Valpo at Wright State Saturday 1/17/2015 6:00 PM CST (7:00 PM ET)

[nkvu]

Vashil has improved so much this year.  He looks like a totally different player  on offense. So much more confident with the ball. Cut the turnovers way down. Happy for him.   

[wh]

I see the attendance was 7664.  Big crowd!  As to the game itself, you have to give Coach Donlon and his players credit.  They lost one of their main guys (and one of their only guys with height), yet they battled from beginning to end.  They took full advantage of the fact we don't have any point guards and pressed the heck out of us.  Exciting, nerve wracking game!

[SanityLost17]

Bryce Drew saved the game by turning Nickerson into a "half court point guard" and letting T-Walker break the press. 
30+ Minutes is a lot for Vashil.  I hope we can play him a lot less against YSU so he is fresh for Green Bay.
I firmly believe KC is more important to our team than Yoho is to their team.  KC scores points and makes everyone else better.  Peters suffered tonight because we didn't have a point guard.
Is the average HL player younger than normal?  Every team we face their announcers seem to talk about their youth/inexperience, but never talk about ours.  140 out of 200 of our minutes tonight were played by somebody in their 1st or 2nd season in D1 basketball.  If all teams are like that, perhaps the HL will be really good in the next few years?       

[HC]

No credit to Donlon. He was out coached by Drew big time tonight. Missing top point guards, on the road, in front of a big crowd and Donlon's team gets beat by a guy playing his 6th(ish) year of basketball and a bunch of underclass men.

I haven't paid much attention this week, but it was good to see KC off crutches while on the bench tonight. Get well soon!

[ValpoFan]

Bryce coached a heckuva game. The plays he called to break the zone defense are absolutely genius. Also as someone already mentioned, having T-Walker pass the timeline before handing the ball to E. also drastically reduced the number of turnovers.
If you told me before the game that Alec will shoot 2-8, and the whole team will shoot 25% from behind the arc, on the road in front of 7500 fans, I would have never guessed we won the game. Hats off to the whole team and especially the coaching staff.

[historyman]

Win or lose, Bryce has got to get T. Walker involved in bringing the ball down the court. This is just terrible.

Bryce Drew saved the game by turning Nickerson into a "half court point guard" and letting T-Walker break the press. 

Quote from: justducky on January 16, 2015, 04:54:55 PM

Quote from: vu72 on January 16, 2015, 11:31:47 AM
Thanks for nailing that piece of jello to the wall!!

   
Always glad to share my knowledge with any and all who have made the mistake of listening.

Quote from: wh on January 16, 2015, 12:15:34 PM
Like the last game, there will be times when EVN will have to hand off to people who should never have to be counted on to bring the ball up court and start the offense, namely Alec and Jubril.

Sadly I expect that Donlon has already come up with strategies that will eliminate or largely reduce the advantages of that option. That is his job. Perhaps Bryce is as we speak rummaging through his trick bag with the hope that he has not yet run completely out of rabbits. Time will tell.

Aren't we forgetting that Valpo has two players named Walker that have brought a whole load of talent and options for Bryce to use?

You'd think Bryce had read this message board before the game-----and after watching Nickerson bring the ball up court thought "why not have a talented Tavonn bring it up court for EVN?"

[vu72]

I missed the game but watched the replay late last night.  What hit me was simply "boys against men"!  Forget about our size advantage on the front line, it's our guards that I'm talking about.  Big Ten type guards.  Max Joseph is 6'1 205#, T Walker is 6'1" 195#, D Walker is 6'3" 215#.  Wright State counters with guys 5'9" 160#, 6'2" 175# and 6'4" 170#.

As the game(s) progress, the muscle and weight differences will no doubt wear our opponents down.

[SanityLost17]

I think all of this extra playing time at the point guard position is going to make Nickerson a FORCE at the #3 spot next year.  If he is relatively pain free by next year, and not worn out from having to bring the ball up the floor, I think we could have one hell of a 6-8 slasher from the sides.  A player like him will really help us against high major teams.

Talk about having some depth.  I think you bring a guy like D. Walker off the bench so that he is the primary scoring threat when Carter, T. Walker and Peters get a rest.  I think sometimes we put our "best 5" in the starting lineup and then when we make our 1st round of substitutions we are left with nobody on the floor who "wants to be the man" to take the shots.   
Carter / Lexus 
T. Walker / D. Walker
Nickerson / Hammink 
Peters / Skara
Smits / Jubril   

[ValpoFan]

Carter / Lexus  T. Walker / D. Walker Nickerson / Hammink  Peters / Skara Smits / Jubril   

What a scary lineup, especially when you think that Max Joseph and Relvao (red shirt maybe?) and the UMKC transfer will also be there waiting for an opportunity. This a really really deep and diverse (in terms of talents) team.   

[valpopal]

Carter / Lexus  T. Walker / D. Walker Nickerson / Hammink  Peters / Skara Smits / Jubril   

What a scary lineup, especially when you think that Max Joseph and Relvao (red shirt maybe?) and the UMKC transfer will also be there waiting for an opportunity. This a really really deep and diverse (in terms of talents) team.

Let's not forget Davidson. I like what I have seen when he has been on the court this year, and I am hoping he will add depth to the bench next year. Though in limited time thus far this year, Nick has shot 43% (6-14) from the 3-pt. line, 100% (6-6) from the free throw line, and committed only 6 turnovers in nearly 90 minutes of play.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

4-2.  So much better than 3-2. 

and 4-1 better than both!

[oklahomamick]

Carter / Lexus  T. Walker / D. Walker Nickerson / Hammink  Peters / Skara Smits / Jubril   

What a scary lineup, especially when you think that Max Joseph and Relvao (red shirt maybe?) and the UMKC transfer will also be there waiting for an opportunity. This a really really deep and diverse (in terms of talents) team.   

Yes, Yes but I have asked this before.  Who is the shot blocker?  Vashil helps the guards defensively with his presence in the middle.  He alters shots, forces drivers to pull hope for jumps shots or floaters and grabs rebounds.  He plays above the rim.  It would be very hard for our guards to drive the lane against a shot blocker, but fortunately, the HL doesn't have very many good ones.   

Don't get me wrong, I liked Kevin Van Wijk.  He was a better fundamental basketball player than Vashil (Vashil has only been playing for 6 years).  But I really enjoy the athleticism that Vashil brings to the table.  We also had another player who played above the rim in Moussa.  Again, Kevin was a much better basketball player.  The HL is full of centers who bang and post with a decent outside jumper.  But it's the major conferences who have players who can jump out of the gym and have the athleticism.  Why do you think we settle for jumpers and three's against the Missouri's and New Mexico's?  Even Nebraska.  Because we aren't as athletic and they have guys that can throw our shots back. 

The big guys coming in are very different type of players than Vashil and bring different skill sets.

We need another Vashil or pay the NCAA to grant him another year. 

[talksalot]

Team

1 Cleveland State 5 1 11 9
2 Valparaiso 4 1 17 3
3 Green Bay 4 1 15 4
4 Detroit 3 2 9 10
5 Oakland 2 2 6 12
6 Wright State 2 3 10 9
7 Milwaukee 1 3 6 12
8 UIC 1 3 5 14
9 Youngstown State 0 6 9 12