Final weekend of the regular season, which Valpo team show's up tonight? A weekend sweep probably gets us the 5 seed and a rematch with Indiana State in the quarters. A good chance a split gets us a bye with Bradley hosting Drake this weekend and SIU is at Loyola. UNI is the one to watch out for as they are at Illinois State this weekend and could sweep them.
Hope Valpo comes out with urgency tonight and takes at least some of the pressure off tomorrow's game. All about defending their guards, they have 3 averaging over 10 ppg lead by Key who almost definitely will make all-conference first team. Here's hoping we can prevent them driving into the lane easily or get wide open threes like SIU had against us last weekend.
Quote from: IndyEIT777 on February 26, 2021, 01:49:57 PMFinal weekend of the regular season, which Valpo team show's up tonight? A weekend sweep probably gets us the 5 seed and a rematch with Indiana State in the quarters. A good chance a split gets us a bye with Bradley hosting Drake this weekend and SIU is at Loyola. UNI is the one to watch out for as they are at Illinois State this weekend and could sweep them. Hope Valpo comes out with urgency tonight and takes at least some of the pressure off tomorrow's game. All about defending their guards, they have 3 averaging over 10 ppg lead by Key who almost definitely will make all-conference first team. Here's hoping we can prevent them driving into the lane easily or get wide open threes like SIU had against us last weekend.
UNI has a better NET ranking than us as well (203 v 231). So with us splitting the regular season with them, the tie breaker would go to them most likely (unless this weekend changes that). A sweep would be great, but hopefully a split would do it too.
Earlier this year, I contributed to the debate on this board if Valpo is competitive in the MVC.
Win or lose against Indiana State, let me point out a few facts. Heading into this last weekend, Valpo is tied for 5th place in conference. In the last week or so, VU also nearly took #21 Loyola to overtime (at Loyola, where almost no one wins), and was pretty competitive against Southern Illinois in the prior road split. This team also has a win against #25 Drake.
No matter where they end up, be it 5th place or 9th place depending on these last two games and the rest of the conference, the team has proven they can play with every team in the MVC. This team is also very young, so the future looks bright. Rooting for wins this weekend!
Quote from: vuny98 on February 26, 2021, 02:09:32 PM
Quote from: IndyEIT777 on February 26, 2021, 01:49:57 PMFinal weekend of the regular season, which Valpo team show's up tonight? A weekend sweep probably gets us the 5 seed and a rematch with Indiana State in the quarters. A good chance a split gets us a bye with Bradley hosting Drake this weekend and SIU is at Loyola. UNI is the one to watch out for as they are at Illinois State this weekend and could sweep them. Hope Valpo comes out with urgency tonight and takes at least some of the pressure off tomorrow's game. All about defending their guards, they have 3 averaging over 10 ppg lead by Key who almost definitely will make all-conference first team. Here's hoping we can prevent them driving into the lane easily or get wide open threes like SIU had against us last weekend.
UNI has a better NET ranking than us as well (203 v 231). So with us splitting the regular season with them, the tie breaker would go to them most likely (unless this weekend changes that). A sweep would be great, but hopefully a split would do it too.
I believe they made a change this year. The second tiebreaker (after head to head) is now record against highest ranked conference opponent. We hold the second tiebreaker against every team in league except for Loyola for our 1-1 record against first seeded drake.
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1365443083186425859?s=20
Key is out both games this weekend. Absolutely no excuse to at the very least split and be competitive in both games!
Stinking it up early. No defense. Stupid turnovers. Can't get a good shot and can't hit anything. They better get it together or this will be a blowout.
Quote from: nkvu on February 26, 2021, 06:25:37 PM
Stinking it up early. No defense. Stupid turnovers. Can't get a good shot and can't hit anything. They better get it together or this will be a blowout.
BLOWOUT!!!!!!
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Well, we got to double figures and we're only down 22 at the half. I'd like to say the second half couldn't get any worse, but with the way we're playing I wouldn't bet on it. They are just better at every aspect of the game. They can do anything they want & we can't do anything right. Painfull.
Absolute worst half of shooting that I have ever witnessed from a Valpo team. They should be embarrassed, and if they don't come out with a fire in their bellies in the second half, they need another manhood check...
We need some different first and second options. Ben and Donovan are nice players but they both have a tendency to disappear or go cold for long stretches. Force them outside and neither one is a reliable 3-point shooter. When Donovan's cold many of his misses are bricks. Way short or way long, even way left or way right. We need a playmaking guard that is a consistent scoring threat. And, I hate to admit that I was wrong, but the motion offense needs to be scrapped. Either we don't have the athleticism or the basketball I.Q. or both to leverage it to our advantage.
Sackey couldn't hit an elephant with a shotgun from 5 feet.
When Sackey is on the floor, Indiana St. can double Kerke down low and not have to worry about Sackey. Its' 5v4. They also sag off of him. They did their homework on him.
I just don't get how our players throw up so many air balls from 3. It is not hard to at least hit something...
So many bad passes, air balls, and missed layups from our team this year.
Wow. This team is something sometimes.
Quote from: oklahomamick on February 26, 2021, 07:15:18 PMWhen Sackey is on the floor, Indiana St. can double Kerke down low and not have to worry about Sackey. Its' 5v4. They also sag off of him. They did their homework on him.
To be honest, they're sagging off of all of our shooters...and the way we're shooting, who can blame them?
Holy crap. ISUb is basically begging us to get back into the game with their poor shooting, and we are instead just telling them, 'you think your shooting is bad? I'll show you bad.'
Seriously?? Back-to-back missed easy layups. You can't make this stuff up
Get it down to 12, and Sheldon decides to take 2 really crappy shots.
smaller blowout?
maybe not?
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Of course, an attempted showtime dunk, rather than just going with the safe path for an easy 2. Even Krikke making decisions beyond his ability today. WTF?
What the hell was that pass from Morgan to Krikke with a dude right on him?
At least this team has put their mark on Valpo history. They get to claim the largest conference loss in 20+ years, first time under 50 points against ISUb since 1955, and if we don't win tomorrow, they will be the first Valpo team since 1991-1992, to have a losing record at home. Congrats!
The second half was better but I didn't see anything that would make me think that tomorrow night will have a different outcome. Hope the team doesn't leave their game in the dorm like they did tonight. Would like to see them have a chance to avoid the Thursday game.
It's embarrassing to watch our non-MVC level guys play against the competent teams in this league, they get smothered and it makes me sick. I'm glad this year's freshman class can compete in the MVC and my hope is next year's class does the same. As much as I want to see us avoid a Thursday game, I'd almost rather us play against a team I know we can beat before playing one of the top 4 teams which it looks like we're out of our depth with this year.
Without Key, this should have been 2 wins for us. We blew a major opportunity tonight, but luckily, Evansville has been blowing games for weeks now, Bradley is the usual character issues that Wardle brings with him, and SIU is AT Loyola. We mainly need to worry about UNI at ISUr
Isn't it amazing that when Sackey is on the floor the offense goes flat? I cannot believe that he is still paying the minutes he gets because he is totally WORTHLESS on the offensive end of the floor. He cannot create any offense, is the worst shooter I ever remember in any VU offense, plays like his hair is on fire but gets nothing accomplished, gets run over on defense...it goes on and on. May the Lord bless us with a good point guard next year....please! It is painful to watch when he is in the game and I believe that the rest of the offense is down and listless when he playing. The game has passed him by, or should I say gone over his head. Since his freshman year he has regressed however I think the competition has improved greatly since he was a frosh and now the caliber of play is above his playing ability.
Quote from: valpotx on February 26, 2021, 07:41:24 PMOf course, an attempted showtime dunk, rather than just going with the safe path for an easy 2. Even Krikke making decisions beyond his ability today. WTF?
To be fair on this particular play, Krikke had missed three blatant easy layups when a dunk might have finished the job. I kept wondering in the first half why he wasn't going up to dunk instead of the soft layins.
Quote from: valpo64 on February 26, 2021, 08:17:05 PM
Isn't it amazing that when Sackey is on the floor the offense goes flat? I cannot believe that he is still paying the minutes he gets because he is totally WORTHLESS on the offensive end of the floor. He cannot create any offense, is the worst shooter I ever remember in any VU offense, plays like his hair is on fire but gets nothing accomplished, gets run over on defense...it goes on and on. May the Lord bless us with a good point guard next year....please! It is painful to watch when he is in the game and I believe that the rest of the offense is down and listless when he playing. The game has passed him by, or should I say gone over his head. Since his freshman year he has regressed however I think the competition has improved greatly since he was a frosh and now the caliber of play is above his playing ability.
Really? I'm not saying that Sackey made any difference in the offense but it was stalling long before Sackey entered the game.
On the bright side, as we have seen with this team all year, we can play lights out one night only to suck it up the next... so maybe tomorrow will be better. It needs to be with UNI winning tonight.
Quote from: Pgmado on February 26, 2021, 09:00:13 PM
Quote from: valpotx on February 26, 2021, 07:41:24 PMOf course, an attempted showtime dunk, rather than just going with the safe path for an easy 2. Even Krikke making decisions beyond his ability today. WTF?
To be fair on this particular play, Krikke had missed three blatant easy layups when a dunk might have finished the job. I kept wondering in the first half why he wasn't going up to dunk instead of the soft layins.
It was more of just me commenting on how it seems like our players always seem to try a showtime level dunk, when you really only need the points, in key situations. I can remember several breakaway dunk opportunities earlier in the season, that called for points being needed, and we decide a tomahawk jam is a MUST, and brick it off that back iron! I might just have to chalk it up to 'kids these days,' similar to how I absolutely loathe the boom or bust style of hitting in baseball, where it is either big/long drive or strikeout. Just put the damn ball in the hoop, and put the damn ball in play. Get off my lawn, Oren ;)
Quote from: valpotx on February 26, 2021, 10:48:44 PM
Quote from: Pgmado on February 26, 2021, 09:00:13 PM
Quote from: valpotx on February 26, 2021, 07:41:24 PMOf course, an attempted showtime dunk, rather than just going with the safe path for an easy 2. Even Krikke making decisions beyond his ability today. WTF?
To be fair on this particular play, Krikke had missed three blatant easy layups when a dunk might have finished the job. I kept wondering in the first half why he wasn't going up to dunk instead of the soft layins.
It was more of just me commenting on how it seems like our players always seem to try a showtime level dunk, when you really only need the points, in key situations. I can remember several breakaway dunk opportunities earlier in the season, that called for points being needed, and we decide a tomahawk jam is a MUST, and brick it off that back iron! I might just have to chalk it up to 'kids these days,' similar to how I absolutely loathe the boom or bust style of hitting in baseball, where it is either big/long drive or strikeout. Just put the damn ball in the hoop, and put the damn ball in play. Get off my lawn, Oren ;)
I'm with you on baseball. I hate the strikeout, walk, or home run that baseball has become. It is f***ing BORING!!! Until they require two infielders on each side of second base, and none of the infielders positioned in the outfield, baseball will continue its slide into oblivion. That being said, the team should concentrate on putting the the ball through the basket to actually score points. Looking good on the occasional play is not the same as being good and contributing to wins. There are times when a dunk is the best way to score, and times when a layup is best. Until the team learns which is which, we will continue to throw away opportunities to score and ultimately, to win.
The motion offense is difficult to learn. We are a young, this takes time. Having a sub .500 conference record and playing Thursday every year is no indication on where our storied program is heading.
I'm looking forward to today's zoom with some real players, fashil, Buggs, and rowdy. Not only good basketball players but players I enjoyed watching compete. We don't have very many 4 year players anymore with transfer bug going around. Seemed like they loved each other, the school and the game.
I'll probably shut the computer off after the zoom and not even watch the game.
Hopefully we step on their throats in the second half, versus letting them feel like they have a chance to get back into the game. Knocking on wood...
Quote from: valpotx on February 27, 2021, 06:03:31 PM
Hopefully we step on their throats in the second half, versus letting them feel like they have a chance to get back into the game. Knocking on wood...
Seems like a small flat instead of a blowout.
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