Valpo vs Milwaukee (1/18 at 1 pm)

[valpotx]

I thought that comment was hilarious too, after talking about potential royalties for 'The Shot' call

[a3uge]

My pregame analysis was spot on. Seriously, I should work for ESPN. Or at least Outdoor Life Network. Valpo's length was a problem... Valpo notched 10 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Milwaukee by a wide margin. Valpo ran lots of P&R plays to take advantage of the short lineup while Milwaukee shot lots of threes to counter. Glad the more talented team won.

[humbleopinion]

How many of the turnovers were offensive fouls?  Overall, I thought the team did much better of playing under control on offense.
Does Moussa intentionally miss bunnies to pad his rebound numbers?

[wh]

The crowd was not as large as I'd hoped with the attendance given as 3281, but the place was lively. I met some Milwaukee fans who were complimentary about Valparaiso, the fans, and the atmosphere in the ARC. That was good to know since it appeared a possible future recruit was attending the game.

Do you happen to know who the recruit was?

[SanityLost17]

I was busy yesterday, so I watched the replay this morning. 

The biggest positive that I saw was Bobby's contribution at the #4 spot.  This was the 1st time all year that we have been able to get the ball in the middle of the zone and make something happen.  At one point Bobby flashed to the free throw line on 2 consecutive plays, got the ball, and proceeded to make 2 great passes to the block for scores.   This is something we have not been able to do all season.  If we can get Peters/Jubril to do the same thing when they are in the game at the #4 spot, good things will happen for our offense. 

[wh]

I was busy yesterday, so I watched the replay this morning. 

The biggest positive that I saw was Bobby's contribution at the #4 spot.  This was the 1st time all year that we have been able to get the ball in the middle of the zone and make something happen.  At one point Bobby flashed to the free throw line on 2 consecutive plays, got the ball, and proceeded to make 2 great passes to the block for scores.   This is something we have not been able to do all season.  If we can get Peters/Jubril to do the same thing when they are in the game at the #4 spot, good things will happen for our offense. 

I agree about Bobby's contributions yesterday.  That said, Milwaukee matches our front court profile - size over quickness - better than a lot of other teams in the HL.  IMO the question going forward is at what point will our size advantage actually translate into a game advantage over smaller, quicker teams like YSU and CSU?  We're built like a D-1 Major, but we're not playing like one.  Hopefully, we're turning the corner in that regard.  I guess we'll know later in the week.

[HC]

When was the last time a valpo team dunked on back to back possessions like they did in the first half yesterday?

[oklahomamick]

Yes, in the previous years, our centers and forwards played under the rim.  We have more dunks and blocks now.  Its fun to watch. 

We need more entry passes.  Vashil and Moussa don't have to go up with, they can help swing it.

[justducky]

We need more entry passes.  Vashil and Moussa don't have to go up with, they can help swing it.

Yes and no. They both seem to be developing better softer hands as the season has progressed but are they ready to catch it cleanly, feel the defender, spot the double down guy and pass to the right teammate? Even Bobby is not great at this but he is still better than Vashil or Moussa. The number of turnovers off of entry passes is one of our biggest remaining problems which if resolved  might be viewed as our biggest opportunity. I just hate having all this size from which we generate so little in easy high % point production.

[vu72]

We need more entry passes.  Vashil and Moussa don't have to go up with, they can help swing it.

Yes and no. They both seem to be developing better softer hands as the season has progressed but are they ready to catch it cleanly, feel the defender, spot the double down guy and pass to the right teammate? Even Bobby is not great at this but he is still better than Vashil or Moussa. The number of turnovers off of entry passes is one of our biggest remaining problems which if resolved  might be viewed as our biggest opportunity. I just hate having all this size from which we generate so little in easy high % point production.

It's a trade off at this point.  I agree it would be nice but in the meantime we have a vastly improved rebound margin versus the rest of the league let alone the whole block thing which was pretty much non-existent last year.  When Moussa goes for a rebound there is very little the opposition can do to stop him--a man among boys.

[oklahomamick]

Agreed, we turn the ball over on entry passes or even when the centers receive it, but if we can establish an offensive threat in the post it will help our looks at 3pts.

Moussa and vashil do set good screens and sometime clear the lane by shielding defenders off for guards to get easy penetration and layups.  Stuff that doesn't get a stat in the box score.

The two centers help a lot on defense but need to contribute a little more in offensive end.  It's fun though that we have two 7 footers with athletism.  I don't recall a valpo team with that size and athletism. 

[wh]

Moussa had a spring to his step that I haven't seen before. He drove down the lane like a freight train and finished with a nice extended layup.  He snapped the ball off the backboard with authority after Milw misses. He threw down a rim rattling power dunk. Last, but not least, he inadvertently nailed Kelm in the head and knocked Tiby down with incidental bull-in-a-china-shop contact underneath. Overall, he was a very intimidating presence out there.

[historyman]

Moussa had a spring to his step that I haven't seen before. He drove down the lane like a freight train and finished with a nice extended layup.  He snapped the ball off the backboard with authority after Milw misses. He threw down a rim rattling power dunk. Last, but not least, he inadvertently nailed Kelm in the head and knocked Tiby down with incidental bull-in-a-china-shop contact underneath. Overall, he was a very intimidating presence out there.

I think Moussa got both feet off the foor at the same time. When has he done that before?   

[valpopal]

vu72, I took this photo of your aunt being recognized at the game:

[valpopal]

The crowd was not as large as I'd hoped with the attendance given as 3281, but the place was lively. I met some Milwaukee fans who were complimentary about Valparaiso, the fans, and the atmosphere in the ARC. That was good to know since it appeared a possible future recruit was attending the game.

Do you happen to know who the recruit was?

It was Weisner Perez (2015) on an unofficial visit. It looked like he was with his parents. He's a 6'6" forward who has visited Valpo before.

[vu72]

vu72, I took this photo of your aunt being recognized at the game:

Thanks for posting it!!

[valpopal]

After spending Sunday watching football, I have now uploaded a set of my photos from Saturday's game. I had an unusually large number of pictures, many with crowd shots and student enthusiasm to capture the atmosphere, so there are 50 photos in this set, including the three below. I hope you will check out the following link and enjoy the images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96208998@N05/sets/72157639934775913/

[valpo84]

Dear Moussa and Vashil

Please remember the 3 Cs when in the post or offensive rebounding -- CATCH, COLLECT AND CONVERT

Thank you.
Patches O'Wooden

[Kyle321n]

How many of the turnovers were offensive fouls?  Overall, I thought the team did much better of playing under control on offense. Does Moussa intentionally miss bunnies to pad his rebound numbers?

Of the 15 turnovers, 5 were offensive fouls and 1 was on the shot clock violation which should have been wiped out, but rules is rules.

[valpo84]

Also, Alec, Bobby and others shooting 3s, square the shoulders and set your feet, you're all rushing at times (esp Alec right now). Bobby seemed to rush the open looks too. Having watched the (barely able to) watch Wright State games this weekend (esp CSU-WSU ugh), we need to hit open looks this week. YSU game will be keep K Perry in check, but we have to score when we play CSU and if refs continue to allow the old HL body blow play, we have to hit open looks. 70 still seems to be our magic number. Score 70 in HL play and we can outscore most teams. Having watched GB-WSU Friday. looking forward to the Brown-VaMoose matchup and Sykes-Dority.

On dunks, Aaron Leavitt did some research (as well as a nice plug to him on the Saturday broadcast) and posted on twitter over the weekend that we are at 46 dunks on the season. Last team with more than 46 was 05-06 with 49. Kone had 37 of those. Vashil with 18, one off Urule's 19 in 06-07, which is 2d most since 05-06.

[oklahomamick]

looking forward to the Brown-VaMoose matchup and Sykes-Dority.

I'm looking forward to those matchups as well.  I think Lexus or Carter will guard Sykes.