Game 11: @ Chicago State 12/11/15

[HailVU2014]

FWIW from a rookie poster here...

Feel that the game plan was to try to work on the 3PT% with all of the threes that we are attempting (and making). Good to see us working on our outside shooting, which I feel has been somewhat lacking compared to last year.

[SanityLost17]

We lose the ball off the dribble a lot.  I would hate to keep a running count of how many time a post player loses the ball after putting it on the floor or a guard loses it in only semi-congested traffic going to the basket.  Seems like this is where the majority of our turnovers come from.

[VULB#62]

Less than 100 people here - including players and coaches. No students. No band.

Nice venue.

Welcome to D-I basketball?  WHat the heck??  How does a school like CSU qualify for D-I? 

[historyman]

I'm really not sure who's winning tonight, the Crougars or the Cougsaders. Vashil sure is getting a lot of floor time. I keep hearing his name getting called.

[agibson]

Vashil sure is getting a lot of floor time. I keep hearing his name getting called.

I only caught the last four minutes of game time on video.  Sort of.  A bit of it was flowing OK, a few stutters.  Then it went into sort of a stop motion, vocal game call illustrated by occasional photographs of game action.

Didn't seem like Vashil was in (Skara maybe, Davidson for sure, Adekoya I think, then Levingston Simon came in).  But his name was getting called.

Almost too bad they took Keith out.  When's the last time Valpo had an assist double-double?

[Valpower]

I'm really not sure who's winning tonight, the Crougars or the Cougsaders. Vashil sure is getting a lot of floor time. I keep hearing his name getting called.

Don't even go there, historyman; so many flubs, so little time.

[valporun]

Chicago State having a game on a Friday night in high school basketball rich Chicago, Illinois? If there was a big crowd, then it would have meant all of the top Chicago basketball schools were playing out of state games. I missed most of the game, but this is more like how Valpo would play against Chicago State in the Mid-Con days, give or take us not overlooking them for whomever was next on the schedule.

[agibson]

Probably they said it on WVUR, but looks like Alec 6-6 from three ties the record.  Jared Nuness at Belmont in 97, Ryan Broekhoff, most recently Matt Kenney at Detroit.

[VULB#62]

Can we transport the Jones Convocation Center to Valpo and rename it the ARC?  7000 capacity with chair backs  ( It only cost $47 million taxpayer dollars).  Ironic, that is the kind of venue our program should be showcased in, but it is CSU that has it and can't fill 20% of it for a top mid major opponent.

[valporun]

You're right that CSU can't fill it, but it makes for a bigger facility for many Chicago Public School games because the high school gyms are so small that fans are practically sitting on the court.

[agibson]

On the post game, Luke said he was pretty sure Tevonn would play the next game (Missouri State).  Talked about an (knee?) infection, but sounded confident in the progress being made, etc.  That he'd be back soon.

[bbtds]

I only caught the last four minutes of game time on video.  Sort of.  A bit of it was flowing OK, a few stutters.  Then it went into sort of a stop motion, vocal game call illustrated by occasional photographs of game action.

Just FYI, I didn't have any issues with the video feed that came through the WAC Digital Network. At one time they even used a picture-in-a-picture box which impressed me. But they only did that once and there were times the cameramen did not show the action in the corners because they didn't move the cameras far enough to the edges of the floor. I'll not mention the announcing crew except to say they did not impress me as some of the production team did.

[agibson]

Just FYI, I didn't have any issues with the video feed that came through the WAC Digital Network. At one time they even used a picture-in-a-picture box which impressed me. But they only did that once and there were times the cameramen did not show the action in the corners because they didn't move the cameras far enough to the edges of the floor. I'll not mention the announcing crew except to say they did not impress me as some of the production team did.

Noted.  Might have been something on my end (though my connection's normally pretty solid).

During a timeout, there was something interesting going on - maybe two different feeds, one in LL corner, one in LR corner.

The broadcaster did have a certain flavor, at least.

[bbtds]

You're right that CSU can't fill it, but it makes for a bigger facility for many Chicago Public School games because the high school gyms are so small that fans are practically sitting on the court.

I always thought high schools were no longer allowed to play on college courts per NCAA rules because it gave the colleges hosting the high school games an unfair recruiting advantage. I guess the NCAA feels that until Chicago State actually gets an advantage from the situation they won't press the rules on the Cougars/Krugers. 

[agibson]

Just listening to the replay now.  But, great to see Darien go 4-9 from three, in the box.

And, as well as tying the single game 3FG% record, it looks like Alec entered the career scoring ranks at #20.  He's got a shot at entering the top 10 in his junior year.

[justducky]

great to see Darien go 4-9 from three,

I think he was instructed to keep shooting until they start dropping. If he can get it going it should help every part of our offense. Long way for him to go to reach the over 38% choice I made in the over-under.

Jubril is now 3 of 4 from 3 for the season and I recall him dropping several in Canada as well. Sometime, somewhere, with some appropriate matchup, he might be given the green light to throw up a bunch of them.

[StlVUFan]

I listened to Todd and Dave synced up with the video.  It was a bit blurry at times, but otherwise, I thought it was fine (muted, that is).  Actually, I sort of assumed they didn't have any announcers.  I remember when CSU had no radio announcers

[valpotx]

That was the most "entertaining" broadcasting I have ever listened to.  Apparently, Vashil looks like E Vic, and Jubril looks like Vashil.  We played like crap, and should have beaten that team by over 30, but I'll take D Walker making some 3s, even though he is still way off his JR season form.  I loved the comments at around 6 minutes left, when Chicago State was down by 20 or so, and one of the broadcasters mentioned that they weren't out of it just yet.  They seemed dismayed that they were losing at home, because they were "3-0" there.  Well, those 3 wins were against non-D1 teams, which they really should have known.  You could hear them talking during the breaks, as they were still close enough to their mics, and I kept laughing at how surprised they were that Chicago State was not playing better.  That team was pitiful guys, and we should not be happy that we only won by 18.

[valpocleveland]

Only 12 min for EVN, is he ok?

[vu72]

I know this game hurts our rpi but, does a win on the road hurt us less then a win against them at home?

[agibson]

I know this game hurts our rpi but, does a win on the road hurt us less then a win against them at home?

Yes, the win on the road hurts less than it would at home.

[agibson]

Only 12 min for EVN, is he ok?

On WVUR they said something about re-aggravating his wrist injury. Attributed to sideline reporting from Paul Oren, I think. 

Was it Paul's Times article that talked about him struggling to play in the brace, and the ineffective play (huge air ball 3?) hurting more than no play, etc.

Didn't sound like great news.

[VULB#62]

Only 12 min for EVN, is he ok?

From Paul's NWIT article:

"The Crusaders didn't escape unscathed as E. Victor Nickerson reaggravated his wrist injury in the first half and didn't return after airballing a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Nickerson came out of the game immediately and ripped off his wrist brace.

"He had the brace on in a certain way and he couldn't really use it," Drew said. "It got to the point where him trying to play was actually hurting us because he couldn't catch or do anything with the hand."

The Crusaders also played without Tevonn Walker (knee) for the fourth straight game. Drew said after the game that Walker was moving better and could possibly return next Saturday against Missouri State."

[talksalot]

I wasn't there to see if this was a really bogus number... but the official box score:

Jones Convocation Center - Chicago, IL
Attendance: 1733

[wh]

I wasn't there to see if this was a really bogus number... but the official box score:

Jones Convocation Center - Chicago, IL
Attendance: 1733

About 5 minutes before tipoff, I posted that there were about 100 people there. After accounting for late arrivals there might have been 200. 250 would be extremely generous. All tickets are general admission and are priced very reasonably at $10, so it's unlikely they have many, if any, season ticket holders to inflate the count.

It's a shame, really.  They have a very nice venue with great sight lines, it's run professionally, and they play an exciting brand of basketball. Oh, and my nephew said the nachos and cheese were to die for.