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

[rink]

We look terrible, luckily WSU went through an 0-11 stretch otherwise theyd be kicking our ass. We need to step it and stop wasting our trips on offense.

[atkins]

Ugh.  Another ugly game with typical sloppiness and turnovers.  This looks like a team full of freshmen instead of seniors.  If we're playing a decent tourney team, we would be down at this point by at least 10.  Wright State has been horrible, and we are not much better...so far.   

[mj]

This team needs to cut down the turnovers.

[VULB#62]

Buggs played a great first half.  Dority showed great energy, but it appeared he was too tense. Has to chill a bit -- forcing too much.

[drewsaders11]

no offensive rebounds given up until the last possession.  Thats good basketball.  Limit the turnovers, though. 

[atkins]

Here's how bad it's gotten: Friends are asking me if they can change the channel to watch something else.  Reminder to self: Don't talk up Valpo just because we're on ESPN. 

[78crusader]

This performance is inexcusable.

Paul

[mj]

This is Detroit 2.0. Holy ****

[mj]

What the hell has happened to this team? Pull your head out of your ass and starting playing basketball.

[crusadermoe]

Ditto...ditto....ditto.

Seniors?   Stop dribbling into corners and turning away from the basket while you are dribbling!!

[rink]

Our offense = pass around and dribble until you turn it over. We look pathetic, scared, overmatched ... how embarrassing.

[crusadermoe]

Do we still pass balls into the post?....or just blindly rush into the lane (Buggs)....or just dribble sideways across the court (all the others)?

[atkins]

Bardo:  "Even with that bucket, Valpo has more turnovers than field goals."

Bardo's dissing Ryan and Valpo's seniors (rightfully so).  Frankly, I wish Bardo could jump onto on the floor--He'd probably be the best player on it tonight. 

[rink]

There's 8+ minutes left and we're down to one timeout. Awesome.

[mj]

Although I want to be positive, I've watched too much Valpo basketball to know this isn't going to turn out well.

[crusadermoe]

Bardo is right.  Broekhoff has to find ways to go to the rack and get free throw opportunities.   The offensive motion goes nowhere right now.    Just put Ryan at the point and let him do whatever he can.   

I can't believe I am nearly giving up on us with 7 minutes left.   But that's how it feels after 33 minutes of horror.

[atkins]

We may well win it, but if this game is any indication, we should be relegated to a 15 seed and get blown out by 30 in the tournament (which would be consistent with our past history).  I just hope the committee is not watching this game. 

[LaPorteAveApostle]

DANCING!

[rink]

We played poor, no doubt about it. Tight? Soft? Scared? Dumb? Maybe all of the above. BUT, I know the guys were playin their hearts out. They gutted it out, kudos, CELEBRATE ... although you could easily argue that we didn't deserve to win either game this tournament. Sigh. Yay? Boo? I don't even know anymore...

GO VALPO

[govalpogo]

I've never been more pissed...or proud to be a Valpo fan. 

Hey, to play that badly and still find some way to win is saying something.  Billy D showed his CoY prowess during this tourney he came up with game plans to totally exploit Detroit and Valpo and save for some execution down the stretch in our game, it would have worked.  Well done to WSU, the shoe may very well be on the other foot next year.

Erik Buggs, well done. 

[agibson]

We're going to the NCAA!  At last!

It was a horrible, horrible game.  Except for Buggs.  WSU's defense was ferocious.  I don't remember ever seeing a defense double team ball handlers on the perimeter with such ferocity.  Rowdy all the time, but others too.

I don't know if I can bear to rewatch this one, or even the Green Bay game.

But, we're going to the NCAA!

[valpotx]

As I said in chat, I have never been so angry after a win.  A win is a win though, so I am starting to calm down.  If WSU had any kind of offense today, we stood no chance with 25 turnovers.  I would love it if someone had a stat on the record of teams who commit that many turnovers...maybe the first win ever? lol

Let's regroup and be excited to watch the selection show for the first time in 9 years!  Congrats to WSU on a fantastic season, and coming out with the perfect defense in the second half.  They will be good again next year, so hopefully our new guys will be ready. 

[valpotx]

BTW, what idiot would have them rope off the student section after you win an NCAA bid?  It isn't like we are Duke and get in all of the time nowadays.  In my day, it was the expectation, and we still would storm for the clincher.  Terrible call by the official who made that decision, as every other 1 bid conference will have their students celebrating among the team...

[VUfan]

A great comeback !!!! now that dance

[grad66]

Tx I will have to agree with you. Coach Donlon was definitely COY.  And showed it tonight. They will be tough next year.  And another question, who were the A$$ holes that picked them as ninth?   My congrats to Coach Donlon.  Coach Drew, let's get on with the journey, NCAA + a few!