3/12/13, 8pm - ESPN: Wright St. @ Valpo HL Championship Game Thread

[a3uge]

oklahomamick --I don't see how WSU could end up a 16 seed coming out of the 12th/13th ranked conference, even if they weren't the conference regular season champ.  I think there's enough automatic bids from weak conferences that WSU would end up more like a 14 (15?)....just the opinion of this Raider fan.  Although the last time they got in after beating Butler in the championship game, they were "rewarded" with a 15 seed, so who knows.

Detroit wasn't helped last year by winning the 14th ranked conference. They ended up with an RPI of 127, but were a 15 seed. Wright St is sitting at 140 RPI. Seeds are rewarded based on how well you do in an entire year, not just the last week.

If WSU would win, it would take a LOT to push them to a 14 seed.

Here's the seeding breakdown just based on RPI.

16 - BSouth - Liberty 287
16 - SWAC - 182 +
16 - Colonial - Northeaster 165 or James Madison 189
16 - MEAC - 150+
16 - AE - Vermont 122 or Albany 147
---
15 - NEC - M St Marys 119 or Long Island 183
15 - BWest - 112..113...+
15 - SB - FIU 109 or WKU 171
15 - MAAC - Iona 100 or Manhattan 180
----
14 - ASUN - FGC 96
14 - Ivy - Harvard 93
14 - BigSky - Montana 84 Weber St 94 ...others+
14 - Summit - 76, 77, 121, 249
----
13 - Southern - Davidson 67 or Charleston 131
13 - Southland - 63, 97, 143...+
13 - Horizon - Valparaiso 60 or Wright State 140
13 - Patriot - Bucknell 51 or Lafayette 160

You are missing a 16 seed, there are 6 total. If we win tomorrow night we will most likely end up a 13 seed. Some of these "experts" have us a 14 seed below SF Austin and S Dakota St. I disagree with that.  A 12 seed is our ceiling and we would need a few upsets for that to happen. I predict that Akron will not win the MAC tournament so that could be one there. I think we would need 2-3 more...

>< oops. Still, going by just RPI, Valpo appears safe. It would take an upset or Southern, Southland, Patriot, Summit or some other to absolutely lock that 13 in.

[milanmiracle]

So if we win Tuesday night's game, is it worthy of storming the court?

No. Bigger fish to fry.

[milanmiracle]

It should be a very close game. Kudos to Coach Donlon for his defensive game plan against Detroit. They really threw McCallum off his game -he we definitely forcing things near the end. Bruinsma scored 15 but he wasn't really being guarded closely.

Perhaps Wright plays Broekhoff the same way - try to get the ball out of his hands and force others to make plays, especially if KVW is limited.

Should Broekhoff be more aggressive earlier in the game and plow to the hole and try to make things happen or be patient in the offense?

Can Kenney and Bogan (looked tight against Green Bay and Detroit in final last year) make shots?It'll be fun to watch. I made just my second trip ever to the ARC for the games Saturday. What an experience. I dug out my Sweet 16 shirt for the game and will wear it again Tuesday for good karma.

I thought Kenney, while he missed those two free throws didn't look tight at all and wasn't afraid to take a good shot, or even not so good shots. I thought he did what VU needed to get the win. I have said for a long time, he's the X factor. You know what you're getting from Ryan and Kevin...and if Kenney plays up to his ability that gives you 3 pretty good players. That's what you need to continue having success.

[valpo4life]

So if we win Tuesday night's game, is it worthy of storming the court?

No. Bigger fish to fry.

My argument for storming the court would be we haven't gone dancing since 2004, as well as in almost every one bid conference if the home team wins there is always a court storming because you never know when the next time you will be back. I think that, if victorious, there will be a court storming.

[truth219]

Unless your a student I wouldn't concern yourself with storming the court. I wouldn't do it just because there isn't many students at these games. I think it would look silly

[milanmiracle]

So if we win Tuesday night's game, is it worthy of storming the court?

No. Bigger fish to fry.

My argument for storming the court would be we haven't gone dancing since 2004, as well as in almost every one bid conference if the home team wins there is always a court storming because you never know when the next time you will be back. I think that, if victorious, there will be a court storming.

So if we win Tuesday night's game, is it worthy of storming the court?

No. Bigger fish to fry.

My argument for storming the court would be we haven't gone dancing since 2004, as well as in almost every one bid conference if the home team wins there is always a court storming because you never know when the next time you will be back. I think that, if victorious, there will be a court storming.

I suspect there will be a court storming, and that's okay.

That being said, if they stormed the court last year, that would have been fine. But this is a senior laden team with something to prove AND defending HL champs. It is expected that they win this game, and anything less is a large disappointment. I don't think the players would be stunned if they won, why should the fans?

I hope everybody enjoys storming the court, because we all know it's coming! 

[vuweathernerd]

Unless your a student I wouldn't concern yourself with storming the court. I wouldn't do it just because there isn't many students at these games. I think it would look silly

200 allotted student tickets. Already gone. There will be students there. If we win an auto-bid I see nothing wrong with doing it, if they allow it.

[wh]

From the WSU board:

Free bus trip, free ticket being provided for 200 students. Send your name and UID to Brandon.hays@wright.edu by midnight tonight. Let's fill that student section up and be loud!!

Looks like they will have plenty of students to storm the court, if they win.   

With overall ticket sales really picking up now and lots of students on both sides, the game atmosphere should be awesome.  I'm starting to get excited already!

[hailcrusaders]

Unless your a student I wouldn't concern yourself with storming the court. I wouldn't do it just because there isn't many students at these games. I think it would look silly

200 allotted student tickets. Already gone. There will be students there. If we win an auto-bid I see nothing wrong with doing it, if they allow it.

"If they allow it"

That's the kicker. They pulled the ropes across in a hurry after the Green Bay game, and if the #2 buzzer beater on Sports Center isn't storming-worthy...

[a3uge]

I suspect there will be a court storming, and that's okay.

So with the upper deck only at 50% sold right now, shouldn't we be wondering why only 200 student tickets were allocated? I know the US Cell in Milwaukee seats 11k, but they had about a thousand seats allocated a couple years back (the back of the section was empty).

And to stop students from storming the court is an absolute bonehead move, even worse than listening to these people stopping the students.

[valpotx]

Creighton stormed the court yesterday.  It is perfectly fine for one bid conferences to storm 

[HC]

These tickets weren't free....students faculty staff all had to pay these. Could be why only 200 for our students. I thought both the students and community came out in force Saturday. I don't expect quite as much from the community with e late weeknight start plus e students are on break. I still think it will be a great at,osphere tomorrow night.

[agibson]

Looks like Wright State may be subsidizing their whole block of tickets?  Or, anyway, adopting a different pricing calculus than VU
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/sports/basketball/wright-state-releases-ticket-info-for-horizon-leag/nWnZG/

$15, $10 for students.

[StlVUFan]

It should be a very close game. Kudos to Coach Donlon for his defensive game plan against Detroit. They really threw McCallum off his game -he we definitely forcing things near the end. Bruinsma scored 15 but he wasn't really being guarded closely.

He told Dan Dakich today that same strategy might not work quite as well against Valpo because unlike Detroit, they can win with either style.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

No. Bigger fish to fry.

Yes.  Although: if it had been Detroit, though, I think that would change that sufficiently.  No one hates Wright State.

[valpotx]

Very true.  The only teams that I dislike in conference are Detroit and Cleveland State.  Both are because of their players/coaches attitudes

[justducky]

No one hates Wright State.

I think Jr might have stumbled on something last year that should become the pattern for behavior in all future Horizon League championships. So if either teams winds up with a 10 point lead with 20 seconds to go they should already have designated someone to stand out front dribbling the clock down who will then sprint for the basket, dunk the ball and then dance for the ESPN camera. Then for the next 10 years the loser can remember the incident and mutter outloud "I just hate them ***holes". It has worked pretty well for Detroit vs Valpo game attendance.

[Valpo2010]

These tickets weren't free....students faculty staff all had to pay these. Could be why only 200 for our students. I thought both the students and community came out in force Saturday. I don't expect quite as much from the community with e late weeknight start plus e students are on break. I still think it will be a great at,osphere tomorrow night.

In the past, student senate has picked up the tab for the student tickets and distributed them for free...anyone know if they did that again this year?

[vuweathernerd]

These tickets weren't free....students faculty staff all had to pay these. Could be why only 200 for our students. I thought both the students and community came out in force Saturday. I don't expect quite as much from the community with e late weeknight start plus e students are on break. I still think it will be a great at,osphere tomorrow night.

In the past, student senate has picked up the tab for the student tickets and distributed them for free...anyone know if they did that again this year?

that was my interpretation. i thought i saw somewhere that they were free to the students. perhaps that's why.

[agibson]

The 200 were probably free, maybe paid by Senate.  Students can also buy tickets for $10.

[swiftmutiny]

Yes, 200 student tickets were paid for by the Athletics Department (at least, if I remember correctly... it may have been Student Senate), though not all of them were claimed. That doesn't really surprise me considering that it was only the semi-final, but I thought we got a pretty good turnout anyway. They paid for another 200 tickets for the final on Tuesday, all of which have been claimed. Tickets were handed out to myself and the other students who were there Saturday after the game, and any others were able to pick them up later.

As for storming the court, it depends on whether they let us. Since last season they've been pulling the ropes out after every single game, and they've added additional security to sit there and "babysit" ever since we did the Harlem Shake during the Detroit game. I can tell you what, though, if it ends like the Green Bay game did then I'll tear those damn ropes down myself.

[agibson]

I don't think this made it to the board?

Paul Oren ‏@NWIOren 21 hours ago

For the insomniacs...Valparaiso's Kevin Van Wijk was feeling much better today. Looks like he'll be fine for Tuesday's title game. #HLMBB

Good news!

[agibson]

And, even better (game day piece must be posting shortly...)

Paul Oren ‏@NWIOren 4 hrs

Van Wijk with a sly smile: "Everybody is healthy." #HLMBB

Ah, sorry, the game day piece was posted three hours ago
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/crusaders-set-to-battle-wright-state-for-horizon-league-title/article_a6ec5f1f-ee6b-5ee1-bc0d-bf77364d344f.html

Kevin Van Wijk is expected to be in the starting lineup after spraining his right ankle in the first half of Saturday's win against Green Bay. The senior big man was moving better throughout the day on Monday and even joked about his status.

"Everybody is healthy," Van Wijk said. "We're preparing for this like it's any other game. Everybody knows what is at stake here. We beat them twice in close games and they want to win just as much. There's going to be a lot of passion and energy on the floor."

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Remember when?  VALPO vs wrong state?

prequel
January 19:  @Valpo 69, WSU 63. 
POG:  Rowdy 18 & 10 & 4 assists.
POG, non-broekhoff division:  KVW 18 & 7 (& career high 4 assists!)
Enemy POG:  Cole "who?" Darling, 22 points (and ZERO rebounds despite being, like, really tall)

cole darling's favorite nba player

Looked bad when: down 7 with under 7 to play.

But then: We held them without a point for 3 minutes.

Still, though!: We down 4 with 2:23 after 2 of Darling's 10 FTs.

But then: and then for the last 3:13 they did not make a FG.

aren't you like forgetting the awesome moment when: Rowdy showed why he was ^deserved to be the HL POY with 12 points from that point on, including 10 points in a 1:51 span.

Until finally:  Billy Donlon made a very sad face in the postgame.  (Possibly because he was mistaken for a ballboy.)
 
*artist's conception of Coach Donlon

Alleged attendance:  4,860, on a night when many should have been studying or doing one of their overextended activities.

Quotes:

"Full credit goes to Wright State's defense," Broekhoff said. "They took me out of the game for most of the game, denied touches. But (my teammates) got me open, and I was lucky enough to knock down some shots and get to the free-throw line."
...
"Wright State is one of the best defensive teams in the country, and I think it took us some time to get used to the tempo and pace that they were bringing on offense and defense," Valpo coach Bryce Drew said.
...
"Dude I just done put the team on my back doe," said Rowdy.

ED NOTE: one of the above quotes may be fictionalized.


busting a Nutt
February 12:  Valpo 68, WSU 61.
POG:  KVW 20 & 9
...really?  what did rowdy have? 10 / 5 / 3. And 3 blox.
not that KVW isn't like a bear though.  If "bear" = "shoulda been 1st team HL-er" then yes.
MAJOR WRATH Yes.  Major Wrath indeed.
Enemy POG:  AJ "Todd" Pacher 23 / 6 / 3 out of nowhere (previous game high 10!)
wait who is that is that a real person or are you just making jokes again

yes you totally are that's like, my lab partner from 10th grade

Looked bad when: well, we never trailed.  for the second straight game.  that's good.

But then: they cut it to 2 when it was 5-3.  Oh, and again at 51-49 at the midway point of the 2nd, and 53-51 a minute later.

Until finally:  We hit a bunch of free throws, and remembered we were better on defense.

Putting the fun in fundamentals:  The teams: 30-34 (88.2%) from the line (VU 18-20, UIC 12-14).

MAJOR WRATH!!!  Oh. ok. sigh.


Quotes:

"It was a very physical game and we were able to get the ball in to Kevin," Valparaiso coach Bryce Drew said. "Kevin made some great heads fakes, got his defenders in the air and was able to finish. His nine rebounds led us and he was very aggressive tonight."
...
"Matt played excellent for us," Drew said. "He had great vision and made some big shots." ... "We're going to enjoy this one," Drew said. "This was a physical game. Everyone in the locker room is exhausted."
...
The Wright State postgame was animated. ...  "Oh man...those guys," coach Donlon said. "I totally hate 'em.  Hate. 'Em. I couldn't believe Bryce beat me for COY last year and I ain't gonna let that never happen again.  And when we play those guys again we're gonna kick 'em in the crotch.  You done better totally print ALL that, Paul."

ED NOTE: one of the above quotes is probably totally fictionalized.

[WSU85]

Wrong State? Really? I thought Vaalpo fans were more original than that.