Game 1 @ Vandy 6pm CST on SECN

[justducky]

We played a fairly good game overall, outside of that last 5 minutes where we went around 0/10 from 3, and had 4 really bad/dumb turnovers. 

At no time was I convinced that Vandy was clearly a better team. Our upper class players kept us in the game early then fumbled it away down the stretch. No need for us to point any fingers as this was a team fumble. Sackey does need to pay closer attention to who is guarding him. There are many longer armed speedsters who even he cannot escape for the breakaway layup. As a junior point he needs to get this figured out soon.

Not much from the freshmen but we can't learn much from just one game.

[valpotx]

For anyone that is moping around after this one, you need to realize that our offense was pretty much run through JFL last season, and it is going to take a few games for our guys to find their flow together.  We didn't look overmatched against a team that legitimately has higher level recruits than we do, regardless of their record last year.  No, ratings don't mean a thing overall, but they are a good indication of the athleticism that we were up against, and we usually look scared against better athletes.  Outside of a few late possessions, we looked controlled and confident.  That will payoff, once we get to conference play, which is all that matters this season.

[bbtds]

This was a game of runs. When Mileek and others were hitting threes and we weren't turning the ball over as much we went on streaks and took a lead. When we missed threes and didn't make controlled moves to the basket and made silly turnovers Vandy capitalized on the mistakes and went on a run. Unfortunately that happened at the end of the game and we fell by 6 points. It certainly was a winnable game if we play a bit more under control hit a few more threes and had a few less turnovers. It was definitely a game we should have won.

[justducky]

Outside of a few late possessions, we looked controlled and confident.  That will payoff, once we get to conference play, which is all that matters this season.

With the ball handling improvements shown by Krikke and McMillan I can now picture some match up opportunities against a number of Valley opponents. Gordon and Robinson should settle into solid senior contributors. Sackey and Clay also should return to their known levels of play. That leaves the freshmen and bench role players to determine if we can be a top 5 Valley team.

I'm optimistic! Kiser, Freeman and Fazekas are some pretty big openings to fill and developing a better team than we had in March seems very possible, even likely. So one day and one game at a time. 

[chef]

Really encouraged by Sackey's overall game. Got to a lot of loose balls, including rebounds, and most importantly got to good spots on the court and then made the right decision. Had 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. He's as important as any player on the team.

[bbtds]

Really encouraged by Sackey's overall game. Got to a lot of loose balls, including rebounds, and most importantly got to good spots on the court and then made the right decision. Had 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. He's as important as any player on the team.

How do you feel about the turnovers? Too many? Okay with our amount of turnovers?

[chef]

Sackey played 31 minutes, and had 3 turnovers. I think with his style of play, 6 assists and 3 turnovers in 31 minutes is acceptable.

[nkvu]

Sackey played 31 minutes, and had 3 turnovers. I think with his style of play, 6 assists and 3 turnovers in 31 minutes is acceptable.

But how many times did he go to the rim and not finish resulting in a missed or blocked shot and a rebound for Vanderbilt?  That doesn't show up as a turnover but the result is the same. Don't get me wrong, I think he played under more control than he has in a lot of games, but if he realizes when he can actually finish and when he might not maybe he will he will recognize when he should pull the ball out and wait to run the offense. He certainly has the speed to penetrate but he just doesn't have the size to consistently finish at the rim. Maybe he should have developed a floater or some other way to score after penetrating to keep the other team honest so he can kick to an open shooter when they drop off to guard him. Probably too late to develop that now.

[valpotx]

With someone like Sackey, who is used to outrunning his opponents, you have to take the turnovers with the overall good that he brings.  Very similar to Buggs, there are going to be times that he runs into a 1-on-3 and throws it away, and then there will be other times where his drive to the lane leads to a wide open 3.  We missed many wide open 3's that were created by his penetration or attempted penetration into the lane, otherwise, he would have closer to 10 assists.  I will take 3-4 turnovers/game from a guy like this, because it leads to more high quality shots for everyone else around them, especially when opponents don't sag off him (begging him to shoot a 3), like they did with Buggs.

[bbtds]

Yahoo Sports

Pippen has career-high 25 as Vandy beats Valparaiso 77-71

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse has a much deeper bench for his second season than for his first.

One constant remains: Scotty Pippen Jr.

The sophomore guard scored a career-high 25 points as Vanderbilt held off Valparaiso 77-71 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

Pippen put Vanderbilt ahead to stay by scoring six straight starting with a pair of free throws with 4:24 left at 61-59. He also knocked down all 14 of his free throws. Stackhouse said that was big for Vanderbilt, which shot 85.7% (23 of 27) at the line.

''I've just been working on my free throws a lot,'' said Pippen, who shot 70.9% at the line as a freshman. ''Last year, I wasn't satisfied with the percentage I had. So this year Coach Stack been on me for shooting free throws a lot.''

Vanderbilt improved to 3-0 all-time against Valparaiso, and the Crusaders snapped an eight-game winning streak in season openers with their first loss since 2011 when they also opened on the road losing at Arizona.

Maxwell Evans added 16 points for Vanderbilt.

Mileek McMillan led Valparaiso with 18 points. Donovan Clay added 14, and Ben Krikke had 13.

This was Vanderbilt's latest start in 31 years dating to the 1989-90 season against Southern Methodist on the same date. It's a game the Commodores have been waiting for since March 11 when they played in the final Southeastern Conference Tournament game before the league canceled the event.

No fans were allowed inside Memorial Gym. Both teams stayed on the end lines with benches turned into chairs spaced out for physical distancing. When Nick Robinson picked up his fourth foul within the first couple minutes of the second half, someone yelling ''No'' echoed throughout the gym.

Valparaiso tied Vanderbilt at 34 at halftime, and the Crusaders led by as much as five, the last at 59-54 on a layup by Krikke with 6:52 left.

D.J. Harvey, who sat out last season after transferring from Notre Dame, started a 14-2 run with a 3. Ejike Obinna tied it at 59 with a layup, and Pippen put them ahead to stay with a pair of free throws. Vandy pushed the lead to as much as 10 inside the final minute.

BIG PICTURE

Valparaiso: The Crusaders picked up where they left off last season shooting the 3. They made 287 3s last season, and they hit 7 of 15 in the first half but struggled outside the arc in the second (4-of-20) finishing 11-of-35.

Vanderbilt: Stackhouse starts his second season with a much deeper roster thanks to five freshmen and a trio of transfers now available. He's using the nine nonconference games to work out his best combinations, and 10 different Commodores scored with a total of 12 playing. ... The Commodores also dominated the boards 44-34. Dylan Disu had a game-high 11 rebounds.

VEGAS KNOWS

Stackhouse wanted his Commodores to hold onto their double-digit lead late but they didn't. The coach said someone told him that Vegas had Vanderbilt favored by six.

''Hate it for those bettors ...,'' Stackhouse said with a laugh. ''It still baffles me how those folks get that because I know we didn't do a lot of things right, and it felt like we should've had a little bit more separation in that.''

UP NEXT

Valparaiso will visit Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday night.

Vanderbilt is scheduled to play UConn on Tuesday in the Romans Legend Classic in Uncasville, Connecticut.

[justducky]

I'm lumping Siggey in with Edwards, Barrett, Ognacevic and Kpegeol for a broad newcomer summation. As a group they hit 4 of 16 of our team total 66 shots and 14 of the 16 (35 total 3's taken) were 3 point attempts with 3 connecting. They totaled 11 points, 7 fouls, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and only 1 TO in about 33 minutes of total floor time. Obviously several of these guys have been flashed the green light when open deep.

The +/- feature on the boxscore is nice but meaningless for just 1 game. Not much stands out with the extremes of Gordon being +9 ( he had 8 rebounds), Robinson -10 and Edwards at  -22.

[IrishDawg]

I didn't think Valpo played particularly poorly or well overall.  The run to end the game was disappointing, but it happens.  #4 Virginia got beat by San Fran U on an 8-0 run at the end of the game.  Plus these games really don't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of this season, and this season is honestly a throw away considering no players are actually using eligibility if they choose.

This season is going to be disjointed and all over the place because of COVID, and was leading up to the season, which is honestly why I think there's going to be a lot of bad basketball to get through.  Teams can't get in a rhythm of practice or games because of that either.  I'm just grateful we still have college basketball, and hopeful that everyone stays healthy and safe this year so we can hopefully celebrate a full return to a "normal" season next year.

[JD24]

Well said Irish Dawg. The few games I've seen thus far have had most teams seem disjointed offensively most of the time which isn't surprising given the lack of practice and games to this point.

[valporun]

In thinking about this game, the upperclassmen and Krikke will do a lot to carry us this season, but they have to tell themselves "It's Our Time". There's no JFL to fall back on when they can't get openings or shots to fall. This is their time to show what they can and will do as a team. I hate to say it, but many of our losses over the last two years were JFL being the whole team. He was in the wrong league, but his teammates were essentially told to step back and let Javon take the reins. Now that they don't have that.

Sure, our 2nd half three point shooting was at the same par as we were known for, but as I watched, we didn't have our patented stretch of 4-8 minutes where we couldn't score a bucket if our life depended on it. This was a very winnable game. We have a lot of these on the schedule in 2020-21. We just have to be doing the right things to stay in games, and take control when we have the openings to do so. This game told me that Valpo doesn't need Javon to keep us in games anymore. We have the guys that can do it. They just need the greenlight  to prove it.