UDM @ Valpo, Wednesday, 2/4/15 7:05 CST tip

[valpo4life]

To somewhat come to E's defense on the turnovers. Well, not really a defense, just comparison for Oakland Sunday. Detroit was trapping him with guys who were close to his size and very long. Against Oakland he should be able to pass easier over defenders. But the losing control while dribbling, that's a different story.

[wh]

I want to give some credit to Detroit.  They gave great effort, played very physical, shot FT's well, shot the 3-ball well, and had a good game plan to trap and double on Alec.  The last time I saw them play this well is when they smoked Oakland at home.  It will not be an easy game at their place.   

[valpotx]

meaning
--it almost happened last time?
or
--it is imminent?

...and was this someone on an internet message board?

Sorry, as someone else mentioned, 'was' meant that it almost happened when Loyola moved.  This was from someone in the administration, and he indicated that we had been told to expect an invite, but it never came.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

we had been told to expect an invite, but it never came

ridiculous.  what is this, a high school dance?

[classof2014]

A few observations from last night's game:

EVN: Started the game off terribly, 2 turnovers on the first 2 possessions isn't how we want to start. There are still times that he looks like a fish out of water running the point; yet there are times that he shines. He made some big shots at the end of the game and had a few nice dishes as well. It was definitely nice to see him break through towards the end of the game as he did struggle at the start. He has come up huge though since KC went down to injury; he's an unorthodox point guard which gives teams trouble but at the same time his inexperience does bite him from time to time.

Tevonn: Making a case for FOY award, most times scoring goes down for a player, especially a freshman, once HL play begins. Tevonn has shined though. 19 points last night on 7-13 shooting, 5-6 from the FT line, 4 boards, 2 helpers, and 0 turnovers. Didn't Commish wonder why Bryce went to Canada for some recruits and expected this recruiting class to be a down year? Guess there's a reason why Bryce went all the way to Montreal.

Darien: Big game last night. He has been playing much better as of late. 21 points last night and sparked the run that one us the game scoring 8 consecutive points in a 75 second span. He is turnover prone, as he did turn it over 5 times but his defense has been strong and his ability to score in spurts was huge last night.

Alec: Effective as usual, quietly had a double-double, with 4 assists and a pair of steals. The turnover bug bit him too last night as he turned it over 4 times, which is unusual for Alec as he has been great handling the ball this season. He didn't need to score 25, he was incredibly effective, he does so much, and doesn't take poor shots and will pass it away if there's a defender in his face instead of chucking up a 3.

Vashil: He is a lock for defensive PoY in my opinion. He had 3 early blocks then Detroit didn't go inside on him the rest of the game basically. It is rare to see a player that can make a team so one-dimensional as Vashil. Forces team to take low-percentage perimeter shots. Detroit is a good shooting team, perhaps that worked into their favor a bit at times. He has been sure handed down low as well, which plagued him at times last season. He's not a big scorer but does score when need be. Detroit wasn't reluctant to foul him as he went 1 of 6 from the FT line, that's the only negative thing about Vashil his FT shooting can be down right bad at times.

David: Another freshman stepping up in a big way for Bryce. He has been overshadowed by the play of Tevonn but there aren't many things that he doesn't do well. He reminds me a lot of Rowdy and once he decides to score more he'll be very dangerous. He's good handling the ball, has great court vision, plays terrific defense, and is rarely out of position. Yesterday he had 4 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals in only 17 minutes of action.

Jubril: Playing much better in the HL, perhaps his suspension was a wake-up call. He now finishes down low and no longer misses his bunnies. He plays good defense. He got in foul trouble quickly last night and he has gotten into foul trouble many times. He's been playing much better, just needs to limit the fouling.

Max: Barely played in the OOC schedule. Since the injury to KC he's been very effective. I thought he would be a liability on the court but he isn't. Once KC is back he's a viable option at point to spell KC when he needs a breather.

Overall Valpo played well last night. Detroit hit their threes and that kept them in the game, they're one of the best 3 point shooting teams in the league. Bryce outcoached Ray last night, which is no surprise. He made an adjustment in the second half and that was ultimately the downfall to Detroit. As soon as they switched to the zone Detroit looked lost.

Big game coming up this weekend. We can't turn it over 20 times if we want to beat Oakland.

[Kyle321n]

A few points from this game:

-The Jekyll and Hyde performance of Nickerson is getting to be nerve racking. This game was the epitome of it. The first two possessions were just atrocious and I mentioned to my wife that Max was coming in soon. Sure enough there's Bryce talking to Max after the third possession and less than 2 minutes into the game he's in there running a slightly more competent point. Then when we need something late in the game, there's Nickerson hitting a huge three. We will need late game EVic to show up Sunday and the first 4 possession EVic can stay at home.

-Man am I glad the Walkers are on our team. After Saturday's game my dad had trouble believing that Tevonn was a freshman and he said he plays like a junior. He also said that VU's guards are build like fullbacks and I have to agree. These guys are stout, strong on the ball, and show no fear getting to the hoop. And I swear they are like second cousins or something, they have some crazy connection on the court that you usually see with guys who are related to each other.

-Peters quietly puts up nice games. Seriously is that the most unnoticed double-double in history? Unless you specifically watch him, sometimes it seems like he disappears, and I don't mean that in a bad way. He goes about doing what he does and there's no flash to it. When Rowdy or Dority would have a big game you would notice it because there was some zing to it. I love that Alec's game just melts into the rest of the play. Outside of the Oboard he had in the second half, I don't think I could seriously point to one of the rebounds and say "Oh yeah that one was big", yet they all were. And he had 12 points on 7 shots. And he led the team in assists. It's all just kind of silly.

-Vashil's free throws. How do they get worse as the year goes on? Early on I thought he had turned a corner and worked out at least one of the 12 hitches he has in his shot. Now it seems like he's hitchier and has a flatter shot than the end of last year. I didn't think that was possible. He needs to spend 8 hours one day just shooting free throws with someone watching to make sure he's at least got a little form on the shot. If that game was closer down the stretch, Hack-a-Vashil would have been a real thing and I can see us losing a close one on Vashil FTs. If he was a 70% FT shooter we would have won by 15 last night.

-Skara is just a better version of Yeo isn't he? I would love to see Skara vs. Oakland in the Yeo vs. Bader game. I mean his shot is pretty bad, but he can drive to the hoop and find open men when they collapse on him. And defensively, he's just so long. He's a pest on the ball and while he gets pushed around by bigger opponents, you can tell he's got a frame that can take on some bulk the next couple years. I'm excited to watch him develop into an all around player.

-Whoever the PA music operator is was getting a little sassy last night. Playing some pop hits that have a little punch in them. It was fun and a decent change. But we can lose the MP3 for "Livin on a Prayer". I don't know who likes that song and it's only got camp nowadays.

-Speaking of music this has been bugging me and it seems to be getting progressively worse. The pep band seems to be unaware of the actual flow of the game and the crowd general feeling. Many times they'll do a sped up, crazy fast version of "Rock and Roll" (you know what I'm talking with the "Hey, VU!") which is definitely a crowd pleaser, only to have 45 seconds left in the time out so they break out Mortal Combat. Honestly I'm not sure how much of the student body knows what that song is and anyone over the age of 35-40 probably has no idea. Why not play another round of "Rock and Roll". I love when the band has been cut off and the student section keeps singing the song all the way to completion. I understand not doing it when VU is about to shoot free throws, but how great is it when you're spelling out "V-A-L-P-A-R-A-I-S-O, let's go Valpo, let's go Valpo" when the other team is shooting? It's outstanding.

The other one that gets me is "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror. I never understood it's place or value at a basketball game and I can tell you when I was in the student section no one was singing along. The circles of people who go see Rocky Horror and those who go to basketball games probably has a very minuscule overlap.

But what took me over the edge last night was when Valpo had just retaken the lead in the second half and there's a time out. What does the pep band do? Go into a rousing (please note my sarcasm with the word rousing) rendition of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. When well done it can be impactful, but it's not exactly a "get the crowd excited and on their feet" kind of song. I wish I had taken a video of it last night because the cheerleaders' reactions and "clapping" was perfect. Slow, methodical and droning, much like the song was.

I'm not a music person but I think just some subtle changes can help improve the gameday experience. I feel like last year and especially 2 years ago the pep band had slightly better music selection and judgement on what songs were appropriate for the moment. I don't know if they changed directors or if it's the batch of students in the band, but it's been kind of rough this year.

[historyman]

A zone on Detroit's final possession for a wide open 3 by Howard?

Howard was standing near the first "r" in Homer Drew's signature when he hit that three before halftime. He must have been 4 feet or more from the three point arc. I think you let anyone shoot from there. He showed he could hit that shot but I have a feeling his % would be low if he shot from there often. He missed only one three last night.

[SanityLost17]

I thought Yeo was going to be really good by his junior year, but with his small frame, I think he would have still struggled for consistency this season. 

Would we have a worse record if Yeo had stayed?  After all, if he didn't leave, there would be no D. Walker on this team!   

My initial thought is that we would have lost 3-4 more games this season with Yeo.  I love having multiple thick physical guards.  It is almost like Bryce saw how beneficial Dority was and said, "screw it, no more thin guards, give me some bulk and I will teach them the rest!." 

[classof2014]

-Speaking of music this has been bugging me and it seems to be getting progressively worse. The pep band seems to be unaware of the actual flow of the game and the crowd general feeling. Many times they'll do a sped up, crazy fast version of "Rock and Roll" (you know what I'm talking with the "Hey, VU!") which is definitely a crowd pleaser, only to have 45 seconds left in the time out so they break out Mortal Combat. Honestly I'm not sure how much of the student body knows what that song is and anyone over the age of 35-40 probably has no idea. Why not play another round of "Rock and Roll". I love when the band has been cut off and the student section keeps singing the song all the way to completion. I understand not doing it when VU is about to shoot free throws, but how great is it when you're spelling out "V-A-L-P-A-R-A-I-S-O, let's go Valpo, let's go Valpo" when the other team is shooting? It's outstanding.

The other one that gets me is "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror. I never understood it's place or value at a basketball game and I can tell you when I was in the student section no one was singing along. The circles of people who go see Rocky Horror and those who go to basketball games probably has a very minuscule overlap.

But what took me over the edge last night was when Valpo had just retaken the lead in the second half and there's a time out. What does the pep band do? Go into a rousing (please note my sarcasm with the word rousing) rendition of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. When well done it can be impactful, but it's not exactly a "get the crowd excited and on their feet" kind of song. I wish I had taken a video of it last night because the cheerleaders' reactions and "clapping" was perfect. Slow, methodical and droning, much like the song was.

I'm not a music person but I think just some subtle changes can help improve the gameday experience. I feel like last year and especially 2 years ago the pep band had slightly better music selection and judgement on what songs were appropriate for the moment. I don't know if they changed directors or if it's the batch of students in the band, but it's been kind of rough this year.

You know your team is good when we begin to dissect what the pep band plays!

[Kyle321n]

-clipped-

You know your team is good when we begin to dissect what the pep band plays!

Well it kind of gets into the "how do we get more people into the ARC" discussion. If you have a lively band that plays songs that are familiar or crowd pleasing or something that gets you to sing or chant along, then you get the crowd more into the game. This causes for a more raucous and loud stadium and that's something that will really help amp up the atmosphere. It's bad when there are times while the pep band plays that from section C I can hear the creaky fans from the what I assume is 100 year old HVAC system in the ARC.

[valpo84]

Kyle is right about Vashil's FT shooting. That shot's parabola is like 10% max. He needs to put some air in there and get near the optimum 52%, even 47% would drastically improve his chances. Additionally, he's firing the ball like my golf swing. He needs to take a few miles off the heater and some air in the parabola. Some video analysis from December to February would help him so he can see the difference. I'm sure they are working with him but game situations sometimes have us forgetting the work at the practice tee and reverting to bad form.

Here's an article on parabola's from a few years ago. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031502017.html

[StlVUFan]

Go into a rousing (please note my sarcasm with the word rousing) rendition of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. When well done it can be impactful, but it's not exactly a "get the crowd excited and on their feet" kind of song.

I was going to contradict you based on my experience at US Cellular Field, but then I remembered it's Thunderstruck that gets the crowd excited and on their feet.  During the Pirates theme, we're watching White Sox history on the video board.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Well it kind of gets into the "how do we get more people into the ARC" discussion

WE NEVER GET OUT OF THAT DISCUSSION

[justducky]

-The Jekyll and Hyde performance of Nickerson is getting to be nerve racking.

There are still times that he looks like a fish out of water running the point;

What Detroit does defensively has been giving our true point guards fits for years so his performance though disappointing was far from a shock. Not only did he have a quick, larcenous defender glued to him at all times but passing lanes to the rest of the team seemed to evaporate as soon as the ball touched his hands. They basically dared EVN to either beat them off the dribble or connect on some difficult over the top passes. I would think there are some counter measures for this but maybe Bryce didn't choose to roll everything out for this first meeting?

This was the type of defense where Keith (or Lexus) at point might have shined. Drives with runners, drives and dishes, and especially stop and pop 2 pointers might have forced Detroit into adjusting their defense.

[Donjon VU07]

-Speaking of music this has been bugging me and it seems to be getting progressively worse. The pep band seems to be unaware of the actual flow of the game and the crowd general feeling. Many times they'll do a sped up, crazy fast version of "Rock and Roll" (you know what I'm talking with the "Hey, VU!") which is definitely a crowd pleaser, only to have 45 seconds left in the time out so they break out Mortal Combat. Honestly I'm not sure how much of the student body knows what that song is and anyone over the age of 35-40 probably has no idea. Why not play another round of "Rock and Roll". I love when the band has been cut off and the student section keeps singing the song all the way to completion. I understand not doing it when VU is about to shoot free throws, but how great is it when you're spelling out "V-A-L-P-A-R-A-I-S-O, let's go Valpo, let's go Valpo" when the other team is shooting? It's outstanding.

The other one that gets me is "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror. I never understood it's place or value at a basketball game and I can tell you when I was in the student section no one was singing along. The circles of people who go see Rocky Horror and those who go to basketball games probably has a very minuscule overlap.

But what took me over the edge last night was when Valpo had just retaken the lead in the second half and there's a time out. What does the pep band do? Go into a rousing (please note my sarcasm with the word rousing) rendition of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. When well done it can be impactful, but it's not exactly a "get the crowd excited and on their feet" kind of song. I wish I had taken a video of it last night because the cheerleaders' reactions and "clapping" was perfect. Slow, methodical and droning, much like the song was.

I'm not a music person but I think just some subtle changes can help improve the gameday experience. I feel like last year and especially 2 years ago the pep band had slightly better music selection and judgement on what songs were appropriate for the moment. I don't know if they changed directors or if it's the batch of students in the band, but it's been kind of rough this year.

You know your team is good when we begin to dissect what the pep band plays!

I AM a music person, but I'll abstain from any comments on the pep band or the music provided therefrom, except to say that the Pirates of the Caribbean theme is a middle-of-the-first-half song.  Or perhaps a we're-too-far-behind-in-the-game-for-it-to-matter song in the 2nd half.

[Kyle321n]

Oh the other thing I meant to mention

-Their shot selection. Ray Sr. (or his staff, I'm not sure which it is) for his faults maybe one of the better tactions in the conference. He allows his team to play sloppy and disjointed at times, but he get's them to buy into a game plan. Clearly they were not going to go inside against us, and that's wise. By percentage of points given up, we allow 34.1% of the point scored to come from three point range. That ranks as the 30th highest percentage in the country. By contrast we allow 45.1% of the points scored against us to come from inside the arc. Thats' the 24th LOWEST percentage in the country. (Our free throw rank, as one would expect with 2 extremes is right in the middle at 164th overall). Now that's not to say our 3 point defense is bad, because it's not. We're 3rd in the HL overall and in conference play we've got the best 3 point defense. It's that our defense inside the lane is just that good. Vashil altered easily half a dozen shots that he didn't get credit for blocking. Alec, Jubril and even Skara are hard defenders down low. And our guards don't allow teams to drive on them.

-Did anyone else think of Bob's Burgers during halftime?

[HC]

Alec's game would've been a lot bigger had his teammates not missed him 3 times when he was wide open.  Once in the first half at the top of the arc and twice in the second half.  What impressed me about him was that after those plays ended he let the player that missed him know where he was and that he was open, didn't show him up or get visibly upset, and left it at that. I did see a guy on Detroit who was hollering at his teammates when they missed him or when they took a questionable shot.  Maybe that works for them (although looking at results I'd say it doesn't).

[a3uge]

Vehemently disagree with the take on Living on a Prayer. But agree that the music selection on the PA is bad. Last year they were still playing the Harlem shake and Gundam Style. Agree with the pep band music selection too. I thought I heard them playing Happy by Pharrell, which was a good choice (or maybe that was on the Boisie State Utah State game I had on the other night?). But I remember complaining about the selection 5 years ago when they played the same 4 songs each time out. Can we please never play Crazy Train again? Let's not do the Time Warp again either. I think there was a thread on the old board about the pep band and things probably haven't changed much.

Another non-related basketball complaints:
* When can we get replays? I think every other home team does them...
* What was with the sound dying in the 2nd half?
* Todd's mic still sounds super distorted... but it seems better than the early days of the horizon league network. Todd does a good job though - he picks up on things quickly and is knowledgeable about the other team's roster. There's some absolute atrocious announcers in the HL; one of the Oakland announcers advocated fouling CSU when they were up ONLY ONE with 20 seconds left to force a 1 and 1. What a moron.
* Why does nobody use the game day chat anymore? Was it something I said?
* Where were all the students tonight? Pretty weak.

Couple basketball points:
* Bass has the ugliest, most awkward shot I've seen in awhile. Somehow worked tonight. He looked good driving.
* I totally forgot Brundrige or whatever his name is existed. He's scored 4 FG this year in conference. 4!
* Nickerson looked good offensively on two possessions. Other than that he was absolutely terrible. He's good on defense, but Bryce needs to stash him on the corner and let T Walker handle the ball. He's still way too raw and gets way too many minutes. Valpo lost their halftime lead with him in the game and once yanked, Valpo went on a big run. Max Joseph might not be the answer either - he has the highest TO% on the team, second to Nickerson, but has an incredibly low usage rate (lowest on the team). Joseph also has the lowest ORtg (second last to Nickerson). Nickerson's eFG% is the lowest on the team and his FG% is .405, only above Walker and Davidson. But in conference play, Max is playing better. 4.8 AST per 40 to 2.3 TOV. Nickersons is 4.0 to 4.7! Max Jo is actually 2nd in eFG% in conference while Nickerson is only ahead of Davidson (admittedly probably due to a low usage)
* Advanced stats are fun

[valpopal]

Last night's game reminded me once again how physical action can be in the Horizon League, as well as how Valpo has recruited more muscular players the last couple of years. Seemingly, heavy collisions happened on every drive to the basket, and most times a foul was not called. I don't fault the officials, who seemed fair and allowed the contact on both sides, but it offered evidence as to how important having strong players can be in this league.


Tevonn, Darien, and Alec especially got clobbered a number of times. In one instance, Tevonn made a basket but was hit hard in the jaw and came away holding his mouth, but Bryce just yelled at him to get back on defense, and he hustled to the other end of the court. On two occasions. Alec was knocked down and the Detroit players fell hard on top of him, but he pushed them away and raced to get into the defense. Even Skara was slammed to the court on one drive, and there was a sickening thud as his body hit the hardwood, but he jumped back up as quickly as he could.


I think this team is as strong as any the Crusaders have had. I am especially impressed by the toughness of Tevonn, who seemed dazed a couple of times during the game, and who appears to suffer a bruise or cut in every game, yet doesn't let it influence his play. Indeed, at the post-game press conference, though they had just won a big game, the players exhibited exhaustion in their facial expressions and body language, but they also seemed like victorious warriors.


Here are a few of my photos from under the basket:

[vu72]

Last night's game reminded me once again how physical action can be in the Horizon League, as well as how Valpo has recruited more muscular players the last couple of years.

Totally agree.  If basketball doesn't work out I'm sure our football coach would love to have some of these guys playing linebacker!

In years past we have had guys like Yeo, at 6'4", 180#  Will Bogan at 6'1" 175#, Ben Boggs at 6'4" 185#, Tommy Kurth at 6'1" 180#, and Jay Harris at 6'2" 155#.  Frankly I think those weights were inflated.  In contrast we now have "Big Ten" bodies out there in Darien Walker at 6'3" 215#, Tevonn Walker at 6'1" 195# and Max Joseph at 6'1" 205#

Max out weighs Will Bogan, for example by 30#!

I'm thinking back to what the Drake coach said after our win.  "Those guys are men"!!

[valpopal]

Vashil had 3 early blocks then Detroit didn't go inside on him the rest of the game basically.

Bored when the Detroit players stopped trying to go inside last night, Vashil decided to guard the official as well. 

[FWalum]

Without Tevonn Walker scoring our first 6 points of the second half this game could have gone sideways in a hurry.  His first drive to the bucket at 1:10:35 on the ESPN replay shows what should have been an 3 point play.  Watching the press conference I was waiting for someone to ask if Tevonn had any teeth knocked loose.  He definitely got an elbow to the jaw, just watch his head snap back.  As mentioned by valpopal, this should have been a foul and reviewed by the officials, I don't know what the refs were looking at. This kid is fearless and every coaches dream. His second drive, an unbelievable stop and go move at 1:14:45, just about broke Chris Jenkins' leg.

[agibson]

Here's an article on parabola's from a few years ago. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031502017.html

Fun piece!  Thanks for posting it.  He mentions several different arguments, and I'm having a little trouble connecting them.

He makes a "least force" argument, which he motivates for jump shops.  But then he applies it to free throws.  Is it clear that "least force" is an important criteria for free throws?

And, it's especially strange that he leaves behind his opening argument about entry angles into the basket, and the diameter of the rim when viewed from different angles.  That seemed to have legs.  Why did he lead with it, only to drop it?

[agibson]

What was with the sound dying in the 2nd half?

What horrible technical problems they were having.  And it seemed like fixing them involved dialing up something on a modem!  Very strange.  And all of this was... dead air on the WVUR feed!  Probably for minutes at a time.

I guess these are growing pains of ESPN3 being our new regular broadcaster?  (Not to mention the debacle with American Sports Net, or whoever they are.)  But, what was wrong with HLN?  Where the kinks were pretty well worked out.  It'd be nice to get a candid explanation, or any explanation at all, sometime.

It was nice to have Todd synced with the video feed, when we could hear Todd at all.  But, technically, what a disaster.

The camera work was weird too.  Was it problems with one or more of the cameras?  Or was it certain angles?  The color palette would go out of whack every now and then.  And the brightness, for a while, seemed to change every time we panned past the scorer's table.

Definitely not the finest hour for broadcasting from the ARC.

[a3uge]

Gah thanks for reminding me about my #1 non actual basketball complaint... The under the basket camera needs to end ASAP!