team has.
Or is it the coaching?
Enough with the stand around the arc offense. Start Mileek at the 4 with a more traditional look. One possession Mileek had his man PINNED big time and Fazekas just looked at him like he had never seen that before. At least Mileek looked like he had some energy and his size matches better with the thicker Texas A&M athletes.
At least the gold ties are back...
Smits at the 5 with Malik at the 4. Fazekas at the 3 (he can't rebound anyway) Freeman at the 2 and Lavender at the point.
Coaching, KY. Matt wasn't ready to move off Bryce's base
Quote from: vu72 on December 19, 2018, 08:15:02 PM
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 19, 2018, 07:58:12 PMI can't even get the video feed.
Me too but probably not a big loss given the situation. We could make national news via a fall on your face performance. This could break their confidence for the entire season and then, if we finish in the bottom two, Whether or not Matt is the guy, needs to be called into question.
I was concerned we wouldn't get to 18 in the half! Whew!
5 of which came in 4 minutes from McMillan, the last guy off the bench. The entire rest of the team scored 13 freaking points!!! How can that even happen?
Random statistical outcomes. Pure and simple.
It's coaching.....He wasn't ready. You can tell by the lack of movement on offense. You can tell because after timeouts we never have a good look at the basket. That's coaching.
Matt might be good down the road but clearly he needed more time behind some good coaching.
Quote from: VU2014 on December 19, 2018, 07:28:16 PM
The first 5-10 minutes will prove to me if this team has "it" tonight. If they don't bring the effort we have some very real issues...
Well.......................maybe they should find a bus to drive this team home. They don't deserve an airplane ride.
I am so :censored: tired of Evelyn acting like he has never committed a foul in his life.
Matt is a nice guy, but he is not a coaching presence. We need a competent PRESENCE as a head coach who demands performance. We are not pulling in graet recruits going forward. Our roster is cockeyed with regard to a progressive plan for the future.
.
Idk who could argue this program hasn't continually regressed. I still remember when Bryce left and ML had the press conference. We were all hopelessly optimistic, despite some players not even showing up to his press conference. Since then - other than Peters and company hiding the faults - we've regressed further and further. Truly amazing. Like the Milwaukee game when we couldn't hardly score in double digits in the first half and blamed it on not getting enough time on the court or when we got blown away by Illinois ... I still go back to the first 8 games of last year. How'd we go undefeated and then just slip away into mediocrity (at best) ever since?
Where is Mileek?
Well, I've seen enough for tonight. Our program is in trouble. Heck, I'd argue the university itself is in the same position. Things are in a bad place right now.
Hooray we got to 40 with 6:33 to go!
Could we possibly make 50 buy the end of the game?
Answer - No, no we cannot.
For maybe the first time ever, I am turning the game off with 4 to go. Can't take it any longer. We are in deep $hit.
Quote from: VU2010 on December 19, 2018, 08:52:30 PMIdk who could argue this program hasn't continually regressed. I still remember when Bryce left and ML had the press conference. We were all hopelessly optimistic, despite some players not even showing up to his press conference. Since then - other than Peters and company hiding the faults - we've regressed further and further. Truly amazing. Like the Milwaukee game when we couldn't hardly score in double digits in the first half and blamed it on not getting enough time on the court or when we got blown away by Illinois ... I still go back to the first 8 games of last year. How'd we go undefeated and then just slip away into mediocrity (at best) ever since?
Remember the big puff up campaign during that start? It was embarrassing.
Wow, can we make more dumba$$ passes? Great job, Bakari...
Shooting 40% to A&M's 62%. 33% field goals. 15% from 3. Only made 4 shots not in the paint! 4!!! We seriously might have a game on our hands - especially since it's at home - when PNW comes into town ... if we look like this ...
Coach really putting a lot of trust in bakari
Vegas has the spread at valpo plus 11
Gotta bench bakari, he has proven he can't shoot his way out of this slump in a game.
Go figure he let Mileek play the power forward and he played really pretty well, crazy.
Can anyone on this team shoot the ball? Anyone? Sure hope they all get jumpers under the Christmas tree this year.
Someone needs to find a combination of five players who don't look like they were haphazardly place on the floor together without ever having met.
Is Nick Nolte available?
[tweet]1075594240644780032[/tweet]
Observation - A&M is not really a good team. We are just a really bad team. I don't know if it's the players or the coaches, but this team is pretty bad right now. Two of Brokof's teams would have won tonight. Two maybe three of Peter's teams would have won tonight. This year's team got smoked two games in a row, including a blowout tonight against a team a decent Valpo team should have beat.
I'm glad I missed the first half. I'm sorry I watched the second half.
At least now I won't worry if I have to miss games in the future because my expectations are so low that I don't think I'll be missing much.
With 4 mins left and 24 its down Valpo called a time out. Matt had a secret plan ??? LET'S GET ON THE BUS :lol:
I don't recognize these guys. I want our February team back. At least back then we were fighting, scratching and clawing for respectability. I think the whole bunch needs to take an anger >:( mismanagement class. The coaching staff should maybe have to take it twice.
The AP pass down is done. We have to do this without him. We just don't know that yet.
Since the first game on the Homer Drew court, Bakari has shown he will turn over more than he will produce Matt, please use him in reserve or just keep him from killing us.
Quote from: nkvu on December 19, 2018, 09:36:17 PM
Observation - A&M is not really a good team. We are just a really bad team. I don't know if it's the players or the coaches, but this team is pretty bad right now. Two of Brokof's teams would have won tonight. Two maybe three of Peter's teams would have won tonight. This year's team got smoked two games in a row, including a blowout tonight against a team a decent Valpo team should have beat.
I'm glad I missed the first half. I'm sorry I watched the second half.
At least now I won't worry if I have to miss games in the future because my expectations are so low that I don't think I'll be missing much.
I'd concur, at least in watching this game that it wasn't that A&M was playing well, but Valpo was just so bad. The short turnaround and having to fly all the way to Texas likely was a reason for part of the reason why their shooting was so poor. I actually thought the defensive strategy and going to a zone in the 2nd half was pretty good, but A&M just hit enough threes to keep Valpo at bay and then eventually went on a run that put the game completely out of reach.
The team does look really tired out there. Not a lot of energy in an environment that was pretty ripe for the taking. I don't know if this is all on the coaching staff, but this team looks like it could use a 10 day break to try and figure things out.
I hope Freeman doesn't get frustrated and leave. I suspect if things continue Smits will must likely graduate and leave
I didn't watch the game. Just saw clips on ESPN and read everyone's comments. I'm glad I didn't watch. This team has become hard, if not unbearable, to watch and I haven't missed many games over the years. Between the law school closing and the poor basketball performance, it's been pretty rough. Nothing surprises me anymore.
Quote from: oklahomamick on December 19, 2018, 09:54:23 PM
I hope Freeman doesn't get frustrated and leave. I suspect if things continue Smits will must likely graduate and leave
The way both played tonight I'm not sure who would want them. ::)
Quote from: justducky on December 19, 2018, 10:15:24 PM
Quote from: oklahomamick on December 19, 2018, 09:54:23 PM
I hope Freeman doesn't get frustrated and leave. I suspect if things continue Smits will must likely graduate and leave
The way both played tonight I'm not sure who would want them. ::)
Freeman has shown a lot of grit and determination already this year. I could see a number of P5 clubs wanting him. I could almost see him as a go to type player by his senior year. A 5th year Senior Smits - well there are probably some P5 teams that would take a flyer on him just because of his height, but they would probably want him in early so he could get some good big man coaching to get him where he could play 10 to 15 minutes in a backup roll. He's a guy who might have benefited from going P5 from the beginning so he could have gotten good big man coaching and the whoopings from upper classmen that just maybe would have shown him what he needed to do to be a half decent 5.
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1075614099889897472
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1075614411702919168
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1075614704746287104
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1075615812411645952
Coach Lottich sounds like a broken record in those quotes. either we don't have the proper talent or roster construction to put out a winning product or the "scheme" and coaching is seriously flawed. Or maybe this teams confidence is in the gutter. I'm not sure what it is, but a lot of the blame has to be laid at the feet of the coach.
Ok coach. What we have seen so far is the team is overall a lousy shooting team. Yes in the game or two where they shoot well they are competative, even good. So what are you going to do about the other 80% of the time when our shooting sucks! Mail it in and lose or figure out a way to win. Haven't seen much of that yet. You can't continue to play a 1- 4 offense when the 4 can't hit the water from the end of a pier, can you? Oh wait, the process (whatever that is) will solve everything. Sorry to sound so negative.
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1075592646415003648
Oh yeah... That game... Another offensive masterpiece by Lottich.
"The shots weren't falling. I don't think we took bad shots." When you have to say this every game you're taking bad shots.
Bakari is not a three point shooter right now. He needs to attack the basket more. If he doesn't MVC teams are just going to zone us and dare us to beat them from deep which we can't do. Maybe getting some buckets and drawing some fouls early will get him into a rhythm that allows him to shoot better late.
We need to see more movement without the ball.
Just please no more getting punked at home. It's a bad look and causes student support\fan support\attendance issues.
Don't like losing either....I only ask that our offense starts moving and getmooen shots. If fazekas is our shooter than set something ups. How many times did rowdy and Alec have open shots? And the other team knew to guard them tight. Coach drew up plays for them that worked.
Not enough Mileek: McMillan provides spark, but cold-shooting Valparaiso falls to Texas A&M
Steve Millar
Post-Tribune
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-spt-mens-basketball-valparaiso-texas-am-st-1220-story.html
UPDATE: Crusaders fall behind early in road loss to Texas A&M
Pauo Oren Times Correspondent
Dec 19, 2018
https://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/update-crusaders-fall-behind-early-in-road-loss-to-texas/article_32086345-631a-5e3e-9cf0-8b9f697bc0f7.html
I don't blame them should there be another place that's a better fit. Beyond a broken record. More like a song stuck on replay that I keep hearing over and over and over and over again. Just wanna click onto the next song.
Quote from: VU2014 on December 20, 2018, 04:11:53 PMNot enough Mileek: McMillan provides spark, but cold-shooting Valparaiso falls to Texas A&M
Steve Millar
Post-Tribune
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-spt-mens-basketball-valparaiso-texas-am-st-1220-story.html
Interesting quote from this article "Mileek has good energy," Valparaiso coach Matt Lottich said. "He has competitiveness. He was able to match a little bit of Texas A&M's physicality and athleticism." I try not to criticize coaching too much because in general coaches have a reason for doing what they think is the right thing. I can't imagine that there wasn't someone on the staff that said it might be a good idea to start Mileek in the second half or at least try to get him in the game early in the half. Maybe the decent start to the half prevented Mileek's early return, I don't know. What I do know is that this team and offense were design for the 3 point shot, the first six or seven players are physically small with the exception of Jay and Derrik and they do not really play like "big" players. Essentially what we have is a bunch of 2's and 3's standing around the 3 point arc who are very streaky shooters. I would seriously look at changing things up and trying to go to a less perimeter based offense.
My other big issue is attitude. Went to the Ball State game with a former college coach and current TV color commentator who follows Valpo pretty closely, as we were leaving he said that he didn't think this team liked each other very much because of the way they interacted, he thought it was very un-Valpo like compared with the Broekhoff and Peters era teams. He gave several examples of situations, where in the past, teammates would have come to the assistance of a fellow player and that did not happen or was very delayed, "that never happened in the past" was his comment. I am personally tired of the reactions of disbelief after a foul or the complaints when a shot is missed and the call does not go their way. This diminishes the game and is disrespectful to the referees and the opponents. There are ways to voice your difference of opinion, but parading around with your mouth agape in complete disbelief is not one of them. If players don't think this can affect the way a game is called they are very naive. Matt is right when he talks about a lack of toughness... I would also say there is a lack of intensity.
From what i've heard is the the team does like each other. They just don't seem to know how to push each other. They play well together and they fall apart together. This team really really really needs a leader on the floor to get them through. Honestly this team really hasn't had that in a long time. Jubril was probably the best one and he missed half or more of this final season. Max and Tevonn never were vocal leaders and I've heard that last year Joe Burton didn't have a great attitude that rubbed off on the teammates.
There seems to be a confusion as to why their off campus fun and positivity when things are going well in practice isn't translating on the court. I think that there needs to be a focus on team development and healthy team building
Jubril was a great leader and great player. Glad he was a crusader.
However Lexus was the leader of that class. We also had carter who was a good leader. But Lexus was the coach on the floor.
Quote from: oklahomamick on December 21, 2018, 11:09:43 AM
Jubril was a great leader and great player. Glad he was a crusader.
However Lexus was the leader of that class. We also had carter who was a good leader. But Lexus was the coach on the floor.
I think you are fantasizing about a guy that played maybe 30 games in 4-years as a Crusader, no? I've noticed many of us talked about him (during his Boise year) as if he would've been the savior of our program. I strongly disagree on his leadership skills because he had no consistency without injury...
If Lexus didn't commit to valpo genre is no jubril or Alec. There was a union street hoops on that. Lexus was a good general on the floor.
Quote from: oklahomamick on December 21, 2018, 03:35:09 PM
If Lexus didn't commit to valpo genre is no jubril or Alec. There was a union street hoops on that. Lexus was a good general on the floor.
I know of the podcast / story you speak, but Lexus is only responsible for his own college selection. That's simply over blown media speculation "no Lexus, no AP or Jubril"....don't buy it for one second.
Texas Southern 88
Texas A&M 73
Valpo should have stayed in Houston to play the Tigers :banghead:
Quote from: VALPO LI on December 29, 2018, 10:38:53 PM
Texas Southern 88
Texas A&M 73
Valpo should have stayed in Houston to play the Tigers :banghead:
Yes it's a little frustrating. A&M may not have had it tonight. I think if Valpo was "on" and A&M was having an off night we may have been able beat them.
Also, welcome to the message board!