Game #3 - Coppin State Eagles, @ARC, Monday Nov 14, 2016 7:00pm

[talksalot]

Coppin appears to have played well in their opener at Hofstra

http://coppinstatesports.com/news/2016/11/13/mens-basketball-coppin-state-eagles-basketball-comes-up-short-in-season-opener-to-hofstra.aspx

Not a lot of height... nobody over 6-8...

Here's the box score from the Hofstra Pride...
http://coppinstatesports.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=1406

8-deep rotation, and 40%+ from 3pt range

Coppin State picked 10th in the MEAC (out of 13)

Let's start strong... and stay there.  We need to solid momentum heading into the next 2 weeks.

[VUfan]

This will be a good test. The team will need up it's team defense to win, a Challenge. 

[talksalot]

A note about Hofstra... (Coppin's only opponent)

Colonial Athletic News:   Hofstra was chosen sixth behind UNCW, Towson, William & Mary, Charleston and James Madison. Following the Pride, Northeastern, Elon, Drexel and Delaware rounded out the poll.

Hofstra went 24-10 in 2015-16, winning the regular season CAA title and advancing to the National Invitation Tournament. It marked the most wins for the program since the 2005-06 squad won 26 games.... but graduated 4 of 5 starters.

[SanityLost17]

Agree with posts from other threads about our big men.  Definitely need Smits/J to learn quickly on the job this season. However, my bigger concern is outside shooting.  We need 2 guys outside of Peters to become legitimate 3 point shooting threats.  If this doesn't happen we will have a very up and down season.  Plenty of really good wins mixed with some really bad loses.

[valporun]

All I hope to see in the first half is the guys get off to a hot shooting start, and make our first two games look like complete aberrations of what our season will be. It just seemed like the 1st half rim had a protective glass around it that we forgot to remove before the game. Maybe it was cockiness about the inferior opponent, or it was just a little worn out from the Southern Utah opener on Friday, but we were so flat that a pancake had more depth to it than we did. I hope J and Smits start to show their potential soon, because they looked like fish out of water in both of the weekend games. I'll give Smits the "haven't played in a year" card, but Sorolla is still too raw. I mean sure he has YouTube video out there, but many of you know that I have give high school stats and game action very little to nothing for attention because we don't always know the quality of opponents from the stats, or even the video.

For me, the jury is still out on this team, and might not have a real idea of what to expect until after BYU rematch/St. Louis, or into December.

[covufan]

Is this the game to fix our shooting, or will our legs be tired from two games in the previous 72 hours?  I'm thinking we'll bounce back.

Like the rebounding I see from J, or is it Jay, Ja??

Valpo          86
Coppin St    59

[vusupporter]

We've been spoiled the last three years with experienced big men. Think we're already seeing the difference down low this year. Remember, these are both freshmen - think back to Vashil his freshman year.

[vu84v2]

Valpo wins, but still struggles with perimeter defense and getting quality minutes from the bigs other than Jubril.

Valpo 85
Coppin State 77

[talksalot]

Like the rebounding I see from J, or is it Jay, Ja??

The First Name Spelling:   JAUME
The pronunciation guide:   HOW-may
The Catalonian Accent:  roll-the "H"-may

The teammates just call him "J"

Last Name Spelling:  Sorolla
Last name:  So-ROY-Ya

[covufan]

Like the rebounding I see from J, or is it Jay, Ja??

The First Name Spelling:   JAUME
The pronunciation guide:   HOW-may
The Catalonian Accent:  roll-the "H"-may

The teammates just call him "J"

Last Name Spelling:  Sorolla
Last name:  So-ROY-Ya

Thanks!  When listening, I picked up on the "J" nickname, but was unsure how he/teammates were spelling the name.

Given the "H" nature of the pronunciation, should we be calling him the "H-Factor" or "H-Man"?

Of course, if "J" is what his teammates use, then "J" it is!

[agibson]

The First Name Spelling:   JAUME
The pronunciation guide:   HOW-may
The Catalonian Accent: 

Ah! Is at a Catalan name? (I'd not realized he was from Catalonia.) I'd been really wondering how to pronounce what felt more like a Portuguese name on a Spaniard.

[humbleopinion]

Like the rebounding I see from J, or is it Jay, Ja??

The First Name Spelling:   JAUME
The pronunciation guide:   HOW-may
The Catalonian Accent:  roll-the "H"-may

The teammates just call him "J"



Last Name Spelling:  Sorolla
Last name:  So-ROY-Ya

How do you "roll an H"?

[agibson]

How do you "roll an H"?

The description struck me as odd too. But, it made sense in the end.

I think it's probably not so different from how you "roll" an r in French, say the initial "r" in "regarder". Which "r" has serious shades of an "h" anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oPA-I8Mnxo

seems reasonably on target for Jaume. At least, it's about what I was guessing and sounds authoritative!

[oklahomamick]

The game will be aired on espn3.  But there is no line for game? 

[agibson]

[tweet]798323712139280384[/tweet]

[a3uge]

Shooting woes haven't really vanished yet. Maybe they're getting it all out of their system?

[wh]

If this is the new Max Joseph, our prospects for a big season just improved dramatically.

[a3uge]

If this is the new Max Joseph, our prospects for a big season just improved dramatically.

If this is the new Alec Peters, it doesn't.

[VU2014]

78-58 Valpo win. It wasn't pretty but a win is a win. Our first 3 games have been textbook definitions of "winning ugly". I thought we looked a little better tonight as team but still a work in progress.

[govalpogo]

Better...but still not where they can/should be.  Hit the open shots at even an average rate and Valpo's easily up in the 90's with this win.  Perhaps the most tenuous undefeated start since the 2009 team started 2-0 (finished 9-22).  I think this team will finish closer to the reverse of that record but games like this one upcoming against Oregon could be tough to watch if the level of play doesn't get turned up.  Maybe getting out of the ARC will help the team clear their heads shooting wise.  Maybe Tevonn will be a big piece returning.  Should be interesting to watch. 

Overall, we needed to be 3-0 at this point and we are indeed 3-0!  Go Valpo Go!  Continue playing to your competition's level! 

[frontrowfan]

Had 3 front teeth repaired

[frontrowfan]

Had 3 front teeth repaired

[wh]

Shane and Max were great tonight. Very encouraging.

[vu84v2]

If this is the new Max Joseph, our prospects for a big season just improved dramatically.

If this is the new Alec Peters, it doesn't.

Alec Peters has done everything that anyone can ask of him during his time at Valpo. He was very good, steadily improved from there, and is a great representative of the program. I am sure that no one feels worse about his shooting issues early in the season than Alec and I am sure that he will do everything he can to fix them. Also, while Valpo has not played any tough opponents, Peters is still attracting huge defensive pressure.

[SanityLost17]

I think Lottich has told Peters to take A LOT more shots this season and we are seeing Peters adjusting to this role.  This is what is leading to some early misses.   Last year he was "the man" but still played within the offense.  I see him pushing the issue a lot more so far this year, which is something that he is not used to.

This will be an interesting story line going forward.  Does Lottich trust the shooting of everyone outside of Peters.  AKA -  Which is better...Peters taking an average shot or everyone else taking a good shot?