Game #12 - Santa Clara Thursday Dec 22, 7pm (CT) at the ARC

[valpotx]

I guess so.  However, there are several mid-major teams with similar records to ours, that have more marquee wins than us.  As we have seen in recent years, only so many mid-majors get chosen as an at-large, while worse teams like Michigan, Syracuse, and Vanderbilt get into the tourney instead.

[a3uge]

The player that had the biggest impact on tonight's game was sitting on Valpo's bench in street clothes. We had a short bench as it was, but without Jubril we simply don't have enough scorers to win a game like this, not to mention that the tank was on empty from about the 5-minute mark in regulation on.

Oh well, not the end of the world. Merry Christmas everyone!

You're completely right.

I'm hearing a lot of "There goes our at-large hopes" talk. To that, I just want to point out that we had FOUR 'bad' losses last year (Ball State, Wright State x2, and Green Bay), a weaker non-conference resume, and still managed to be the last one out. If we run the table (or maybe drop one HL game) and lose in the tourney final, we'll have two or three 'bad' losses, with better non-conference wins. I'd like to think we'd still have a pretty good chance at getting in. LOTS of season left, and it will depend on other bubble teams. Is that scenario likely? No. But hope springs eternal.

The dreaded a-l word! There's lots of season left, but in all likelihood we'll drop a few conference games, like all good teams do. Even the Butler national champion runner up lost to a rebuilding Valpo team. Last season and this season almost feel like every game is a tournament game with the at large pressure. Really excruciating to watch. Everyone else in the horizon are playing with nothing to lose, and we still have a big target on our backs.

[M]

That was a game full of WTH moments...one bad OOC loss is survivable.

I was disappointed they weren't able to draw up more for alec in OT. Or spread it out and let Walker go on the attack.

[valpotx]

I don't care what anyone else says, or how little he scores, but Nick Davidson gives me more confidence in our ball security, versus anyone else on the team.  He is not going to make a boneheaded pass, or start a defended drive that has you screaming at the video stream .  Shane is extremely athletic, but probably has more WTF moments than any Valpo player since Ali Berdiel. 

[justducky]

The dreaded a-l word!

I had no at-large hopes even with Jubril, but without him it was nothing but a pipe dream. Our freshmen development will determine our post season chances and they still have a long way to go.

I see at least 2 more regular season losses but you just never know where they might come from. If Jubril can not return then 3+ losses are more likely. Relax and enjoy this ride while remembering that we are still on or ahead of schedule.

[valpotx]

I guess that this can be our Ball State loss, but SC had an RPI in the 300s.  It will improve after today, so hopefully they do well in the WCC, and this loss doesn't look AS bad as it feels at the moment.

[vu72]

Guys, it was a bad loss, BUT, it was a team that shot lights out not against pretty solid defense, they shot lights out against ANYONE!!  Here are the stats: They shot 43% from 3 and 92% from the foul line.  Regardless, you aren't going to win many against that.  We played a very solid game.  Sometimes that just isn't good enough. 

[usc4valpo]

I thought this was the case weeks ago - Valpo is not a good enough team to get an at large berth. We got blown out by Oregon and Kentucky and lost at home to Santa Clara.

That being said, the way the Horizon looks, I think Valpo is a prohibitive favorite to win the conference and its tournament.

BTW - what is really going on with Adekoya?

[humbleopinion]

It was clear that Alec and Shane were totally gassed in overtime.  Part of the problem was the way that the game was being called.  The contrast between the amount of body contact -- especially under the hoop -- that went uncalled and the minor hand contact that drew a whistle was more extreme than I remember, and I'm sure that it added to the wear over the course of the game.  There are several plays that stick out in my mind.  Shane was unable to lift his hands quickly enough to catch a pass while he was wide open under the basket.  Alec was unable to react quickly enough to grab a defensive rebound that dropped to the right side of the hoop and was recovered by Santa Clara for a reboot.  And of course the shot at the end of the first overtime -- it seemed that Alec was thinking that it was too much effort to try to drive to the hoop and the odds of drawing a foul were minimal, so he just threw the ball up towards the basket even though his legs were failing him.

[justducky]

I believe Todd said this was the first game back for Feagin who logged 22 minutes at guard. Sometimes the return of a missing piece can allow you to take on a whole new approach not reveled in the previous game tapes. Other people suddenly become more dangerous.

This was the team I was worried about when I watched them play Arizona. Wait------- Didn't Talksalot tell me not to worry about them. 

[FieldGoodie05]

I did not post this at the time, but with our schedule I thought we'd end non conference with 5 loses.  We have a good chance to only take 3 L's...I'm pretty happy with our effort and results.

I'm going to give the first 1/3 of our season an A-

1/3 = non conference
1/3 = HL
1/3 = tournament play

[crusadermoe]

Just a shame not to close the deal on an exceptional pre-conference.   Our RPI dropped from #36 yesterday to #71 today!! 

I can't believe I am knocking Alec, but he may have cost himself a bunch of money in taking that 35-footer at end of first OT.  With a win his scoring average, plus a long run with two losses would have drawn more attention in early January. If you look at the January schedule at posting loss #3 in February.

If NBA scouts were looking at this, it shows a troubling lack of confidence in his ability to create a shot off the dribble.  At least he could have drawn a foul and made 1 of 2 in his sleep. A cynic could say that the end call at Missouri State bailed him out of another missed 30 footer at the buzzer. 

So much time left to dribble drive and allow a tip in from a miss. 

[justducky]

I totally agree, but don't put all the blame on Peters.  The coaches had timeouts and chose to let that happen.  They saw him standing 45 feet from the basket for 10 seconds and were apparently happy with that.

Very curious indeed!  I know simple is often best (fewer turnovers) but the strategy of standing around for a last second chuck from deep might have been a bit too uncomplicated. Didn't we decide after Oregon that Micah should be our designated chucker? 

[usc4valpo]

ValpoFan1000 is either a troll or needs to get a life. Watch some 80's clips of Valpo hoops, the coaching brilliance of Tom Smith and the cordiality of Rob Harden and you will appreciate what we have today.

[vu72]

If NBA scouts were looking at this, it shows a troubling lack of confidence in his ability to create a shot off the dribble.

You must be talking about Peter Peters, certainly not Alec.  He creates shots all day long!  He will drive and take it off the glass. Back a guy down and fade away or create contact and still make the shot.  He was flat out gassed.  He played a hell of a game shooting 40% from 3, scoring 35 points and 13 rebounds.  The blame if any should go to Jabril. Because of the nature of the game and their shooters, we had to have guys who could keep up with them and Jabril would have allowed either Alec or Shane to get a blow once in a while. Playing 50 minutes would tire out anyone. Our bench in incredibly thin. You are going to have problems when your bench gets 4 points and 5 rebounds in 51 minutes of play.

[M]

Maybe it was mentioned earlier, but in a game full of curious plays we can't ignore Lexus' foul in the second OT. Really bad decision to foul with 8 seconds left on the shot clock and 25 seconds left in the game already down 3.

[VU2624]

Unbelievable... we lost to Santa Clara. Are you  kidding me? They're ass. We are a totally different team without jubril. He should not be kicked off the team for the season for cheating on home work are you kidding me? What kind of university is this? Obviously not one that's very invested in their basketball program our facilities are  . If that happened at a big name school you can bet your ass nothing would happen. We are a mediocre team now. $20 we don't go to the tourney I'm done keeping up hardcore with this team for the season. It's gonna be a frustrating rest of the year, nick Davidson is playing decent minutes and that says somethjng. You all can try and look at nick playing as it being okay when in reality it's not he's not good he's not a scoring threat he's just capable of not screwing up the game while he's in. Which is something you'd want as a mediocre university/basketball program. WHEN ARE WE GONNA MAKE THE NEXT STEP TO BE BUTLER? Probably never cuz our university doesn't do  to make it happen. Embarrassing

Please. You've already put up enough in 8 posts to establish you aren't any part of "we".

[ValpoFan1000]

Anyone else wanting to throw some shots at me? Raise your expectations for the program and maybe you'll be as frustrated as me. Should've capitalized after our sweet 16 run and we didn't. Should've capitalized after Bryce drew left and we didn't. We need to take steps and we aren't. We just lost to a team with a 300 RPI how is that okay? Butler would never do that. Cmon stop being so biased and be stern for once

[crusader05]

Retaining all but one player when one of the players retained is a potential NBA draft pick who could have gone to any school he wanted sounds like a pretty damn good capitalization after losing a coach that was ubiqutous with your program for years.

Your stern talking to on this message board will definitely make great changes in the program, I particularly liked your earlier suggestion that we look the other way about broken rules and potentially put our program at risk even more to win a couple more games during a season where we were never expected to get an at large bid.

[usc4valpo]

we have a troll on the board!

Hey, it is frustrating losing to Santa Clara, but you have to take this program for what it is. It will never be Kentucky or UCLA on a regular basis. It can become a Butler, but the university is conservative financially and won't take a risk investing in an upgraded ARC.

Merry Christmas ya'll, and may the USC Trojans and Adoree Jackson have a happy new year.

[Valpo89]

Just a shame not to close the deal on an exceptional pre-conference.   Our RPI dropped from #36 yesterday to #71 today!! 

I can't believe I am knocking Alec, but he may have cost himself a bunch of money in taking that 35-footer at end of first OT.  With a win his scoring average, plus a long run with two losses would have drawn more attention in early January. If you look at the January schedule at posting loss #3 in February.

If NBA scouts were looking at this, it shows a troubling lack of confidence in his ability to create a shot off the dribble.  At least he could have drawn a foul and made 1 of 2 in his sleep. A cynic could say that the end call at Missouri State bailed him out of another missed 30 footer at the buzzer. 

So much time left to dribble drive and allow a tip in from a miss. 

It was one play. I think Alec has shown the ability to drive and draw a foul

[crusadermoe]

Fair enough.  Alec has been a phenom and carried us this year.  And yes, he has dramatically improved his shot creation. 

I think I just felt bad for Alec since he was on the cusp of even more national recognition for all his hard work. He is incredible and has done the university a great favor by returning and hopefully proved even more to the NBA.

Hey, Oakland beat Georgia, a top 50 RPI team!!   That will help nudge us up a bitmore if we beat Oakland.  It is fun to have so many opponents to cheer on to great seasons; BYU, Santa Clara, Alabama, MoState, Rhode Island, and Sycamores.   We have NEVER played so many teams capable of top 100 RPI rankings.  Capable that is...

Merry Christmas all!!

[vufan75]

Merry Christmas to all!!

[StlVUFan]

Anyone else wanting to throw some shots at me? Raise your expectations for the program and maybe you'll be as frustrated as me. Should've capitalized after our sweet 16 run and we didn't. Should've capitalized after Bryce drew left and we didn't. We need to take steps and we aren't. We just lost to a team with a 300 RPI how is that okay? Butler would never do that. Cmon stop being so biased and be stern for once

I'm not in the habit of taking such huffing and puffing seriously about a team for which at-large bids are the scraps that fall from the master's table.  Only a few of them are apportioned to the 250 or so lower-tiered schools in Division I, mainly because non-conference scheduling is so damn corrupt (but such corruption is legally sanctioned) that Valpo will never be seriously in play for an at-large because we'll never be allowed to amass the kind of schedule required for it.  At-large will always be a pipe-dream.  Once a year, Valpo will stub its toe and a bunch of folks will be all over this board and social media groaning about our at-large possibilities going down the drain, and I will chuckle to myself at the outrage expressed without any sense of context.

Before you slobber too much over Butler, please remember they have a famous arena to play in on their own campus.  They probably have done better than us at elevating a Men's basketball program, but they've also gotten damn lucky in a lot of different ways.  They are, to use one of the weaker definitions, "an exception that proves the rule."

Furthermore, if you are clamoring for special academic treatment for student-athletes, you're barking up the wrong tree here.  You might as well go into full hate-valpo mode and pick some other school to root for because I don't think you're ever going to get your wish here.

Bryce Drew beat his brains in trying to assemble an at-large worthy schedule, for all the good it did us.  I'm convinced that part of the reason he left is because he got tired of competing for at-large consideration with one hand tied behind his back - and that's NOT on Valpo, that's on the NCAA.  Until non-conference scheduling becomes less Darwinian and more dedicated to the pure spirit of competition, I adamantly refuse to share even an iota of your outrage.

[EddieCabot]

Bryce Drew beat his brains in trying to assemble an at-large worthy schedule, for all the good it did us.  I'm convinced that part of the reason he left is because he got tired of competing for at-large consideration with one hand tied behind his back - and that's NOT on Valpo, that's on the NCAA.  Until non-conference scheduling becomes less Darwinian and more dedicated to the pure spirit of competition, I adamantly refuse to share even an iota of your outrage.

The NCAA probably won't, but they should do more to help out schools like Valpo who don't have the means to compete with the power schools like Oregon and Kentucky.  Not sure how that works, exactly, but would love to hear any ideas you have that might level the playing field.

Despite the challenges, Valpo does have an opportunity every year to earn their way into the NCAAT field and prove they belong, despite the challenges they face in non-conference scheduling.