The Detroit Trip -- Games 15 and 16

[agibson]

Was it just me or were your guts more in a knot than any other game this season?

Nah, pretty sure that was @Belmont for me.

I was enjoying the close game through the first half.  Got a little uneasy when our +11 dwindled to +6, and pretty well costed from when we got back to +11 with seven minutes and change remaining.  I guess it was only 1m30 that Oakland was stuck at 64, but it felt like longer than that as we climbed from 76 to 84.

I notice Vashil played a season-high 33 minutes. 12 rebounds a season high apart from 13 in the last game, against UIC.

[hailcrusaders]

Quote from the Oakland board. Excuse the ''UV's' instead of 'VU's':

I don't think Oakland had an open look all night. We got the ball to the rim but there were always UV arms contesting. That's the best team we've played all year.

Season's not over. It's 2 bad games. Lots of games left. UV won't go through the league undefeated. Anything can happen in the tournament. We get refs that don't let as much contact go, it's a totally different ballgame. Our missed FTs let the game get out of hand too.

Read more: http://goldengrizzlyhoops.proboards.com/thread/1634/game-thread-ou-valparaiso?page=2#ixzz3wiUpCc00

..."the best team we've played all year"? Coming from Oakland? Defensively perhaps, or he was being hyperbolic, but Michigan State? Virginia?

This was Oakland's largest margin of defeat all year, including those two top five programs. At the Orena, no less.

Not to suggest we are on par with the best-of-the-best, but when we play well defensively, this team is special.

I wonder what kind of strategy/effort they'll give us at the ARC and at Joe Louis. They'll be gunning for us, and we can't take them lightly the second and third time around either.

[valpospartan]

Wasn't watching Kampe stomp around and yell and scream fun to watch. Not a lot of coaching going on but hey he got his mug on tv. Obviously if Felder makes shots they can be good. If not he continues to fire up shots and Kampe is apparently unable to come up with something else.

For the longest time they had a split screen on the game and Kampe. 

That was really irritating.

[bbtds]

Kampe during his college days at Bowling Green where he didn't play basketball but football



http://www.bcsn.tv/news_article/show/588993

[mb230611]

Congrats on the win. That was a butt kicking, and you beat our guys in all facets of the game. Outstanding shooting, great defense, huge rebounding advantage (we missed a ton of shots obviously, and you kept us off the offensive glass), made free throws, etc. Oakland had no answer to your run early in the second half, and once it got to the point of throwing up bad shots trying to chip away at the lead, you smelled blood and didn't let up. Hopefully the game at your place will be a lot more competitive. A lot to fix on our side before even thinking about a third meeting.

Nobody's saying that Valpo is Michigan State or Virginia, but it's a fact that this was Oakland's worst loss of the season, and it was a true home game for Oakland in front of the O'rena's largest crowd ever. That's not something to take lightly. Just don't expect a similar atmosphere in Calihan Sunday, haha.

Regarding Felder not being at the post-game presser, I don't know any of the details other than what was already posted on Twitter, but Kampe did say that he would make time for anyone in the presser who had questions for Kay to talk to him tonight or tomorrow. So it wasn't a matter of him not facing the questions; there was apparently some other stuff that just took priority at that moment. Kay hasn't shied away from talking after losses, and I'm sure any of the journalists who wanted to speak with him were/will be given that opportunity at some point.

[mb230611]

Kampe during his college days at Bowling Green where he didn't play basketball but football

That picture is awesome. By the way, Kampe did play basketball at Bowling Green; he was a two-sport athlete. He was a reserve on the basketball team, but was a very good defensive back and punter on the football team.

[oklahomamick]

Something to think about....If Oakland would have beaten YSU our win tonight would have been a top 100 on the road.  That would have been nice.

[agibson]

Something to think about....If Oakland would have beaten YSU our win tonight would have been a top 100 on the road.  That would have been nice.

It's RPI's during bracketing time that matter. Like as not Oakland will get dragged down with the rest of the HL in RPI terms.  If they manage to lose only a couple of other league games, they'll have a chance at winding up in the top 100. (RPI Forecast suggests that if they win out they're looking at about #65.)

[Valpower]

Nobody's saying that Valpo is Michigan State or Virginia, but it's a fact that this was Oakland's worst loss of the season, and it was a true home game for Oakland in front of the O'rena's largest crowd ever. That's not something to take lightly. Just don't expect a similar atmosphere in Calihan Sunday,

We aren't Michigan State or Virginia and I thank you for not insulting us. 

[VULB#62]

Congrats on the win. That was a butt kicking, and you beat our guys in all facets of the game. Outstanding shooting, great defense, huge rebounding advantage (we missed a ton of shots obviously, and you kept us off the offensive glass), made free throws, etc. Oakland had no answer to your run early in the second half, and once it got to the point of throwing up bad shots trying to chip away at the lead, you smelled blood and didn't let up. Hopefully the game at your place will be a lot more competitive. A lot to fix on our side before even thinking about a third meeting.

Nobody's saying that Valpo is Michigan State or Virginia, but it's a fact that this was Oakland's worst loss of the season, and it was a true home game for Oakland in front of the O'rena's largest crowd ever. That's not something to take lightly. Just don't expect a similar atmosphere in Calihan Sunday, haha.

Regarding Felder not being at the post-game presser, I don't know any of the details other than what was already posted on Twitter, but Kampe did say that he would make time for anyone in the presser who had questions for Kay to talk to him tonight or tomorrow. So it wasn't a matter of him not facing the questions; there was apparently some other stuff that just took priority at that moment. Kay hasn't shied away from talking after losses, and I'm sure any of the journalists who wanted to speak with him were/will be given that opportunity at some point.

Thanks for the candor in your post. Nicely spoken. Now if we could get the bottom third of the HL up to the standard of play we all witnessed tonight, we'd be an easy 2 bid conference with an occasional 2nd at large in good years. Good luck the rest of the season and see you at the ARC in a bit.

[a3uge]

Made some Vines from the game - might do some more tomorrow. Please follow and retweet if you want me to keep doing them!

[tweet]685693622298136576[/tweet]
https://twitter.com/valpovines/status/685693622298136576

[tweet]685695525509705728[/tweet]
https://twitter.com/valpovines/status/685695525509705728

[tweet]685696986339610624[/tweet]
https://twitter.com/valpovines/status/685696986339610624

[tweet]685699786666717184[/tweet]
https://twitter.com/valpovines/status/685699786666717184

[mb230611]

Thanks for the candor in your post. Nicely spoken. Now if we could get the bottom third of the HL up to the standard of play we all witnessed tonight, we'd be an easy 2 bid conference with an occasional 2nd at large in good years. Good luck the rest of the season and see you at the ARC in a bit.

You're welcome, and thank you. I would love to see the HL as a whole get more competitive; though in the meantime, the teams in the top third (I won't mention any names) need to do their part and beat those teams in the bottom third at home in early January and not give up 100...

Thanks...we need all the luck we can get the next couple of weeks. Hopefully the mid-December Oakland will show up at the ARC and not the early-January Oakland.

@Valpower -- I didn't mean any snark at all, and I hope my wording wasn't taken that way. I was just referring to what a previous poster said "Not to suggest we are on par with the best-of-the-best..." I just want to give Valpo full credit for beating Oakland worse than Virginia and much worse than Michigan State, and those games were on the road and at a neutral site, respectively, for Oakland. Even though the Palace is considered a home game because State won't come to the O'rena and Oakland probably had 6-7,000 fans there, that meant there were 13-14,000 fans for State...and they were loud when Sparty got back in the game and it didn't feel like much of a home game at that point. Tonight was the only one of those losses that was a true home game for Oakland, it was the worst loss of the three, and you won going away in front of a very fired up crowd. And I'm sure that your fan base, with its knowledge of the team and eye for the details that outsiders won't see, saw some things you felt you could've done even better tonight and would have resulted in an even bigger win. You got a key HL road win out of the way in the first week of conference play, and that's the kind of thing that goes a long way in the battle for the coveted double bye.

[wh]

Love the Vines a3!

[Valpower]

Thanks for the candor in your post. Nicely spoken. Now if we could get the bottom third of the HL up to the standard of play we all witnessed tonight, we'd be an easy 2 bid conference with an occasional 2nd at large in good years. Good luck the rest of the season and see you at the ARC in a bit.

You're welcome, and thank you. I would love to see the HL as a whole get more competitive; though in the meantime, the teams in the top third (I won't mention any names) need to do their part and beat those teams in the bottom third at home in early January and not give up 100...

Thanks...we need all the luck we can get the next couple of weeks. Hopefully the mid-December Oakland will show up at the ARC and not the early-January Oakland.

@Valpower -- I didn't mean any snark at all, and I hope my wording wasn't taken that way. I was just referring to what a previous poster said "Not to suggest we are on par with the best-of-the-best..." I just want to give Valpo full credit for beating Oakland worse than Virginia and much worse than Michigan State, and those games were on the road and at a neutral site, respectively, for Oakland. Even though the Palace is considered a home game because State won't come to the O'rena and Oakland probably had 6-7,000 fans there, that meant there were 13-14,000 fans for State...and they were loud when Sparty got back in the game and it didn't feel like much of a home game at that point. Tonight was the only one of those losses that was a true home game for Oakland, it was the worst loss of the three, and you won going away in front of a very fired up crowd. And I'm sure that your fan base, with its knowledge of the team and eye for the details that outsiders won't see, saw some things you felt you could've done even better tonight and would have resulted in an even bigger win. You got a key HL road win out of the way in the first week of conference play, and that's the kind of thing that goes a long way in the battle for the coveted double bye.

mb230611. I didn't think your were being snarky. Believe it or not, I'm not impressed with the power-conference teams. I think the Grizz really are the best team Kampe's put together, but unfortunately they ran in to a very, very experienced buzz saw that is rare even for programs expected to do well, if only the mid-major level.  Valpo has the combination of being a good program, with a good coach, returning a very, very rare majority of players that produce once-in-a-lifetime results.

[vu72]

How does Kampe matchup with a 6'8, 6'7, 6'10, 6'9 and 6'8???

With a smaller, quicker lineup that can beat us down the floor. Unfortunately our big lineup isn't our best 3 point shooting or ball handling unit.

I'm going to guess that part of our stretegy tonight is to go big and force the outside shot.

I expect that we will try it, but I am less than certain of its success.

That's a terrible idea. Oakland's fast guards would shred the  out of Valpo's trees. On top of that, VU's post players would get tired far too quickly. There's a reason the "tallest team" idea hasn't been at Valpo since the 40's.

Big guys are the ones you want to keep fresh, not the ones you want to run the legs out of before the game is over. Having that lineup on the court for even 5 minutes will force Valpo to give up its size advantage for other points of the game.

I wouldn't want to have a point where Carter and the Walkers are on the bench all at the same time for longer than a minute or two. These are three of your top 5 minutes per game players.

Oakland's biggest advantage in this game is speed at the guards. You don't want to make that advantage a HUGE advantage.

I had to bring this up one more time.  My idea that Oakland would have a problem if we went big proved to be true.  Their poor shooting was in part because of a very long arm in their faces. We out rebounded them by 18!!!!!!

[oklahomamick]

I know it was E.Vic first game back in some time but he looked bad.  Offensively and especially defensively.  I thought he would give Felder trouble but Felder scored 6 on him.  Can't wait for him to get back to his old self.  I'm a big fan of the kid and his battle through numerous injuries.  I sit right behind him at the Belmont game and he was a great teammate.  Don't know how we found him but we are very lucky to win him. 

[govalpogo]

Speaking of injury plagued players, I saw on the Valpo ESPN page a tweet about Keith Carter being questionable for tomorrow with a foot injury.  Any validity to that?

[a3uge]

She did it again:

[tweet]685799960378396672[/tweet]
https://twitter.com/collegeinsider/status/685799960378396672

Horrific journalism.

[wh]

Commissioner said this on Detroit's board:

Remember, there are still fans in Valparaiso who argue that this was a perfectly legit play--even Doug Anderson's fault, as if it's the offensive player's duty to get out of the way of an out of control defender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w55X1ythAI. Fire up, and go Titans!

Still 1 of the best defensive plays in Valpo bb history. It completely turned the game around and taught Dougy several valuable life lessons - treat your opponent with respect, do unto others..., payback's a bitch, etc. 

[wh]

She did it again:

[tweet]685799960378396672[/tweet]
https://twitter.com/collegeinsider/status/685799960378396672

Horrific journalism.

She should stick to reporting women's sports where things move a lot slower. It would give her brain time to catch up.

[a3uge]

She did it again:

[tweet]685799960378396672[/tweet]
https://twitter.com/collegeinsider/status/685799960378396672

Horrific journalism.

She should stick to reporting women's sports where things move a lot slower. It would give her brain time to catch up.

College Insider is also responsible for awarding Brian Wardle the Man of the Year.

[a3uge]

Commissioner said this on Detroit's board:

Remember, there are still fans in Valparaiso who argue that this was a perfectly legit play--even Doug Anderson's fault, as if it's the offensive player's duty to get out of the way of an out of control defender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w55X1ythAI. Fire up, and go Titans!

Still 1 of the best defensive plays in Valpo bb history. It completely turned the game around and taught Dougy several valuable life lessons - treat your opponent with respect, do unto others..., payback's a bitch, etc. 

They're still on this!?

[oklahomamick]

Oh, forgot the home run ball.  Worked again.   

[VULB#62]

She did it again:

[tweet]685799960378396672[/tweet]
https://twitter.com/collegeinsider/status/685799960378396672

Horrific journalism.

She should stick to reporting women's sports where things move a lot slower. It would give her brain time to catch up.

College Insider is also responsible for awarding Brian Wardle the Man of the Year.

But she did get half of it right. On the other hand, Tevonn Martin did have a career night though -- Martin, I believe, was the lead tuba player in the OU pep band. 

[a3uge]

She did it again:

[tweet]685799960378396672[/tweet]
https://twitter.com/collegeinsider/status/685799960378396672

Horrific journalism.

She should stick to reporting women's sports where things move a lot slower. It would give her brain time to catch up.

College Insider is also responsible for awarding Brian Wardle the Man of the Year.

But she did get half of it right. On the other hand, Tevonn Martin did have a career night though -- Martin, I believe, was the lead tuba player in the OU pep band.  [emoji38]

I'm pretty sure she combined Trayvon Martin and Tevonn Walker #ValpoLivesMatter