Game 37: Valpo vs. GWU, NIT CHAMPIONSHIP, Thursday, March 31, 2016; 6 CDT

[FWalum]

Daughter got her Doctorate at GW (undergrad was Wake Forest), but I am pretty sure she will be rooting for VU. I did a good job of indoctrinating her into the VU family during her childhood even if she didn't go to VU.  Now if it was VU versus Wake then that might be a different story.

[oklahomamick]

Win or lose, tonight is the final game for seniors and this team.  Each year is a new team, you lose 1-2 gain 1-2 and that changes everything from off the court to on the court.  The 2015/2016 team has been a blessing (As Drew would say).  Big thanks and appreciation to the student/athletes, coaching staff, administration and the Valpo staff that prepares the stadium on game days.  More ESPN games than most seasons and that makes even more stressful to prepare for.  One last one, thanks to the Valpo community for showing up at the St. Mary's game. 

I will miss watching this team compete.  Good Luck and let's win our 2nd championship this season. (HL regular season champs and NIT Champs)

[VUfan]

Ya let's enjoy the run. Hope its not 71 years till Valpo gets to MSG again .    This team comes to play win or lose, they will be missed.

[Kyle321n]

Ya let's enjoy the run. Hope its not 71 years till Valpo gets to MSG again .    This team comes to play win or lose, they will be missed.

Actually I'd hope they don't make it to MSG again for 71 years because they make the NCAA tourny 71 straight years.

[hailcrusaders]

One key factor, as we say every game, will be Vashil staying out of foul trouble. GW was 12th (out of 14) in their league in 2 point FG% during conference play, but 2nd in the league in free throws attempted (.75 FT%). They also shoot the three pretty well (.370). We're predominantly a man-to-man team (and rightfully so), but perhaps we play a little bit of zone this game? Cavanaugh is their version of Alec Peters. That will be a fun showdown to watch. As we've mentioned, they're not as deep as we are. Alex Mitola leads their bench with 5.3 points per game.

As long as they don't light us up from deep, I'm pretty confident.

[HC]

A lot of zone defenses encourage the three point shot...I'd say you man to man and get up on them tight.  Force them to put the ball on the court and let Vashil do his thing in the paint. 

But, we'll see. Coach Drew is a lot smarter then I am.

[classof2014]

I think the key to this game for us will be can we drive to the hoop and get to the line early on. If they're bench isn't that deep and we can get a few of their starters to have 2-3 fouls by the end of the first half I like our chances.

Another point of interest is when we get to the line make our damn FTs. We were lucky BYU shot as poorly as we did from the charity stripe, if they would've shot well it would've been the final game of the season.

That said, Valpo wins by 7.

[VULB#62]

Mid Major Madness picks GW by 4 (70-66)
http://www.midmajormadness.com/2016-nit-tournament/2016/3/31/11331116/nit-championship-preview-valparaiso-george-washington

[hailcrusaders]

A lot of zone defenses encourage the three point shot...I'd say you man to man and get up on them tight.  Force them to put the ball on the court and let Vashil do his thing in the paint.  But, we'll see. Coach Drew is a lot smarter then I am.

Forgot to mention their heights in regards to zone/man. They're just as big as we are. But we've still stuck with man even in situations like this, so I think you're right.

[hailcrusaders]

Mid Major Madness picks GW by 4 (70-66) http://www.midmajormadness.com/2016-nit-tournament/2016/3/31/11331116/nit-championship-preview-valparaiso-george-washington

Can't see us giving up 70+ points two games in a row. BYU was a better offensive team that GW is.

[vu72]

A lot of zone defenses encourage the three point shot...I'd say you man to man and get up on them tight.  Force them to put the ball on the court and let Vashil do his thing in the paint.  But, we'll see. Coach Drew is a lot smarter then I am.

Forgot to mention their heights in regards to zone/man. They're just as big as we are. But we've still stuck with man even in situations like this, so I think you're right.

In their starting five.  They bring guys off the bench who are in the 6'2" range. Mitola is 5'11".  If we get their bigs in foul trouble/wear them down, we should be in good shape.

[Kyle321n]

Mid Major Madness picks GW by 4 (70-66) http://www.midmajormadness.com/2016-nit-tournament/2016/3/31/11331116/nit-championship-preview-valparaiso-george-washington

Can't see us giving up 70+ points two games in a row. BYU was a better offensive team that GW is.

Couple points

1. We gave up 70+ points three games in a row this season (Oakland, Detroit, Milwaukee) and twice in a row in the postseason (Green Bay, Texas Southern) sure it took Milwaukee OT to get to 70, but it's happened already, could happen again.

2. George Washington is actually a much more efficient offense than BYU. They aren't as good shooters than BYU, but holy crap can they rebound the ball (almost as well as we can). Our slowing-it-down defense is not going to affect them much as they run a much slower offensive set, Rhode Island and Milwaukee are the only teams we played who run slower offenses.

From KenPom, the "Thrill Score" of this game is better than either of Sunday's elite 8 games and the second best of the Monday-Friday set of games, only to a BYU-Valpo game. That was a good one right?

This is the only team who we're playing in the NIT that I haven't seen a game before coming into the NIT. I watched them take down a VERY good San Diego St. team, a team that's built very similarly to us, good defense, doesn't turn their opponents over much, average-ish offenses. We're a much better shooting team than SDSU, so hopefully that bodes well for us. Overall, this is the game I was hoping for, and we've been able to avoid the top 50  defenses that scared me in this tournament (Georgia, Creighton, SDSU). Defense wins championships, now let's go out there and get Vashil a ring. They give rings to the NIT Champs right?

[hailcrusaders]

Mid Major Madness picks GW by 4 (70-66) http://www.midmajormadness.com/2016-nit-tournament/2016/3/31/11331116/nit-championship-preview-valparaiso-george-washington

Can't see us giving up 70+ points two games in a row. BYU was a better offensive team that GW is.

Couple points 1. We gave up 70+ points three games in a row this season (Oakland, Detroit, Milwaukee) and twice in a row in the postseason (Green Bay, Texas Southern) sure it took Milwaukee OT to get to 70, but it's happened already, could happen again. 2. George Washington is actually a much more efficient offense than BYU. They aren't as good shooters than BYU, but holy crap can they rebound the ball (almost as well as we can). Our slowing-it-down defense is not going to affect them much as they run a much slower offensive set, Rhode Island and Milwaukee are the only teams we played who run slower offenses. From KenPom, the "Thrill Score" of this game is better than either of Sunday's elite 8 games and the second best of the Monday-Friday set of games, only to a BYU-Valpo game. That was a good one right? This is the only team who we're playing in the NIT that I haven't seen a game before coming into the NIT. I watched them take down a VERY good San Diego St. team, a team that's built very similarly to us, good defense, doesn't turn their opponents over much, average-ish offenses. We're a much better shooting team than SDSU, so hopefully that bodes well for us. Overall, this is the game I was hoping for, and we've been able to avoid the top 50  defenses that scared me in this tournament (Georgia, Creighton, SDSU). Defense wins championships, now let's go out there and get Vashil a ring. They give rings to the NIT Champs right?

BYU, Oakland, Detroit, and Milwaukee all play at fast paces, which allowed them to put up points on us even if our D played well on a per-possession basis. GW plays slower. It appears to me that GW's offense is more akin to Wright State or St. Mary's. For GW to put up 70 on us, they'll probably have to score 1.1+ points per possession, and I'm hoping that won't happen.

[vu84v2]

Besides the comments above, I think that it is critical that Valpo have a strong second option tonight on offense, The good news is that Valpo has multiple guys that can come up with a 15+ performance. I am thinking Darien Walker will be the guy. He looks good shooting the ball recently and I think he will get some open looks.

By the way, I do hope Valpo plays in the NIT in MSG soon...in the PRESEASON NIT.

[agibson]

Mid Major Madness picks GW by 4 (70-66)
http://www.midmajormadness.com/2016-nit-tournament/2016/3/31/11331116/nit-championship-preview-valparaiso-george-washington

Sports Illustrated, before the semifinals, picked us to win the final over GWU.

Vegas line's still got us by two or so.

[agibson]

In their starting five.  They bring guys off the bench who are in the 6'2" range. Mitola is 5'11".  If we get their bigs in foul trouble/wear them down, we should be in good shape.

And, do I remember well that they only play a seven-man roster, an that their starting point guard picked up ankle issue in the semi-final, and didn't practice yesterday? He's expected to play today, of course. But, they may not be very deep.

[oklahomamick]

Is LeCrone present at MSG?

[nkvu]

Not the best start. Can anybody but Peters hit a shot other than a layup?

[oklahomamick]

Tied it up and out of the hole.  But Keith is leaving for the locker room.

[nkvu]

Cavanaugh may have made the play of the game when he ran Carter over and put him out of the game.  Hope Carter can come back in the second half.

[VUOR63]

Are the other point guards really worse options than Hammink?

[oklahomamick]

looked bad on defense that led to the timeout before the 16 media timeout, but our offense is very stagnant. 

[covufan]

We need to start hitting the boards, and few threes wouldn't hurt


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[atkins]

We are awful tonight.  Lethargic and weak in so many areas of the game.

Spike Albright would immediately be the best guard on the floor, so I hope we are seriously considering him.  Aside from Peters, these guys just do not have the killer instinct. 

[oklahomamick]

1 and done every time on the offensive side.