Questions about Saturday (From a SLU Fan)

[Billiken_NH]

A quick hello to everyone on the board. Big St. Louis University fan here, and I wanted to stop by the board to get some Valpo fans' take on this Saturday's game.

First and foremost I think I speak for many SLU fans when I express my respect for the Valparaiso program. Bryce Drew is a great coach—one whose name was tossed around for the SLU job once upon a time—and it seems that y'all have a consistently strong program.

I am curious to see how Crusader fans are feeling about the game this upcoming Saturday. The Bills took last year's contest in what was a sloppy game on both sides. I expect this years game to also be a dogfight. SLU returned a lot of talent from last year, but has yet to mesh in the new season. While our defense has been strong, scoring and rebounding have both proved difficult at times. I think it's safe to say we are far from clicking on all cylinders and I'm sure playing at Valpo will not be an easy game.

What kind of team do you all have this year? Is it safe to say Dority is the straw that stirs the drink? Is the freshman Alec Peters the real deal? Is Capobianco turning into a true contributor? Any information you have on how Valpo plays and what team we as SLU fans should expect to see on Saturday would be much appreciated.

Thanks and glad I could stop by. Looking forward to a fun match-up.

P.S. I'm very glad ye olde Keith Carter will not suit up for this one. He will be a very good player for you in time.

[vu72]

A quick hello to everyone on the board. Big St. Louis University fan here, and I wanted to stop by the board to get some Valpo fans' take on this Saturday's game.

First and foremost I think I speak for many SLU fans when I express my respect for the Valparaiso program. Bryce Drew is a great coach—one whose name was tossed around for the SLU job once upon a time—and it seems that y'all have a consistently strong program.

I am curious to see how Crusader fans are feeling about the game this upcoming Saturday. The Bills took last year's contest in what was a sloppy game on both sides. I expect this years game to also be a dogfight. SLU returned a lot of talent from last year, but has yet to mesh in the new season. While our defense has been strong, scoring and rebounding have both proved difficult at times. I think it's safe to say we are far from clicking on all cylinders and I'm sure playing at Valpo will not be an easy game.

What kind of team do you all have this year? Is it safe to say Dority is the straw that stirs the drink? Is the freshman Alec Peters the real deal? Is Capobianco turning into a true contributor? Any information you have on how Valpo plays and what team we as SLU fans should expect to see on Saturday would be much appreciated.

Thanks and glad I could stop by. Looking forward to a fun match-up.

P.S. I'm very glad ye olde Keith Carter will not suit up for this one. He will be a very good player for you in time.

Welcome to the Board!  We are a completely different team from what you saw last year.  By that I mean more than just the names on the jerseys.  Last year we went 6'8", 6'7" and 6'4" across the front line with Bobby and another 6'4" guy off the bench.  This year we are currently starting a 7', 6'8" and 6'7" with Bobby and Vashil (at 6'10") seeing lots of action.  Rebounding has been a big plus for us as has been shot blocking, which was nonexistent last year.

We were pretty much an outside shooting team last year which was also made essential by teams being able to sag off of our very poor shooting point guard.  That is very much not the case this year.  It will be difficult to concentrate of defending either the inside or outside game.

Having said all that, the big difference is that last year we played six seniors and this year we do have three seniors contributing, but feature four freshman, three of whom start.  As time goes by it seems obvious to us Valpo fans that this team will only gets better the more time they have together.

Yes, LaVonte is a leader who is shooting very well from the outside and Alec Peters has shown star quality as he is our leading scorer although we spread the scoring among many players night in and night out.

So that's it!  Hope we have a good crowd but the students are away (lucky you!) If you come up for the game I hope you have a nice visit.

[78crusader]

Why won't the students be there? The academic calendar says classes don't end until Dec 13.

Paul

[vu72]

Why won't the students be there? The academic calendar says classes don't end until Dec 13.

Paul

Good question.  Perhaps I'm wrong, just reporting what I thought others have said.

[vufan75]

Why won't the students be there? The academic calendar says classes don't end until Dec 13.

Paul

Good question.  Perhaps I'm wrong, just reporting what I thought others have said.

Thanksgiving break is over and class is back in session I'm pretty sure. Hope the students take a break from semester ending projects, papers, and preparing for finals which are soon to come. We need to have the students "in the house" helping to make the ARC loud and a tough venue to play in for SLU. SLU is a very good team returning good players and we will have our hands full I think.

Oh, and welcome to the board, Billiken_NH.

[wh]

Finals week is the 16th-20th:

http://www.valpo.edu/registrar/assets/pdfs/AY2013.2014CR.pdf

The students should not only be here this Sat., but for next Saturday's game against Loyola Marymount, as well. 

[valpotx]

If this game is not a sellout, there is something wrong with our fan base...

[classof2014]

A quick hello to everyone on the board. Big St. Louis University fan here, and I wanted to stop by the board to get some Valpo fans' take on this Saturday's game.

First and foremost I think I speak for many SLU fans when I express my respect for the Valparaiso program. Bryce Drew is a great coach—one whose name was tossed around for the SLU job once upon a time—and it seems that y'all have a consistently strong program.

I am curious to see how Crusader fans are feeling about the game this upcoming Saturday. The Bills took last year's contest in what was a sloppy game on both sides. I expect this years game to also be a dogfight. SLU returned a lot of talent from last year, but has yet to mesh in the new season. While our defense has been strong, scoring and rebounding have both proved difficult at times. I think it's safe to say we are far from clicking on all cylinders and I'm sure playing at Valpo will not be an easy game.

What kind of team do you all have this year? Is it safe to say Dority is the straw that stirs the drink? Is the freshman Alec Peters the real deal? Is Capobianco turning into a true contributor? Any information you have on how Valpo plays and what team we as SLU fans should expect to see on Saturday would be much appreciated.

Thanks and glad I could stop by. Looking forward to a fun match-up.

P.S. I'm very glad ye olde Keith Carter will not suit up for this one. He will be a very good player for you in time.

Whatever tape you have from last season just toss it in the trash, it'll do yo no good. As others have said this team is completely different.

We have 5 freshmen and 4 who play regular minutes. Peters is the real deal and is one of our best players offensively, he can knock them down from outside with the best of them and is a match up nightmare at the three because of his size (6' 7").

Dority has been good this season, he now plays the 2 and has looked much better. Right now we have a freshman playing PG, Lexus Williams, who's a shifty athletic PG who can score from anywhere on the court and is dangerous whenever he handles the ball.

We also are a very big team, with 7' 270 lbs center in Moussa Gueye. He probably won't score a bunch, typically he's good for 4-8 points but he gets a few blocks and takes away the other team's 5. On the bench we have Vashil who's 6' 10" but can't play more than 10 minutes without fouling out, which causes Moussa to foul out. So for the first 3/4 of the game you might have trouble scoring but the last 10 minutes we won't have our big center and Bobby will move to the 5. As for Bobby, he can make some threes and plays the post pretty well, he lacks defense but is a good player, not great.

Valpo is much different than last year's team. I believe last year when we played you guys we had a dismal shooting effort from 3 (5-21). Thus we couldn't score. This year we do have guys who can make 3's but we also have a lot of athleticism and can score from anywhere on the court.

Should be a great game and a challenge for both Valpo and SLU. Looking forward to tip-off Saturday night.

[bbtds]

If this game is not a sell-out, there is something wrong with our fan base...

If you check the ticket website the chairback sections are almost full already. I think it's going to be a full house with walk up sales. Yes, the student section will be loaded, standing and loud. Book it!

[justducky]

If this game is not a sell-out, there is something wrong with our fan base...

We are nowhere near a sellout and yes there is something wrong with our fan base because nobody has ever put much effort into trying to build one. Wh, lowposter, and I have hammered on this subject repeatedly; Valpo must make a better connection with the basketball fans of northwest Indiana.

[valpotx]

Hopefully area fans and our students know that SLU is a great team to have at home!  It isn't the same as when we have entertained Purdue or Cincinnati (when they were very good), but they should carry some clout at the box office.  Our Marketing group has done better based on the things I have seen, so hopefully it pays off in games such as this one.

[bbtds]

A quick hello to everyone on the board. Big St. Louis University fan here, and I wanted to stop by the board to get some Valpo fans' take on this Saturday's game.

First and foremost I think I speak for many SLU fans when I express my respect for the Valparaiso program. Bryce Drew is a great coach—one whose name was tossed around for the SLU job once upon a time—and it seems that y'all have a consistently strong program.

I am curious to see how Crusader fans are feeling about the game this upcoming Saturday. The Bills took last year's contest in what was a sloppy game on both sides. I expect this years game to also be a dogfight. SLU returned a lot of talent from last year, but has yet to mesh in the new season. While our defense has been strong, scoring and rebounding have both proved difficult at times. I think it's safe to say we are far from clicking on all cylinders and I'm sure playing at Valpo will not be an easy game.

What kind of team do you all have this year? Is it safe to say Dority is the straw that stirs the drink? Is the freshman Alec Peters the real deal? Is Capobianco turning into a true contributor? Any information you have on how Valpo plays and what team we as SLU fans should expect to see on Saturday would be much appreciated.

Thanks and glad I could stop by. Looking forward to a fun match-up.

P.S. I'm very glad ye olde Keith Carter will not suit up for this one. He will be a very good player for you in time.

Whatever tape you have from last season just toss it in the trash, it'll do yo no good. As others have said this team is completely different.

We have 5 freshmen and 4 who play regular minutes. Peters is the real deal and is one of our best players offensively, he can knock them down from outside with the best of them and is a match up nightmare at the three because of his size (6' 7").

Dority has been good this season, he now plays the 2 and has looked much better. Right now we have a freshman playing PG, Lexus Williams, who's a shifty athletic PG who can score from anywhere on the court and is dangerous whenever he handles the ball.

We also are a very big team, with 7' 270 lbs center in Moussa Gueye. He probably won't score a bunch, typically he's good for 4-8 points but he gets a few blocks and takes away the other team's 5. On the bench we have Vashil who's 6' 10" but can't play more than 10 minutes without fouling out, which causes Moussa to foul out. So for the first 3/4 of the game you might have trouble scoring but the last 10 minutes we won't have our big center and Bobby will move to the 5. As for Bobby, he can make some threes and plays the post pretty well, he lacks defense but is a good player, not great.

Valpo is much different than last year's team. I believe last year when we played you guys we had a dismal shooting effort from 3 (5-21). Thus we couldn't score. This year we do have guys who can make 3's but we also have a lot of athleticism and can score from anywhere on the court.

Should be a great game and a challenge for both Valpo and SLU. Looking forward to tip-off Saturday night.

Let's be honest though. When the ball goes into our big men it's like watching an untrained seal trying to control a beach ball with his fins. Gueye and Fernandez are both fairly new to basketball and don't handle the ball well at all. They will cough it up on a regular basis, although Gueye has improved and there are spotty moments where things fall into place for Fernandez.

There are two players that have good inside games, Capobianco (didn't score a point on Ball State) and Adekoya, the freshman, who was the leading scorer against Ball State.

It will be a challenging game for Valpo but the Bills need to bring their best. With all the zone the Crusaders will be playing Jett is going to have to either hit his shots or leave it up to McBroom. He will have no other choice.

I think Peters will explode on the Billikens because I'm not sure yet if the other freshmen can handle SLU's tough defense.

Also Evans will have to move outside because he will not score easily on the inside against the Valpo big men.

[a3uge]

Our two 7 footers will foul out by the end of the game and we turn the ball over a lot (about 15 times a game). We rotate a lot of players. Shooting percentage against D1 schools is 47.8% and 35.2% from 3pt. It may look like we score an ungodly amount of points (84.3 per game), but if you take out the 2 non-D1 games and take away 3 of the overtimes vs Mercer, it's only 75.75. Still pretty high, but 84 ppg is misleading.

It looks like SLU hasn't given up very many points (70 to WSU is the highest, which is a team that scores a bunch). We saw last year how awful they can make an offense look. This year the game will be far less emotional.

[bbtds]

Our two 7 footers will foul out by the end of the game and we turn the ball over a lot (about 15 times a game). We rotate a lot of players. Shooting percentage against D1 schools is 47.8% and 35.2% from 3pt. It may look like we score an ungodly amount of points (84.3 per game), but if you take out the 2 non-D1 games and take away 3 of the overtimes vs Mercer, it's only 75.75. Still pretty high, but 84 ppg is misleading.

It looks like SLU hasn't given up very many points (70 to WSU is the highest, which is a team that scores a bunch). We saw last year how awful they can make an offense look. This year the game will be far less emotional.

Just to be accurate the score of the WSU game was 65-60. Yes, this game will be a lot lower scoring than most Valpo games. OTOH SLU will be forced to hit their outside shots. I really hope we limit Gueye's and Fernandez's touches on offense and use Adekoya and Capo to do the posting up. An inside out game with better ball handling will help Valpo. A bad shooting night, the Bills had a really cold shooting streak against Rockhurst, I believe Rock U went on a 20-5 run against the Chaifetz cagers, could spell a loss for SLU. A hot McBroom or doom!

[bbtds]

If this game is not a sell-out, there is something wrong with our fan base...

We are nowhere near a sellout and yes there is something wrong with our fan base because nobody has ever put much effort into trying to build one. Wh, lowposter, and I have hammered on this subject repeatedly; Valpo must make a better connection with the basketball fans of northwest Indiana.

What info do you have to substantiate your claim of the SLU game not being near a big crowd?

[a3uge]

Just to be accurate the score of the WSU game was 65-60. Yes, this game will be a lot lower scoring than most Valpo games. OTOH SLU will be forced to hit their outside shots. I really hope we limit Gueye's and Fernandez's touches on offense and use Adekoya and Capo to do the posting up. An inside out game with better ball handling will help Valpo. A bad shooting night, the Bills had a really cold shooting streak against Rockhurst, I believe Rock U went on a 20-5 run against the Chaifetz cagers, could spell a loss for SLU. A hot McBroom or doom!

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400500006

70-65.

[bbtds]

Just to be accurate the score of the WSU game was 65-60. Yes, this game will be a lot lower scoring than most Valpo games. OTOH SLU will be forced to hit their outside shots. I really hope we limit Gueye's and Fernandez's touches on offense and use Adekoya and Capo to do the posting up. An inside out game with better ball handling will help Valpo. A bad shooting night, the Bills had a really cold shooting streak against Rockhurst, I believe Rock U went on a 20-5 run against the Chaifetz cagers, could spell a loss for SLU. A hot McBroom or doom!

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400500006

70-65.

My mistake. Way too many scores going through my head right now. Thanks for the correction on my awful correction.

[truth219]

Bobbys 3 pointers are ugly. He shouldn't shoot them.

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[bbtds]

Bobbys 3 pointers are ugly. He shouldn't shoot them.

I believe it's already been pointed out that Capo's threes, ugly or not, are part of his overall game and lead to his being guarded closely on the outside which can then help with Bobby getting more room to make inside moves. Capo is 9 for 16 on threes, VU's highest three point percentage this season.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/media/basketball-men/2013-14/Box%20Scores/TEAMCUME.HTM

[vu72]

If this game is not a sell-out, there is something wrong with our fan base...

We are nowhere near a sellout and yes there is something wrong with our fan base because nobody has ever put much effort into trying to build one. Wh, lowposter, and I have hammered on this subject repeatedly; Valpo must make a better connection with the basketball fans of northwest Indiana.

What info do you have to substantiate your claim of the SLU game not being near a big crowd?

I just checked the ticket site and there are a huge number of tickets left.  The lower area is pretty full (25 seats left in chairbacks and 175 on the other side), but the upper deck is pretty empty.  CC, for example, being the prime upper deck seating, has maybe 50 people there now.  Lots of room unfortunately.

[truth219]

I'd be willing to say bobbys 3pt % will be under 30% by the end of the year.

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[justducky]

If this game is not a sell-out, there is something wrong with our fan base...

We are nowhere near a sellout and yes there is something wrong with our fan base because nobody has ever put much effort into trying to build one. Wh, lowposter, and I have hammered on this subject repeatedly; Valpo must make a better connection with the basketball fans of northwest Indiana.

What info do you have to substantiate your claim of the SLU game not being near a big crowd?

Two days till game time and we have almost no mezzanine sales and maybe 200 plus seats down below that are still unsold. From this I would predict at best 4100 and it could be far short of that. For our best home opponent of the year I am not going to define that low number as being a big crowd.

[valpotx]

I agree, justducky.  It would be VERY disappointing to not have 5,000+ for a game like this one.  Has the Marketing group built up this game over any others to show the region that they are a solid program?

[truth219]

I know its not possible, but if valpo had a tv deal I think that would help ticket sales. I think that any high school student with an ID should get a ticket for 5 bucks. If you wear a valpo shirt you should get a mezzanine seat for 5 bucks.

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[Kyle321n]

I know its not possible, but if valpo had a tv deal I think that would help ticket sales.

It's actually not impossible.  Every home HL game is streamed on HLN.  Could Lakeshore show the games and use the feed as the HLN? Sure.  Could them make pretty decent money off ad revenue? Probably. Will this ever happen? Probably not.