Valpo vs Loyola Arch Madness in St Louis 6:05 PM 3/6/2020

[JD24]

I hope JFL has some juice left. He looked completely drained and the cumulative effect of mono and the multiple days of games is going to be hard to overcome.

No disrespect to Javon but this team has learned to play without him and win. Always remember and never forget, Valpo beat Missouri State without JFL at the ARC. It takes great efforts from Kiser, Fazekas, Clay, Krikke, Sackey.....etc but as VUGrad1314 has everyone saying by now...........I BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!

The problem is that playing without or with a compromised best player catches up to teams. See the end of this regular season and the end of Alec Peters career as for examples.

[usc4valpo]

JD24 - true, but didn't AUburn lose their top player in the tournament last year and they still did well?

[vu72]

If you thought Loyola shooting 27 free throws to our 7 was a fluke or unfair or bad refs etc, think again.  Over the three games we have played them this year, we have had a total of 18 attempts to their 78!!!  Fortunately they have been consistently terrible shooting a combined 54% but still added 29 more points over the three games then we did via the free throw line.

I guess it is just a matter of style with them playing mostly threw Krutwig.  It needs to be a point of emphasis this off season.

[JD24]

JD24 - true, but didn't AUburn lose their top player in the tournament last year and they still did well?

Exception to the rule guy shows up.

Let's hope he's able to contribute fully.

[valpolaw]

It was pretty awesome to open the espn app this morning with this as the headline:

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/28854105

Congrats to the team and ML. Big win and I hope to see them keep it rolling tonight.

"I BELIEVE!!"

[valpopal]

The toughness of Krikke to get up off the floor, hit two free throws, and stay in the game, when he got hit in the face and his eye was swelling up seemed a symbolic turning point in the game. He reminded me of Kevin Van Wijk at that point!

Strong point!

Also, at the point in the game with about 15 minutes left as Krikke was fouled happens to be when the Loyola lead was its largest of 18 points (45-27). From that play on, the game changed. This reminded me of the time Bobby Capobianco was called for an intentional foul and ejected at Detroit, but that play seemed to inspire the team and turned the game from a large lopsided loss to a stunning comeback and a Valpo victory. 

[talksalot]

you are all forgetting the big item from this game.

one more BIG over:. 1.5 Arch Madness wins.

be honest .. who really took the Over on this one?

[VUGrad1314]

Anyone know why mileek only played 14 minutes?

Fouling much too soon. Missing shots. Better play from other players.

Coaching decision by ML to have Kiser as the big, as obviously matching big vs. big wasn't working for us.  Genius move that paid off! Also, it is very cool to see all of the former players chime in on the win, and apparently watching: https://twitter.com/RBroekhoff45/status/1236296135569965056 https://twitter.com/Doritykid/status/1236198910810603524 https://twitter.com/TheReal_MG3/status/1236161489125306368 https://twitter.com/CoachEBuggs/status/1236163206218952704

So happy to see all of these guys engaged and following the team even after they are gone! Really reinforces the family ethos that the Valpo program is all about! I love it! Keep it up! Go Valpo! I BELIEVE!

[valpotx]

I hope JFL has some juice left. He looked completely drained and the cumulative effect of mono and the multiple days of games is going to be hard to overcome.

No disrespect to Javon but this team has learned to play without him and win. Always remember and never forget, Valpo beat Missouri State without JFL at the ARC. It takes great efforts from Kiser, Fazekas, Clay, Krikke, Sackey.....etc but as VUGrad1314 has everyone saying by now...........I BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!

The problem is that playing without or with a compromised best player catches up to teams. See the end of this regular season and the end of Alec Peters career as for examples.

Playing those 2 games without JFL was huge for the rest of the team's confidence.  We know how to have a good flow with and without him at this point.