Union Street Hoops

[historyman]

Has Smits really fallen to 3rd string Center?

After the UNLV game, which I attended in LV, no one could say that Smits has not emerged as Valpo's starting center. He is really making a difference this year.

If only he had been able to drop in another 5 points I would have won $108 on the 140 point Over/Under. I picked over on my hotel's sports book. I was really let down by UNLV's pathetic offense in the second half. They didn't cover their half of the 140 by not scoring 70 while Valpo and Derrik did cover their portion of the Over/Under. Just my luck. I did cover the -7.5 spread in favor of UNLV easily. Flew back from Vegas yesterday.

[EddieCabot]

Latest USH podcast dropped today, and I enjoyed it as usual.  I like that Paul, who usually takes the coaching staff at their word, questioned some of Lottich's post-game comments.  Very insightful.

Off topic, but enjoyed Paul reminiscing about the glory days of having take-charge guys like Brandon Wood and Cory Johnson on the team.  Those were some awesome teams that racked up a lot of wins and did it in an exciting way!  I think Freeman (as he matures and develops) has the potential to be a player like Wood who could take us back to NCAA tournament glory.

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1070450531808755717

[VU2014]

Latest USH podcast dropped today, and I enjoyed it as usual.  I like that Paul, who usually takes the coaching staff at their word, questioned some of Lottich's post-game comments.  Very insightful.

Off topic, but enjoyed Paul reminiscing about the glory days of having take-charge guys like Brandon Wood and Cory Johnson on the team.  Those were some awesome teams that racked up a lot of wins and did it in an exciting way!  I think Freeman (as he matures and develops) has the potential to be a player like Wood who could take us back to NCAA tournament glory.

Paul raises a very interesting point about this team not having "The Guy".

We have somewhat of a balance but we don't have a guy who can take over a game and get us consistent points in the clutch right now. I thought that guy was going to be Fazekas or Bakari but their shooting has been MIA in the important games. Fazekas hit that big game tying shot but he's been very inconsistent in the first 1/3 of the season.

[VUGrad1314]

To answer his question about team building what you need--especially in the college game--is a balanced attack but with 3-5 guys who are capable of being "the guy" on a given night. This way, the opposing defense doesn't know where it's going to come from and therefore can't key in on any one guy. Last year's Loyola team is a perfect example of this. One night it was Ingram then Townes the next night  Then Custer then Krutwig then Richardson. Balance, unselfishness, great coaching, and a little luck can make big things like a final four run possible.

[valpopal]

Being in the holiday spirit already and trying to be "optimistic" after the horrible game against High Point, I like to think the team we see in the MVC season this year will be better from what we have witnessed thus far. Will there be a guy who leads? Maybe, or maybe the team will improve as a whole with any guy being the go-to player in any given game. Fazekas has been streaky in his shooting, but is still a very good 44% from the 3-point line, and I'm hoping his consistency game after game will improve. Evelyn had foot surgery during the off season, and I'm hoping he becomes quicker and more comfortable with his lift for shooting in a bit more time. Lavender has been the most consistent overall player and I'm hoping that continues. Although Freeman does not play like a freshman most of the time, we must remember he is, and therefore he has a lot of development still to display as the season progresses to go with what he has already shown. It seems to me that Golder's role is still a little uncertain, and I'm hoping that becomes clearer and he can exhibit his positive energy night after night by the time conference play begins. Smits has made tremendous progress already this season, and it would be great for that to continue. After his time off with injury, Sorolla is still getting back his strength, stamina, and scoring. McMillen's role should be determined by conference play, most likely not in the 5 position, and he certainly must improve upon what we have seen so far. Sackey is a freshman and, unlike Freeman, is continually showing it on the court, but he also should get better as he gains experience. Kiser can offer a bit of grittiness and depth in moments when needed. If Bradford comes back, that would be a bonus addition. Finally, I'm hoping Lottich sees the MVC season as a new start and has used the non-conference to have all the kinks in the rotation worked out.

[SanityLost17]

Being in the holiday spirit already and trying to be "optimistic" after the horrible game against High Point, I like to think the team we see in the MVC season this year will be better from what we have witnessed thus far. Will there be a guy who leads? Maybe, or maybe the team will improve as a whole with any guy being the go-to player in any given game. Fazekas has been streaky in his shooting, but is still a very good 44% from the 3-point line, and I'm hoping his consistency game after game will improve. Evelyn had foot surgery during the off season, and I'm hoping he becomes quicker and more comfortable with his lift for shooting in a bit more time. Lavender has been the most consistent overall player and I'm hoping that continues. Although Freeman does not play like a freshman most of the time, we must remember he is, and therefore he has a lot of development still to display as the season progresses to go with what he has already shown. It seems to me that Golder's role is still a little uncertain, and I'm hoping that becomes clearer and he can exhibit his positive energy night after night by the time conference play begins. Smits has made tremendous progress already this season, and it would be great for that to continue. After his time off with injury, Sorolla is still getting back his strength, stamina, and scoring. McMillen's role should be determined by conference play, most likely not in the 5 position, and he certainly must improve upon what we have seen so far. Sackey is a freshman and, unlike Freeman, is continually showing it on the court, but he also should get better as he gains experience. Kiser can offer a bit of grittiness and depth in moments when needed. If Bradford comes back, that would be a bonus addition. Finally, I'm hoping Lottich sees the MVC season as a new start and has used the non-conference to have all the kinks in the rotation worked out.

Lavender has been pretty much an inconsequential, average at best player,  at every stop along the way before coming to Valpo.  Yet here he is being our most consistent guy.  Positive view would say that just means he has made great strides in the offseason.   Pessimist view would say that our talent is not what we thought it was before the season started.   

[valpo64]

I think it is about time to let Freeman start doing his thing, or be the guy if you will.  When he was a junior and senior in HS. he did just that as he gook over the game at crunch time, including scoring and dishing off , rebounding and playing well defensively.  This was especially true in the 2 consecutive IL State Championship games in which he played.  Smits should have much more playing time.  As far as 3-point shooting goes, let the "shooters"(Fazekas, Evelen) keep shooting because the good shooters will eventually break out of their slump.  The shooting thing can't get much worse that it was against High Point.

[VU2014]

I'm sure javon has it in him but we can't rely on a freshman (no matter how good they are) for being the guy. AP wasn't even a "alpha" his freshman season. We are destined for a miserable conference season if we have to rely on a freshman for that kind of production.

[bbtds]

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1070450531808755717

You think he's making fun of the name of our opponent from Tuesday night?

What kind of person would do that?

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1072662563069091842

[VU2014]

Paul, your next USH episode should be titled, "We now know Valpo Basketball is pedestrian"

[VUGrad1314]

Is Valpo good? No The verdict is in This one hurt my pride as a fan Ball State is pretty good but they're not THIS good This was excruciating from start to finish

[FWalum]

 Or maybe the new title should be "The Joe Burton hangover continues".  We have been asking ourselves who is the "go to guy" on this team and it appears that person or player has not accepted the role or no one is capable of assuming that role. I can tell you who that was supposed to be... and that was Joe Burton.

[VUGrad1314]

With all due respect it's been 31 games now since Burton last played. That's a season's worth and ample time to have someone step into that role.

We thought it was Evelyn

We hoped it would be Fazekas

For a brief stretch we were baited into thinking it could be Smits

Maybe it's Freeman or perhaps even Sackey but it's too early to tell.

But somebody should have stepped in to that role by now and the fact that no one has is very concerning.

[tiny707]

Smits is our go to guy. He was in foul trouble. When Smits is out and our shots aren't hitting we need to do the little things to get it going. Loose balls, take charges, block shots, rebound put someone on the floor if they come in the lane. We lost to a NCAA tourney bound team that will shock some people. I don't see this effort happening again this year.

[VUGrad1314]

Ball State isn't even the best team in its conference. They may not even be second best. They're a solid team that should win its share of games but they're not world beaters by any stretch. What happened last night should never have happened.

[justducky]

But somebody should have stepped in to that role by now and the fact that no one has is very concerning.

Go to players can not be elected or appointed. Somebody has to have the confidence to want the job. Meanwhile Matt seems to be waiting.

Is it too early for me to ask if either Nick Robinson or Eron Gordon want the ball in their hands at crunch time? 

[VU2010]

Did we ever receive an explanation as to what happened to Joe? Would be nice for the sake of closing that chapter in Valpo b-ball history.

[VU2014]

Did we ever receive an explanation as to what happened to Joe? Would be nice for the sake of closing that chapter in Valpo b-ball history.

Universities can't publicly speak about students grades. I'm pretty sure there is a law about it.

[EddieCabot]

Ball State isn't even the best team in its conference. They may not even be second best. They're a solid team that should win its share of games but they're not world beaters by any stretch. What happened last night should never have happened.

I'm also tired of every Valpo opponent being deified ... Ball State lost their last game by 12 to MVC bottom-feeder Evansville. 

[VUGrad1314]

Ball State isn't even the best team in its conference. They may not even be second best. They're a solid team that should win its share of games but they're not world beaters by any stretch. What happened last night should never have happened.

I'm also tired of every Valpo opponent being deified ... Ball State lost their last game by 12 to MVC bottom-feeder Evansville.

They won't be a bottom feeder much longer. The question is how long it will take for us to climb out of that hole.

[VULB#62]

Given our budget, facilities and alumni base, are we finally in over our heads in the MVC?

[VUGrad1314]

Given our budget, facilities and alumni base, are we finally in over our heads in the MVC?

It's far too early to admit that. Facilities haven't impacted recruiting yet, our basketball budget is middle of the pack for the MVC the last time I checked. It's mostly a matter of finding the right coach. Alumni base may be an issue but Tulsa was a pretty successful MVC member and they're not much bigger than we are as a school.

[crusaderjoe]

Given our budget, facilities and alumni base, are we finally in over our heads in the MVC?

I would think that it would be more appropriate to use the phrase "over our heads" when your team, over a two year period,  is part of a multi bid league and during that time finishes dead last while losing 46 games.  That was a long time ago.  We certainly aren't at that point.

The facility is a dumpster fire and a detriment to the long term health of the program though.  I'll give you that.