PNW comes in at 4-8, 0-4 in conference on a 1-game winning streak. New to the d2 ranks. Mostly consists of Indiana HS grads, which is pretty cool.
Here's my questions:
1. what's the showing like? Competing vs college football playoff ...
2. Is there anything Valpo can do to garner some confidence heading into league play? If so, what?
3. Any chance this game is competitive?
4. What if PNW pulled the upset? Then what?
5. Do we come out flat? Mix things up with playing time and rotations? See a more energetic coaching staff and team?
PNW packs in a zone and lets Valpo shoot 3s all night. Valpo cooperates and goes 4-47 from the arc. PNW by 7....
Just kidding, with all our laundry done Valpo is ready to take care of business. 95-47 Valpo Victory
Quote from: VU2010 on December 19, 2018, 09:56:55 PM1. what's the showing like? Competing vs college football playoff ...
You couldn't hire me to show up.
I don't understand these laundry jokes.
1. Who cares.
2. Yes. Win by 50.
3. God I hope not, but anything is possible with this team.
4. Contemplate suicide.
5. Yes, unfortunately we will play down to the level of our competition - a Valpo tradition. "Believe in the process" (What does that actually mean anyway - turning a good mid major program into a joke?)
I'm so disgusted I don't want to even watch this game. It wouldn't surprise me if they pulled a Trinity game.
Anyone who pays to see this game either has a screw loose or too much disposable income.
I see your questions and raise you two questions: a) why are we actually playing this game and b) what can we possibly learn from this game that is going to prep us for the MVC? Hope everyone makes it out injury free.
Quote from: elephtheria47 on December 20, 2018, 08:21:27 AM
I see your questions and raise you two questions: a) why are we actually playing this game and b) what can we possibly learn from this game that is going to prep us for the MVC? Hope everyone makes it out injury free.
I actually think the timing of this game is pretty solid. The coaches may have known it could be a tough stretch coming back home from the A&M game and they may need a confidence booster or tune-up before going into conference play. Even if a win comes against a team we should blow out it's a psychological boost. This teams condidence is clearly shot. This team has been the same since losing to High Point on a last second shot.
Yes, I'm not sure we have reached Armageddon yet. Our good teams have been blown out on the road at times.
PNW is just a meaningless scrimmage. Let's re-frame and see what the Illinois State game brings. Without class in session we will really have to motivate ourselves. Conference play is a fresh start and they darn well better compete. They get a new start.
The team will face the dreaded "travel challenges" to Springfield, MO for January 5. If they lose badly to Illinois State at home and lose at Mo. State morale will probably come crashing down and Freeman starts looking to leave. But that can all be reversed with a win vs. Illinois State.
I am going to watch our elementary school game which should be an improvement from recent VU games, although the offense, defense and shooting should be about the same. When things are not working and successful, why do we keep doing the same thing over and over game in and game out?
Quote from: Pgmado on December 19, 2018, 10:09:03 PM
I don't understand these laundry jokes.
Quote from: VU2010 on December 14, 2018, 06:57:16 PM
Did anyone watch Valpo b-ball weekly? Literally for the first 2 minutes and 23 seconds he makes excuses.... flying here and there ... midterms .... doing laundry ..... like, seriously? I've never heard a coach make up so many excuses. Then he attributed the poor home performance to being too comfortable in a routine. Lol it's comical.
https://youtu.be/dYo0sZEc1c4
Quote from: VU2010 on December 14, 2018, 08:45:22 PM
Sorry but the laundry comment really put me over the top ... literally laughing out loud ... ok maybe crying a bit ... but, mostly laughing
Quote from: VU2010 on December 19, 2018, 07:51:56 PM
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?
I can't imagine it being too much of a psychological boost to beat a DII team when you are a DI athlete. And IMO, any confidence they gain is going to be false confidence because what you are gaining confidence on (what is working during the game) is not likely to translate when you are playing a quality DI team. I get the whole getting reps, playing someone who doesn't know you, playing in front of a crowd, etc issues but those issues aren't the issues for this team. I just read an article that on average, 9 D2 teams beat D1 teams every season. If that happens, this whole thing turns into a dumpster fire. I don't see any reason for playing this game at this point in the season. ARC is going to be super empty with everyone on break, no interest in the game, having a rough couple of games, and college playoffs going on.
DATE OPPONENT W/L SCORE ATTEND
------------ -------------------- --- ----- ------
11/09/18 vs Rockhurst L 73-103 207
11/10/18 at William Jewell L 83-99 329
11/14/18 LINCOLN CHRISTIAN W 113-81 250
11/23/18 vs Urbana W OT 110-104 250
11/24/18 at Tiffin L 83-95 185
*11/29/18 DAVENPORT MBB L 76-88 100
*12/01/18 GV MBB L 62-79 250
12/04/18 MOODY BIBLE W 113-45 150
*12/06/18 at Northern Michigan L 69-108 265
*12/8/18 at Michigan Tech L 62-78 959
12/15/18 at Ill. Springfield L 67-97 230
I'm wondering what kind of effort we'll see from this Valpo team. You know things aren't going well when you can't be sure of what type of effort we'll see.
The last few games the body language has been really poor from the guys. It's like they're all waiting for someone to get hot and be the catalyst for the team to raise everyone's spirits but it never came. I thought the guys. Would rebound after the long break leading into the Ball State game but that didn't come to fruition. Will this long break be positive for them?
I think we all expect this team to win and beat PNW to a pulp but this team has no right to come into this game with that mentality. They should have the mentality that PNW could win this game and therefore they need to bring the effort.
This will be break out game for Javon. He will take over.
Quote from: VU2010 on December 19, 2018, 09:56:55 PM1. what's the showing like? Competing vs college football playoff
1st playoff game isn't until 3pm. Full house should be expected.
Quote from: JD24 on December 26, 2018, 09:16:39 PM
Quote from: VU2010 on December 19, 2018, 09:56:55 PM1. what's the showing like? Competing vs college football playoff
1st playoff game isn't until 3pm. Full house should be expected.
I don't know about full, but as of this morning there are around 1100 tickets available per the etix site, not including available seats in the student sections
I took a look at the PNW roster expecting to see names from the Porter County Conference. I was surprised to see few Northwest Indiana (and no PCC) kids on the list. It seems that PNW's recruiting footprint is much larger than I thought.
I'm kinda hoping that the team works in a zone defense so that it will be ready to go for conference play. Maybe they have played zone in the road games, which I have not seen. But, I was at the ARC for the High Point and Ball State games, and it seemed like a zone defense would have worked nicely in a couple of circumstances. For example, switch to the zone for High Point's final possession simply to give a different look. They only had 4 seconds on the clock, and it would take at least 2 seconds (minimum) to realize a different defense, leaving only 2 seconds to get off a shot. And in the Ball State game, when BS was driving to the basket for wide open layups, a possible strategy might have been to pack the lane with a zone defense, and force an adjustment from BS.
I think in the past that it was effective for Valpo to switch defenses from time to time. They don't do that any more. So, it would be nice to see the team use this game as a way to implement some game-scenario practice.
We have run the same offense and the same defense for Lottich's tenure. We must be an assistant coach's dream. The week they play us they get to spend more time with their kids since the scouting report from the previous year is still valid.
Lottich's first year with the veteran roster he would throw the zone at teams mid game and at the end of half's to confuse the other team and throw them off their game. It worked.
Those players were coached by Bryce (and Lottich/Gore as assistants also) their first 3 years. It seems we're doing less of that in this new era with a different roster. Maybe he doesn't trust them to properly execute? Either way that would fall on the staff for not coaching them up. Or maybe he doesn't want to run as much zone.
I'd like Paul to get a coach or a x's & o's savvy former player on the podcast to dissect what this Valpo team is doing correct and what they're doing poorly. I'm not sure he'd find someone who would publicly speak their mind and be willing to constructively criticize the Staff or players. I've talked off the record with some people and it's been a bit alarming with their reviews. Two people said the jury is still out and they thought the coaches don't currently have the roster they want to play the system they want.
I've heard similar from several people closer then the average message board chump.
Quote from: IrishDawg on December 27, 2018, 07:48:22 AM
Quote from: JD24 on December 26, 2018, 09:16:39 PM
Quote from: VU2010 on December 19, 2018, 09:56:55 PM1. what's the showing like? Competing vs college football playoff
1st playoff game isn't until 3pm. Full house should be expected.
I don't know about full, but as of this morning there are around 1100 tickets available per the etix site, not including available seats in the student sections
A number of local basketball fans will be out of town. Valparaiso High, with Mr. Basketball candidate Brandon Newman, plays Warren Central, the #1 team in the state, at a Hall of Fame tournament in New Castle during the same time the Crusaders will be on the court.
Sorry all, I don't know how to embed quotes, so I have to refer to the person posting in order to respond to a point.
2014, if you're correct in that the coaches aren't running what they want because they don't have the players that they want, and that somehow explains the deterioration in all around play (lack of zone defense, lack of layup defense, lack of inbounding plays, lack of rebounding, lack of offensive execution), THAT'S CONCERNING!
I'm no expert in college basketball, but I have excelled in other things, and that excuse is a cop out.
I could rant, but instead, I'll simply say that I hope that you and/or your sources are very wrong. If you're right, then Valpo needs to start a coaching search right now.
Note that I'm saying that as someone who hoped that Lottich would be Bryce's replacement at the time.
Quote from: 4throwfan on December 27, 2018, 10:38:24 PMSorry all, I don't know how to embed quotes, so I have to refer to the person posting in order to respond to a point.
It's kind of clunky. To embed quotes, you need to click the "Quote (selected)" link for the particular quote you want to embed (or the reply button at the bottom), which will create an empty reply text box. Then, you have to click into the text box (to position the cursor), scroll to the quote you want to embed, and then click the "Quote (selected)" link.
Quote from: Valpower on December 28, 2018, 03:12:45 PM
Quote from: 4throwfan on December 27, 2018, 10:38:24 PMSorry all, I don't know how to embed quotes, so I have to refer to the person posting in order to respond to a point.
It's kind of clunky. To embed quotes, you need to click the "Quote (selected)" link for the particular quote you want to embed (or the reply button at the bottom), which will create an empty reply text box. Then, you have to click into the text box (to position the cursor), scroll to the quote you want to embed, and then click the [/size] "Quote (selected)" link.
To build on Valpower's helpful post — I saw what I wanted to comment on but wanted to tie it to what you and Valpower said previously, so I went to that post box and clicked on the "Quote" button on that post. It automatically brought up the quote in a reply box and now I am adding my thoughts below that quote.
But if I want to insert a second different quote from another poster I can scroll down below my draft box and select that additional quote to add into my post. (I selected M's short post just as example below). I then clicked "insert quote" in M's post and it automatically popped into this post where my cursor was located (make sure your cursor is located in the spot you want the new quote to reside). And there it is.
Quote from: M on December 27, 2018, 08:40:06 PM
I've heard similar from several people closer then the average message board chump.
Voila!
I can't overemphasize using the Preview button to make sure everthing is organized just like you want it. It also helps you pick out errors in your post that you might not see in the draft box.
Quote from: VULB#62 on December 28, 2018, 04:35:27 PMI can't overemphasize using the Preview button to make sure everthing is organized just like you want it. It also helps you pick out errors in your post that you might not see in the draft box.
Probably the most underutilized feature on this message board and also the most important one to use.
Arrived at 12:30. Asked the ticket taker where the programs are. She said they ran out already. You have to love amateur hour at the ARC.
Thus far getting beat on the boards against a fringe d-2 team with a new roster. Credit PNW for the effort thus far. Will be interesting to see how things go down the stretch. I'm watching mostly to see who separates himself. Who shows they're a legit d-1 player. When playing in a game like this, there SHOULD BE clear separation. In talent. Thus far, Freeman has been *that* guy to separate himself. Should be seeing forced turnovers, lots of boards, clean transitions, solid defense without mental errors, and polished offensive shemes.
Bakari isn't suiting up today?
edit:
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1079075019685330944
Golder is really putting on a show today! Great to see him playing well after a few challenging games. Think he'll be ready to make some noise in the Valley.
Jay needs to ride the pines. Man, the guy can't even dunk. I really think he has regressed from last season. Great to see the 3's start to fall but really hard to see much one way or another against a team like PNW.
I was only able to catch the 1st half. Glad to see we won. From what I observed it was a bit sloppy and the rebounding wasn't great either. They brought the energy and effort though. Lot's of hustle play which were nice to see. The officiating was odd with those early techs.
Rebounding was bad but got much better, probably just wore them down with our size and strength.
I love dunks so that was fun. Now the real season begins.
Quote from: wh on December 29, 2018, 12:57:54 PM
Arrived at 12:30. Asked the ticket taker where the programs are. She said they ran out already. You have to love amateur hour at the ARC.
Negatives: I arrived about the same time with a friend visiting from out of town. There were no programs, the upstairs concession was closed, so there was a long line at the downstairs one until late in the game. The band, cheerleaders, mascot, and students were all absent, as expected; however, there also was nobody to sing the national anthem, and about half the chairbacks were unoccupied. My friend wanted to know if the games were always so sloppy, and asked why the scoreboard update of players and points lagged so much. The whole atmosphere seemed little better than a high school gym, and it was embarrassing.
Positives: 1. The halftime kids game was shown on the video scoreboard (although there was a bit of a lag); this should be used for game play to show instant replays. 2. One of the coaches for the kids played in a timeout contest shooting free throws and won with the Valpo method by making 5 out of 5 without even hitting iron; he should be hired to coach Valpo's players. 3. A win is a win, even if the game seemed like nothing more than a glorified practice to fulfill the minimal requirements for placement on the schedule.
Quote from: vu72 on December 29, 2018, 02:59:13 PM
Jay needs to ride the pines. Man, the guy can't even dunk. I really think he has regressed from last season. Great to see the 3's start to fall but really hard to see much one way or another against a team like PNW.
Missed 7-weeks due to severe ankle injury....no?
Jay actually had a few moments late in the second half when he gave hints of where he might have been but for the injury. It almost looked like he needed the minutes to get used to playing in games again. Maybe barring no further injury he can show some improvement by the end of the year. If so his senior year could be a good one if he continues to work hard in the off season and avoids injury.
Quote from: valpopal on December 29, 2018, 03:34:00 PM
Quote from: wh on December 29, 2018, 12:57:54 PM
Arrived at 12:30. Asked the ticket taker where the programs are. She said they ran out already. You have to love amateur hour at the ARC.
Negatives: I arrived about the same time with a friend visiting from out of town. There were no programs, the upstairs concession was closed, so there was a long line at the downstairs one until late in the game. The band, cheerleaders, mascot, and students were all absent, as expected; however, there also was nobody to sing the national anthem, and about half the chairbacks were unoccupied. My friend wanted to know if the games were always so sloppy, and asked why the scoreboard update of players and points lagged so much. The whole atmosphere seemed little better than a high school gym, and it was embarrassing.
Positives: 1. The halftime kids game was shown on the video scoreboard (although there was a bit of a lag); this should be used for game play to show instant replays. 2. One of the coaches for the kids played in a timeout contest shooting free throws and won with the Valpo method by making 5 out of 5 without even hitting iron; he should be hired to coach Valpo's players. 3. A win is a win, even if the game seemed like nothing more than a glorified practice to fulfill the minimal requirements for placement on the schedule.
BTW when we say they ran out of programs a half hour before game time, we're not talking about multi-page glossy brochures with customized color printing that could have gotten hung up in some local print shop over Christmas. These "programs" are a single sheet of copy paper with the respective rosters on either side in B&W.
I just wish I didn't have to move the ticket taker tables at the end of every game.
Quote from: VU2014 on December 29, 2018, 03:20:22 PMI was only able to catch the 1st half. Glad to see we won. From what I observed it was a bit sloppy and the rebounding wasn't great either. They brought the energy and effort though. Lot's of hustle play which were nice to see. The officiating was odd with those early techs.
With Gerry Pollard officiating it's not so odd. He is never shy at using his whistle. Last year he really hurt us in a couple of games. This is the fourth one I've seen him officiate us this year.
Looks like we have adjusted to his style as we have not been whistled as much as last year by him. But as I said he makes a lot of calls during his games and fans/coaches get on him, however he is a fairly high rated ref.
The double tech on the PNW player and Golder confused me. I didn't see what happened to warrant it. The tech on Freeman was inexcusably bad and upset me greatly.
I thought we played hard all game and pretty well especially in the second half. Loved the new lineup configurations the energy and the balance. I thought Sackey Freeman Golder and Fazekas all played extremely well. Lavender was solid. Smits was a huge help in weathering that early second half storm. Sorolla had a rather clunky 11\9 but had his moments in the second half. Overall this was a big step in the right direction and I'm more hopeful going into conference play than I was before the game.
That said we still have flaws offensively and defensively that MVC teams can and likely will exploit. Rebounding is still an issue our passes could stand to be crisper and smarter at times defensive rotations were slow at times and we were bailed out by missed shots We still got back doored a few times and our free throw shooting is not good. But I'm satisfied with what I saw today overall and think we went forward today. I hope we play even better against Illinois State. We'll need to in order to win. Go Valpo!
Crowd of 1,925 is disappointing, but not surprising. Valpo ends the non-con at 7-6, but did average 4.5 points more than their opponents. If they can carry that average point margin through the MVC season, I think they will be successful.
I thought the crowd was really good all things considered. Shocked it was that low.
Quote from: M on December 29, 2018, 08:55:02 PMI thought the crowd was really good all things considered. Shocked it was that low.
There were quite a few empty chairbacks. I mean like a lot. The non-season ticket seats looked pretty good, capacity wise.
There were a lot more people sitting in my neck of the woods up in the DD then normal. Did see quite a few empties across the way.
Attendance: 1925. So the non-conference home schedule produced an average home attendance of 2365. If you subtract the 3636 that were at the Ball State game and inflated by lots of traveling Ball State fans, the average for the other 5 games: 2110! This could be seen as an indictment of the scheduling and the deteriorating loss of fan base because of missed opportunities or seeming apathy by the university administration. In any case, the time for serious reconsideration (and revising) of scheduling, game-day experience, promotional strategies, arena amenities, and (yes) facilities renovation accompanied by discernible directed actions is long overdue. It should have been done the day Valpo entered the MVC, if not before.
As I looked around the ARC today, I realized the Valpo basketball product off the court has slipped into becoming like Sears or K-Mart in competition with Amazon and WalMart, outdated and inferior.
Can you guess the word of the day?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oqy0khPL8g
Let's get gritty!
FINALLY! THIS is what I've been waiting to see all along from Coach Lottich! For the first time I really felt the fire coming from him. Now that I know he has it I want to see more of it! Keep it up coach and you'll make believers out of all of us! I think he finally gets it and so does the team. This is great to see and I am pumped up! Go Valpo! This could really be the turning point guys!
Quote from: VUGrad1314 on December 29, 2018, 11:58:48 PM
FINALLY! THIS is what I've been waiting to see all along from Coach Lottich! For the first time I really felt the fire coming from him. Now that I know he has it I want to see more of it! Keep it up coach and you'll make believers out of all of us! I think he finally gets it and so does the team. This is great to see and I am pumped up! Go Valpo! This could really be the turning point guys!
Agreed! The tech on Freeman was pure bs and Lottich let the ref know. Good for him. I can understand somewhat laying low your first year in a new conference, but if at some point you don't let the refs know you will stand up for your guys, some refs will take the path of least resistance and give the close calls to your opponent. It does not seem like rocket science to me to let your team know that barking at the refs is not their job, it is the coach's. But the coach has to actually demonstrate that he has his players backs and will get on the refs when they deserve it. I'm a bit troubled about coach's almost apologetic position about "getting gritty" but then I've watched too many successful coaches turn calls in their favor by voicing their opinions on the way games are being called. Even good Christian men like Homer and Bryce picked up the occasional T! I seem to remember a game where Homer walked out to the middle of the court, stopping play even to get one. From what I've heard Matt was a fiery player. No reason he can't bring a little of that to coaching.
I noticed that after Javon got a technical for hanging on the rim, he wasn't assessed a personal foul for the infraction. What technical fouls are like that?
Quote from: nkvu on December 30, 2018, 12:38:30 AM
Quote from: VUGrad1314 on December 29, 2018, 11:58:48 PM
FINALLY! THIS is what I've been waiting to see all along from Coach Lottich! For the first time I really felt the fire coming from him. Now that I know he has it I want to see more of it! Keep it up coach and you'll make believers out of all of us! I think he finally gets it and so does the team. This is great to see and I am pumped up! Go Valpo! This could really be the turning point guys!
Agreed! The tech on Freeman was pure bs and Lottich let the ref know. Good for him. I can understand somewhat laying low your first year in a new conference, but if at some point you don't let the refs know you will stand up for your guys, some refs will take the path of least resistance and give the close calls to your opponent. It does not seem like rocket science to me to let your team know that barking at the refs is not their job, it is the coach's. But the coach has to actually demonstrate that he has his players backs and will get on the refs when they deserve it. I'm a bit troubled about coach's almost apologetic position about "getting gritty" but then I've watched too many successful coaches turn calls in their favor by voicing their opinions on the way games are being called. Even good Christian men like Homer and Bryce picked up the occasional T! I seem to remember a game where Homer walked out to the middle of the court, stopping play even to get one. From what I've heard Matt was a fiery player. No reason he can't bring a little of that to coaching.
Great comments! I'm starting to get excited about Valpo basketball again!
Quote from: humbleopinion on December 30, 2018, 05:12:05 AM
I noticed that after Javon got a technical for hanging on the rim, he wasn't assessed a personal foul for the infraction. What technical fouls are like that?
I noticed the same thing and was puzzled by it, as well.
Hanging on the rim is a class B technical. Neither a personal nor team foul. Class A techs were assessed earlier, and those do count.
Quote from: talksalot on January 01, 2019, 12:15:07 PM
Hanging on the rim is a class B technical. Neither a personal nor team foul. Class A techs were assessed earlier, and those do count.
Thanks for the explanation, John.
That technical was class BS It should never have been assessed He was on the rim to avoid people below him It was a terrible call and I hope the ref who called it was told just that after the game by his supervisors