Game #22- Northern Kentucky Sunday January 29 1:30pm ARC

talksalot · January 27, 2017, 10:58:52 PM

Keep the pedal to the metal. Another record for Alec? Free Throws. One of the oldest records on the books could be toppled.

talksalot · January 27, 2017, 11:04:03 PM

The NoKy Roster:
http://www.nkunorse.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball

The box from UIC-Noky tonight.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400918558

9-man rotation, 11 steals. decent 3-point percentage. We've got to handle the ball.

Here's the ESPN recap

CHICAGO -- Mason Faulkner scored 19 points to lead five Northern Kentucky players in double figures and the Norse beat Illinois-Chicago 79-62 on Friday night.

Lavone Holland II had 16 points, Cole Murray scored 12, and Drew McDonald and Dantez Walton added 10 points apiece for Northern Kentucky (14-8, 5-4 Horizon League).

Walton scored eight points, including two 3s, during a 12-0 run that gave the Norse a 12-point lead with 2:21 left in the half and they took a 39-30 advantage into the break. The Flames scored six points in a row to trim their deficit to 46-38 with 14:54 to play but Faulkner hit a jumper and then made a layup to spark an 8-0 spurt that pushed the lead back into double figures for good.

Godwin Boahen had 19 points, Tarkus Ferguson scored 13 and K.J. Santos 11 for UIC (11-10, 4-4).

The Flames made seven of their first 10 shots to open a 16-5 lead, but made just 15 of 51 (29 percent) from there.

The Norse scored 26 points off 23 UIC turnovers.

hailcrusaders · January 28, 2017, 01:58:27 AM

Not to open another can of worms, but are there branding guidelines for Northern Kentucky University? I'm assuming 'NKU' is an acceptable abbreviation. Do they like 'NoKy', or even 'NorKy'? The latter sounds like a Sesame Street character.

M · January 28, 2017, 08:50:20 AM

Valpo by 9 in this one, 77-68.

valpolaw · January 28, 2017, 08:54:23 AM

I'm thinking we win by 14-18 points. Hopefully no let downs.

NativeCheesehead · January 28, 2017, 09:39:10 AM

Speaking of branding.....was driving home from Chicago a couple of nights ago and right there on the freeway past UIC was what looked like a rec center and/or fieldhouse. In bright white lighting was "University of Illinois-Chicago" So yeah, let's talk to own school before we crab at opposing fans on their message board.

valpo84 · January 28, 2017, 09:55:06 AM

As long as I can remember (nearly 30 years of being familiar with Northern Kentucky), NKU has been NKU. And this is another one, jump out on them early, go up 15-20 and keep getting the frosh playing time. Their offensive game is decent, won't be able to play enough D against us. 82-65.

Valpo89 · January 28, 2017, 10:09:32 AM

I don't know anything about Northern Kentucky. But a 17 point win at UIC is impressive. It's not going to be easy Sunday.

wh · January 28, 2017, 02:34:30 PM

The spread: Valpo -10

VU2014 · January 28, 2017, 02:42:11 PM

QuoteI don't know anything about Northern Kentucky. But a 17 point win at UIC is impressive. It's not going to be easy Sunday.

Northern Kentucky has done a really good job of recruiting the last couple years. There is a lot of young talent on that team.

Our assistant coach David Ragland coached at NKU last year and recruit some of those players. Glad he's on our staff. Coach Lottich put together a really good staff. I've been impressed so far.

oklahomamick · January 28, 2017, 04:38:33 PM

I'm impressed so far. Now let's see what kind of recruiting class they can bring in. Having better players helps win games (unless your the two Detroit schools). I thought Bryce and Powell were really good recruiters. Maybe better recruiters than coaches....

Might be a stretch. But point I'm making is once every 3-4 years we graduate a large class and bring in a large class. Rowdy and his class was large, peters and his.class was large. Years between are much smaller. It's going to be big signing class this year and let's see the verdict

VU2014 · January 28, 2017, 05:35:53 PM

oklahomamick, you nailed it. Its a huge year for recruiting. Super important to get some studs this upcoming class.

Coach Sparks was actually the coach that discovered Rowdy. Ironically he was calling the broadcast last night. Sparks was a great recruiter.

So far we have Parker Hazen whose a good recruit maybe not a program changing recruit but could become part of the core with upside. Then we have Mileek McMillan is an interest high upside Forward. I've sort of have been loosely following his season at Merrillville and just from the stats it doesn't tell a great story. Just a little lackluster but still a contributor. But from what I've heard they are using him as exclusively a traditional post player and rebounder which isn't using his skills correctly and will benefit from more professional coaching in college. Mileek sounds like a project.

Sasha is a game changing recruit for a mid-major program. He's going to be a really good player. Fingers crossed he comes to Valpo and see the opportunity here. Taylor Bruninga looks like good player. At the end of the day coaches will decide and hopefully we can put together a great class.

FieldGoodie05 · January 28, 2017, 06:13:09 PM

Quote from: VU2014 on January 28, 2017, 05:35:53 PM
oklahomamick, you nailed it. Its a huge year for recruiting. Super important to get some studs this upcoming class.

Coach Sparks was actually the coach that discovered Rowdy. Ironically he was calling the broadcast last night. Sparks was a great recruiter.

So far we have Parker Hazen whose a good recruit maybe not a program changing recruit but could become part of the core with upside. Then we have Mileek McMillan is an interest high upside Forward. I've sort of have been loosely following his season at Merrillville and just from the stats it doesn't tell a great story. Just a little lackluster but still a contributor. But from what I've heard they are using him as exclusively a traditional post player and rebounder which isn't using his skills correctly and will benefit from more professional coaching in college. Mileek sounds like a project.

Sasha is a game changing recruit for a mid-major program. He's going to be a really good player. Fingers crossed he comes to Valpo and see the opportunity here. Taylor Bruninga looks like good player. At the end of the day coaches will decide and hopefully we can put together a great class.

Begs the question, if we don't land a Sasha type player should we not leave a scholarship open for options?

Does anyone know if Bryce made it a habit to leave a spot open in such scenarios?

I don't believe we'd have landed Keith Carter otherwise. How about other years?

Is this a good practice or would we prefer to have a full roster? I'd imagine that walk-ons play a big part in balancing the practice squad in such years like this year. We only have 10 scholarship players that are active.

Do our transfers (Burton and Bakari) get to participate in practice?

vu72 · January 28, 2017, 06:25:14 PM

Quote from: VU2014 on January 28, 2017, 05:35:53 PM
oklahomamick, you nailed it. Its a huge year for recruiting. Super important to get some studs this upcoming class.

Coach Sparks was actually the coach that discovered Rowdy. Ironically he was calling the broadcast last night. Sparks was a great recruiter.

So far we have Parker Hazen whose a good recruit maybe not a program changing recruit but could become part of the core with upside. Then we have Mileek McMillan is an interest high upside Forward. I've sort of have been loosely following his season at Merrillville and just from the stats it doesn't tell a great story. Just a little lackluster but still a contributor. But from what I've heard they are using him as exclusively a traditional post player and rebounder which isn't using his skills correctly and will benefit from more professional coaching in college. Mileek sounds like a project.

Sasha is a game changing recruit for a mid-major program. He's going to be a really good player. Fingers crossed he comes to Valpo and see the opportunity here. Taylor Bruninga looks like good player. At the end of the day coaches will decide and hopefully we can put together a great class.

Good analysis but you overlooked Joe Burton and Bakari Evelyn. If these two were freshman coming in they would be top 100 players (Joe was) and Bakari, had he stayed in Michigan for his senior year of high school, would have been in the top few for Michigan Mr. Basketball.

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/124505/joe-burton

agibson · January 28, 2017, 10:00:36 PM

Quote from: FieldGoodie05 on January 28, 2017, 06:13:09 PMDo our transfers (Burton and Bakari) get to participate in practice?

I believe that they do.

wh · January 29, 2017, 09:41:05 AM

Valparaiso's Shane Hammink flourishes in secondary role as 'Robin' to 'Batman'

If Alec Peters has been Valparaiso's Batman, then Shane Hammink has been its Robin.

The senior swingman has flourished as a reliable and consistent second option behind the Crusaders' career scoring and rebounding leader.

"You have to put work into your game, but I'm flying under the radar," Hammink said. "There's not much pressure put on me to do too much. It's all on AP. He takes a lot of pressure away from me."

Still, Valparaiso relies heavily on Hammink, who was a preseason second team all-Horizon League selection. His importance isn't lost on Crusaders coach Matt Lottich.

"We count on him to get easy baskets because he's capable of doing it. ... When he's good, we're a lot better," Lottich said.

Hammink has been overwhelmingly good more often than not.

He has scored at least 22 points six times, including a career-high 24 on Jan. 22 against Illinois-Chicago. He has scored 23 points four times this season. He has reached double figures in 18 of the Crusaders' 21 games.

He also matched his career high with five assists against the Flames, a total he has registered seven times, including four this season.

Hammink is averaging 15.3 points and 3.9 rebounds for Valparaiso (17-4, 7-1), which carries a six-game win streak into a 1:30 p.m. Sunday game (ESPN3) against Northern Kentucky (14-8, 5-4) at the Athletics-Recreation Center. He has a team-high 58 assists, also with a team-high 63 turnovers.

Taking care of the ball has been a point of emphasis for Hammink, who has responded after committing five turnovers in the Crusaders' loss to Oakland.

"He's limiting his turnovers," Lottich said. "When he gets into trouble a little bit, he's turning the ball over at a high clip. We're trying to cut down on that, but we still want him to be aggressive and be a primary playmaker."

Indeed, Hammink's biggest strength is his ability to drive to the basket, using his athleticism and length.

He's shooting 49.5 percent (106-for-214), including 59.1 (88-for-149) on 2-pointers and 82.7 percent (91-for-110) as part of the Crusaders' exceptional free-throw shooting. He's shooting 27.7 percent (18-for-65) on 3-pointers, an area he has focused on improving.

"Shane's been great — he's played well," Lottich said. "He's been able to get to the rim, he's been getting a lot of layups. His outside shot's starting to fall, which opens stuff up for him, and I'm not surprised because he's been working on it.

"The thing that gets overlooked is how well he's defending. He needs to continue to defend at a high rate."

As a junior, Hammink had a solid debut with the Crusaders after sitting out one season following his transfer from LSU. He averaged 8.9 points and 3.1 rebounds. He started 10 of the final 11 games, with the lone exception being senior night.

Hammink has been a fixture in the lineup this season, the only player besides Peters to have started each of the team's games.

"The game's slowed down," Hammink said. "I'm just making better reads, getting more involved with everybody. I'm scoring a few more points than last year, taking a few more shots. It's been good."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-mens-basketball-valparaiso-shane-hammink-st-0129-20170128-story.html

usc4valpo · January 29, 2017, 12:15:54 PM

Good guys by 16.

Just a thought - it would be cool if Valpo had a gothic or retro uniform night!

wh · January 29, 2017, 01:04:04 PM

No Jubril. 13 and counting...

wh · January 29, 2017, 01:13:26 PM

20 to tipoff. 10 students. Very sparse crowd so far.

VU2014 · January 29, 2017, 02:01:55 PM

Quote20 to tipoff. 10 students. Very sparse crowd so far.

One thing to keep in mind is that the last few weeks and still going on is Fraternity and Sorority Rushing/Pledging right now. At least when I was a student a HUGE portion of the die hards in the student section were fraternity and sorority members. Rushing/Pledging takes a huge chunk of students free time and also takes up the free time of the current members.

I also think we are starting to see the ESPN3 affect. You can see every game your lap top now, so you could be sitting the library doing homework and watching the game from your laptop.

It was also initiation weekend this weekend.

usc4valpo · January 29, 2017, 02:17:51 PM

rush? What a lame excuse for lack of attendance. Seriously?

the mighty Norse were launching major at the end of the half! Peters needs to step it up

hailcrusaders · January 29, 2017, 02:20:06 PM

Quote from: wh on January 29, 2017, 01:13:26 PM20 to tipoff. 10 students. Very sparse crowd so far.

I'm not going to make excuses for the students, but Sunday matinee games have never been good for student crowds. One downside to this Friday/Sunday scheduling format.

One possession game at the half, but I'm betting Norky can't keep shooting like that from 3. We've got to figure out their zone though.

a3uge · January 29, 2017, 02:21:17 PM

Quote from: usc4valpo on January 29, 2017, 02:17:51 PM
rush? What a lame excuse for lack of attendance. Seriously?

the mighty Norse were launching major at the end of the half! Peters needs to step it up

If he can get the ball. Too much launching of our own. We should have slowed the game down after they started hitting threes. Gave them momentum.

FieldGoodie05 · January 29, 2017, 02:24:14 PM

I also think we are starting to see the ESPN3 affect. You can see every game your lap top now, so you could be sitting the library doing homework and watching the game from your laptop.
[/quote]

It's what I do most of the time from NW Chicago. As a student in the early 2000s there was FAR less distraction in variety of live media. I'd still be at these games, but those of us on this forum are clearly die hard fans.

Hope that VU is looking at creative ways to fill the student section. Not sure we needed free sandwiches to attend but it's a start. But when I was there the other athletic teams supported each other. The football and track team had strong contingencies at these games. Heck even the soccer team had 1 or 2 foot fairies....right OKMick?

wh · January 29, 2017, 02:24:41 PM

Hopefully, the team doesn't go over to the 39-person student section after the game for the traditional group high-5, unless it's to say tell your friends thanks for not supporting your 1st place, 17-4, nationally recognized men's bb team. It appears that the students have joined the administration is taking the success men's bb completely for granted.