Selection Sunday Discussion 2015

[wh]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev9yRknJD1c

[bbtds]

Terp fan here.  We got royally screwed and our fanbase is pretty salty right now.  We are a top 10 ranked team, 27-6  in a conference with 7 teams that made it, and we are a 4 seed?  Oklahoma gets a 3 seed with 10 losses and we were 2-0 vs the Big 12 with wins at Iowa St. and Oklahoma St.  Now they put us in Kentucky's region and we are matched up vs you guys who probably should be a 12 seed at worst judging by your RPI.  Would like to hear the justification for that.  Anyway....

We are basically a 2 man team right now.  Trimble, our point guard is very very good and Wells is a dominant scorer at the 3. He can score inside our outside. Very athletic.  Rest of the team is just ok except for Jake Layman who is a PF but plays more like a 3.  Our inside game on offense is pretty non existant, but Dodd is solid rim defender on defense.  We dont turn it over much, but we arent a great rebounding team either.  Dont foul us because we make our free throws.

Dont know much about you guys other than the game I saw u play in the conference final vs Wisconsin GB.   Either your defense is really good or they just couldnt shoot. It was pretty ugly from what I saw, but maybe thats your style.  Dont really know.   I am betting its a close game...and we should win....but we can be beat if u play good defense.

Welcome! Thanks for your imput. I think if you read many of the other posts that our board pretty much feels are chances are from 25% to 40%.

Playing on a neutral court will help us. We have never done well against major conference team to many on our board's consternation. I think our greatest asset is the long arms of the team on defense. Our defense won us many games this season. We also have the 10th best shot blocker in the nation. You may have noticed how much trouble Green Bay had on offense against our very tough defense in the 2nd half in the HL championship game.

We did not have a difficult schedule but that was mainly due to our coach Bryce not anticipating our freshmen/new guys playing as well as they did and therefore we didn't play any really tough major conference teams. We lost to Mizzou, who was terrible in the SEC, on their floor in Columbia and at home to New Mexico. The Lobos didn't do that well in conference either but did play well at Valpo.

Alec Peters has to be the quietest team leading scorer in the country. He is extremely efficient. When he takes shots he makes a high percentage. Our new guards are extremely tough and have played through multiple injuries that would have been devastating to many other mid-major teams. I certainly wouldn't want to get into any "fight" or confrontation with any of the new guys. They are just incredibly tough and you won't intimidate them at all. Earlier in the season we had some turnover issues and couldn't seem to control the ball well enough on offense but as the end of the season has come along we have gotten much better and the turnover issues are no longer a problem.

[wh]

Personally, I've moved on from the disappointment of the seeding thing and am looking forward to Friday with great anticipation. I'm taking 4 from my family. Had the game been Thursday instead of Friday or a location we had to fly into instead of drive, there's no way we could have worked it out. Win or lose were going to savor every minute of the experience! Go Crusaders!

[ValpoHoops]

Well, here we go...

Tip time will be approximately 4:45 Eastern time.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25109286/ncaa-tourney-tip-times-and-announcing-teams

[StlVUFan]

I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

[talksalot]

I think we were a 12... but the committee flipped us to a 13 and Wyoming to a 12 to get us to Columbus and them to Seattle.... there.   Justified.

We played the Terps in Orlando 98-99 and they beat us by 22.... in our one and only match. 

I've been looking at their crowds... Their smallest crowd was more than our gym holds!  At least the PA guy will know how to pronounce our name... he grew up in Valpo!  THAT might be interesting.

[talksalot]

NIT bracket released...

Old Dominion Region

No. 1 Old Dominion vs No. 8 Charleston Southern

No. 4 Illinois State vs No. 5 Green Bay

No. 3 Murray State vs No. 6 UTEP

No. 2 Tulsa vs No. 7 William and Mary

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Timing could not be worse for me personally--not that that matters to anyone, least of all the good people at Turner Network Television, but...

...actually, it could, because my wife could be in labor at that point (due date is saturday).

Ye gods.

[a3uge]

Good summary, wh. That UWGB-Valpo game was a typical game. Every win looks ugly. We win with our physical defense and have one of the best shot blockers in the country (Vashil). On defense we use a 6-7 point guard E Victor Nickerson who doesn't do much on offense, but moves very well on defense and causes a lot of problems.

Last time we went dancing in 2013 we had an undersized finesse team, and this year we have a bigger, more physical grind-it-out slow down the pace team. Not sure which makes for a better upset potential, but I'm glad we're not playing Nix and Adrian Payne this year. Should be a good game!

[vurich]

I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

It's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

[ValpoHoops]

It's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

How many couches do you own?    (Kidding, of course...I'll be traveling down on Friday morning)

[a3uge]

I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

It's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

Good place to celebrate around arena after a first round upset?

I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

Does Valpo sell a block for students and alumni? Can you go right through the university to get tickets?

[talksalot]

They announced at the party that tickets will be available tomorrow morning... along with a package price for the Bus/Meal-buffet thing... they are working late tonight putting those details together.  If you attended the event tonight, you had the opportunity to signup for tickets with your credit card.  I don't know how big a block we will get as the 13-seed.  If it's like it was "in the old days" the higher the seed, the more tickets you got.   So the Sunday matchup between Valpo and Buffalo will have tickets-a-plenty!

[vu72]

Timing could not be worse for me personally--not that that matters to anyone, least of all the good people at Turner Network Television, but...

...actually, it could, because my wife could be in labor at that point (due date is saturday).

Ye gods.

Come on man!  Doesn't your wife understand how important the NCAAs are??  Well, if we win, maybe you could name your new son E. Victor??

[Flinger29]

If you have a 6-7 point guard who is a good defender and a center who is a great shot blocker, we are going to have a problem with that.  Expect a nail biter.  We don't blow anyone out anyway. 


If we lose, good luck to you guys.  Who can't root for a small school like Valpo?   MD fans are just happy we don't suck anymore after the last 4 years and are back to respectability again.  We will probably be even better next year so this tournament is gravy for us.  Either way, sounds like there is a good chance Buffalo will be waiting for us Sunday so it could be Sweet 16 for the winner of our game.

[talksalot]

30 years ago... my daughter... the ULTIMATE Valpo Fan ... was born on the Sunday of Final 4 weekend...She had to see the Patrick Ewing - Phi Slamma Jamma game!  HINT:  if she's in labor... you might not want to be discussing basketball with the delivery folks... I'm STILL paying for that discussion!

[talksalot]

actually, it could, because my wife could be in labor at that point (due date is saturday).

oh.. PS... HEY !  Good Luck from all of us on the forum... Hope everything goes well with the delivery and you have a healthy and happy family addition.  Godspeed.

[valpopal]

Five Thirty Eight gives Valpo a 28% chance of winning vs Maryland and a 9% chance of getting to the Sweet Sixteen. After that, the odds of Valpo moving any farther are less than 1%. http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/march-madness-predictions-2015/#mens

[talksalot]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2395299-ranking-the-most-likely-cinderellas-in-the-2015-ncaa-tournament/page/9

You can skip down to #3  !!  Cute write up....

[vu72]

If you have a 6-7 point guard who is a good defender and a center who is a great shot blocker, we are going to have a problem with that.  Expect a nail biter.  We don't blow anyone out anyway. 


If we lose, good luck to you guys.  Who can't root for a small school like Valpo?   MD fans are just happy we don't suck anymore after the last 4 years and are back to respectability again.  We will probably be even better next year so this tournament is gravy for us.  Either way, sounds like there is a good chance Buffalo will be waiting for us Sunday so it could be Sweet 16 for the winner of our game.

Actually he is a legit 6'8", maybe bigger. But, come on man, you are setting us up and you know it!  Yu did manage to beat Oakland by 16 and, someone named Wisconsin! 

[talksalot]

you are setting us up and you know it!

[a3uge]

Looking at some conference stats, it seems like Maryland is efficient defensively, especially guarding the 3-ball. They hold opponents to a B1G best 1.0 points per possession and opponents shoot only 32.9% from three. Those are the two things that stood out to me. They also get to the line a bunch... they're 3rd in FTR and opponents have opponents have committed B1G most 19.1 fouls per game against Maryland. They're right in the middle in offensive efficiency and other defensive efficiency metrics. Rebounding they're in the middle of the B1G. They actually turn it over a bunch and have the 3rd worst TO%. They're in the middle in forced turnovers. Overall they seem like a fairly balance team. We might give them 35 free throws, but I don't think we'll look physically outmatched.

[justducky]

So what are the defensive match ups? Who guards (g) 6'3' Trimble, (f) 6' 5" Wells and (f) 6' 9" Layman? How much man to man will or can we play and will that get Vashil into foul trouble? Are we quick enough and strong enough defensively to keep them within reach? Pretty sure we can not compete in a shootout so all of our defenders will need to be near 100%.

I guess we have to make some shots too but I will worry about that tomorrow!     

[vurich]

I think my game ticket is lined up, just looking for a hotel nearby.  I'm going to at least try to get a ticket for the evening session separately since I'm sure Valpo won't be selling both tickets.  I'm up in the air on whether I stay for Sunday if Valpo loses.  If Albany and the Boise-Dayton winner and Buffalo all also lose leaving just power conference teams, I'll probably just hang out on Saturday and hit the road Sunday morning.  Otherwise, I'm hoping the Sunday game would be in the afternoon, giving me a decent chance to make it home to St. Louis in time get a decent night's sleep prior to work in the morning on the 23rd.

It's been a long time since I've posted, but since I live in the Columbus area, I'd be happy to answer any questions or provide suggestions for any fellow Crusaders fans that may be travelling here for the game.

Good place to celebrate around arena after a first round upset?

The Arena District has a lot of restaurants and bars. Here's a website that lists some options.

http://arenadistrict.com/food-and-drink/

[Valpofan00]

Anyone else notice how unhappy keith was when we were called? I can't make out what he said but I wanna say "they gonna beat us"