Game #16 Detroit Mercy SUNDAY NOON January 8 ARC

[a3uge]

How many wide open threes will we give up before switching up the defense?

[FieldGoodie05]

This a warning sign with a rookie coach? The on court awareness of Hammink and Lexus is scary.  But why are we zoning three ball offenses?  I'm probably wrong here...but man to man them?  Give them the drive AND NO KICK?

[a3uge]

How can we be such a good free throw shooting team, but such a bad 3 pt shooting team?

[VU2014]

Smits just isn't good.

I disagree. His offensive game has been solid and developing along with his confidence. His defensive skills could use work. He's still only a redshirt-freshman coming off a season long injury last year and this is his 16th live game he's seen since high school. I've seen things to like about his offensive improvement. Defensively I'm not sure ever be great but 7-2', experience, he'll eventually at least develop solid defender if not better. He needs time.

He has a lot of work to learn like blocking out other players and putting himself in position to bring down rebounds. 1 redound in 18 minutes is not great.

[VULB#62]

We beat the press and Peters is standing wide open for a 3 half the time. Can Lottich tell these guys this?

I get it.  Alec is not a selfish player.  What I don't get is why more screens/dbl screens aren't being set and movement created to free him up for more shots.  Today, he had 12 attempts (7 for 9 FGs, 1 for 3 3FG) from the field and only shot 3 FTs.  Tevonn also had 12 and Shane had 14.  Alec is far and away the best player in the league.  When we get pressured, it just doesn't appear like we are leveraging his talents and abilities as well as we should be and I, too, wonder how hard the other players  on the floor are looking to get him the ball.

[vu72]

Smits just isn't good.

Totally wrong on Derrik.  You can just see the confidence building, almost every game.  He isn't great at this point but I see a bright future for both Derrik and Jay.

The problem today wasn't Derrik, it was Lexus.  We are starting to see the difference in this year's team and last years and the conference opponents know it and are taking advantage of it.  Keith averaged 10.3 ppg and had an assist to turnover ratio of almost 3 to 1.  Lexus is averaging 6.0 ppg with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.8.  Today he had 7 turnovers and was flat out sloppy.

Micah Bradford is non-existent and I seriously think he might be a candidate to transfer. Think about it.  We bring in Bakari and Joe Burton next year, two absolute studs.  I would think Bakari is the starter at point with Lexus as the backup.  Micah would be fourth on the depth chart.  Bakari has three years of eligibility which means if we don't bring in any other point guards, which we will, he wouldn't ever be the starter.

This was a train wreck of a game with the only reason we won being we shot 33 more free throws (got to be some sort of record--I'm sure the Detroit coach was not happy) and 29 more points from the line.  We won the game by 7.  Ugh...

[oklahomamick]

I wouldn't say Oakland is the best team.  They wrrr the other night.  But I don't think Oakland could do what we did at the start of the season. 

We are now 3-2 in our last 5.  We aren't the same team.  Several of the players aren't playing as wel.  I think only the two centers have improved since Game 1.  So individually and as a team we are going the wrong direction. 

[VU2014]

VU72, I agree on Derrik. You can definitely see the confidence and subtle improvements the last few games beginning when Jay went home to see his Dad.

As for Micah I don't know. I'd hope he doesn't transfer. When he gets on the court he looks very tepid and indecisive and lacks confidence. He looks like a freshman essentially. I've seen him in shoot around and he has a great natural 3-pt shot and he quick and has some hops for a little guy. He badly needs a summer of strength and conditioning to put on some muscle. He doesn't have Shane speed but he definitely is very quick and if given the opportunity could drive to the hoop but just needs strength and confidence. It's tough to hand the ball to a freshman point guard and expect him to solid from the get-go on a competitive team that has postseason aspirations like ours. I will admit though he hasn't look as good as thought he would initially. I'm in wait and see mode with Micah. It's just tough to get too down on freshman, imo.

[oklahomamick]

My opinion on Bradford is ive seen enough.  I understand he's a freshman but Oakland has a freshman guard that is contributing.  Right now Bradford on the court is a liability. 

We won this league 4 out of 5 years?  Great run in NIT.  We are at a place as a program that We should be able to recruit players that can at least give some type of quality minutes as a freshman. 

[wh]

Alec is not a selfish player.  What I don't get is why more screens/dbl screens aren't being set and movement created to free him up for more shots.  Today, he had 12 attempts (7 for 9 FGs, 1 for 3 3FG) from the field and only shot 3 FTs.

Actually, Alec only took 9 total shots, not 12. He was 6-6 from 2 and 1-3 from 3. Of his 9 attempts at least 2 were on offensive rebounds, meaning he took only 7 shots in the flow of the offense over the course of the entire game. IMO it is a catostophic coaching failure to not find a way to free up a potential 1st round draft choice for more than 7 shots in the flow of the offense - especially against 1 of the worst teams in Division-1 basketball.

[a3uge]

We beat the press and Peters is standing wide open for a 3 half the time. Can Lottich tell these guys this?

I get it.  Alec is not a selfish player.  What I don't get is why more screens/dbl screens aren't being set and movement created to free him up for more shots.  Today, he had 12 attempts (7 for 9 FGs, 1 for 3 3FG) from the field and only shot 3 FTs.  Tevonn also had 12 and Shane had 14.  Alec is far and away the best player in the league.  When we get pressured, it just doesn't appear like we are leveraging his talents and abilities as well as we should be and I, too, wonder how hard the other players  on the floor are looking to get him the ball.

What I'm saying is - Peters was sitting wide open after Valpo broke the press in the first half, but instead the guards were forcing the ball inside or throwing up wild shots. Peters WAS open for three a number of times in this game, but with poor guard play, Valpo couldn't feed him the ball. In the second half Peters was back to handle the ball during the press and then we'd end with a wild shot in transition. I thought we could have stopped the press by finding Alec open a few times to drain a 3 in transition - this is something Valpo did great last year. I think we just don't have the guards to do that this year. Lexus and Max struggled severely, making a number of bad decisions in transition.

Valpo never really got their half court offense set up, and settled for inside shots and trips to the line. This could be okay if Detroit wasn't shooting the 3 so well. I thought Valpo should have slowed it down a lot more and have the offense flow more naturally through Alec.

[Valpo Joe]

Right on Bro!  AP is the BEST on the floor.  Come on ML get your TEAM to use him. No way should there be this much of a struggle. 

[valpotx]

Smits and Sorolla improve each game.  They are going to be exciting to watch in the coming seasons.

[VULB#62]

Alec is not a selfish player.  What I don't get is why more screens/dbl screens aren't being set and movement created to free him up for more shots.  Today, he had 12 attempts (7 for 9 FGs, 1 for 3 3FG) from the field and only shot 3 FTs.

Actually, Alec only took 9 total shots, not 12. He was 6-6 from 2 and 1-3 from 3. Of his 9 attempts at least 2 were on offensive rebounds, meaning he took only 7 shots in the flow of the offense over the course of the entire game. IMO it is a catostophic coaching failure to not find a way to free up a potential 1st round draft choice for more than 7 shots in the flow of the offense - especially against 1 of the worst teams in Division-1 basketball.

WH we disagree on politics, but are tight on this. I took my stats from the box score but might have read it wrong. Yet the proportions work out. Alec needs more touches and more plays run to allow him to score. And i am not including him posting up in deep. I have been an NBA evaluator for the last 10 years ( yeah, right  ) and Alec needs more open looks outside and more shots inside 15 feet. 

[Smj]

I loved the commentator statement during espn3 replay....

Said something like "The new detroit coach is bringing integrity and morals back to Detroit Mercy basketball."   Uh - that might be a slam on coach McCallum.... 

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

[valpo64]

ML's lack of head coaching experience is showing as we probably would expect.  However I am concerned that there is a total lack of concentration at times.  No one seems focused consistently.  Shane too often is an accident waiting to happen...poor floor awareness, in fact at times it appears that he doesn't want to get AP the ball. He needs to settle down and pass the ball more  WHY IN THE WORLD DOESN'T AP GET MORE TOUCHES AND SHOTS???  WE OFTEN ARE WASTING HIS TALENTS  WHICH ARE MANY.  HE SHOULD BE TAKING 15 OR MORE ATTEMPTS EVERY GAME!!!  COME ON COACH!  Our offense should be going through Alec!!!!  Lexis is taking too much time off when he is playing.  This team is much better than what we have seen in the last 2 games.  I think it is time to do a little butt-kicking and get some of our guys' head back in the game .  IT IS TIME TO GET FOCUSED!  These last 2 games have been depressing and hard to watch.  Let's GO VALPO!

[M]

I was glad to see Shane actually shoot the ball when he drove to lane. When he drives and tries a pass it usually ends up going the other way. Today he went with the intent to score and got to the line a bunch of times. He is the best leaper in the gym and needs to attack the rim on his drives.

[VULB#62]

No.  Tevonn is the best leaper by a lot. But he is 6-2 not 6-7.

[VUOR63]

Since watching the first game of the season where Valpo was losing by 16 at the half to the High School team, to the Santa Clara loss and this weekend, it looks like the character of this team is playing with an intensity much less than 100% as compared to last year when the team's intensity level was always high, in my opinion.  Frankly, the demeanor of the team last year matched Vashil Fernandez and Keith Carter whereas the demeanor of the team this year matches Alec Peters and Shane Hammink.  Is that a knock on Alec and Shane?  Certainly not intended to be since I have a great amount of respect for the both of them sticking around and finishing their collegiate careers at Valpo--as a four-year football alum, I appreciate that.  However, these guys are going to need to pick it up in Detroit later this season if they want the NCAA tournament automatic bid.

[M]

Then Tevonn needs to prove he's still got it. I'm sick of seeing his crazy layups that hit only backboard. Dunk it like I saw you do in Milwaukee as a fhreshman.

[VU2014]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhapQ8Bo8LM

[NativeCheesehead]

That still frame from the presser should be titled:  "When the university raises $250 Million and tells you they won't be spending a dime on the ARC."

[IndyValpo]

My opinion on Bradford is ive seen enough.  I understand he's a freshman but Oakland has a freshman guard that is contributing. 

I agree less than 20 games into his career....lets write him off after all Oakland has a freshman that is contributing. Stupid comment...

[humbleopinion]

I have to give credit where it's due.  The Times had a front page story and two photos on the front page of the sports section.

[valpo84]

Two observations 3 games into conference play:

1. Have said it in the past and will say it again -- a win is a win is a win in conference and particularly on the road.  Doesn't matter the score or how you played.  There are no style points given in March. 

2. I commented to Mrs 84 during the game, when she asked what's wrong (or why was I screaming at the TV) with the team.  I replied, besides that we are short guards (why is Nick D not getting more minutes to settle things down), they do not look like they are having fun.  They have a goal since training camp to bring Valparaiso a Horizon League Champ.  They have the target on their back from every team in this league, they have a goal of the NCAA or bust, and it is weighing them all down.  Add the Jubril uncertainty factor, a new coach trying to prove he belongs and the result is the team flat out looks stressed. 

We need to develop the frosh, and the Jubril situation by necessity has aided the development of Sorolla and Smits.  Micah is not getting enough minutes to develop and looks confused in his offense roles when on the court.  But, remember this isn't a team with no expectations, this is a team expected to win and win now.  Kay Felder struggled mightily early in the year for the Cavs, yet with a quick trip to D-League and injuries he is playing more consistently and better.  However, the Cavs like Valpo could use a backup point guard.  The Cavs can trade for one or send one to D League for confidence-building; we don't have either of those options.  Hence, would suggest Matt L should give them some relaxation time.  We are 12-4 (who had that for this point in the season).