Union Street Hoops

[VUBBFan]

Part two of Harry's podcast on Javon and AJ Green

https://twitter.com/AlBillets/status/1219034805779693569

[wh]

Part two of Harry's podcast on Javon and AJ Green

https://twitter.com/AlBillets/status/1219034805779693569

Interesting and informative podcast. Great job by PO.

[VUBBFan]

A must listen to for Valpo fans.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1220809829507379200

[Pgmado]

I know there has been a lot of Kobecentric stories in the last several days, but I wanted to get a sense of the impact he had on the Valparaiso athletics universe. NBA broadcaster Adam Amin joins the episode as well as Bryce Drew, Erik Buggs and Grace Hales. I think there's something for a little bit of everyone here.

https://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/inside-vu-sports/podcast-union-street-hoops-the-kobe-episode/article_6ea98cfc-4163-11ea-87d6-0bf4d5d994f8.html

[oklahomamick]

Those are some big names.  Cant wait to listen.

[Just Sayin]

Just listened to the latest USH "State of the Program." Tarrance Price's comments on this team and Lottich are excellent. Wow.  Chris Sparks also chimed in at the end. Worth listening to.

[VUGrad1314]

Listening right now... I agree with a lot of what Tarrance Price is saying... What is striking me though is that Paul says that people don't think that Valpo brings in good opposition? That's true enough for the non conference schedule but if they're saying that about our conference slate that's just absolutely ignorant and I don't know how you overcome that level of stupidity.

[Pgmado]

What is striking me though is that Paul says that people don't think that Valpo brings in good opposition? That's true enough for the non conference schedule but if they're saying that about our conference slate that's just absolutely ignorant and I don't know how you overcome that level of stupidity.

Non-conference schedule was my intent with this line. I've argued in the past that the conference slate is now as good as it has ever been.

[VUGrad1314]

Price makes a very good defense of Lottich here I have to say... A solid team on the verge seems pretty accurate... It is SO HARD to maintain patience but maybe it's the right play... I really hope we'll get a really strong reason to get behind him and an indication of things to come in these final 6 7 8 games... Please Matt... Give us something... I agree that they fight hard but I wish we didn't have to do that all the time. Why can't we just stop digging these holes and take control and win games? Don't tell me that about Domask... That's just going to make me dislike the guys that transferred that much more... We'd be a contender with an insanely bright future with him in tow... That said we do have building blocks to compete in a tough conference... JFL Clay Krikke are examples of that... A strong core is indeed taking shape... And we have more reinforcements coming in next year...

[bbtds]

Price makes a very good defense of Lottich here I have to say... A solid team on the verge seems pretty accurate... It is SO HARD to maintain patience but maybe it's the right play... I really hope we'll get a really strong reason to get behind him and an indication of things to come in these final 6 7 8 games... Please Matt... Give us something... I agree that they fight hard but I wish we didn't have to do that all the time. Why can't we just stop digging these holes and take control and win games? Don't tell me that about Domask... That's just going to make me dislike the guys that transferred that much more... We'd be a contender with an insanely bright future with him in tow... That said we do have building blocks to compete in a tough conference... JFL Clay Krikke are examples of that... A strong core is indeed taking shape... And we have more reinforcements coming in next year...

Well, 1314, I have to say that you do stick to your guns and argue your point with a very logical conclusion. You never really waiver from your original message and have some how persuaded many to believe you are right...........until Valpo loses a tight game and then you abandon your thinking totally. :-)

I'm sure glad Mr. Price has grounded you again you are back in the fold feeling that Coach Lottich deserves his chance to prove he can win. 

[NativeCheesehead]

Some great points by TP. Here's something to consider though as he talks about this team going into next year. Someone we're counting on for our 8-9 man rotation next year, statistically speaking, is going to transfer. Who, and how many?

[VUGrad1314]

Price makes a very good defense of Lottich here I have to say... A solid team on the verge seems pretty accurate... It is SO HARD to maintain patience but maybe it's the right play... I really hope we'll get a really strong reason to get behind him and an indication of things to come in these final 6 7 8 games... Please Matt... Give us something... I agree that they fight hard but I wish we didn't have to do that all the time. Why can't we just stop digging these holes and take control and win games? Don't tell me that about Domask... That's just going to make me dislike the guys that transferred that much more... We'd be a contender with an insanely bright future with him in tow... That said we do have building blocks to compete in a tough conference... JFL Clay Krikke are examples of that... A strong core is indeed taking shape... And we have more reinforcements coming in next year...

Well, 1314, I have to say that you do stick to your guns and argue your point with a very logical conclusion. You never really waiver from your original message and have some how persuaded many to believe you are right...........until Valpo loses a tight game and then you abandon your thinking totally. :-) I'm sure glad Mr. Price has grounded you again you are back in the fold feeling that Coach Lottich deserves his chance to prove he can win.

I try to remain consistent. But yes the emotion of another close loss where better stretches of play could have easily prevented it gets to me and I need to sound off because I come from the generation of fans where losing just wasn't a thing that we did very often. Where winning the conference was a regular occurrence and top four finishes were a given 80+% of the time. But as much as I get frustrated with the Lottich era and the issues that have plagued the program I have never been anti-Matt Lottich. I want to believe but that goes two ways. I need reasons to believe and in the heat of another loss it's hard to look at the positives and what is being built. My problem to use an old metaphor  is that instead of eating the hot dog and being happy because hot dogs taste good I'm watching the manufacturing process which makes the product being assembled harder to enjoy. I've never been the most patient person so extended struggles are hard to accept. I am glad that we have more patient people than I making decisions. You want me as a fan but you don't want me anywhere near a position of influence because I would have made a reactionary decision on Lottich last year which let's be honest probably would have set the program back.

[GoldenCrusader87]

I cannot find the link to the post game press conference from the Loyola game that others have referred to.

Can someone post the link? I'm interested in Matt's comments about Gentile arena and the Gameday atmosphere.

I give him props if he did do that.

[FieldGoodie05]

Just listened to the latest USH "State of the Program." Tarrance Price's comments on this team and Lottich are excellent. Wow.  Chris Sparks also chimed in at the end. Worth listening to.

100% agree with Chris Sparks that we are nightmarishly bad on defense for a good portion of the game.  This is my single biggest frustration with this years team.  I felt that our defense was better last year, which is truly saying something.

Notice how Sparks states by the 4th or 5th pass you know you have a wide open 3 or a layup . . .  I mean if a simpleton like me can see that the coaching staff must have a handle on this.  I'm so glad he brought that up because so few were engaging me on that topic and I don't remember USH or the pressers mentioning defense a ton.

Truly, we tighten up on defense a little and we starting putting up more W's.  Oklahoma keeps crying to me about "run and gun" when we are watching the games but man alive it's hard to run after a made layup or three pointer.

DEFENSE . . .
DEFENSE . . . . . .
DEFENSE . . . . . . . . .

[bbtds]

Price makes a very good defense of Lottich here I have to say... A solid team on the verge seems pretty accurate... It is SO HARD to maintain patience but maybe it's the right play... I really hope we'll get a really strong reason to get behind him and an indication of things to come in these final 6 7 8 games... Please Matt... Give us something... I agree that they fight hard but I wish we didn't have to do that all the time. Why can't we just stop digging these holes and take control and win games? Don't tell me that about Domask... That's just going to make me dislike the guys that transferred that much more... We'd be a contender with an insanely bright future with him in tow... That said we do have building blocks to compete in a tough conference... JFL Clay Krikke are examples of that... A strong core is indeed taking shape... And we have more reinforcements coming in next year...

Well, 1314, I have to say that you do stick to your guns and argue your point with a very logical conclusion. You never really waiver from your original message and have some how persuaded many to believe you are right...........until Valpo loses a tight game and then you abandon your thinking totally. :-) I'm sure glad Mr. Price has grounded you again you are back in the fold feeling that Coach Lottich deserves his chance to prove he can win.

I try to remain consistent. But yes the emotion of another close loss where better stretches of play could have easily prevented it gets to me and I need to sound off because I come from the generation of fans where losing just wasn't a thing that we did very often. Where winning the conference was a regular occurrence and top four finishes were a given 80+% of the time. But as much as I get frustrated with the Lottich era and the issues that have plagued the program I have never been anti-Matt Lottich. I want to believe but that goes two ways. I need reasons to believe and in the heat of another loss it's hard to look at the positives and what is being built. My problem to use an old metaphor  is that instead of eating the hot dog and being happy because hot dogs taste good I'm watching the manufacturing process which makes the product being assembled harder to enjoy. I've never been the most patient person so extended struggles are hard to accept. I am glad that we have more patient people than I making decisions. You want me as a fan but you don't want me anywhere near a position of influence because I would have made a reactionary decision on Lottich last year which let's be honest probably would have set the program back.

No matter what your passion for Valpo is great and that is what this team needs, passionate fans!

[Just Sayin]

Just listened to the latest USH "State of the Program." Tarrance Price's comments on this team and Lottich are excellent. Wow.  Chris Sparks also chimed in at the end. Worth listening to.

100% agree with Chris Sparks that we are nightmarishly bad on defense for a good portion of the game.  This is my single biggest frustration with this years team.  I felt that our defense was better last year, which is truly saying something.

Notice how Sparks states by the 4th or 5th pass you know you have a wide open 3 or a layup . . .  I mean if a simpleton like me can see that the coaching staff must have a handle on this.  I'm so glad he brought that up because so few were engaging me on that topic and I don't remember USH or the pressers mentioning defense a ton.

Truly, we tighten up on defense a little and we starting putting up more W's.  Oklahoma keeps crying to me about "run and gun" when we are watching the games but man alive it's hard to run after a made layup or three pointer.

DEFENSE . . .
DEFENSE . . . . . .
DEFENSE . . . . . . . . .

Tarrance said Valpo played very good defense against No. Iowa as I recall.  And Sparks said Valpo was the top offensive team in the MVC. I don't know what evidence there is for that.  But Valpo was first in the MVC in defensive efficiency last year, second the year before that, both with Matt at the helm. Matt's first year in the Horizon we were second in DE.  This third year in the MVC, Valpo is sixth in conference in DE so Sparks has a point. Defense has just not been a strong point with this team. Valpo this year  is 10th in defending the three but has improved to 5th in defending the two.

Whether this team can make a turn to finish strong and do some damage in the conference tournament remains to be seen. It seems that Tarrance and Sparks think the team is talented enough but that they are also young and inexperienced.

The team seems poised to make a strong run. They get so close but never get over. Perhaps this is the time.
Southern Illinois is on fire and in second place. Valpo has to beat them tomorrow if they want to finish strong.

[VUGrad1314]

The biggest thing to remember is this this conference is so much deeper and tougher. It has twice as many teams in the top half of the old RPI metric this year than there were most years in the Horizon. Therefore there are a lot tougher games. As Paul said most years in the HL there were 4 6 8 games a year we could just look at our conference schedule chalk up and bank as Ws. We have zero of those in this conference. That's a huge difference. Think about it: Say we go 9-4 or so in the non-conference with like 6 wins we can count on that's already up to 15 and a third of the conference schedule. Split the rest and the win total becomes a respectable 21. Dominate the conference and you're pushing 24 25 wins and NIT at large or automatic bid territory. In a much better league it's going to be harder to get to the level we're accustomed and as I said I really underestimated just how much of a step up this conference was. We need to learn how to play in and win in this league first before we can compete. We are getting there. It's slow but we are. I think next year is the year (assuming we keep most of our key contributors and there are no significant defections) that we challenge for a top 4 spot at least. That should be the goal next year. With the Valley as a whole getting better it will be difficult but it's definitely achievable. It's just fun that every team in the conference has at least one player if not two or three that make you think "Wow he's good." and multiple teams have players that make you think they might have an NBA future. This is one of the biggest draws of the MVC to me. When is the last time we went up against a scorer of A.J. Green's caliber? Hayward? Cole? Sykes? McCallum? With the exception of Hayward, I think Green's better than all of them.

[oklahomamick]

The little guy from Oakland that looked like Kevin Hart.  I think he was top 3 in NCAA scoring. 

[VUGrad1314]

The little guy from Oakland that looked like Kevin Art.  I think he was top 3 in NCAA scoring.

Kendrick Nunn? He's doing pretty well in the NBA for the Heat as I understand

[wh]

The little guy from Oakland that looked like Kevin Art.  I think he was top 3 in NCAA scoring.

Kendrick Nunn? He's doing pretty well in the NBA for the Heat as I understand

Good guess.  He might be also thinking of Kay Felder.

[VUGrad1314]

The little guy from Oakland that looked like Kevin Art.  I think he was top 3 in NCAA scoring.

Kendrick Nunn? He's doing pretty well in the NBA for the Heat as I understand

Good guess.  He might be also thinking of Kay Felder.

Felder is significantly shorter than Nunn so you're probably right on that one. He also had an NBA career too I believe and won a title with the Cavs if I'm not mistaken.

[oklahomamick]

Kay Felder!  That's it.  Don't think we played Nunn, he was after Valpo left. 

[FWalum]

I love how Sparks kind of danced around the question of JFL being a great defender. Yes, JFL has great anticipation, is quick and long, but he is not a great on ball defender and because of his natural tendency to anticipate the defenders reaction, often is not "in front" of his man to prevent the slash or drive to the basket. Tevonn Walker may not have had the "stats" that JFL has, but I would take him over JFL as an on ball defender who stayed in correct position and prevented the opening of that driving lane.

[justducky]

Yes, JFL has great anticipation, is quick and long, but he is not a great on ball defender and because of his natural tendency to anticipate the defenders reaction, often is not "in front" of his man to prevent the slash or drive to the basket. Tevonn Walker may not have had the "stats" that JFL has, but I would take him over JFL as an on ball defender who stayed in correct position and prevented the opening of that driving lane.

The 7 minute 2'nd half stretch vs SIU which featured JFL "resting" appeared to partially be a message. Our "unusual" 5 man combos during that time were defending very well and Matt seemed to notice.

[VUGrad1314]

If that's the case then I hope JFL took that as a message the way it was intended. If he took it as a slight, Lottich may have just lost the war to win a battle. I hope he stays and continues to build with the rest of the program because I think we've got a chance to be really good next year. Go Valpo! I BELIEVE!