12/22 Valpo vs. Purdue Calumet

[Smj]

Since the world did not end valpo tips off against an inferior opponent at 1:30....    We need this opportunity to start clicking as a veteran team.   I bet we see better shooting by Dority and a few double digit scorers again.   (hopefully the video stream doesn't go offline again.)

[valpo04]

Just a reminder that you can watch the game and chat here by going to the "Game Day" link at the top of this site.

[HC]

94-48 Valpo victory

[historyman]

Purdue-Cal  50
Valpo  82

Cutting down on turnovers has helped this team tremendously. Also the resurgence of Matt Kenney and Ben Boggs and the added help of Lavonte Dority have pushed Valpo on both ends. Once they take care of Purdue-Cal let's hope the Crusaders give Murray State the game of their lives.

[KL31NY]

Courtesy of Valpo Basketball's twitter account, not that it should affect the game too much:

@ValpoBasketball Broekhoff dressed, but most likely not playing for precautionary reasons (ankle) - would be first DNP of his Crusader career. #ValpoGameday

[StlVUFan]

Courtesy of Valpo Basketball's twitter account, not that it should affect the game too much:

@ValpoBasketball Broekhoff dressed, but most likely not playing for precautionary reasons (ankle) - would be first DNP of his Crusader career. #ValpoGameday

Just heard starting lineup and I heartily endorse this move (guessed it as soon as I heard the lineup with Bobby starting in his place).

[VULB#62]

On TV coverage a littlle kid was jumping around in the stands with a NE Patriots jersey (#12 Brady).   Go Pats Go!

[Smj]

LOVE the highlights at the end and the replays during the game!!!!   Quality!!!

[wittynamehere]

1. It was nice to see Will shoot it like he did
2. Fernandez could have the hardest time dunking of anyone his size that I've ever seen.
3. Nice to see Rossi get some PT - I feel like he must still be nursing some injury because I feel like every time he lets it go its going in

Good easy W and nice to get Ryan some rest for the ankle

[Smj]

1. It was nice to see Will shoot it like he did
2. Fernandez could have the hardest time dunking of anyone his size that I've ever seen.
3. Nice to see Rossi get some PT - I feel like he must still be nursing some injury because I feel like every time he lets it go its going in

Good easy W and nice to get Ryan some rest for the ankle

2 - stone fingers. (But he makes teams adjust to shoot all the time)
3 - Rossi's shooting stats are super impressive

[LaPorteAveApostle]

5-8 3 pt (62.5%); 2-3 2 pt (66.7%); that's 19 points on 11 shots!


kind of too bad that his season is an average rowdy game :/

[valporun]

Paul Jankowski said something to the effect on Twitter that Bryce likes Rossi's shooting ability, but his defense needs to improve to get more minutes than he does.

[HC]

On TV coverage a littlle kid was jumping around in the stands with a NE Patriots jersey (#12 Brady).   Go Pats Go!

Ha, those boys had fun down there. My son was sitting down there too. They like sitting in those prime student section seats.

[bbtds]

Paul Jankowski said something to the effect on Twitter that Bryce likes Rossi's shooting ability, but his defense needs to improve to get more minutes than he does.

As soon as Rossi got in the game today his man drove right by him and scored. I thought to myself "that is a good reason he's not playing often."

[grad66]

Then Rossi sinks the next two shots.  5 pts on 2 trips not bad.  But he really needs  to work on that defense, too!! 8).

[milanmiracle]

There's almost nothing that can be taken from this game...it's Purdue-Cal. I'm sure they've had scrimmages that were more difficult. It's nice to practice against somebody other than yourself, and to get some bench players some PT, but evaluating anything more than that is just silly.

[KL31NY]

2. Fernandez could have the hardest time dunking of anyone his size that I've ever seen.

Two words... Hrvoje Vucic

[Smj]

5-8 3 pt (62.5%); 2-3 2 pt (66.7%); that's 19 points on 11 shots!

kind of too bad that his season is an average rowdy game :/

I almost read your response wrong....   I agree not much opportunity to test this to see if he keeps it up  over more shots but Rossi has one of the smoothest looking shots I have seen in years.   There are players in the paint that do not get that percentage.

As soon as Rossi got in the game today his man drove right by him and scored. I thought to myself "that is a good reason he's not playing often."

Not sure I agree that someone blew by him when they were in a zone.   I was really watching to see if I could see the weakness and his defense did not "seem" any worse than what we have seen from others.   


*****  However, with all this said I don't think that this was a good opponent to gauge our play against...   The entire game was strange with no Ryan and 9 players with over 17 minutes.   However, I stand behind my comment on his shooting - just seems like he is a pure shooter.  *****

[valpopal]

Here is an image we haven't seen before and hope not to see again: Ryan sitting at the end of the bench and looking up at a scoreboard that does not list his name. In addition, I have included a couple of other photos I took at the game:

[humbleopinion]

Paul Jankowski said something to the effect on Twitter that Bryce likes Rossi's shooting ability, but his defense needs to improve to get more minutes than he does.

As soon as Rossi got in the game today his man drove right by him and scored. I thought to myself "that is a good reason he's not playing often."

I noted that myself, but it's worth mentioning that he came off the bench cold and sunk a three.  At the end of close games, when we can sub in and out for offense and defense, why don't we see him on the floor?  At the very end of the game yesterday he had a short display that he can do some pretty good ball handling -- it just seems that he has a special skill that should be exploited.

[vubballfan10]

2. Fernandez could have the hardest time dunking of anyone his size that I've ever seen.

Two words... Hrvoje Vucic

Two more words... Cameron Witt.  See the Valpo vs. UWM highlights on this page.  http://www.horizonleague.org/video.html?page=9&sport_id=2&teams%5B%5D=8

[wittynamehere]

I noted that myself, but it's worth mentioning that he came off the bench cold and sunk a three. At the end of close games, when we can sub in and out for offense and defense, why don't we see him on the floor? At the very end of the game yesterday he had a short display that he can do some pretty good ball handling -- it just seems that he has a special skill that should be exploited.

I agree with two points here:  1. I also noted that little ball handling display and was pleasantly surprised.  2. good point on the O for D subs at the end of the game.

Also, while I don't remember his guy blowing right by him shortly after he entered I did notice at one point he made moved really well to cut someone off who was attempting to go baseline.  I remember this because the announcers commented on it as well.

Regardless of the opponent, this kids shot looks great and I feel like he'll be helping us a lot more before the seasons done.

[valpopal]

Some observations from last night. Although many of us did not regard this game very highly because of the opponent, the coaches and players were very much into the game and saw a number of benefits to be gained. Dority had an additional opportunity to get into game shape and have a greater feel for playing beside the others on the court. Kevin and Bobby had more time to play beside one another. Everybody got minutes, some more than usual, and that experience is always a plus. Although it took nearly 12 minutes of game time for him to remove his jacket, Bryce was coaching pretty seriously and adamantly, pulling players over individually for instructions and even in the last timeout huddle emphatically getting across points to the players.

In addition, Ryan had a chance to rest. In the last game against IUPUI, he had taken three or four big spills, and I knew he was hurting a lot throughout that game. Though I posted a photo above of Ryan, showing him wistfully looking at the scoreboard, and although he seemed uncomfortable at the end of the bench, he was an energetic cheerleader for his teammates the whole game, jumping up, shouting encouragement, and clapping for them. In fact, last night I spent more time near the bench than I have in the past, and it was inspiring to see how close and supportive the players are during the game. It was also good to see the leaders in cheering are the veterans—Ryan, Erik, and especially Kevin, who yells and cheers almost the whole time he is on the bench.

Finally, the scariest and funniest moment of the game. Late in the second half, Bobby was caught under a pile of players, and his arm was caught under one who jumped on top of him. I was nearby and, at first, the scene looked pretty bad, as though the arm could have been broken or the shoulder dislocated. Bobby was in great pain and yelled "F#@%" (not sure about message board rules in quoting players  ). As he was led off the court by the trainer, the Purdue Calumet coach kept insisting to the official that Bobby should receive a technical for his language. The official shot back at the coach: "If I 'T" up every player who says that word during a game, we'd never get done!" Word I heard after the game was that Bobby probably only had a sprain, and I'm hoping that is correct.

[valporun]

Honestly, what I was looking for most from yesterday's game was someone who was training to take over Ryan's leadership role next season. I'm not sure I saw anyone on this team that could potentially do that. What I did like was seeing some of these guys getting work in, but I wish they would have shown more, "Let's put this game in our back pockets earlier, and then just have some playground style fun". Not playground in the sake of one person taking over the rest of the game, but just looking more relaxed in shot selection in areas they could confidently shoot from, and maybe working to get Vashil some more confident touches of the ball. He still seems a bit timid when the ball comes to him. Sorta like Roy Williams's, "I saw this big brown thing (orange thing for Vashil) coming at my face (hands)" kind of reaction to the ball coming to him. I also wish we had taken advantage of the height differences earlier, by attacking the paint, getting the ball to Kevin and Bobby to put the game away with high percentage layups, rather than whimsical 3-pointers just because we were playing a small, less athletic team.

I saw a lot of comments about the rebounding advantage, but we only won the rebounds by 1, 35-34. The rebounding should have been a huge focus on the defensive end of the court, but it seemed like we didn't know what a fundamental "box out" was in most situations. I mean we weren't going to get a lot of rebounds offensively when we were making shots, but defensively, we are a fundamental mess on rebounds because we're too busy watching the ball, rather than catching the ball going up or someone calling "SHOT", so they know to get on the defensive rebounding edge, and box out to get the ball, and start a better transition that isn't just looking for where Buggs or Dority are, but see who is running towards the hoop with a fastbreak layup advantage.