Game #14 - Home - UIC January 2, 2016

[talksalot]

The top 5 HL teams based on OOC record... are all at home today against the bottom 5...

Taking a periodic look at the Nolan RPI as the scores come in:

After the Valpo and Green Bay finals:

Valpo 42
Oakland 94
Detroit 102
Milwaukee 134
Green Bay 148
Cleveland State 162
Wright State 198
Youngstown State 258
Northern Kentucky 306
UIC 344

[agibson]

Valpo 42
UIC 344

There was a pretty big gap above 346, so UIC only moved up two spots on their road loss.

346   (0.3529) --> 344   (0.3640)

to our fall on the win

28   (0.6150) --> 42           (0.5977)

We can watch our conference RPI fall too.

15 (0.4951) --> 15 (0.4928).

[a3uge]

Vashil had 6 blocks and 13 rebounds. What a beast.

[talksalot]

Taking a periodic look at the Nolan RPI as the scores come in:After the Valpo and Green Bay finals:Valpo 42Oakland 94Detroit 102Milwaukee 134Green Bay 148Cleveland State 162Wright State 198Youngstown State 258Northern Kentucky 306UIC 344

and after the Detroit and Oakland scores are posted
4:10pm

Valpo 42
Oakland 95
Detroit 106 (was 107 briefly)
Milwaukee 133
Green Bay 155
Cleveland State 172
Wright State 192
Youngstown State 257
Northern Kentucky 307
UIC 344

[wh]

I know this is going to sound nit-picky after a 28 point win, but I walked out of the ARC feeling we are not nearly where we need to be offensively.  Tevonn was 1-9. Alec only took 6 shots. I'm not sure how this keeps happening that we can't free him up for a minimum of 12-15 shots opportunities, unless he's being double teamed, which he wasn't. Alec posted up his man countless times, yet I don't think he received a low post feed once the entire game.  Part of the problem is we don't have anyone with point guard passing skills except our 1 true point guard.   12 assists to 14 TO's? That is not going to get it done against really good competition.

Fortunately, the same team that disappoints on offense also has 1 of the top 10 defenses in the country, which makes us very hard to beat no matter what's happening on the other end.

Maybe I just expect too much.

[talksalot]

Quote from: talksalot on Today at 03:42:31 PMTaking a periodic look at the Nolan RPI as the scores come in:After the Valpo and Green Bay finals:Valpo 42Oakland 94Detroit 102Milwaukee 134Green Bay 148Cleveland State 162Wright State 198Youngstown State 258Northern Kentucky 306UIC 344and after the Detroit and Oakland scores are posted4:10pmValpo 42Oakland 95Detroit 106 (was 107 briefly)Milwaukee 133Green Bay 155Cleveland State 172Wright State 192Youngstown State 257Northern Kentucky 307UIC 344

and now that Tiby quit scoring and Wright State pulled out the only road-win in the HL today,
(skewed by the Rhode Island win over St. Louis 85-57 !)
5:39pm

Valpo 41  (had been 43 for a while)
Oakland 95
Detroit 110
Milwaukee 166
Green Bay 153
Wright State  158  (had fallen to 201)
Cleveland State 168
Youngstown State 259
Northern Kentucky 307
UIC 345

[talksalot]

making is easier to look and compare:

Real Time RPI through yesterday:
Valpo 28
Oakland 89
Detroit 99
Milwaukee 134
Green Bay 141
Cleveland State 152
Wright State 202
Youngstown State 259
Northern Kentucky 304
UIC 346

Taking a periodic look at the Nolan RPI as the scores come in:
1. After the Valpo and Green Bay finals:
2. After the Oakland and Detroit finals
3. After the Wright State final
4. after a few more, like Virginia and OK State
5. and a few more
   3:42pm   4:10pm   5:40pm   6:48pm  8:35pm

Valpo 42   42   41   42   44
Oakland 94   95   95   91   93
Detroit 102   106   110   112   106
Milwaukee 134   133   166   170   170
Green Bay 148   155   153   150   151
Cleveland State 162   172   168   168   165
Wright State 198   192   158   158   156
Youngstown State 258   257   259   261   265
Northern Kentucky 306   307   307   305   304
Illinois Chicago  344   344   345   346   345

[HC]

UWM...ouch!

[oklahomamick]

1.  welcome back Vashil
2.  who allowed LeCrone in the building? 

[justducky]

I think our SOS rank dropped about 35 places just from this game. That hurts! The RPI only dropped 14.

[oklahomamick]

During the LeCrone interview, did anyone hear the commentators say that moving the conference championship game to Detroit opens the door to the underdog?  Is this what you want in a 1-bid league? 

[Smj]

During the LeCrone interview, did anyone hear the commentators say that moving the conference championship game to Detroit opens the door to the underdog?  Is this what you want in a 1-bid league?

I said somewhere here that it is stupid that our conference would give the under dog a better chance.    Duh - you want your best team to make it into the tournament because they will get a better seed and (duh) have a better chance of winning ....   (which, did i saw - duh -  that is better for the conference)

Go Valpo!

[SanityLost17]

I know this is going to sound nit-picky after a 28 point win, but I walked out of the ARC feeling we are not nearly where we need to be offensively.  Tevonn was 1-9. Alec only took 6 shots. I'm not sure how this keeps happening that we can't free him up for a minimum of 12-15 shots opportunities, unless he's being double teamed, which he wasn't. Alec posted up his man countless times, yet I don't think he received a low post feed once the entire game.  Part of the problem is we don't have anyone with point guard passing skills except our 1 true point guard.   12 assists to 14 TO's? That is not going to get it done against really good competition.

Fortunately, the same team that disappoints on offense also has 1 of the top 10 defenses in the country, which makes us very hard to beat no matter what's happening on the other end.

Maybe I just expect too much.

I also blame our lack of a post presence.  You simply cannot have a potent offense without at least one guy who can consistently score in the post.  It opens up the 3 point line which, in turn, opens up driving lanes.  Every player on this team would see their offensive stats get better with somebody successfully working the block.
 

[VULB#62]

But didn't WH say that Alec was setting up at the low post and no one was feeding him?

[wh]

During the LeCrone interview, did anyone hear the commentators say that moving the conference championship game to Detroit opens the door to the underdog?  Is this what you want in a 1-bid league? 

Lecrone said that?  That's the exact opposite of what he said in 2002 in promoting the change to the double bye format held at the venue of the number 1 seed. It was all about rewarding the teams that perform the best over an 18 game season and giving the HL the best opportunity to advance in the NCAA tournament. Of course, that was during the "do anything to keep Butler happy" period. He obviously has a much different agenda these days.

By the way, there is absolutely no reason the league headquarters should continue to be located in Indianapolis, IN. The HL has no member schools there, we're not playing our tournament there, it's on the edge of the league's footprint, and it's a constant reminder of the past and what once was. LeCrone should put his money where his mouth is relative to his vision for the future and move the league's headquarters to downtown Detroit, MI. Imagine how much money the league would save in travel costs (lodging, meals, mileage, etc.) for HQ employees if they lived locally in Detroit. The annual conference media event should also be held in Detroit instead of Chicago - same reason and benefits. The bottom line is for best branding benefit everything the league does should be Detroit centric from here on out.

[Pgmado]

The annual conference media event should also be held in Detroit instead of Chicago - same reason and benefits. The bottom line is for best branding benefit everything the league does should be Detroit centric from here on out.

This was considered this year. They looked at a variety of dates and locations between Detroit and Chicago. The decision was made to go to Chicago to piggyback on Big Ten media day. My thoughts are that the event will be in Detroit from here on out.

[justducky]

By the way, there is absolutely no reason the league headquarters should continue to be located in Indianapolis, IN. The HL has no member schools there, we're not playing our tournament there, it's on the edge of the league's footprint, and it's a constant reminder of the past. LeCrone should put his money where his mouth is and move the league's headquarters to downtown Detroit, MI. Imagine how much money the league would save in travel costs (lodging, meals, mileage, etc.) for HQ employees if they lived locally in Detroit. The annual conference media event should be held in Detroit instead of Chicago - same reason and benefits. The bottom line is for best branding benefit everything the league does should be Detroit centric from here on out.

Makes perfect sense to me! Lets take it one step further. Any inter-league travels should bypass the entire Indianapolis area for the foreseeable future. Me, I have no reason to travel to Indy so why should LeCrone? Well maybe we could volunteer to go help him pack? Na! His old friends from Butler will be glad to help!

[vusupporter]

I know this is going to sound nit-picky after a 28 point win, but I walked out of the ARC feeling we are not nearly where we need to be offensively.  Tevonn was 1-9. Alec only took 6 shots. I'm not sure how this keeps happening that we can't free him up for a minimum of 12-15 shots opportunities, unless he's being double teamed, which he wasn't. Alec posted up his man countless times, yet I don't think he received a low post feed once the entire game.  Part of the problem is we don't have anyone with point guard passing skills except our 1 true point guard.   12 assists to 14 TO's? That is not going to get it done against really good competition.

Fortunately, the same team that disappoints on offense also has 1 of the top 10 defenses in the country, which makes us very hard to beat no matter what's happening on the other end.

Maybe I just expect too much.

Why run sets for your best player and put them on film when you're up double figures the last 30 minutes of the game? The offense was running fine without forcing shots for Alec. And Tevonn was over 50% for the year entering the game from the floor - he hits at least 2-3 more of his shots on a normal night.

Our turnover percentage was a bit high - not horrible at 20.1%, but still the highest it's been since Oregon. But with our offense, just looking and saying "12 assists, 14 turnovers, that's not good" doesn't tell the whole story. A large part of our offense is predicated on getting switches and picking up mismatches to take advantage of. How many times do we see Shane or David drive by guys and finish at the rim because they have mismatches? Or Alec post up smaller guys and work them for easy buckets? Or our guards get a big switched onto them, take advantage of the buffer zone they're being given and hit a jump shot?

Would I like to see more post ups for Alec? I think given his improvement on the block, yes. But given our overall performance today, it was not necessary at all.

[usc4valpo]

What actions are needed to get rid of 3-bid LeCrone and get someone who can truly elevate this conference?

[oklahomamick]

What actions are needed to get rid of 3-bid LeCrone and get someone who can truly elevate this conference?

I think this has been blogged about in the past.  Do we know if LaBarbera and company are as upset as we are about the tourney moving thus giving an advantage elsewhere?  I think he voted for it. 

[ValpoHoops]

The vote to move the conference tournament was not unanimous. I believe there were two votes against it. One came from the state of Indiana (I believe), and I don't recall the other. Milwaukee comes to mind, but I have no reason other than it coming to mind to think that's the case.

[valpopal]

I think this has been blogged about in the past.  Do we know if LaBarbera and company are as upset as we are about the tourney moving thus giving an advantage elsewhere?  I think he voted for it.

My understanding is that Valpo was unhappy and voted against the tourney move to Detroit. LaBarbera artfully stated his reaction at the time: "We thought the previous format worked well and achieved the league goals."

[VUfan]

You Win a Game by 28 Pts , you are 11-3, you have won 3 of the last four titles, now you think all title games should be in Valpo, can't we play for a title on the road, if not we should not go to the NCAAs. give it a break. This team is special, enjoy!!!!   

[a3uge]

What actions are needed to get rid of 3-bid LeCrone and get someone who can truly elevate this conference?

I think this has been blogged about in the past.  Do we know if LaBarbera and company are as upset as we are about the tourney moving thus giving an advantage elsewhere?  I think he voted for it.

There's no way in hell he voted for it.

[wh]

The vote to move the conference tournament was not unanimous. I believe there were two votes against it. One came from the state of Indiana (I believe), and I don't recall the other. Milwaukee comes to mind, but I have no reason other than it coming to mind to think that's the case.

Valpo and UIC.