Since my first Thread went OK, thought I'd try one more.
This Saturday we travel to take on the Saint Louis Billikens. They were last years' A-10 tournament Champs. However they lost in the first round of the NCAA to Virginia Tech. They lost two very good players to the pros, But still have a strong core nucleus made up of Juniors Jordan Goodwin 6'3" and Hasahn French 6'7". They also add Freshman quick guard Yuri Collins 6' and big man Jimmy Bell 6'10" 270lbs to the mix.
Saint Louis has played two games so far. An exhibition against Kentucky Wesleyan that they beat easily and Florida Gulf Coast they defeated (89-67). They play at an up tempo pace and use a smothering full court press resulting in numerous turn over / take aways. With Valpo adopting a run and gun style of play this year, this game should exciting and fast paced. Will be interesting to see who runs who into the ground first. My bet, as always, is on Valpo to come out on top. #GoValpo
Valpo 73
Saint Louis 69
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/sparked-by-veteran-goodwin-and-freshman-collins-slu-s-offense/article_e5307c66-7b0a-58d3-9129-28e03b33fab9.amp.html
Six players combined to make 11 3-pointers. The offense moved at a pace that finally seemed intent to score quickly. The full-court press was disruptive and productive.
Coach Travis Ford mixed and matched 10 players in a game SLU controlled from the outset of an 89-67 win over Florida Gulf Coast, leaving little for him to complain about.
"Offensively we did some good things," Ford said. "What I was really proud of is they opened in a zone against us and we didn't hesitate, and we haven't gone against a zone a whole lot. We executed and did some good things. I think we're a pretty good team against a zone.
SLU outrebounded FGCU 41-28, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds in the process. They led to 24 second-chance points. The Billikens forced 18 turnovers, made nine steals and scored 17 points from turnovers.
Ultimately, the Billikens showed signs of the offense that Ford said he saw in the preseason and hoped would emerge. Freshman Gibson Jimerson made three 3-pointers as the newcomers accounted for nine, offering signs of a resurgent perimeter game that has been dormant at SLU.
In his first college game, point guard Yuri Collins had nine assists in 22 minutes and hit a pair of 3-pointers.
"He's (French) the best player on the court at all times and he's not afraid to tell you that," Goodwin said. "We can't go anywhere without him."
French got a look at how defenses are likely to play him this season. But he turned determination into production in the second half by making seven of 11 shots and moving within eight blocked shots of the SLU career record.
[Ford]"We haven't been defending the 3-point line well from the exhibition game and the scrimmage," he said. "I thought our defense was very good in the first half. In the second half it wasn't good, to put it lightly."
Young team, 1st road game of the season against a high pressure defense. Yet again another game that will show us just what kind of team we have. They will no doubt expose more of our flaws. I would not say Toledo played aggressive defense and we still only shot 28% from 3. Can we find enough offense against a strong defensive team? And is our defense pesky enough keep us in the hunt when the offense can't find the bottom of the hoop for stretches?
Quote from: VUBBFan on November 06, 2019, 08:07:33 PMThey play at an up tempo pace and use a smothering full court press resulting in numerous turn over / take aways. With Valpo adopting a run and gun style of play this year, this game should exciting and fast paced.
I spent the preseason thinking how we might apply pressure but I spent no time thinking how our bunch might beat it! :o I hope Lottich has this figured out because it could be a problem. Speed and dribble skills aren't always good answers to disciplined full court pressure. This could be the difference between a tossup game and a blowout. Are Sackey and Freeman up for the challenge?
Quote from: bbtds on November 07, 2019, 10:30:10 AM"Offensively we did some good things," Ford said. "What I was really proud of is they opened in a zone against us and we didn't hesitate, and we haven't gone against a zone a whole lot. We executed and did some good things. I think we're a pretty good team against a zone.
I doubt if we use any zone. Bryce deemphasized it and Lottich likes it even less. We were a bad zone team even with two 7 footers to anchor the middle. How many minutes of zone we will play for the season would have been a good over-under question. My guess is not many. On the other hand just how good will our man defense be while our freshmen are figuring it out?
We need to have a good defensive game.
Valpo 75
SLU 74
This is an interesting one. When the schedule came out I counted it as an automatic L based on brand recognition alone. Given the rankings and input of prognosticators, I guess I should have more confidence seeing how well Toledo is expected to do and how tempered expectations are for SLU. So know I'm thinking it's a toss up, but still am not confident. In recent history we always seem to find a way to lose to the Billikins. The faced pace nature of the game should be exciting, hopefully Canada has our guys feeling a bit more confident in running and gunning than they otherwise would be in game 2. A win would be the most solid 2 game start that I can remember (10-15 years) Guess we'll see!
I agree with govalpogo that this is an 'upside' game. All games are opportunities in a way, but this is a game that most would not have expected Valpo to win and now it would seem that it is possible with a similar effort to the one against Toledo. I expect Valpo to lost a close game (less than 10 points) and that would not be the end of the world - but it paints a very positive outlook if Valpo can pull off the win.
One of the SLU fans on their message board said that Valpo is vulnerable because the Billikens have much more depth than the Crusaders. Does anyone agree with this?
In your cable/satellite/TV service gets Fox Sports Midwest out of St Louis you can watch this game live at 7:00 EST/6:00 CST and then the Stanley Cup champion Blues playing at Calgary at 10:00 EST/9:00 CST. I'm lucky because I do get FSMW.
Quote from: bbtds on November 08, 2019, 03:51:55 PM
One of the SLU fans on their message board said that Valpo is vulnerable because the Billikens have much more depth than the Crusaders. Does anyone agree with this?
They certainly used their bench more than we did ours (15 minutes vs 11), so in that sense, yes. But the critical question is how good was FGCU vs Toledo?
Point spread: Valpo +9
Power Rankings:
STL 46
Valpo 202
https://www.oddsshark.com/ncaab/valparaiso-saint-louis-odds-november-9-2019-1184160
Quote from: wh on November 08, 2019, 06:55:18 PMPoint spread: Valpo +9
Power Rankings:
STL 46
Valpo 202
the O/u is 131... TAKE THE OVER !!
They are looking at a 70-61 SLU win...
DeadHorseBeating time... but have you seen the SLU Non-Con schedule???????
Nov 9, 2019 vs team Valparaiso 7:00 pm Chaifetz Arena —
Nov 13, 2019 vs team E. Washington 8:00 pm Chaifetz Arena —
Nov 17, 2019 vs team Seton Hall 4:00 pm Chaifetz Arena —
Nov 20, 2019 vs team High Point 8:00 pm Chaifetz Arena —
Nov 23, 2019 vs team Belmont 5:00 pm Chaifetz Arena —
Nov 27, 2019 @ team Boston College 2:00 pm Conte Forum Chestnut Hill
Dec 1, 2019 vs team S. Illinois 4:00 pm Chaifetz Arena —
Dec 8, 2019 vs team Tulane 2:30 pm Chaifetz Arena —
Dec 14, 2019 @ team Auburn 4:00 pm Auburn Arena
Dec 17, 2019 vs team Maryville 8:00 pm Chaifetz Arena —
Dec 21, 2019 vs team Kansas St. 7:00 pm Chaifetz Arena —
Dec 29, 2019 vs team Bethune-Cook. 7:00 pm Chaifetz Arena —
The only road games are at P5 schools and they have a P5 coming to Chaifetz...
Any Indiana (or a few other states) residents you can parlay Valpo basketball (+9 currently) with Valpo football (a -3 favorite 😳) and get +264 on your bet!
Side note: if anyone wants to get started on Draft Kong's hit me up for a referral code and we both get 5 free $20 bets.
Go Valpo!
Over/Under has already moved up to 133, still took it and bought a point even though this game could easily be in the 150s. My parlay for the day is Over 132, Northern Iowa +3 at Northern Illinois, and Gonzaga -33 at home vs Ark Pine Bluff.
Sackey is turn over prone when he gets in traffic so maybe Freeman will have more "bring it up the court duties", although this will have to be a team effort to beat the press. Looking forward to this one.The video link on Valpo's website has been removed, will this still be on ESPN3 or only on FSMW??
SLU 80, Valpo 65
I got the total at 130.5!
I think it will be a thrilling finish but the Billikens will find some way to win it in a very very close contest.
Valpo 74
SLU 77
I don't have fox sports midwest... anyone see a streaming option?
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The Valpo basketball schedule says it's on ESPN +
Anyone know whether that's in fact true?
SLU is picked to finish 8th in the A-10. Valpo is better than people think.
Valpo 73
SLU 71
Quote from: valpolaw on November 09, 2019, 04:19:33 PMThe Valpo basketball schedule says it's on ESPN +
Anyone know whether that's in fact true?
It is on the ESPN+ list of upcoming games!
Quote from: valpolaw on November 09, 2019, 04:19:33 PMThe Valpo basketball schedule says it's on ESPN + Anyone know whether that's in fact true?
I'm an ESPN+ subscriber and the game is listed on my schedule.
Quote from: JD24 on November 09, 2019, 04:28:33 PM
Quote from: valpolaw on November 09, 2019, 04:19:33 PMThe Valpo basketball schedule says it's on ESPN + Anyone know whether that's in fact true?
I'm an ESPN+ subscriber and the game is listed on my schedule.
Thanks for the tip. I went to ROKU on my TV, found ESPN, installed it for free, selected an option for ESPN+, and signed up for $4.99/mo. (Cancel at any tim). Now I can live stream the game through my TV and my mobile devices.
Quote from: wh on November 09, 2019, 05:31:26 PM
Quote from: JD24 on November 09, 2019, 04:28:33 PM
Quote from: valpolaw on November 09, 2019, 04:19:33 PMThe Valpo basketball schedule says it's on ESPN + Anyone know whether that's in fact true?
I'm an ESPN+ subscriber and the game is listed on my schedule.
Thanks for the tip. I went to ROKU on my TV, found ESPN, installed it for free, selected an option for ESPN+, and signed up for $4.99/mo. (Cancel at any tim). Now I can live stream the game through my TV and my mobile devices.
ESPN+ also has an option to pay $49.99 a year so that it comes to $4.166/month for all year long.
This one is hard to gauge.
I picked Valpo to win one out of the first two games and here we are. To me there are still a few unknowns but the fan in me wants to pick Valpo all the way.
First one to 80 wins and I hope USC is wrong :-[
ESPN+!!
Vilien needs more minuets..his defense is good
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Sackey is blazing
Put Clay on Goodwin.
Quote from: SanityLost17 on November 07, 2019, 11:47:12 AM
Young team, 1st road game of the season against a high pressure defense. Yet again another game that will show us just what kind of team we have. They will no doubt expose more of our flaws. I would not say Toledo played aggressive defense and we still only shot 28% from 3. Can we find enough offense against a strong defensive team? And is our defense pesky enough keep us in the hunt when the offense can't find the bottom of the hoop for stretches?
I am going ton answer my own questions based on the 1st half.
1. Offense has struggled for stretches. If not for Sackey, where would be?
2. Our defense the 1st half has not been what I would expect from a Lottich coaches team. In fact, it was VERY poor.
Did Fazekas get hurt on the play? He has not been in since. Hope not and if he did hope not too serious. No comment from the announcers and picture cut out for the break
This is bad news.
https://twitter.com/FatherHarry1/status/1193334254039683073
Quote from: VUBBFan on November 09, 2019, 07:16:47 PM
This is bad news.
https://twitter.com/FatherHarry1/status/1193334254039683073
What else is new? Fazekas hurt again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
I told my dad before the season started that he would not last 5 games. He is not athletic enough to know how to fall to the ground. JFL falls all the time and is ok. Fazekas falls awkwardly EVERY time. Doesn't matter if he lands on his feet or his hands it is always precarious. Can't last at D1 that way.
Quote from: VUBBFan on November 09, 2019, 07:16:47 PM
This is bad news.
https://twitter.com/FatherHarry1/status/1193334254039683073
What bad coverage by the announcers to talk about the importance of defending Fazekas to start but then failing to mention his absence while blathering about French's absence. I hope Fazekas is okay and we find a way to win.
Where is Zion Morgan?
the line up we had in to end the first half made no sense
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If we don't play better defense against these higher level D1 teams we will not compete well enough to win. Whether they are in our conference or not.
We're down 5, 61-56. How we're still in it? Guys that weren't expected to do much, like Gordon, Sackey, and others that have been solid on defense.
Quote from: valporun on November 09, 2019, 07:49:24 PM
We're down 5, 61-56. How we're still in it? Guys that weren't expected to do much, like Gordon, Sackey, and others that have been solid on defense.
Because our perimeter shooting is good even without Fazekas! Hopefully, this a new reality.
Who had the over
Free throw shooting — woof!
Lost this at the line. Robinson & Sackey need to shoot like 1000 free throws before our next game. Wouldn't hurt if the rest of the team did as well. Only thing that kept it this close was SLU sucks from the line too.
Still, team did well to keep it that close with Nick only playing a few minutes. Hope this isn't a season ender again for him.
Free throws are the thing that teams need to work on the most, but they don't. Why? I wish I knew the answer to that. Free throws are the easiest points to acquire, but teams are too focused on field goals, 3s, and being dumb.
Pretty obvious analysis: The fight in this team is incredible, as well as they have been finishing out games, the last 4 minutes were surprising to me. Free throws for the love of... Fazekas injury is huge going forward.
Okay then, 2 games this week to take care of business in against SIUe and North Dakota. Do that and set yourself apart from the last couple of years.
Better FT shooting down the stretch, and this could have gone down to the wire - and without Ryan for most of the game. Great heart and effort from everyone. So far, I love what I see.
Close to the end. The refs were not kind to Valpo in the last 3 minutes, but it was the Free throws that killed us. We started out the year pretty good with free throws and I thought we were going to be better at that than last year. The really bad news is the injury to Ryan's wrist. With his history of injuries I'm afraid he's out for a while. He just can not go through a season healthy.
Couple thoughts:
-great effort
-very disappointing free throw shooting
-SLU got away with blatant push offs all night
-Sackey and Freeman were great and Kiser was that vital glue guy
-fazekas' health status is critic to this team's success
-not a bad game
Quote from: VU2014 on November 09, 2019, 09:04:05 PM-fazekas' health status is critic to this team's success
Many positives but until I know his condition Don't even want to discuss them. :'(
Here is our biggest problem and we've seen this under Lottich, is turnovers. Turnovers kill possessions as you take the ball away from you and give it to the other team. Looking at the Cedargurg exhibition we turned it over 16 times...improved to 15 against Toledo and managed to win but tonight we turned it over 19 times...19!!! We cannot do that and expect to win. Good teams turn it over between 10-12 times on average. You fall into that zone and you are in the upper echelon. We need to take care of the ball. We haven't seen that since the days of Keith Carter.
This team has sooooo much potential but we need to value the possession and the basketball. We do that we can weather a storm. That being said, Ryan Fazekas is a HUGE part of this team but we have some very talented depth to play through that. I hate to see him go down. Unfortunately there are guys that are just befallen with bad luck...Sam Bowie for those old enough to know, Greg Oden...injuries play a part and some are more prone and I hate to say it Ryan is one of those.
With no legit big on the roster we absolutely cannot afford to lose our best three point shooter. Teams will just pack it on on us going forward.
Really proud of the fight in this team but can't see us winning more than 12-13 games without Ryan.
Point taken Native Cheesehead, no doubt but here is where Mileek, Eron, Nick Robinson and to a greater extent Donavon Clay need to step up. This is depth that can potentially weather that storm. But the big IF is can they? It will afford opportunity and let the staff see what they have in these individuals while Fazekas is on the mend. Sometimes an absence can create opportunity.
Yes, the push offs are so blatantly obvious, but they never call them. That was a point of emphasis a few years ago, and has since died down. I think Lottich even got heated on one of those towards the end. Regardless, it was a good showing, especially with Fazekas going down. I see a lot of positives for this team, even if he is out for some time. Poor kid...
Well, I got Valpo point total right but was off on SLU by 4. From what I am seeing Valpo is better team and the team is synchronizing.
Fazekas is made of glass...feel bad for him. If it weren't for bad luck...
Team shot real well from the line those first couple of games. Hopefully those games will be more the norm. Fast paced offense sometimes leads to poor defense. I wasn't worried about Valpo scoring but about them keeping others from scoring.
I think this year is the year we find out if Lottich is the guy. Even w/o Ryan this team has enough talent to compete night in and night out. We're now familiar with the league and our opponents.
Not going to get too caught up in the non con as this team comes together. But it's flat out time to prove we belong in the MVC.
Quote from: M on November 10, 2019, 09:26:23 AMTeam shot real well from the line those first couple of games. Hopefully those games will be more the norm. Fast paced offense sometimes leads to poor defense. I wasn't worried about Valpo scoring but about them keeping others from scoring.
Before the St Louis game, I thought we were going to be better than last year with free throws. Including the Canada games we were averaging 81.5%. We hit that average, we would have had 8-9 more points. Hopefully we get back to that average and this was an isolated bad game for free throws. We need to get back to that average to help win games
With Fazekas out, our biggest problem is having Kiser play even more minutes. While I love his attitude and effort, he is by far the weakest link on offense. He is not any kind of offensive threat, is a
VERY POOR poor shooter, is a turnover machine and even though he hustles a lot, he is a HUGE defensive liability. This early in the season I would like to see more minutes for some of the new "big" guys who at least have some offensive and scoring potential. Kiser has none...inside or outside.
Apparently, I missed something. Is Ryan going to be out for an extended period? Do we even know exactly what his injury is?
Quote from: wh on November 10, 2019, 01:41:39 PMApparently, I missed something. Is Ryan going to be out for an extended period? Do we even know exactly what his injury is?
No word on him yet, but I'm sure it will be "progressing nicely" when all is said and done.
Tough to win a game when the opponent takes 17 more shots than you unless they completely clang the rims. TO ratio only slightly negative and Valpo was outrebounded but I don't think that adds up to 17 more attempts.
Quote from: JD24 on November 10, 2019, 04:31:48 PM
Tough to win a game when the opponent takes 17 more shots than you unless they completely clang the rims. TO ratio only slightly negative and Valpo was outrebounded but I don't think that adds up to 17 more attempts.
Too many offensive rebounds by St Louis, along with TOs and our missed FTs lead to the shots taken difference.
Our defensive FG % needs to get where we usually are.
The grit and comeback ability of this team really make them fun to watch.
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Quote from: wh on November 10, 2019, 01:41:39 PM
Apparently, I missed something. Is Ryan going to be out for an extended period? Do we even know exactly what his injury is?
Injury to left wrist.
If not a break, I hope that after a short recovery he can get on the floor even if he needs a bit of a splint/brace. In this scenario, he still should be able to cradle the ball for his shot. A splint or brace will limit his ball handling, but that's not what we need from Ryan — it's spot up and shoot the dang ball.
Quote from: ValpoDad89 on November 09, 2019, 10:37:44 PM
Point taken Native Cheesehead, no doubt but here is where Mileek, Eron, Nick Robinson and to a greater extent Donavon Clay need to step up. This is depth that can potentially weather that storm. But the big IF is can they? It will afford opportunity and let the staff see what they have in these individuals while Fazekas is on the mend. Sometimes an absence can create opportunity.
This also leads back to my question of did Valpo have less depth than SLU. The Billikens.com poster proved to be correct that on this particular Saturday night that SLU had the depth (Collins 9, Hankton 8, Jimerson 5, Weaver 4) while Valpo's was not as productive (Kiser 9, Gordon 4, Clay 3, Kikke 1, F-V 0). Also French fouled out later than McMillan, who just hasn't mastered how to play defense in the paint without fouling.
Quote from: valpo64 on November 10, 2019, 01:07:16 PMHe is not any kind of offensive threat, is a
VERY POOR poor shooter, is a turnover machine and even though he hustles a lot, he is a HUGE defensive liability. This early in the season I would like to see more minutes for some of the new "big" guys who at least have some offensive and scoring potential. Kiser has none...inside or outside.
Valpo Bench points--Kiser 9, Gordon 4, Clay 3, Kikke 1, F-V 0. I think we need to look at Kiser's all around game. He certainly doesn't look athletic and flails his arms and gets beat on defense a lot but does anyone have any plus/minus numbers for John?
In a stat that is almost as meaningless as Time of Possession in a football game... the Real Time RPI is out ...
Rank SOS Conf. Conf.
W-L
1 Duke 2-0 0.9688 1 0.9583 Acc 0-0
2 Kentucky 2-0 0.9375 2 0.9167 Sec 0-0
3 Fordham 1-0 0.8750 6 0.8333 Atl10 0-0
4 UCLA 2-0 0.8750 10 0.8333 Pac12 0-0
5 Arkansas 1-0 0.8750 11 0.8333 Sec 0-0
6 South Dakota 2-0 0.8750 19 0.8333 Summit 0-0
7 Texas 2-0 0.8750 22 0.8333 Big12 0-0
8 California 1-0 0.8750 28 0.8333 Pac12 0-0
9 Boston Coll. 2-0 0.8750 30 0.8333 Acc 1-0
10 E. Kentucky 1-1 0.8125 3 0.9167 Ovc 0-0
11 Portland 1-1 0.8000 14 0.8333 Wcc 0-0
12 Northern Iowa 2-0 0.7500 41 0.6667 Mvc 0-0
13 Harvard 1-1 0.7500 4 0.8333 Ivy 0-0
14 Northeastern 2-0 0.7500 44 0.6667 Coln 0-0
15 Georgia Tech 1-0 0.7500 47 0.6667 Acc 1-0
16 Washington 1-0 0.7500 50 0.6667 Pac12 0-0
17 George Mason 2-0 0.7500 51 0.6667 Atl10 0-0
18 Oregon 2-0 0.7500 53 0.6667 Pac12 0-0
19 Wyoming 1-1 0.7500 15 0.8333 Mwest 0-0
20 Fresno St. 1-1 0.7500 16 0.8333 Mwest 0-0
21 St. Mary's 1-0 0.7500 61 0.6667 Wcc 0-0
22 Old Dominion 1-1 0.7500 17 0.8333 Cusa 0-0
23 Georgia 1-0 0.7500 62 0.6667 Sec 0-0
24 Colorado St. 1-1 0.7500 21 0.8333 Mwest 0-0
25 Vanderbilt 1-0 0.7500 66 0.6667 Sec 0-0
26 Valparaiso 1-1 0.7500 25 0.8333 Mvc 0-0
27 Illinois St. 2-0 0.7500 69 0.6667 Mvc 0-0
The Billikins are #41.
RPI.......
(https://media.giphy.com/media/ZqlvCTNHpqrio/giphy.gif)
Quote from: covufan on November 10, 2019, 05:29:19 PMQuote from: JD24 on November 10, 2019, 04:31:48 PMTough to win a game when the opponent takes 17 more shots than you unless they completely clang the rims. TO ratio only slightly negative and Valpo was outrebounded but I don't think that adds up to 17 more attempts.
Too many offensive rebounds by St Louis, along with TOs and our missed FTs lead to the shots taken difference.
Good point. I forgot to check FT attempts which can cut down on the attempts from the field statistically.