Nebraska Game

[valporun]

Ryan was getting countered big time all game. He couldn't get a lot going, even trying to create was impossible. We really struggled on the stat sheet, but also a lack of depth on the bench to spell Kevin or Ryan when they needed it. We have a handful of guards, most of which either can't/don't shoot often enough, or are trying to play through a hip pointer that, as Todd and Travis said, "put him in a wheelchair" at the end of the night. Kevin missed bunnies and FTs, but our 6th man, Kenney, laid an egg. (1-5 FG, 1-2 3's, and 3TO's, 3 points). Where was our energy factor off the bench? He was struggling just as much as the starters.

Can't help the hernia, but Bobby would have been huge in this game in helping Ryan get open to have his usual double-double night.

Vashil-sure he disappeared/disappointed, but the kid just needs to keep getting game repetitions and minutes in learning what Bryce wants him to do.

This "lump on the head" is going to hurt for a bit, but gotta turn it around, and use what we learned from this game against Kent State and our next 5 opponents.

[milanmiracle]

We lose so it's blame Ryan, can't the kid have a bad game.   Yes it was a poor loss, yes we played bad, yes we shot poorly but the usual bandwagon jumpers are in full swing and ready to point the finger.   I am as disappointed as anyone and it was really hard to watch especially when Nebraska weren't that good we were just worse ON THE DAY!   I think having Bobby would have helped the team with him banging away under the basket.   We live to fight another day and the sun will rise tomorrow morning but the same schmucks will find fault with every little thing and not be happy unless they do.       

Hi Koala...I'm one of the schmucks

I wouldn't say most of us are "blaming Ryan", we just want him to step up when the moment calls for it. He had the same issue vs. Detroit, though from what I understand illness was a factor. We all just want Valpo to do well and we know that in order for that to happen Ryan will have to be at his best. In the two most recent big games (Detroit and Nebraska) he hasn't played well and that's disappointing to us.

It's not a personal attack and we hope you don't take it as such.

[wittynamehere]

We lose so it's blame Ryan, can't the kid have a bad game.   Yes it was a poor loss, yes we played bad, yes we shot poorly but the usual bandwagon jumpers are in full swing and ready to point the finger.   I am as disappointed as anyone and it was really hard to watch especially when Nebraska weren't that good we were just worse ON THE DAY!   I think having Bobby would have helped the team with him banging away under the basket.   We live to fight another day and the sun will rise tomorrow morning but the same schmucks will find fault with every little thing and not be happy unless they do.       

I want to be clear, I'm not blaming Ryan for the loss anymore than the rest of team.  However, he's the conf POY and our best player.  I get that bad games happen to everyone but I'd much rather see his bad game come with a little more aggression.  To whom much is given, much is expected. 
Overall, he is a stud and if he just does what he did on that one drive near the end I think he gets the calls.  He is a future pro so forcin the action would usually mean good things. 
No doubt Bobby woulda helped and Kevin not missing those bunnies woulda helped too.  It's a team game and no one player ever loses a game in my mind. 
My feedback was never meant to be personal just critical and hopefully fair.

[milanmiracle]

Why shouldn't I take it as a personal attack you can't seem to find anything nice to say about him and expect him to be a robot game in and game out and yes my schmuck was aimed at you.   You make it sound like he doesn't try well you couldn't be more wrong.   He bleeds Valpo and it hurts him when they lose and he takes it personally.   His quote on Facebook was "Never will I or we play as bad as we did tonight, I will not allow it and that's a promise."   He was ill against Detroit but didn't tell Bryce but his game still wasn't good enough for you.   I think it's now time for me to bow out since it upsets me to read such tripe by so called fans.

I had no doubt the schmuck comment was aimed at me. expected and in some cases deserved.

However, I do want to clarify one thing...I have never questioned his heart, desire or love for Valpo.

I think the post above mine summed it up pretty well...it's a team game and everyone played a part in this and other losses, however he is the best player on the team and a reigning HL player of the year. Because of that fact if he isn't his usual self, it's much more noticeable.

[valpopal]

Even in our best seasons, Valpo always has had a horrible game (a real skunk), as do most teams, especially when they consist of college kids, and we must accept it will happen, maybe more than once this year, even if it is disappointing at the time, most of all for the players. Last year the conference championship was such a game.

Tonight was one of those clunkers for this season, and I'm thankful it didn't happen during conference play. I will also be interested to see how the team shows character, bounces back, and begins to build toward when Dority starts play hopefully with a healthy Bobby and Erik. I believe the players are determined and (guided by Bryce, led by Ryan) they will be able to put this loss in perspective. We should as well. It would have been nice to beat a Big-10 team, and I know we should have, but this game has not diminished my expectations, which never realistically included possibility of an at-large bid but still do anticipate a conference championship.

[chef]

A solid post by Valpopal. The team has made it safely to Omaha (flying out tomorrow) and no doubt they're even more angry than everybody on here. I expect a big effort on Sunday.

[Smj]

I need to chime in on this because Ryan is probably my favorite Valpo player in years...  Maybe since Bryce.   I enjoy watching him play - especially when you see him enjoying himself.   

This was 100% a team loss - an ugly game that was definitely not what any of us were expecting to see.   While I am disappointed in the lost opportunity I, of course, know that the team is way more disappointed than me.   I am sad for the loss but not for me - I feel bad because I know that the kids i have been watching play are unhappy with their performance on this big stage.   I don't think you can "blame" any player - losses happen and basketball is a team sport...

A loss like this can be a huge motivator...

[valpotx]

I was able to watch this game at my parent's house, as they have a DirecTV package with the Big 10 network included on it.  Boy, had I wished that I did not see that game.  It was very frustrating to watch, and it is true that Nebraska will be lucky to win a Big 10 game this year.  They are a really bad team guys, and we laid an egg.  I don't know if it was the short travel time from the last game, or playing in a more open arena than the ARC, but we looked like a SWAC team at times.  Hopefully that is an early lesson for us as we tackle Kent State next.  If we put up a game like that against them, we will lose by 20.

A few observations:

1) KVW needs to take the ball to the hoop like the 6'8" banger he is.  He settles for the lay-ups where he is sort of fading away, which allows defenders to juke him out.  The 3 missed lay-ups by him are unacceptable at this level, and if he just goes into the contact rather than shying away, he would have at least gotten a foul out of those 3.
2) Why did our guys stop charging the lane when their 3rd guy got his 3rd foul with 13:30 left?  They kept rotating out the guys with the fouls, and we would have kept at it, they were more than willing to oblige us with a slap on the wrist each time.  We started doing this again with 5' left and it got us back in the game.
3) We missed a lot of open 3s.  I know that the announcers made it seem like all shots were contested, but a lot of the 3s we missed were the same type we absolutely drained in the first 2 games.  Yes, they were quicker on defense, but it almost seemed like we rushed each shot as we expected them to come out of nowhere to block it.  I think even the unflappable Rowdy didn't follow-through on a few of his for this reason.  Granted, the defenders on him did a really good job of not giving him space all game.
4) This was the second game in a row that Jordan wasn't looking as a pass was thrown his way.  Is he just focusing too much on where he has to go next, that he isn't even paying attention to the ballhandler?
5) Was that the first mid-range jump shot of KVW's Valpo career?  He made it, but boy, was that an ugly rainbow lol.  It reminded me of when Moussa started taking those mid-range shots out of nowhere his SR year.
6) Vashil's long arms appear to be causing him problems when someone passes from within 10 feet.  Hopefully he develops more into his body as he gets experience, as he needs to be able to receive close passes when he is right under the hoop.

As frustrated and mad as I was that we lost to such a bad BCS team, I think this will wake up our guys.  We had several duds on the road last year (IUPUI, IPFW), so hopefully they realize that we can't relax against even the worst of teams.  Dang, wish we would have ended our 0-32 streak on the road against the 'big 6' conferences, but here we are at 0-33.

Go Valpo, let's get them Sunday!

[chef]

Not sure if 0-33 was an exaggeration, but I believe we're 0-10 against the BCS since winning at Washington.

[wh]

Even in our best seasons, Valpo always has had a horrible game (a real skunk), as do most teams, especially when they consist of college kids, and we must accept it will happen, maybe more than once this year, even if it is disappointing at the time, most of all for the players. Last year the conference championship was such a game.

Tonight was one of those clunkers for this season, and I'm thankful it didn't happen during conference play. I will also be interested to see how the team shows character, bounces back, and begins to build toward when Dority starts play hopefully with a healthy Bobby and Erik. I believe the players are determined and (guided by Bryce, led by Ryan) they will be able to put this loss in perspective. We should as well. It would have been nice to beat a Big-10 team, and I know we should have, but this game has not diminished my expectations, which never realistically included possibility of an at-large bid but still do anticipate a conference championship.

I think I'm going to glom onto this post.  Always good to have a voice of reason to get past a disappointing moment.

[motowntitan]

As an impartial observer, here are some of my thoughts:

1) Tough loss against a team you clearly could have beat.  Added to our loss to St. Johns, and I'm having a bad week.
2) Quit Blaming RB- any HL POY needs to have a supporting cast.
3) The lack of your your guard play is where I see your problems. Most of your sets revolve around getting the ball to RB or KWV.
4) The losses of Harris and Edwards cannot be minimized- but it is what it is.

Good Luck Sunday!

[hoopfan22]

Milanmiracle you didn't say anything wrong or disrespectful. In fact, no one did. Ryan isn't above criticism.

[vuweathernerd]

kevin looked to me like he was hesitant in his motions and actions, and not banging around nearly as much as last year, not to mention the number of missed buckets that should've gone in. is his back feeling okay?

koala, ryan is more than entitled to the occasional bad game. i think some of the feelings on here are just assuming that he was incapable of having such a game after so many great performances. i hope you're not considering completely leave the board - we all enjoy having you here! there's just some general frustration at the performance as a whole last night.

[HC]

Lots had to go wrong for Valpo to lose this game, or any game this year. Our best player had a bad game, both of our point guards either didn't play at all or didn't play much due to eligibility/injury, Capo still out with injury, and nobody could hit an easy short shot/3pointer/free thow.  If one of those things goes our way it is a different outcome.  That is why I'm not to hung up on this game.  Hopefully, all of these factors won't go wrong at the same time again this year!  Get healthy and get a win on Sunday.

[lowposter]

This game and the Detroit - St John game will be what makes the HL a one team NCAA league. 

Let's not minimize what happened last night.  Nebraska is a very poor team, but they executed fairly well.  The big man (Almeida?) while out of shape has footwork that Vashil could only dream of.  Nebraska got a ton of in the paint points and we settled for missing 3 point shots.  KVW has to finish those point blank looks and also hit a free throw.

Look, I am not going to attack RB and KVW...these are quality young men and outstanding athletes.  They will do quite well in life...and basketball. 

This team was not prepared to play on the road.  This was not a tough environment.  The folks of Nebraska seemed pretty decent and supportive of their team.  Chalk this up as a bad road loss and perhaps that the VU is not quite as good as originally thought of on this forum.  Personally, I might have been sipping the Crusader-Aid just a bit too much.

It is early in a long season.  Plenty of time to re-coop.  Just remember...this is a one team NCAA bid team now.

lowposter

[wh]

As an impartial observer, here are some of my thoughts:

1) Tough loss against a team you clearly could have beat.  Added to our loss to St. Johns, and I'm having a bad week.
2) Quit Blaming RB- any HL POY needs to have a supporting cast.
3) The lack of your your guard play is where I see your problems. Most of your sets revolve around getting the ball to RB or KWV.
4) The losses of Harris and Edwards cannot be minimized- but it is what it is.

Good Luck Sunday!

2. True. 

The "supporting cast" was completely shut down, as evidenced by the combined offensive stats for everyone other than Ryan and Kevin - 8-24 FG, 2-10 3pt FG, 0 FT attempts for Matt, Vashil, Alex, Jordan or Will, and 20 total points in 146 minutes (almost hard to believe). 

As much talent and experience as this team has, they should not have to count on 1 or 2 guys to carry the team, especially when they're the primary focus of opposing team defensives.  But that is clearly what happened last night.  Ryan and Kevin had off games and not one other player picked them up.

3. True.

Our only PG Erik can penetrate and dish.  When Erik's on the bench, we become a much-easier-to-defend perimeter passing team.  We will continue to struggle at the 1 until Dority becomes eligible, after which I expect our guard play to look as different as night is from day.  It could be worse.  Butler  has no point guards on their entire roster and will have to work around that problem the entire season.  That has to be a coaching nightmare. 

4. True - right now.

We certainly could have used them last night.  That said, once Capo comes back and Dority becomes eligible, memories of those 2 guys should quickly fade. 

[valpotx]

Not sure if 0-33 was an exaggeration, but I believe we're 0-10 against the BCS since winning at Washington.

That was a stat from the Big 10 Network announcers

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I think they were talking about the B1G's record against other football conferences this year then...

[valporun]

chef and valpotx, that 0-33 against BCS teams could be about regular season games, not overall (postseason included)? I kinda missed that comment, as I usually tune out the announcers during November-December on any National tv games  because they are one-sided to the conference affiliates, or don't really care too much about the game their calling after about 10 minutes.

[crusaderjoe]

This game and the Detroit - St John game will be what makes the HL a one team NCAA league. 

Let's not minimize what happened last night.  Nebraska is a very poor team, but they executed fairly well.  The big man (Almeida?) while out of shape has footwork that Vashil could only dream of.  Nebraska got a ton of in the paint points and we settled for missing 3 point shots.  KVW has to finish those point blank looks and also hit a free throw.

Look, I am not going to attack RB and KVW...these are quality young men and outstanding athletes.  They will do quite well in life...and basketball. 

This team was not prepared to play on the road.  This was not a tough environment.  The folks of Nebraska seemed pretty decent and supportive of their team.  Chalk this up as a bad road loss and perhaps that the VU is not quite as good as originally thought of on this forum.  Personally, I might have been sipping the Crusader-Aid just a bit too much.

It is early in a long season.  Plenty of time to re-coop.  Just remember...this is a one team NCAA bid team now.

lowposter

+5

Some very good points here that I agree with.  No one player is to blame.  Can't sugar coat what happened last night though--it was a disaster, plain and simple, IMO.  Very disappointing to say the least.  To say that VU played terribly and still only lost by two is purely smoke and mirrors in that it speaks more about Nebraska weaknesses than it does about our strengths.  I'm still excited about this team, but if we ever had a chance at an at large this season, it died in Lincoln.

[valpo64]

WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!!!  Bogan is a dismal failure as  p.g. but I guess we perhaps don't have any other alternative right now. We need Dority badly.  Everybody has a poor game now and then and it seemed that everyone did last night.  Let's put it behind us and beat Kent State.

[agibson]

A bruising loss, for sure.  In more ways than one.  I watched the first half, and got a couple of score updates through the second half as I was in a problem-solving session with students.  We turned on the streaming audio for the last 30 seconds or so of game time.  As I told my students, some of the bloom's off the rose, some of the shine off the apple.  A little reality sets in.

But, to try to find a bit of a positive note:

can't seem to find anything nice to say about him

Early in the first half I made note of the broadcasters' comments on Ryan.  They said he had one of the nicest releases they'd seen in-person in a long time.  Called it a Dirk Nowitzki-like release (having the international comparison in mind I suppose).  Complimented him on his nice _high_ release point!

I found their 0-32 or 0-33 BCS statistic a bit baffling - showing a stereotypical BCS broadcasters' ignorance of other schools. 

But, the high release point comment was _hilarious_!  Almost like they'd been reading our message board four years ago.

[valpotx]

I have said the Dirk release thing since I first saw Ryan, so I can definitely see it having watched Dirk take thousands of shots in his time with the Mavs. 

The BCS statistic may be correct if they are talking about regular season road games.  I can't think of a BCS team we have beaten at their place.  The only ones I can think about were included in holiday tournaments, so maybe they weren't counting those.

[atkins]

Disappointing game in all facets.  Bogan is not a point guard.  We need to find someone else to run the point for a few games.  Ryan and Kevin are entitled to a bad game, but the mark of a successful, top team is the ability of other players to compensate for an off-night from the star(s).  Although experienced, Valpo is not (yet) a top team.  It's an above-average mid-major team. 

Nebraska obviously did its homework before playing Valpo.  The comments of Brandon Ubel (quoted on huskeronline.com) speak volumes: "Watching the tape, they ran a lot of good plays, but most of their stuff came off of transition and kind of off confusion-type plays where they're just getting wide-open looks at the basket. Good players are going to knock that down, so we were able to take that away from them tonight."  Valpo either could not or did not adjust its game plan -- which is a coaching deficiency. 

I've followed SLU closely this year.  Like Valpo yesterday, SLU had a horrible game against Santa Clara a couple of nights ago.  However, assuming that SLU has an average game against Valpo, we will be in trouble unless we bring our "A-game."  If we play like we did against Nebraska, we will lose by 30+.  The SLU game will be a true testament of how we match up against a big-time opponent, as that will be the most-talented team that we face until the tournament.  Majerus just notified the team that he will not return this year, so Jim Crews (of Indiana fame) will guide this team for the foreseeable future.   

[crusadermoe]

Nebraska was a really awkward looking team.   The first 3 subs and the bench looked like a high school group.    Scary for them in the Big 10.

Anyway, I think we really need a bigger pivot guy (Capo?) to make that whole 3-pointer offensive pattern work well.     When we rely on dribble penetration, I'm not sure all of those passes will survive against quicker opponents or who are well coached to cover their space.   That includes our pre-conf. road sked and Detroit. 

Two big bodies probably kept Kevin from doing that and  wore him down.    Really was ugly game to watch....maybe worst I've ever seen in D-1. 

We need a win badly at KSU.    Do they have a dominant big or two?