Real Game #1 - IPFW - 11/13-7:30

[a3uge]

Quiet around here....

[78crusader]

Not much to say...unimpressive first half.

Paul

[WiscoCrusader]

Paul - If you can't be a bit more of a realist, I don't understand why you insist on hanging around here.

Even the number one team in the country can struggle with the 200th team in the country for a half, especially early in the season.  Eventually class wins out.  After the amount of time you've spent here and with your notorious skepticism for Valpo basketball, you should know that.

[govalpogo]

Game 1 with a target on their backs and they survived the upset bid.  Can honestly say I never really feared Valpo losing, but was frequently frustrated with what the score was.  IPFW made a lot of difficult shots and played very hard, give them lots of credit.  Everyone also knows that you just simply cannot leave that many points on the foul line.  Love Skara, Jubril, and Hammick in at the same time.

Bottom line: 1-0.  We are on our way!

[78crusader]

WiscoCrusader--

Gee, all I said was the first half was unimpressive. Actually, the first 25 minutes of the game were unimpressive for VU. I'll bet most people who watched the game would share that assessment.

Paul

[Valpower]

The bottom-line description of this game is that IPFW played a great game, but Valpo played a mediocre game and won by 14.  I'll take that as a good sign, end of story.

[Chairback]

Great crowd and student section tonight.  Certainly for just playing IPFW. 

Tonight is what I expected for the first real game.  One thing I liked was when the game was within 5 points there was no panic at all with them. 

While not perfect, there were a few stretches where they clicked and it was impressive.  The 7-0 run happened in a blink of eye and it seemed like it all happened in 1 min.  Once they get their sea legs this is going to be fun!

Skara is something else.  I truly believe he could be a POY candidate when he is a senior.  Seems to have no fear and can hit big buckets when needed.

Looking forward to Sunday's game. 

[agibson]

Cecchini had the discretion to have his players serve their suspensions at a game of his selection. Could be the case with Shane.

Reporting on Twitter (Oren and Osipoff) that the games he'll miss are TBA.  Sounds discretionary?  If it's basically a team rules violation, maybe that makes sense.

[WiscoCrusader]

Paul -

Every single game we play you come onto the forum at half time and talk about how unimpressive we are playing, and we end up winning 90% of those games.

It gets old, honestly. 

Thanks for the valuable contribution though.

[drewsaders11]

I liked what I saw in Hammink. I agree that to win by 14 in a game in which they didn't seem to find their rhythm is a good sign.  3 point shooting will have better games (under 30% until Alec drained a big one towards the end). Vashil will have better games. Peters, 24 points.   Should be an interesting year.

[VULB#62]

Regarding the first half.  Guys --  calm down. The mark of a truly good team is how they adjust to opponents' emotion.  Everyone has their sights on Valpo. Agreed?  OK, an analogy: 

Though this is a different sport and at a different level, the constructs apply.  My son played on an elite soccer team prior to going on to play at the collegiate level. Eagles was the best in the state and actually all of New England. Every opponent came out to kill in the opening portion of the game. Mostly on pure adrenaline.  Eagles learned very early on to ABSORB that emotion (without playing into it) and then turn the flow of the game in their favor and eventually overcome and overwhelm. It was 100% predictable.  It actually was a thing of beauty to witness. The games would start with a great deal of frenzied activity in the midfield and into the attacking third by opponents.  As the superiority of Eagles began to show and the adrenaline began to ebb, you could visually see the possession and action move to midfield and then to the opponent's third, and eventually the walls came down and the rest of the game was controlled by Eagles.

In the mid major BB universe, Valpo IMO is like Eagles.  They have to have the composure and confidence to ABSORB the initial onslought, not play into the frenzy, and remain under control.  And then, when the opponent's energy has been disapated, methodically change the flow of the game to suit our game plan.

I am thinking, though I could not watch the game (only game tracker), that Valpo did that tonight. I think we will see many games where we will not blow people out of the building in the first 10 minutes. But watch the game as it evolves (as long as our players understand how good they really are) and you'll see the tide perceptively turn and flow of the game will be in Valpo's favor. It's a thing great teams have in common.  Look for it with this squad -- they have the makings.

[agibson]

I liked what I saw in Hammink.

Agreed.  Looks like he'll be exciting.  Slashing to the basket.  Seemed to be going up for a windmill dunk at one point before getting fouled. Some quality stuff too, not just flash.

At one point we went big, and it seemed like he was playing the 2 guard! Maybe it was his 3 to Skara's 2.

[justducky]

At one point we went big, and it seemed like he was playing the 2 guard! Maybe it was his 3 to Skara's 2.

Except for Keith our small guard play by Tevonn, Darien and Max was a long way from being great. With EVN down and Lexus still recovering that trio will need to step it up for Iona and Rhode Island.

[agibson]

I'm still trying to figure out what's up with Lexus. Is it really possible that Max has so far passed him up, that he's healthy, and still only getting human victory cigar minutes like Davidson?

[wh]

Cecchini had the discretion to have his players serve their suspensions at a game of his selection. Could be the case with Shane.

Reporting on Twitter (Oren and Osipoff) that the games he'll miss are TBA.  Sounds discretionary?  If it's basically a team rules violation, maybe that makes sense.

I recognize that some may disagree, but I think what Shane and Jubril did was very minor and not deserving of a 2-game suspension. That said I'm hoping that Bryce chooses to sit Shane for our upcoming non D-1 games so as to not hurt the team's chances against any of several tough OOC opponents coming up.

[Valpower]

I recognize that some may disagree, but I think what Shane and Jubril did was very minor and not deserving of a 2-game suspension. That said I'm hoping that Bryce chooses to sit Shane for our upcoming non D-1 games so as to not hurt the team's chances against any of several tough OOC opponents coming up.

Many of us would agree that it's minor (I've done way worse) but, sorry, the punishment is most likely what's agreed upon between those who receive a scholarship to play sports in college and those who give it, which makes it avoidable and, therefore, deserved.

[vu72]

I'm still trying to figure out what's up with Lexus. Is it really possible that Max has so far passed him up, that he's healthy, and still only getting human victory cigar minutes like Davidson?

The bottom line is that he is healthy and ready to go.  Max has passed him by.  This team is not made up of mid-major players.  Guys like Tevonn and Max have Big Ten bodies. Lexus looks like a little kid next to those guys.  As for the game, it reminded me of many Valpo games in years past, against superior opponents.  Valpo could hang around by making a bunch of 3's and then, in the end, lost because the other team had superior athletes and size.  IPFW shot 41% from the 3.  They hung around.  They are not Chicago State.  They will win some games this year.  In the end, Valpo showed that they have the athletes and size that most teams won't have this year.  A 14 point win without Derrik and E is just fine with me.

[4throwfan]

A lot of what we saw last night was typical early season basketball - flashes of talent and execution, and some misfires.  The good news is that some of these things can be fixed.  For example, I saw IPFW do a good job of spreading Valpo out, and then using the openings for open slashes to the basket and open jumpshots.  That can be fixed, even if the fix is simply playing zone defense (which we have not seen yet).

I see the battle for minutes brewing.  That will go a long way toward sharpening things up, because the players will be highly motivated to do exactly what the coaches tell them to do, and to make things happen on their own watch.

The days of Skara being a semi-secret weapon, who comes seemingly out of nowhere, are over.

[vu72]

I just watched the post game presser and was not happy with what I heard from Coach Drew. I mean most was very good of course, but what he said about Derrik is NOT what we wanted to hear.  Basicly folks, it is a major injury and an evaluation is underway to determine if he will red shirt.  That is my interpretation.  Oh how things change.  If Vashil wasn't back and Derrik is out the prospects for a great year change in an instant.  That is the reality in college basketball.

[wh]

! No longer available

[ValpoFan]

Are we really concerned that we beat a good IPFW team by "only" 14 points?

Are we getting a bit arrogant? 

[a3uge]

http://www.thesummitleague.org/sports/mbkb/2015-16/releases/20151014gom4zz

WIU was picked last in the Summit. IPFW was picked 4th.

Therefore Valpo >>>>>> Wisconsin.

[truth219]

I was glad to see jubril play in extended mins. He did an okay job. I think he still hasn't reached his potential.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[justducky]

The bottom line is that he is healthy and ready to go.  Max has passed him by.  This team is not made up of mid-major players.  Guys like Tevonn and Max have Big Ten bodies. Lexus looks like a little kid next to those guys.

We haven't seen enough of Lexus to really be certain of anything. By my memory a fully recovered Lexus should be in a very close competition with Max for playing time. Throw EVN back into the mix and maybe Max and Lexus both take a backseat to him. We should have a much clearer picture by January.

[talksalot]

NCAA Press Release as of November 24, 2015.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/ipfw-failed-monitor-aspects-its-financial-aid-program