Valpo @ CSU, Fri 2/27 9 PM CST ESPNU

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I'm glad you were wrong too, Valpofan00! Thank you for taking it so well.

And don't take that insult personally--he is confusing you with someone very different.

[usc4valpo]

The officiating was consistent last night. The game was also very physical and as I reflect from this game, I think changes to speed things up are required. Time for a new post.

[a3uge]

Some #HotTakes...

* Disappointed that even Joel Lundaridi  said Val-por-eye-so. Really?
* Dollar beer night at 10pm - students seemed tired and inattentive, but their lackluster offense may have had something to do with that.
* Peters just doesn't miss open shots. What's lost in that play is Carter's court vision and pass.
* Peters has some crazy good passing skills. He had that skip pass across the court to carter, who found Darien for the 3.
* Nickerson played better in the second half. That three was clutch.
* Jubril is playing his worst stretch of basketball at Valpo. If he's not hitting those open mid-range shots, he's a liability out there. His rebounding just seems bizarrely lacking. I don't know if he's afraid to pick up fouls rebounding or something, but he needs to learn how to be aggressive and in control. It seems like it's one or the other.
* Really happy with this season even if we fall to the NIT. This team will be fantastic next year.

[valpo4life]

Minus the first couple minutes of the 2nd half, the officiating was consistent. They let a lot go in the 1st half and opened up the 2nd with a couple touch calls and was thinking they were about to try and change the way the game was being played. Set the tone at the beginning of the game, you can't try and fix it with the start of a new half.

[valpotx]

I didn't even notice during the game that the ESPNU announcers were extremely excited with each good CSU play, and had no excitement when we did something.  WTF is up with that? 

Waters is a dumb@$$.  He is the guy in the 2011-2012 HL tournament who was talking trash about all of the other coaches at the hotel before their game.  I was sitting in there eating and he was just going off.  We didn't deserve to win this?  We were up by 14 at one point, and you never looked like you were truly threatening us!  A couple of desperate 3s?  We had 1, and if you look at the score, that last desperation 3 at the buzzer by CSU equals that out in the score.  Honestly, I thought that one came after the buzzer, and it should have been 56-50.  Their missed FTs lost the game?  No again, as we shot 12/23, and they were 6/11.  Our missed FTs KEPT them in the game.  For any CSU fan that might want to b!tch about the FT disparity, just watch the game again.  We drove to the basket over and over, while you settled for jump shots due to our defense on Grady.

[HC]

I'd say Valpo played equally as physical as CSU so I'm not sure why a few of you think the refs were letting them get away with something. Maybe their on ball pressure was more hands on with our guards, but you know we weren't even guarding their guards.

The defense Valpo played on anyone not named Lewis, Grady or Lee was almost comical. It reminded me of how teams would guard Buggs when he was outside the arc.

[agibson]

I didn't even notice during the game that the ESPNU announcers were extremely excited with each good CSU play, and had no excitement when we did something.  WTF is up with that? 

They were affable, I guess, but seemed really partisan.  To their credit, they did mostly stick to the game in front of them. But seemed way more interested in CSU.  And bizarrely fixated on encouraging CSU to pick up the tempo.  If they were supposed to be neutral they fell fall short.

I know our media guide has play pronunciation guides.  Does it have a -team name- pronunciation guide?  You'd think that would be the first thing an unfamiliar commentator would look at.

There are subtle variations possible, but the basics are pretty clear.

[agibson]

* Dollar beer night at 10pm - students seemed tired and inattentive, but their lackluster offense may have had something to do with that.

I was surprised not to see more beer in the crowd shots.  Probably the camera crews try to avoid them?  The only ones I remember were on the bizarre bench full of jovial men.

[a3uge]

What a weird interview - GW goes from "well they just hit desperation threes and we missed free throws" to singling out specific players "we missed the front end of one and ones" and "we have been masking our problems all season", singling out Marlin Mason and basically blaming the game on him.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

We didn't deserve to win this? 

in fairness, he did not say that about tonight, right?  that was said earlier in reference to a game a few years back.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Cleveland State vs. Valparaiso MBB Highlights (Feb. 27)

is it me, or -- and i know they're the CSU guys -- every time we took a shot in the highlights above, we're "throwing it up" or "tossing it up" ...

(and clearly we made them all, they're highlights for a reason)

...I mean why not just go all the way and be like "Peters just chucks it up there...and it somehow goes in.  Waters VERY upset there about Valpo's complete defiance of the laws of physics."

Makes you appreciate the chef more.

[justducky]

" to singling out specific players "we missed the front end of one and ones" and "we have been masking our problems all season", singling out Marlin Mason and basically blaming the game on him.

I liked the interview. He states the obvious. He doesn't regurgitate as much non answer pablum that is force fed to sportswriters across the country.

[a3uge]

" to singling out specific players "we missed the front end of one and ones" and "we have been masking our problems all season", singling out Marlin Mason and basically blaming the game on him.

I liked the interview. He states the obvious. He doesn't regurgitate as much non answer pablum that is force fed to sportswriters across the country.

I'll take a coach that gives canned answers over one that sells players out in a heartbeat. Who wants to play for a coach that doesn't have your back?

[a3uge]

Cleveland State vs. Valparaiso MBB Highlights (Feb. 27)

is it me, or -- and i know they're the CSU guys -- every time we took a shot in the highlights above, we're "throwing it up" or "tossing it up" ...

(and clearly we made them all, they're highlights for a reason)

...I mean why not just go all the way and be like "Peters just chucks it up there...and it somehow goes in.  Waters VERY upset there about Valpo's complete defiance of the laws of physics."

Makes you appreciate the chef more.

The announcers were bad, don't get me wrong, but I thought they were ripping CSU to shreds all game. I guess that may feel like they were biased towards CS all game, but I think they were just rooting for a better game. They seemed to think Valpo was, by far, the better team. "More ball movement!"

Oh one other takeaway - was that our fans counting down on Valpo's shot clock, or CSU fans? Typically you hear "5" - "4" -"3"... with 10 still seconds left when you're the away team.

[agibson]

Oh one other takeaway - was that our fans counting down on Valpo's shot clock, or CSU fans? Typically you hear "5" - "4" -"3"... with 10 still seconds left when you're the away team.

Yeah - that was fun!  It was totally in sync.  Really felt like our fans.  Sometimes, in a quiet gym, you'll hear a team's bench doing it.  But, it felt like more voices.

[valporun]

We were sloppy at times, we were good at times, and Alec was Alec. Jubril, I don't know that he's a bad player as much as he needed to play more to his abilities, not out of position, like he did this season. Hopefully, he can play the 4 next year instead of a backup 5. He's also on a sophomore, so he has two more years to make it work. We made the game work how we needed it to, and did it at our pace. Great win, and excited for the upcoming tournament. Today's games for the rest of the bracket will be good to see play out for who is ready to play for seeds, rather than home court.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

The announcers were bad, don't get me wrong, but I thought they were ripping CSU to shreds all game.

I wasn't talking about ESPN, but about the CSU radio guys, whom I presume were the voices behind the HL highlights listed above?

[LaPorteAveApostle]

"Peters just chucks it up there...and it somehow goes in.  Waters VERY upset there about Valpo's complete defiance of the laws of physics."

I vote that chef should try to work this phrase (eh, change "defiance of" to "disregard for") into the broadcast during the HL.  Hopefully "Kampe" not "Waters" though. : )

[oklahomamick]

It bothers me that we were out rebounded again for the second straight game.  I don't think we played much better in CSU game as we did in the Detroit game.  The difference was we shot 50% from three.  We don't hit those 3's and its another detroit game and we are playing the tournament in Cleveland. 

[a3uge]

It bothers me that we were out rebounded again for the second straight game.  I don't think we played much better in CSU game as we did in the Detroit game.  The difference was we shot 50% from three.  We don't hit those 3's and its another detroit game and we are playing the tournament in Cleveland.

But if we rebound better, we blow them out. Mighty Ducks man, quarter of an inch the other way and you miss completely.

[Valpofan00]

Green Bay is dominating Oakland. More than likely it will be 1. Valpo 2. GB 3. Oakland 4. CSU?

[historyman]

I don't think I've ever even view the Women's basketball thread yet alone predict something. We've had ugly wins the past couple games and we looked horrible against detroit just a few nights ago. I thought we'd come out flat and tired with just 1 day rest. Glad I was very wrong!

I apologize. I did have you mixed up with valpo4life as for predictions on the women's team. Sorry, you guys all look a like to me. 


OTOH, pretty bad does not equate to ugly wins. Maybe you meant to rephrase that another way but it doesn't come close to describing this 14-15 Valpo MBB team. 

[StlVUFan]

I thought the TV announcers were ill-prepared, but I do not remember getting the feeling that they were biased.

Normally, I'm the guy complaining about CSU getting all our players injured and GW's Bill Belicheck-ian approach to defense (which I will never ever respect).  But in this game, except for the Alec Peters tooth incident, it was Viking players that were hitting the deck all night long in this particular game, not ours.

I just read through pages 3-10 of this thread finally (I had other things to do on Saturday and Sunday).  It's kind of humorous to read the early doom and gloom posts for a game that we ended up winning

As to the closed fist to Peters' mouth, I'm with you, and I have zero respect for the Vikings and their coach in that particular regard.  Do I recall correctly that they didn't even see fit to call a foul, or did they?

[agibson]

As to the closed fist to Peters' mouth, I'm with you, and I have zero respect for the Vikings and their coach in that particular regard.  Do I recall correctly that they didn't even see fit to call a foul, or did they?

I don't remember a foul.

[bbtds]

I think Erik Buggs was a better rebounder than Jubril.

......but Jubril was the HL sixth man of the year!!!!!!!!!!!