WVU isn't as good as the media thought they would be, but I still think they will light us up. Smits will get into foul trouble with Konate down low. Will Sorolla play? I clicked the video link for the game, I wonder if the game will be free to watch tomorrow? Keeping it within single digits could be a "moral victory" but I'm not optimistic that will happen. Maybe someone else has a different opinion??
VU-58
WVU-79
I would assume that Jay will play, based on Matt's postgame remarks that he thought he made a mistake in not having him suit up for SIU-E at different points in that game.
WVU 76
Valpo 64
Think it's safe to assume we won't be able to compete with Huggins level physicality until we show otherwise.
WVU 78
VU 49
Will be out rebounded by 16.
Down in Myrtle Beach they looked a little ragged. You could tell they were not in sync. The WVU fans were saying the team had not gelled together yet and were having difficulties playing together as a team. With only playing a couple of games you can tell the players are not used to the system or set plays yet.
The loud and hungry home court at WVU might well be a factor. Myrtle Beach was a quiet neutral court. I'll take 82-63.
WVU may lack student support for the game because of the Thanksgiving break. Will there be any TV?
We have the players and talent to show up, play all out and compete. We will need the same kind of effort that SIUE demonstrated against us Wed night. Nothing like the Purdue and Northwestern surrenders :whiteflag: from last year should have any chance of happening. In fact with Jay back maybe we can show an overconfident team some new wrinkles. Somehow I think we keep it close.
After my Sooners beat the football team tonight, the student body will not show up for the basketball game tomorrow. That WV crowd is worth 5 points alone. Luckily they will be demoralized after tonight. :thumbsup:
I agree that Valpo will find some way to keep it close despite being out rebounded and out shot. The new wrinkles of Smits being to score down low more often and the athletic ability of Freeman, Sackey and Golder will make it closer than what many are thinking. Hopefully one of our non-shooters, maybe Mileek, Kiser or Bradford will find some way to make an unexpected number of shots.
Quote from: valpo64 on November 23, 2018, 05:27:11 PMWill there be any TV?
According to the West Virginia website the broadcast will be on A.T.&T. SportsNet.
http://www.attsportsnet.com/learn-more/
Valpo will win this one. Hugh game by Javon.
The spread WVA -17
Quote from: wh on November 23, 2018, 09:18:03 PM
The spread WVA -17
We might cover, but I don't think we have traditionally played very well against Huggins coached teams. Our guards had better be ready to face really tight guarding as Huggins teams usually play smothering defense. Huggins is really good at intimidating referees, so expect WVU to get away with a lot of non-called fouls. Expect WVU to shoot 20 to 30 foul shots to Valpo's 8 to 12.
Quote from: justducky on November 23, 2018, 05:31:12 PM
...with Jay back maybe we can show an overconfident team some new wrinkles. Somehow I think we keep it close.
We shall see. Matt said in the SIUE postgame that Jay was 100%, yet he decided to hold him out, something that had him 2nd guessing himself the longer the game wore on. Presumably, he wants Jay to be as fresh as possible for tomorrow's game. While I get that, he also passed on an opportunity for Jay to shake off some rust before getting thrown into a big game against top notch competition.
Does Valpo score more points than the Sooners?
I'm concerned about the ball handling anytime Lavender isn't on the court. He's going to probably rack up close to 32-35 minutes tomorrow, imo. Bakari just isn't a primary ball handler and Micah is hurt. WVU's press is going to give all kinds of problems tomorrow. We need crisp passes and we can't afford to get lax with ball handling. This doesn't seem like a game Sackey will be trusted to play significant minutes unless it's a blow out they just let him do his thing.
I'm wondering if Jay will be on a minutes restriction tomorrow.
Quote from: wh on November 23, 2018, 09:52:53 PM
Quote from: justducky on November 23, 2018, 05:31:12 PM
...with Jay back maybe we can show an overconfident team some new wrinkles. Somehow I think we keep it close.
We shall see. Matt said in the SIUE postgame that Jay was 100%, yet he decided to hold him out, something that had him 2nd guessing himself the longer the game wore on. Presumably, he wants Jay to be as fresh as possible for tomorrow's game. While I get that, he also passed on an opportunity for Jay to shake off some rust before getting thrown into a big game against top notch competition.
Let me rephrase my emphasis on our situation.
The team we have today is also next years team. If we expect to challenge for the 2019-20 MVC championship then we have to challenge WVU today at their house, with their crowd, and their coach. Anything less is unacceptable. Matt has to figure out a way for this to happen.
I think there's a preconceived notion that West Virginia is really hard nosed on the defensive end, but this version of Press Virginia isn't close to previous years. They haven't turned teams over, they foul (a lot), and they allow offensive boards. They are good at defending the paint, so Valpo will need to hit some 3s, as I anticipate Konate will make life tougher on Smits to score in the paint.
On defense, Valpo has to do better on the boards, and defend without fouling as West Virginia is really good at getting to the free throw line and getting 2nd chances. If I'm Valpo, I would put some pressure on them, as they've had a propensity to turn it over a lot, and that's something Valpo's defense has done well at this year.
I think it's a big ask to expect them to win or even remain competitive if Valpo can't hit some outside shots, control the glass or win the free throw battle. I actually think the environment will be pretty low key given its Thanksgiving break and they had a major football game last night. Just wish it would be easier to find on TV.
I just don't see this one being close based on what I've seen so far this season. I'm guessing we lose by 25-30.
I've never even heard of ATSN. If I don't get channel I'll be listening to the game on radio.
The video link on the website/social media is free outside the AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh local viewing area.
Quote from: aleavitt on November 24, 2018, 09:08:54 AM
The video link on the website/social media is free outside the AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh local viewing area.
Thanks Aaron :thumbsup:
https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/1066347499546398720
https://wvusports.com/watch/?Live=2449&type=Live
Quote from: IrishDawg on November 24, 2018, 05:35:50 AMI actually think the environment will be pretty low key given its Thanksgiving break and they had a major football game last night. Just wish it would be easier to find on TV.
This game was probably scheduled specifically to ride the coattails of last night's football crowd which didn't seem affected by the Thanksgiving break. So I expect a full house who, assuming they still have their voices, will be looking to take their frustrations out on somebody....anybody. The Crusaders will do.
WVU's press is not running at full octane at the moment but will still likely give Valpo fits at times. Valpo's inside game should be non existent unless Konate gets in foul trouble.
Valpo will have to shoot the lights out to win this one.
first half and so far decent start. At least refs seem to be pretty fair
Quote from: RS on November 24, 2018, 01:34:42 PM
first half and so far decent start. At least refs seem to be pretty fair
...except for the phantom foul call on Freeman.
Sorry guys, Kiser has no business making it into games any longer.
Totally dead in Morgantown today.
Valpo having little issue with West Virginia's defense, and they aren't even shooting the 3 well yet. Rebounding still an issue.
If Huggins is dumb enough to keep running the press when his team clearly can't execute it, keep punishing them for it.
Quote from: JD24 on November 24, 2018, 09:26:10 AM
Quote from: IrishDawg on November 24, 2018, 05:35:50 AMI actually think the environment will be pretty low key given its Thanksgiving break and they had a major football game last night. Just wish it would be easier to find on TV.
This game was probably scheduled specifically to ride the coattails of last night's football crowd which didn't seem affected by the Thanksgiving break. So I expect a full house who, assuming they still have their voices, will be looking to take their frustrations out on somebody....anybody. The Crusaders will do.
WVU's press is not running at full octane at the moment but will still likely give Valpo fits at times. Valpo's inside game should be non existent unless Konate gets in foul trouble.
Valpo will have to shoot the lights out to win this one.
Godda love you experts! Smits, 12 points and 3 blocks in the first half! ;D
This is just more proof that we can play better than we have in recent games but instead play down to our opponent.
At least by half I was having a more enjoyable viewing experience with my team than the two Michigan Fans screaming from my living room were for theirs.
Quote from: vu72 on November 24, 2018, 02:01:06 PM
Quote from: JD24 on November 24, 2018, 09:26:10 AM
Quote from: IrishDawg on November 24, 2018, 05:35:50 AMI actually think the environment will be pretty low key given its Thanksgiving break and they had a major football game last night. Just wish it would be easier to find on TV.
This game was probably scheduled specifically to ride the coattails of last night's football crowd which didn't seem affected by the Thanksgiving break. So I expect a full house who, assuming they still have their voices, will be looking to take their frustrations out on somebody....anybody. The Crusaders will do.
WVU's press is not running at full octane at the moment but will still likely give Valpo fits at times. Valpo's inside game should be non existent unless Konate gets in foul trouble.
Valpo will have to shoot the lights out to win this one.
Godda love you experts! Smits, 12 points and 3 blocks in the first half! ;D
We're doing a good job of taking advantage of Derrik's man leaving him to hedge our guards. I'm guessing they'll make some kind of halftime adjustment to shore that up.
I was curious to see how many 3-pointers that Kionte(spell?) guy had to make before we thought we better guard him outside.....HellOOO!
Well, moral victories don't cut it anymore but nonetheless, some very good performances. Derrik, 20/7/5, Deion, 10/0 and as a team 19 assts and 14 turnovers. Obviously, the addition of Deion has corrected a glaring problem we had last year. Where was J?
Quote from: valpo64 on November 24, 2018, 02:55:58 PM
I was curious to see how many 3-pointers that Kionte(spell?) guy had to make before we thought we better guard him outside.....HellOOO!
Konate finished 5 of 8 from three.
Quote from: FieldGoodie05 on November 24, 2018, 01:54:48 PM
Sorry guys, Kiser has no business making it into games any longer.
Kiser got 4 minutes which was the lowest of the subs. When Sorolla and Bradford get back he'll probably get 1 or 2 minutes.
Valpo put up a good fight, but defensively, I'm sure the coaching staff wants better. Even with the long scoring drought in the 2nd half, this was the best offensive output (1.09 PPP) for Valpo this year against a D1 team. Unfortunately, it was the worst defensively they've played all season (1.28 PPP) by a fairly decent margin (1.20 PPP was their previous worst against WKU).
West Virginia might figure things out once they get into Big 12 play, but they have some major issues defensively currently. Not saying anything anyone doesn't know, but Valpo is competing better in these games than a year ago, but still has some things to figure out before they can take the next step.
I'd say this was a good game for Valpo and demonstrates positive progress. I never expected a win against WVU on their home court, but I was pleased by the team performance overall. Smits continued to show he has found his offense with 20 points, plus he had 7 rebounds and 5 blocks (and only had 2 fouls). Lavender displayed his value with 10 assists and 6 rebounds. Fazekas exhibited his 3-point shot. In fact, the team shot a fine 54% from the field and 45% from the 3-pt. line. Freeman came up short on double-digit points (9) for the first time, but he had a few bad calls against him by the refs. Golder's 13 pts. and 5 rebs. was solid. Weaknesses still seem to be giving up offensive rebounds that lead to Valpo being outscored on 2nd-chance points (15-5), and too many turnovers. Two factors could not be controlled: their big guy suddenly finding a 3-point shot and hitting 5 of them (none of the others were a 3-pt. threat), and the officiating favoring the home team, who had 12 more free throws. Finally, team obviously tired in last 10 minutes.
We stayed in the game longer than I thought we would, just wore down at the end. Need Jay and Micah back.
22 free throws for them. 10 for us, 10 more made for them. We actually rebounded and shot better today, but Kanote hitting 5 threes really hurt.
Smits had another good game. Stayed out of foul trouble. Played decent defense at times. Even got a few rebounds. Maybe he has figured a few things out.
Quote from: nkvu on November 24, 2018, 03:08:25 PMStayed out of foul trouble. Played decent defense at times.
I question whether Derrik can do both of these in game. The times Derrik played better defense was when he got some blocked shots but many times he should get defensive rebounds and doesn't and sometimes their big men drove around him like he wasn't there at all.
Quote from: vu72 on November 24, 2018, 02:55:59 PMWell, moral victories don't cut it anymore but nonetheless, some very good performances. Derrik, 20/7/5, Deion, 10/0 and as a team 19 assts and 14 turnovers. Obviously, the addition of Deion has corrected a glaring problem we had last year. Where was J?
[tweet]1066406563265593346[/tweet]
Decent game. I think the last 10 minutes of the game we were finally getting worn out. Like announcers said the short bench hurt us in the long run. Shots started coming up short and more fouls being committed. Really don't think the refs were that bad. Smits, Fazekas, Lavender and Golder played well. Last few years we would have lost by 20 or more plus scoring is better.
Quote from: bbtds on November 23, 2018, 06:54:18 PMI agree that Valpo will find some way to keep it close despite being out rebounded and out shot. The new wrinkles of Smits being to score down low more often and the athletic ability of Freeman, Sackey and Golder will make it closer than what many are thinking. Hopefully one of our non-shooters, maybe Mileek, Kiser or Bradford will find some way to make an unexpected number of shots.
It was Smits who did play well down low and Golder had a good game in my opinion but Evelyn and Fazekas had better shooting games than I expected. Bakari was 2/5 from two and 2/6 from three. Ryan was 2/2 from two and 3/4 from three. He only missed one three all game.
In the end it was a much closer game than many of you expected.
The good: no teams are going to press us, Smits on offense and even a tad on defense (but maybe put a hand up before Konte starts his shot), Fazekas finally looked right, offense looked better when VU had to run half court sets
The not so good: still can't rebound on defense
Glad to see them compete for 30 minutes before their size and depth got the best of Valpo.
Smits must have read my comment about not living up to his blocks proclamation :). The team can be proud of their overall effort, even with the defensive and rebounding lapses at times. I didn't really notice any foul disparity, outside of the end numbers. We got a lot of uncontested inside and outside shots, so I don't think that it was called unfairly. We just had more body-to-body contact on shots when on D. Within 6 for 36 of 40 minutes on the road against a team that will probably finish towards the top 4 of the Big 12...no complaints on my side.
Quote from: valpotx on November 24, 2018, 03:21:25 PM
Smits must have read my comment about not living up to his blocks proclamation :). The team can be proud of their overall effort, even with the defensive and rebounding lapses at times. I didn't really notice any foul disparity, outside of the end numbers. We got a lot of uncontested inside and outside shots, so I don't think that it was called unfairly. We just had more body-to-body contact on shots when on D. Within 6 for 36 of 40 minutes on the road against a team that will probably finish towards the top 4 of the Big 12...no complaints on my side.
Thought there were a couple of calls on us that were ticky-tacky and a couple of similar that weren't called on them but not outrageous for a game at a P-5 school. On a neutral court we may have kept it under 10. That's all.
With Mileek racking up 3 fouls in 6 minutes and Micah and Jay not playing I'd say that the rest of the guys are pretty much on or ahead of schedule. Wasn't Jay and then Mileek supposed to be our starting centers? Just how much center playing time will McMillan get when Sorolla returns?
Just how good will this team get when everybody is healthy and a bit more maturity sets in? Looks to me that in 5 weeks we will be in no danger of losing by 10 to anybody in the Valley. Thoughts?
Quote from: valpotx on November 24, 2018, 03:21:25 PM
Smits must have read my comment about not living up to his blocks proclamation :). The team can be proud of their overall effort, even with the defensive and rebounding lapses at times. I didn't really notice any foul disparity, outside of the end numbers. We got a lot of uncontested inside and outside shots, so I don't think that it was called unfairly. We just had more body-to-body contact on shots when on D. Within 6 for 36 of 40 minutes on the road against a team that will probably finish towards the top 4 of the Big 12...no complaints on my side.
Overall, a very solid performance. If they can repeat that at UNLV, I think they nab a win.
Didn't get to see any of this on TV. Just followed it on Gamecast. But it does seem solid to keep up on the road with WVU and also to stay tight with Wake and West KY. One good sign is we have not been beaten down early by any of these 3 teams.
Quote from: nkvu on November 24, 2018, 03:08:25 PM
We stayed in the game longer than I thought we would, just wore down at the end. Need Jay and Micah back.
22 free throws for them. 10 for us, 10 more made for them. We actually rebounded and shot better today, but Kanote hitting 5 threes really hurt.
Smits had another good game. Stayed out of foul trouble. Played decent defense at times. Even got a few rebounds. Maybe he has figured a few things out.
Now if Smits can cut his TO in half it will be hard to yell at him through the TV!
Remember guys, we haven't been at full strength all year. Add another 7 footer and a speedy guard and we may really have something come conference time. No one in the Valley is going to blow us out.
Quote from: crusadermoe on November 24, 2018, 04:47:43 PM
Didn't get to see any of this on TV. Just followed it on Gamecast. But it does seem solid to keep up on the road with WVU and also to stay tight with Wake and West KY. One good sign is we have not been beaten down early by any of these 3 teams.
I'd take this over our 8-0 start last year.
It is time to sit down with Mileek and explain to him that he is our project player for 2018-19. He bas so much raw (emphasis on raw) talent but he cannot yet control his body enough to be an asset when he is out there. He has 3 years to become all he could be, but not at the expense of this team's current season. Iam reminded of how painfulit was to watch Vashil in the first two years of his Valpo career. Could it be that during that stretch he might have an even greater liability. But look how he blossomed with effort and determination. Mileek and the staff both have to be patient and Mileek has got to accept that his minutes will no longer be at crucial times in a game. Rather he should be given minutes when the the game is well in hand (or the opposite). In the meantime, here is a kid who should deserves to be almost privately tutored in every practice in an effort to develop the skills he is lacking and optimize the skills he brings to the court.
I don't disagree with you, but he also needs to be played at a position where he can be successful. Playing him at the 5 in a pinch for a few minutes at a time is fine but he has to get run at the 4 more often then not and maybe that'll happen when/if Sorolla comes back. If those aren't big time minutes then that's fine but we can't expect him to grow into an all conference player by playing him lots of minutes out of position.
Except for allowing too many offensive rebounds and second chance points, we played well on their court. When we went down 14-5 early, we really came back and played with them.
Smits looked great, and stayed out of foul trouble.
If they play like this, it will be a good season. IF.
Derrik Smits is beginning to channel his inner dad which is a good thing. He is no longer the complete waste of time he's been for the most part to this point. I agree that when Sorolla returns it will help things.
The team played well today. A hearty golf clap for the effort.
No question the WVU game was a big step forward for this team. Where has Smits been his first 2 seasons? Keep up the good work, Rick! Every phase of our game looks to have taken a step forward, especially the 3-point shooting, assists now greater than turnovers. This could be an exciting season when "J" returns and we can have a "big" on the floor throughout the game.
Quote from: vu72 on November 24, 2018, 05:25:12 PM
Remember guys, we haven't been at full strength all year. Add another 7 footer and a speedy guard and we may really have something come conference time. No one in the Valley is going to blow us out.
Sorolla, yes. I doubt if Micah Bradford is the solution to any problems this team has.
Who cares where the prior Derrick was?
As long as this one stays often and for long periods, I am ready to salute him and cut him some slack for a few games. Our ceiling for the year is looking a bit higher, but it's a long ride through December and the winter.
Carpe Diem!
Quote from: Valpo89 on November 25, 2018, 01:50:12 PM
Quote from: vu72 on November 24, 2018, 05:25:12 PM
Remember guys, we haven't been at full strength all year. Add another 7 footer and a speedy guard and we may really have something come conference time. No one in the Valley is going to blow us out.
Sorolla, yes. I doubt if Micah Bradford is the solution to any problems this team has.
As hard as it will be for Micah to break into the rotation this season, it will become even more difficult next year with Gordon and Robinson added to the mix. Thus, he may simply have an injured back waiting to heal up, or it may be that it won't be healing up for the rest of the season, after which he will graduate in 3 years and become a graduate transfer with 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Quote from: Valpo89 on November 25, 2018, 01:50:12 PMI doubt if Micah Bradford is the solution to any problems this team has.
Barring health issues everybody gets better over their 4 year careers. While Micah has always been a spotty shooter his rise in assists (68) and turn over decline (38) were rather dramatic vs his frosh performance. He also grabbed 507 of our 17-18 point guard minutes and knows his teammates well. No I am no longer certain he will ever be a full time starter but I do think that at full strength he is for now much less of a gamble than Sackey. If you look at the season stats you will see that Lavender and Evelyn are logging some big minutes that Matt might like to reduce. I just can't see how having Micah back in the mix can be anything but a positive.
Quote from: justducky on November 25, 2018, 04:30:11 PM
Quote from: Valpo89 on November 25, 2018, 01:50:12 PMI doubt if Micah Bradford is the solution to any problems this team has.
Barring health issues everybody gets better over their 4 year careers. While Micah has always been a spotty shooter his rise in assists (68) and turn over decline (38) were rather dramatic vs his frosh performance. He also grabbed 507 of our 17-18 point guard minutes and knows his teammates well. No I am no longer certain he will ever be a full time starter but I do think that at full strength he is for now much less of a gamble than Sackey. If you look at the season stats you will see that Lavender and Evelyn are logging some big minutes that Matt might like to reduce. I just can't see how having Micah back in the mix can be anything but a positive.
Once he stopped throwing up 3 point bricks and started playing as a distributor he really helped the team last year. No reason he couldn't do the same this year. Question is can he get healthy and is he willing to play that role.
Quote from: nkvu on November 25, 2018, 05:08:14 PM
Quote from: justducky on November 25, 2018, 04:30:11 PM
Quote from: Valpo89 on November 25, 2018, 01:50:12 PMI doubt if Micah Bradford is the solution to any problems this team has.
Barring health issues everybody gets better over their 4 year careers. While Micah has always been a spotty shooter his rise in assists (68) and turn over decline (38) were rather dramatic vs his frosh performance. He also grabbed 507 of our 17-18 point guard minutes and knows his teammates well. No I am no longer certain he will ever be a full time starter but I do think that at full strength he is for now much less of a gamble than Sackey. If you look at the season stats you will see that Lavender and Evelyn are logging some big minutes that Matt might like to reduce. I just can't see how having Micah back in the mix can be anything but a positive.
Once he stopped throwing up 3 point bricks and started playing as a distributor he really helped the team last year. No reason he couldn't do the same this year. Question is can he get healthy and is he willing to play that role.
Micah would be an asset to this team, he's able to handle the offense and dribble drive which Sackey (inexperienced) has not shown to date (with low TO).
His freshmen year I was ready to say "next" but he showed a great deal in MVC play. If he can shoot 68% FT he's a great asset.
Quote from: FieldGoodie05 on November 25, 2018, 08:16:00 PM
Quote from: nkvu on November 25, 2018, 05:08:14 PM
Quote from: justducky on November 25, 2018, 04:30:11 PM
Quote from: Valpo89 on November 25, 2018, 01:50:12 PMI doubt if Micah Bradford is the solution to any problems this team has.
Barring health issues everybody gets better over their 4 year careers. While Micah has always been a spotty shooter his rise in assists (68) and turn over decline (38) were rather dramatic vs his frosh performance. He also grabbed 507 of our 17-18 point guard minutes and knows his teammates well. No I am no longer certain he will ever be a full time starter but I do think that at full strength he is for now much less of a gamble than Sackey. If you look at the season stats you will see that Lavender and Evelyn are logging some big minutes that Matt might like to reduce. I just can't see how having Micah back in the mix can be anything but a positive.
Once he stopped throwing up 3 point bricks and started playing as a distributor he really helped the team last year. No reason he couldn't do the same this year. Question is can he get healthy and is he willing to play that role.
Micah would be an asset to this team, he's able to handle the offense and dribble drive which Sackey (inexperienced) has not shown to date (with low TO).
His freshmen year I was ready to say "next" but he showed a great deal in MVC play. If he can shoot 68% FT he's a great asset.
Lavender is proving to be a really good pick up.
Micah played pretty darn well the last 10 games of the season last year. In our MVC tournament game against Missouri State he had a great game. But yes, obviously a healthy Micah can't contribute at all and should transfer.... This board is brutal.
Lavender is doing pretty well this year, but he wasn't exactly a superstar the last few years now was he.....?
Quote from: SanityLost17 on November 26, 2018, 08:38:57 AM
Micah played pretty darn well the last 10 games of the season last year. In our MVC tournament game against Missouri State he had a great game. But yes, obviously a healthy Micah can't contribute at all and should transfer.... This board is brutal.
Lavender is doing pretty well this year, but he wasn't exactly a superstar the last few years now was he.....?
The reality is that Deion may not be any better than Micah concerning assists to turnovers, but the overall play, somewhat dictated by the point guard and the coaches, is much better than last year. Last year as a team, we had more turnovers (469) than assists (399). This year to date we have 98 assists to 78 turnovers. Deion and Bakari have 58 assists to 23 turnovers. Last year Micah and Bakari had a combined 161 assists to 126 turnovers. Micah was 68 to 38.
Quote from: SanityLost17 on November 26, 2018, 08:38:57 AMBut yes, obviously a healthy Micah can't contribute at all and should transfer.... This board is brutal.
Well at least when we are beating on a dead horse we are not beating up on each other. Unfortunately for Micah he seems to be the dead horse :deadhorse: for the day. I've got this hunch that when Micah gets back up on all 4 hooves he might have a bit more thoroughbred in him than you think.
Lavender has quietly been the most reliable, consistent, and productive member of the team overall. He has averaged 8.8 pts. and 5.5 rebs. while getting 35 assists to only 14 turnovers, adding 7 steals. His shooting percentages have been among the highest on the team (2-pts: .576, 3-pts: .400, FT: .733. Plus, he has played more minutes than anyone else, while only committing 9 fouls in 6 games, and he has admirably filled a position about which many had questions before the season began. He even seems to exhibit maturity on the court, and he serves as an example for the younger guys.
Quote from: valpopal on November 26, 2018, 12:54:32 PM
Lavender has quietly been the most reliable, consistent, and productive member of the team overall. He has averaged 8.8 pts. and 5.5 rebs. while getting 35 assists to only 14 turnovers, adding 7 steals. His shooting percentages have been among the highest on the team (2-pts: .576, 3-pts: .400, FT: .733. Plus, he has played more minutes than anyone else, while only committing 9 fouls in 6 games, and he has admirably filled a position about which many had questions before the season began. He even seems to exhibit maturity on the court, and he serves as an example for the younger guys.
I am in total agreement with this. All I am saying is that based on Lavender's body of work prior to coming to Valpo there is now way we could have expected he would play this well right away. Based on the way Micah ended his season last year, IF and when he gets healthy we should give him the benefit of the doubt to see what he is capable of. Perhaps with this injury we will never know, but I for one was thinking he was going to play really well this year. Lots of people on here were REALLY hard on Smits in the offseason as well, but he has been playing better every single game.
So much for the myth held by a few on this board that Lottich doesn't develop players
Quote from: VUGrad1314 on November 26, 2018, 05:26:34 PM
So much for the myth held by a few on this board that Lottich doesn't develop players
So you would say those few on this board mythed on that statement about Lottich developing players. :lol:
WKU takes down #16Wisconsin 83-76.
Played in front of 7,600 Big Red Fans in Bowling Green KY. Great Home victory against a ranked team!!!
BTW..... The Sycamores (8-4) and Bears from Missouri St. (6-7) beat WKU late November early December!
Quote from: VALPO LI on December 30, 2018, 08:52:19 PM
Played in front of 7,600 Big Red Fans in Bowling Green KY. Great Home victory against a ranked team!!!
BTW..... The Sycamores (8-4) and Bears from Missouri St. (6-7) beat WKU late November early December!
E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, KY officially holds 7,368. How does a team like the Hilltoppers get a B1G team like Wisconsin to play in Bowling Green, KY (population 67,067)?
FYI, Belmont also beat Western KY in Nashville 10 days before the Hilltoppers beat Wisconsin.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/DiddleArena.JPG)
Quote from: bbtds on December 31, 2018, 05:26:24 AM
Quote from: VALPO LI on December 30, 2018, 08:52:19 PM
Played in front of 7,600 Big Red Fans in Bowling Green KY. Great Home victory against a ranked team!!!
BTW..... The Sycamores (8-4) and Bears from Missouri St. (6-7) beat WKU late November early December!
E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, KY officially holds 7,368. How does a team like the Hilltoppers get a B1G team like Wisconsin to play in Bowling Green, KY (population 67,067)?
FYI, Belmont also beat Western KY in Nashville 10 days before the Hilltoppers beat Wisconsin.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/DiddleArena.JPG)
It appears WKU suffers from All-Star syndrome. It's difficult to get top prospects to play a team game consistently. We either got WKU's best or we just play horrible defense (or All of the Above).