Game 2: Valparaiso vs. Iona

[govalpogo]

Great mid-major game on tap for tomorrow! Will the Crusaders come out strong with the momentum of Fridays final minutes? Or will the early season cobwebs continue being cleared out? Most of all, will class of 2011 grads like me finally be able to move on from the 2011 CIT game!?! Crowds can be hard to come by on Sundays, here's hoping for a great atmosphere and another Valpo victory!

[wh]

The spread: Valpo -8.5

[wh]

Game thread from the Iona message board:

http://ionahoops.proboards.com/thread/2924/valparaiso-game-thread?page=6

[wh]

Times game day story:

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/basketball/college/vu-s-adekoya-ready-to-return-to-his-familiar-role/article_cb06438c-9493-5227-bae0-07be13b77604.html

VU's Adekoya ready to return to his familiar role

Valparaiso (1-0) vs. Iona (0-0)

When: 1:30 p.m. today

Where: Athletics-Recreation Center

Radio/Internet: WVUR-FM (95.1, Valparaiso)/valpoathletics.com

Video: ESPN3.com

Twitter: @NWIOren

Notes: Valparaiso and Iona are meeting for the first time since the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Tournament when the Gaels won 85-77 at the ARC. ... Iona is picked to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this season and are viewed as one of the top mid-major teams in the country alongside Valparaiso. ... Valparaiso and Iona are meeting as part of the Beaver Showcase, an event which will also include home games against IU-Kokomo and Trinity Christian next week as well as a game at Oregon State on Nov. 24.

VALPARAISO | With Vashil Fernandez in early foul trouble and Derrik Smits in a walking boot, Friday night was nothing but business as usual for Jubril Adekoya.

The reigning Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year provided a boost off the bench in Friday's 78-64 victory over IPFW, scoring eight points and adding seven rebounds in 22 minutes of action.

If Smits' ankle injury sidelines him for any length of time, perhaps the entire season, Adekoya will once again be called on to be Valparaiso's primary backup in the post.

"It's nothing new," Adekoya said. "Defensively, I might have to bang against some bigger guys, but it's something that I'm used to. Really just whatever the team needs me to do."

Smits suffered an ankle injury in practice last week and has been walking with a noticeable limp while in a protective walking boot. The freshman center went for a MRI on Tuesday according to Valparaiso coach Bryce Drew and the fifth-year coach said on Friday night that they were awaiting one more evaluation before making a decision. Drew affirmed that shutting Smits down for the entire season was a possibility if surgery was required.

As for Fernandez, the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year was limited to just six minutes in the first half and finished the night with four points and three rebounds in 19 minutes.

"Jubril was excellent for us," Drew said. "We didn't expect Vashil to go out that quickly. Jubril played a lot of minutes and did a good job attacking the rim. He had an excellent summer."

Valparaiso entered the season with perhaps its best depth in years. With Smits out, that depth will be tested, but Drew isn't concerned with how Adekoya or the rest of the post players will adapt.

"The great thing is those guys played a lot together last year," Drew said. David (Skara) slipped over to the four a little bit. Familiarity helped us."

The Crusaders don't have time to lament over injuries as Iona comes to town Sunday afternoon. The Gaels enter the season as favorites in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and are one of several teams on Valparaiso's nonconference schedule receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.

"They're going to come in here looking for a win and we know about Iona," Adekoya said. "They're talented, they play fast. We're the type of team that's going to rise to the challenge. We're excited when a team like this comes in wanting to beat us."

[agibson]

But do Paul a favor! Click the link!

[agibson]

Game thread from the Iona message board:

http://ionahoops.proboards.com/thread/2924/valparaiso-game-thread?page=6

Six pages! Is their community just that active? Or is that how big the target is on our backs?

[agibson]

They are doing a better job than we at collecting links
http://www.midmajormadness.com/2015/11/10/9703744/mid-major-game-week-iona-valparaiso-preview-streaming-predictions

Did the Indy Star article make the rounds here? I missed it - nice piece.

[agibson]

Should be a fun one to watch, for sure.  Looking forward to English and up-tempo.

How can we take advantage of their inexperienced front court?

[a3uge]

We have to avenge the infamous CIT game. Does Jay Harris still have another year of eligibility?

[wh]

I will be interested in watching today's introduction of the starting lineups. At the Indianaolis game they used last year's video with this year's faces plugged in. They didn't show any video at the IPFW game. The house lights weren't turned down in favor of spot lights on the players as they were introduced, which I guess is a permanent change. Last, but not least, rather than standing for the NationalAnthem immediately prior to the player introductions, they had it separately about 10 minutes before game time.   The bottom line is that the air has really been taken out of the building for the buildup to the opening tipoff.

[agibson]

Yeah, I didn't understand the intros at all.

I assumed a lot of the changes for game 1 were because of banner raising. I saw that, but not the anthem or video at all. I assume there was an anthem. Did the moment of silence happen? Oren tweeted there was going to be one.

The new video's on youtube, couple of 3D animations. Has it not yet been shown in the ARC? I was a bit late to the exhibition.

The lights are an ESPN thing, I believe.

But, yes, I agree. A better emotional buildup would be good.

[covufan]

I hope Smits is OK. Would hate to lose him for season before he plays a meaningful game.

Valpo   77
Iona      66


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[agibson]

Nothing earth shattering in this piece, but good to see the continuing coverage

http://www.midmajormadness.com/horizon-league/2015/11/14/9735204/valparaiso-crusaders-iona-gaels-preview-things-to-watch-fernandez-skara-english

[wh]

EVN dressed and warming up.

[vu72]

Well that should end any doubts. Total domination and actually won the second half by 8.  Hope E and David will be OK.

A win at RI and we gets lots of votes for the top 25.   

[valpo4life]

Boom. Made a good team look bad today.

[valpolaw]

First time poster here.  I've been reading for a while, but with the excitement this year, decided it's time to join in the conversations.  Great game today.  They dominated from beginning to end with class.  Excited for the Rhode Island game and the season!  I also hope Skara and EVN are fine and their injuries aren't too serious. 

[vu72]

First time poster here.  I've been reading for a while, but with the excitement this year, decided it's time to join in the conversations.  Great game today.  They dominated from beginning to end with class.  Excited for the Rhode Island game and the season!  I also hope Skara and EVN are fine and their injuries aren't too serious. 

Welcome to the board!  I think you'll find most discussions very interesting.  Compared to most college boards the members are classy and way above average intellectually!!   

[govalpogo]

Sundays are long in the life of a Pastor.  I will look forward to savoring the victory on ESPN 3 this evening!

[wh]

What a difference a dominant defensive center makes. 7 blocks and how many redirected?  He just completely shut down the inside. Another huge difference - more depth. 9 or 10 guys rotating in and out with basically no fall off in talent. That said I'm sure Iona will get things figured out in short order and win a ton of games this year, just like Murray State did last year after we beat them by 30.

[wh]

By the way, the Gaels players and coaches joined ours for our traditional post game prayer at center court. Everyone from both teams locked arm in arm with one of our assts leading the prayer. What a classy thing for them to do, especially after just suffering the disappointment of a loss. There were no losers in that circle, believe me!

[justducky]

Wow! Max with his best game. EVN came out of nowhere. Where did Shane find his 16 points? Was it 5 or 6 different players who took turns guarding English? Was 7-1 for November too conservative?

[classof2014]

A fantastic start to the season. Valpo is one of the most athletic mid-major teams. They were simply bigger, faster, and stronger than Iona. Iona is a very good mid-major team that will have a great chance at getting back to the tourney in March.

The only thing this team may be sub-par at is free throw shooting, and today they did a great job in the category anyways. Nice win against a very good team. Now time to turn the attention to Tuesday morning in Rhode Island infront of a nation audience, all-be-it a waking up one, but still a national stage.

[Chairback]

Vashil's defense was off the charts.  He altered MANY shots and they simply could not get to the bucket because of him.  There were many times we you could see the defender driving and then stop and pull it back out.  There was a lot of hesitation going to the rim.

I don't think Iona came into this game prepared.  During pregame warmups all they did was dunk over and over.  Seemed to be more fun than focus before the game.

D. Walker looks to be a little off but not worried as he will get it going. 

Anyone else see the look Alec had on his face after he drained the 3 before half?  Seemed pissed they went on a run and wanted to put a stop to it.

Tough test on Tuesday.  Nothing like a early morning road game less than 48 hours from your last.

[FWalum]

Much better performance than the IPFW game on Friday. The balance was amazing and it was great to see Tevonn getting on track.  We are much better when Alec doesn't have to shoulder the load.  Too much talent to have a 20 ppg scorer.  Really scared that Skara might be on the shelf for a while and not liking what we are hearing about the potential season ending injury to Derrik.  Also hope we didn't just get Nickerson back for only one game this season. Iona was completely unprepared for the way we shut down English.  You would have thought they took notice of the Green Bay games last year and what we were able to do with Sykes.  Not being able to run their offense through English caused them real problems. They are a long and fairly quick team, but could not handle us physically.