Game #10 - Ball State @ Worthen Arena Muncie, Saturday, Dec. 9, 1pm ESPN3

[valpo64]

We need to realize that this is an entirely new team, especially w/o Walker, with VERY little experience.  One year practicing with the team does not make the 3 new guys ready for action.  I think we all need to relax and go with the flow as this team gets an ID of its own and the newcomers get used to real game action with fellow team members.  Lets face it, we need a consistent scorer like AP but until one surfaces, this year or next, we  will have to deal with the hand we have been dealt.  Taking care of the ball and a lack of a consistent scorer have been our biggest problem.   Let hope things improve as the season progresses.  I think the 8-0 start was a bit misleading and perhaps we expected more success based on the start.  I think things will improve and hopefully with T. back in the rotation.  Remember we were projected to finish in the middle of the pack in the MVC. It takes game experience to develope consistency and cohesion.

[VU2014]

AP is a once in a decade type player (maybe multiple) for a mid-major program. I'm not banking that we'll be finding another special player like that anytime soon. We're going to need to elevate our play as a team.

It's just tough to watch the dumb turnovers and the lack of ball movement with this team at times. We just get stagnant at points. Valpo lost that game against Ball State because we couldn't take care of the ball. If I didn't tell anyone the score but told you to guess by looking at the box scores you probably would have guessed we won the game.

[VULB#62]

Valpo64 gets my vote for most incisive analysis. Me?  I'm just gonna go along for the ride. Up. Down. Frustrating. Excellerating.

These kids will hand us all of the above game by game. But in the end, if Matt is the coach I think he is, he will pull it all together for Arch Madness.

[a3uge]

Lottich will learn some things from this...

1) you don't have to start the second half with the same guys you started the first half
2) don't start players that aren't producing
3) don't run clock with 4 minutes left
4) tell your team to guard the 3 at all costs up 2

1. agreed. I'd love to pick his brain and ton of things. Overall we need to realize we lost on the final possession on the road against a strong Ball State team without our best player.
2. I'm assuming that is aimed at Parker. My guess is that Coach doesn't want to crush his confidence (he did the same thing with Bradford last season). But to be fair to coach, what do you want him to do. The only other option is Mileek is also very green and almost always gets himself in foul trouble. Yes Mileek has shown he can produce more but let's not act like he's the massive upgrade at this point in his college career. There are flaws in his game too. Maybe he thinks Mileek pairs better with different guys. The coaches know this team then we do.
3. I'm not sure what was going on during the finals minutes of the game. We couldn't execute the half-court when we needed to. This team is clearly still a work in progress.
4. Sometimes you just need to give a guy credit for nailing a shot. Valpo is actually a very good team at defending the 3. Clearly that Persons 3 was a moment where Tevonn would have been very useful to have health & on the court. In hind sight they may have wanted to force that final shot on someone else and I don't know why Joe (not a great defender got switched on Persons). I have to go back and watch but was Max on the court for that final shot? If so he'd be the ideal guy playing man-to-man with Persons for the final shot.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one questioning Lottich. The offense just looks stagnant/easy to guard too often. Combine that with not being a sub par 3 point shooting team, it's a combo that can lead to lulls/sloppy play (131 assists to 150 turnovers this season). By this time of the year, you need to have mixed in more "stuff" because scouting has become very advanced. And this is just for non conference opponents, it will only get harder come MVC play.

For the record, I love the energy and recruiting Lottich brings to Valpo. But I'm not sold with the on court portion yet. One thing that will always stick out to me was last season at home against Oakland we came out of a timeout and Shane dribbled it up and went off a little false ball screen action with Alec and shot/missed a 3 without a single pass. Ever since then I've had slivers of doubt enter my mind.

I don't mean to be super critical. Head coaching is hard. Especially the year after losing a player like Alec. We are a good defensive/rebounding team, good in transition. I just want to see more out of this roster in the half court offensively, they have the ability.

100% agree the half-court looks bad. The ball movement hasn't been great. I'm not sure if that's a personnel issue (we are just plain and simple a BAD 3 point shooting team with only a few good shooters) or an issue of being so young and not having experienced team that has played together. I tend to think its the ladder. Last year we were a good half-court team but that team was also stacked with veterans.

If we don't get our act together with the half-court offense its going to be a long year because the MVC is a VERY good defensive league with teams that can clamp down the defense on you and force teams into bad shots. We need to get better by the end of the season.

I'm willing to stay patient with this team. Like Coach Lottich said, "This team will better by the end the season." I think that 8-0 start got to our heads (mine included) and our expectations got loftier then they were coming into the season and now we'll be without Tevonn for an extended period of time so its time for us to re-adjust.

Hazen does not look like a PF. The few times he's gotten low post touches, he's flailed over, turning the ball over. The team has been far more effective playing 4 guards - they've played lineups like Joseph/Bakari, Golder, Burton, and Kiser throughout the year without Mileek or Hazen in there as true PFs. At this point, there's no rational reason why Hazen should start. If it hurts his confidence, it's not like we're getting ANYTHING out of him anyways. I think it could only help at this point as he might be more aggressive off the bench. So I would go small to start, maybe put Kiser in and set the tone at the beginning.

As for the half court offense with 5 minutes left - I thought we could have avoided it all together by playing up-tempo. Lottich recruited a bunch of athletes that can run in transition, but is still trying to shoehorn the Drew high-ball screen pick-and-roll offense. Last year we had Peters, so we could just iso him all game once they got the right switch. Valpo is still trying to figure out how to score in the half court this year, and I think it'll be a work in progress for awhile. I'm hoping we see more ball movement and more early penetration. Seems like the ball gets swung around the perimeter with no purpose because there's not really a guy we're trying to get a mismatch on.