1/22 - Wright State @ Nutter Center

[oklahomamick]

Where is Hammink? Or the guy that made 4 three pointers in the first half?

[oklahomamick]

This color commentator is borderline brutal on the ears. The southern drawl, the know-it-all attitude, the vendetta he has against occasional silence.

And the cheers (YES!) every time WSU hits a bucket.

[FWalum]

Where is K.Carter?

Carter got hurt. Rod Moore says foot sprain.

[oklahomamick]

Bad bad game. 

[govalpogo]

So bad...there's a certain look to these games that we are going to lose as the string above indicates.  A loss does not lower the top end potential of this team but does take practically all of the fun out of being a fan for the next few weeks until Valpo can start another streak.  No more vote counting...no more twitter watching...ugh.   

[nkvu]

Oh well. Just didn't have it tonight.  Wright State is tough in their place with a little home cooking foul wise. Better come back strong Sunday. Would hate to see them lose in the first game I've seen live since 1969!

[govalpogo]

Hopefully Carter doesn't stay out long because the offense looks terrible without him.  Fortunately it's the "easy" part of the schedule coming up.

[talksalot]

Valpo shoots 34% in the second half... WSU shoots 61%...

oh, Thomasson can shoot free throws

[wh]

Where was KC in the 2nd half?  Where was Darien in the 2nd half?  Why weren't they playing?  EVN was terrible.  Shane was terrible.  Why weren't our quicker guards in the game? 

[truth219]

Garbage

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[valpotx]

This is a loss that is worse than Ball State.  Wright State is not good.  The loss happened when Carter got hurt, as Nickerson played like garbage, forcing passes all over the place, resulting in turnovers that weren't because of any type of pressure defense.  He does not look ready to be back on the court playing any type of significant minutes at this point.  Did Darien and Shane get hurt as well?  They weren't in the game for most of the second half.  Really bad loss.  Please stop bringing up any at-large possibility, as this should be the nail in the coffin of that talk.

[rink]

Again, we get a little bit excited as a fanbase, and poof ... disappointed. We have looked so incredibly bad this half. Sloppy with the ball AGAIN. I hope this pisses off the players and coaches. We should stomp a team like Wright St if we're supposed to be on par with St Marys, Gonzaga, BUTLER, etc. I guess we're not that caliber. Disappointing.

[wh]

Valpo shoots 34% in the second half... WSU shoots 61%...

oh, Thomasson can shoot free throws

Then why didn't we deny him the inbounds pass?  Then why did we immediately foul him when there was still plenty of time?  Even the announcers were dumbfounded by what we were doing.

[cmack]

Where is Hammink? Or the guy that made 4 three pointers in the first half?

I recognize that the Walkers are not PGs, but I can't see how you can justify leaving Nickerson out there to dribble endlessly, shoot errant threes, and stagnate our offense with his one-on-one play. Particularly when D. Walker had played so well.  Frustrating to watch. Get well VERY soon Keith!

[justducky]

Where is Hammink? Or the guy that made 4 three pointers in the first half?

Carter got hurt. Rod Moore says foot sprain.

Great win for WSU! EVN might be the slightly more experienced point but Hammink is also a good defender and you would think should have gotten the nod. Even with the loss I am glad to see EVN getting fully back into the rotation, but he is still showing the signs of rust. A lot of questions the coaches will need to answer.

[talksalot]

Wright State is not good

Their RPI is 131 and they've won 9 of their last 10.... sounds like they've righted their ship... be a helluva game Tuesday March 8th at Historic JLA.

[bbtds]

Again, we get a little bit excited as a fanbase, and poof ... disappointed. We have looked so incredibly bad this half. Sloppy with the ball AGAIN. I hope this pisses off the players and coaches. We should stomp a team like Wright St if we're supposed to be on par with St Marys, Gonzaga, BUTLER, etc. I guess we're not that caliber. Disappointing.

Your golden hour. Oh, how you love to be a naysayer.  Last weekend you were almost positive with your praise, I did say almost, of this Valpo team.

[cmack]

Even with the loss I am glad to see EVN getting fully back into the rotation, but he is still showing the signs of rust. A lot of questions the coaches will need to answer.

I am of the belief that this is what EVN is. He can certainly play better than this, but I think he disrupts our offensive flow and does not have the scoring ability of any other guard on our team. Beyond his height, what does he offer that our other guards, including Hammink, don't?

[StlVUFan]

Where was KC in the 2nd half?

He turned his ankle.  Haven't you been watching?

I actually like Chris Collins a lot, along with Al Pawloski (sp?).  It pains me that Collins is paired with such an idiot.

[justducky]

Wright State is not good.

Yes and no. It is no accident that our loss came to a Donlon team which always features good defense. Our defense wasn't bad but theirs was better.

[bbtds]

Valpo shoots 34% in the second half... WSU shoots 61%...

oh, Thomasson can shoot free throws

Then why didn't we deny him the inbounds pass?  Then why did we immediately foul him when there was still plenty of time?  Even the announcers were dumbfounded by what we were doing.

I certainly didn't understand it. Why did we not get Peters more opportunities? Why was Nickerson forcing the ball down the lane? Why didn't Nickerson get pulled? Why did Tevonn force shots? Why can't Joseph or Williams play in these situations? It's a huge mystery to me that a team that has played so well this year can make all these mistakes on the floor and the coaching staff make so many mistakes from the bench.

[valpotx]

Wright State is not good

Their RPI is 131 and they've won 9 of their last 10.... sounds like they've righted their ship... be a helluva game Tuesday March 8th at Historic JLA.

That was a team that we should have beaten by double figures, similar to Ball State.  Just watching the game, it was painful watching it getting closer once we had that 9-10 point lead, as the difference in overall talent was large.  We were playing like crap, but still had a double digit lead.  Keith gets hurt, and it completely changed the game, as EVN looked like a lost child out there.  I like EVN, but Bryce should have chanced Max or Lexus at some point that last 5-6 minutes, as it was a disservice to EVN to keep him out there when he was playing like that. 

[NativeCheesehead]

Time for a bold prediction. Assuming Carter does not miss an extended amount of time, we win out. As frustrating as this loss is, sometimes losing a game you shouldn't can be a blessing in disguise. We've played pretty well since the bad loss at Ball State, and I expect this excellent coaching staff to capitalize on this disappointment. General Game thoughts:

The Good: Welcome back DWalk. No I don't know why you didn't play more in the second half either, but if you play this well the rest of the season, having three starter quality bench players (DW, JA, SH) will be an asset going forward. Next, I may be the first one to jump on bad announcing, but I didn't mind the color guy tonight. Yes he couldn't pronounce our name, and cheered like crazy every time they hit a shot, but he called it like he saw it with the fouls and did a good job complimenting our players tonight. He knew our team, what we ran and what we liked to do. I'll take that anyday over most of the guys we've had on the road this year.

The Bad: For what seems like the umpteenth time this year, we failed to match the intensity of our opponent on the road. We may never be the next Butler, but going back to those years Butler dominated the conference under Stevens, they consistently brought a tempo, and an intensity every night. They may have not have run through the conference each and every year, but they were never out hustled, and they were never out thought. We were both tonight. With some of the national shout outs comes a big old bullseye right square between your shoulder blades. I truly didn't think we'd go 18-0 in this conference, but the way we lost this game was very disappointing. Also, this offense is lost without KC. You can squeak by NKU without him, but if he misses some serious time this team will struggle to score.

This loss gives me a little hesitation, but (assuming KC misses < 2 games) not a lot of worry. I like how this team has responded to bad games this year. See you all Sunday!

[valpotx]

Also, Collins has a solid broadcasting voice, and I like listening to him.  The other guy is extremely annoying.  Constantly pronouncing names incorrectly, often thinking that EVN and Vashil were the same guy (as he did last year), and otherwise being all over the place.

[a3uge]

Really tough loss. Peters didn't shoot a free throw, despite having a size mismatch. These things happen, but unfortunately because we're playing in the 2015-16 Horizon League it's to the second place 130-RPI team, instead of a quality loss.

Still in good shape, obviously, but it stings. We should rebound well and knock off several wins in a row against inferior teams during this stretch.