2/5/2013 MBB - UIC at Valpo

[historyman]

This is the team I thought we might have when I so boldly said I thought this year's team could be a top 25.  Well, when our mop up guys are former Ole Miss, Va Tech and Indiana recruits it does say something about our depth. Seriously, we just thumped a team that beat DePaul and other decent teams.  I really think the stars are getting allined with everyone understanding their role.  Of course, it doesn't hurt to shoot the lights out either. 

18 turnovers, though, is way too many. If the shots had not been falling this would have been a very tough game.

[HC]

18 turnovers, but we did play our backups for the last 14 minutes. On the flip side, think what it would've looked like without that many turnovers, yikes!

[agibson]

What was it, ten turnovers in the first half?  Before Vashil and Colrmsn started logging big minutes?

[wh]

Someone on this board (I won't say who) proclaimed after the conference-opening loss against Loyola that this year's HL championship will go through Chicago. Loyola and UIC are now a combined 8-13.   

I hope someone from the most classless program in the HL was observing, so they can see how to handle a blowout without showing up your opponent.  I can only imagine little ray and daddy in the same situation.  Little ray scores 19 in the 1st half, daddy plays him to the bitter end trying to set the school record for points (or some other self-serving goal), and little ray caps off the evening with an uncontested dunk at the gun.  Final score: Detroit No Mercy by 47. 

[valpopal]

Two perspectives UIC defenders saw all evening and will see again tonight in their nightmares:

[KL31NY]

Valparaiso dominates UIC in highlight-filled performance
Paul Oren Times Correspondent

Valparaiso 86, Illinois-Chicago 61

VALPARAISO | The Horizon League Network broadcast a 40-minute highlight reel on Tuesday night starring the Valparaiso men's basketball team.

Ryan Broekhoff knocked down shots. Matt Kenney pulled down rebounds. Bobby Capobianco dished out assists. Even Vashil Fernandez got in the act with a thunderous block.

Rest of the story here: http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/valparaiso-dominates-uic-in-highlight-filled-performance/article_92ad064f-cc9d-5563-b437-1eb293654d71.html

[valpotx]

Very fun to watch this one.  Obviously, we won't shoot like that every night, so it was good to see us continue our positive assist to turnover ratio...though we still had too many TOs.  I also thought it was a joke that someone thought the HL went through Chicago after the first few games.  I said throughout our loss to Loyola that they were a very bad team, and it was a bad loss, and also figured UIC to be middle of the pack.  It really was lined up to be a two horse race in Valpo and Detroit.  I really hope we come out 'guns a blazing' against Detroit at home.  Though I would love to beat them by 20+ after last year's debacle, it will be a close game that will come down to how we shoot the 3.  If we hit 40% or more, we win, if not, it will be tough. 

Excellent game by Bobby, who I enjoy watching on the offensive end.  He really hustles for the offensive rebounds, and seems to always be in position to at least have a chance to give us a second try.  Vashil really needs to work on his tensile strength, but does seem to at least have an idea of what to do around the basket when he does correctly receive the ball.  We keep forgetting that he is basically a FR or less due to his total basketball experience, so he should become a decent presence off the bench as his career develops.  If he ends up giving us 10-15 minutes/game by his SR year, I think that he will have been a success.  You can't teach his height or wingspan, so he was worth the 'gamble.'

[justducky]

Missed the game but the boxscore shows that the bench got exactly half the minutes and half the points. They also got the majority of our rebounds, blocks, steals and 2/3s of our assists. On top of that they had 3 fewer turnovers than the starters.

I like it. Maybe I should miss more often. Bench improvement will determine just how good this team can become and I think they still have some room to grow.

Hold on to your hats because I do not see an easy game left on the schedule.

[vuweathernerd]

how about that free throw shooting? buggs went 6-6 and capo 4-4 at the line last night, which is great to see considering the lamenting of that part of their games that has taken place. gonna heap some more onto buggs, because he's steadily improved his ft shooting every year.

[valpotx]

Buggs has really turned his game around the last 5-6 games.  I absolutely love how much more aggressive he has become in finding ways to get to the basket, in spite of sagging defenders at times.  He has also figured out that his 3-pt shooting looks better if he does a 'catch and shoot,' rather than taking a quick dribble and shooting.  Some players are so much better if they don't give themselves time to think about the shot, and just react when given the ball.

[KL31NY]

Bobby Capobianco, ESPN's Stat Sheet Stuffer of the Night

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/75012/numbers-to-know-tuesday-recap-7

[crusaderjoe]

Someone on this board (I won't say who) proclaimed after the conference-opening loss against Loyola that this year's HL championship will go through Chicago. Loyola and UIC are now a combined 8-13.   

I hope someone from the most classless program in the HL was observing, so they can see how to handle a blowout without showing up your opponent.  I can only imagine little ray and daddy in the same situation.  Little ray scores 19 in the 1st half, daddy plays him to the bitter end trying to set the school record for points (or some other self-serving goal), and little ray caps off the evening with an uncontested dunk at the gun.  Final score: Detroit No Mercy by 47.

What an idiot. Whoever made that prediction is a moron.

[a3uge]

Kenny was incredible last night. Glad to see he recovered so well. He had some beautiful assists and looked great defensively.

[valpo04]

Someone on this board (I won't say who) proclaimed after the conference-opening loss against Loyola that this year's HL championship will go through Chicago. Loyola and UIC are now a combined 8-13.   

I hope someone from the most classless program in the HL was observing, so they can see how to handle a blowout without showing up your opponent.  I can only imagine little ray and daddy in the same situation.  Little ray scores 19 in the 1st half, daddy plays him to the bitter end trying to set the school record for points (or some other self-serving goal), and little ray caps off the evening with an uncontested dunk at the gun.  Final score: Detroit No Mercy by 47.

What an idiot. Whoever made that prediction is a moron.

The road for the HL championship will either go through Chicago or Detroit, not through Porter County.   

[agibson]

Bobby Capobianco, ESPN's Stat Sheet Stuffer of the Night

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/75012/numbers-to-know-tuesday-recap-7

Also of note:

Defender of the Night -- Eric Stutz, Eastern Kentucky
Stutz had quite the stat line, totaling 13 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and two blocks in just 17 minutes in a 97-31 win against Crowley's Ridge College. Stutz is the seventh player in the past six seasons to post those numbers in a game. The others are Harvard's Jeremy Lin, DePaul's Mac Koshwal, Florida State's Chris Singleton, Cleveland State's D'Aundray Brown, Jacksonville State's Ronnie Boggs and Appalachian State's Nathan Healy. Stutz is the only player in the past 15 seasons with at least seven steals and two blocks while playing no more than 17 minutes.

Not sure how they picked that, just considering the combination of rebounds, steals, and blocks?

And, they forget the Non-D1 asterisk.

[wh]

Someone on this board (I won't say who) proclaimed after the conference-opening loss against Loyola that this year's HL championship will go through Chicago. Loyola and UIC are now a combined 8-13.   

I hope someone from the most classless program in the HL was observing, so they can see how to handle a blowout without showing up your opponent.  I can only imagine little ray and daddy in the same situation.  Little ray scores 19 in the 1st half, daddy plays him to the bitter end trying to set the school record for points (or some other self-serving goal), and little ray caps off the evening with an uncontested dunk at the gun.  Final score: Detroit No Mercy by 47.

What an idiot. Whoever made that prediction is a moron.

The road for the HL championship will either go through Chicago or Detroit, not through Porter County.   

Oh, this is humorous.  I thought that bbtds had made the "going through Chicago" comment.  Crusaderjoe never crossed my mind.     By the way, UIC and Loyola were a combined 19-7 at the point that comment was made.  It's amazing how things have changed from then to now.