Game #31 - @ Northern Kentucky Sunday Feb 26 1pm for the top seed

[FieldGoodie05]

I guess we're not calling travels on the home team today.  Three obvious travels, 8 points after no-calls.

Max was fouled on that block call it look like his wrist was hit and not the ball

[govalpogo]

A tall task without two of your best players.  Credit to NKY, they kept their cool down the stretch and made their free throws as well as a couple of tough shots.  Credit to our guys who battled to the very end.  Valiant effort.  Hoping that Peters will be ready for the tournament. 

Maybe Milwaukee can help us back our way into the one seed!  Here's hoping!

[BrownTown]

Welp.  I guess it was Oakland's year after all, which is what I said when we got spanked by them at home.  Too bad for our kids; they've had every possible obstacle thrown at them this season.  Perhaps a silver lining, in that they've had to operate without Alec, and did so as well as they could have.  Almost swept the weekend, which nobody would have expected.  And we nearly pulled it out.  Too many missed FTs and too many 2nd-half turnovers.  T-Walk and Hammink, though.  Gutsy.

[VU2014]

Oakland is playing Milwaukee right now. Lets go Milwaukee! Panthers only down by 1 in the first half

[crusadermoe]

Yep, hats off to a fantastic effort.  The guards gained a lot of confidence this week.  Big hearts and great defense!

Now, aside from the Alex question, can Sorolla find some offense again.  Where is that baby hook?

Also, Smits has a puzzling way of looking like he doesn't really "want" to finish strong with the ball.  Hope that develops.

[justducky]

Matt coached well and the team played well, but it wasn't meant to be. A lot of freshman minutes played today and we almost got the win. In no way am I disappointed with this split without Alec. The color guy said Alex and Shan so maybe I'm the one doing all the mispronunciation.

[Mc]

Wish we could've pulled it out today, but without Alec at nearly full strength, we are a mid-tier Horizon team.  Thanks to Shane and Tevon for their extra effort. 

[justducky]

but without Alec at nearly full strength, we are a mid-tier Horizon team. 

Being a mid-tier HL team is much less of an insult vs the 15-16 season. NKU now at 103 and Oakland at 105. Next season I can imagine a chance for 4 top 100 HL programs with 2 more being under 150. With our freshman development I am already looking forward to next year.

[VU2014]

Wish we could've pulled it out today, but without Alec at nearly full strength, we are a mid-tier Horizon team.

I disagree. We are not a mid-tier Horizon League team even without Alec. We certainly a much better with Alec but we're still one of the better teams.

NKU played the best game they could have played today. If we were to rematch in the HL tourney without Alec (knock on wood this doesn't have to happen), I'd pick us to win, because it would be on a neutral court and not of their senior day and I'd be willing to bet they wouldn't match this performance today.

[valpopal]

Would prefer a win, but the way the Horizon League has changed, the loss isn't as painful as it could have been.


A Valpo tie with Oakland still gives Valpo a championship banner for the ARC rafters.
Valpo gets a top-2 seed, no different than had they won.
Valpo hasn't lost home court advantage since it was never at stake and the conference tournament still takes place in Detroit.
If seedings all follow predictions, Valpo still will meet Oakland in the finals.
If Valpo were to lose in the tournament championship game, they would have a 26-8 record, which ought to be good enough for an NIT bid.

[BrownTown]

From the "it figures" department: No favors from Brock Stull and Milwaukee today.  If they could have hit 1 free throw in 3 opportunities in Oakland earlier this year, we wouldn't be talking about a 2-seed.  #Milwaukee #TheBadLand

[FieldGoodie05]

Where In The World...did Sorolla and Smits go these past couple of weeks?

When was the last game either showed us double digit points or even remotely OK rebounds?

[FieldGoodie05]

Where In The World...did Sorolla and Smits go these past couple of weeks?

When was the last game either showed us double digit points or even remotely OK rebounds?

Looks like the last game where either broke 10 in points or rebounds was OU (5 games ago).  Guess they are freshmen, however, doesn't help us close out the season.

Need them to be at 15 points 12 boards at that position to have success in the HL tournament I should think.

[VU2014]

Yeah it was weird to see them get such few minutes.

We were pretty much trailing the whole game and playing catch up so we were running out a smaller lineup today. Smits isn't a great rebounder and not a great defender and it offensively wasn't consistent enough to justify playing him big minutes. Jay wasn't giving much offense either.

Could have used some strong defense/rim protection from the 7 footers against Drew McDonald who was pretty much getting what ever how wanted in the paint going 8-13 FG. Also Carson Williams was taking it the hoop without much resistance.

This is a game where Jubril would have made a huge impact. Check that Jubril would have made an impact in every game.

[FieldGoodie05]

Yeah it was weird to see them get such few minutes.

We were pretty much trailing the whole game and playing catch up so we were running out a smaller lineup today. Smits isn't a great rebounder and not a great defender and it offensively wasn't consistent enough to justify playing him big minutes. Jay wasn't giving much offense either.

Could have used some strong defense/rim protection from the 7 footers against Drew McDonald who was pretty much getting what ever how wanted in the paint going 8-13 FG. Also Carson Williams was taking it the hoop without much resistance.

This is a game where Jubril would have made a huge impact. Check that Jubril would have made an impact in every game.

Getting that few quality minutes against a strong interior team was disappointing.  Really disappointing.  Sometimes they forget they are 7' tall and try to jump where solid hands to the sky (feet planted) works.  These two NKU centers just faked us out of our shirts..they have excellent foot work where ours have not developed the foot work yet.

[valpopal]

For those who like to play the "what might have been" game. At the end of the last season, Valpo had hopes of a starting line-up with Carter, Walker, Hammink, Peters, and Adekoya. By the time of today's game, only Walker and Hammink were able to play. However, look at their combined stats in this game: 48 pts., 8 rebs., 5 assts., and 6 steals with only 2 turnovers and 2 fouls. Now imagine this production and add Carter, Peters, and Adekoya, and you see once more the promise everyone was envisioning before the start of the season for possibly another shot at a 30-win record.


Nevertheless, given the losses of Carter and Adekoya, and the injury to Peters, I think a 24-7 record and shared championship with still the same chance for the NCAA by winning the HL tournament adds up to a good regular season.

[NativeCheesehead]

Don't know how I feel about hanging a banner after tying with a team that curb stomped us twice this year.

[VULB#62]

But it is what it is. Years from now we will be saying how many titles we had in the past and we will include this one.

[bbtds]

Now, aside from the Alex question, can Sorolla find some offense again.  Where is that baby hook?

My Alex question is "Who is this guy, Alex?"

[valpotx]

Comforting to know that even without 2 of our best players (AP and JA), we are still a top 3 team in the HL.  How many other programs could make that same claim without 2 of their better players?

Unfortunate that we have to share the title this year, as that would not have been the case had AP been available to play today, and it wouldn't have been close had JA's situation not happened.  Oakland's broadcasters/Twitter seem to be under the impression that they won the title alone, but as the record books will show, it is a co-championship, with Oakland given the #1 seed based on H2H.  Props to Kampe for pointing out in his interview, that it is a co-championship.  The fact is that we are 1 of 3 programs to have graced the HL, that won 5 regular season titles in 6 years! 

[justducky]

77 freshman minutes today. 26 of those minutes delivered by a walk on. Wow!

[SanityLost17]

Peter's injury (assuming he is healthy for the semi-final and final) was the best thing that could have happened to this team.  In these 2 games Tevonn got his confidence back and Shane showed he is an absolute 1st teamer on any non-peters led team.  Williams also learned that it is ok for him to be aggressive to the basket.

My hope is that when Peters comes back we have everyone being aggressive.  I think players like Tevonn were trying too hard to get Peters the ball at times and passed up on some good driving opportunities.  Peters has proven his NBA talent.  We don't need to showcase him.  If he is a step slow returning we should utilize him in the flow of the offense instead of the center piece. 

[valpotx]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Shane on an NBA Development League team next season.  His 3 point shot has improved by leaps and bounds since the first 10-15 games of this season.  He has less arc on the ball, which leads to less back rim brick shots.  He is quick, and has a smooth-looking shot.  If EVN can make a roster in that league, Shane definitely can as well.  It just depends on if he would rather play in a top European league, instead.

[vu72]

I for one, (I need to calm down on this--perhaps something I could give up for Lent-) I find announcers who can't bother to perfect the name ValparAso,very gritting.  I just sent an email to to the AD of NKU protesting my damaged ears.  I'll let you know if an answer surfaces...

[vu72]

It's Valpa-f&@$ing-ray-so you hack!

They are doing a very decent job as commentators...but he pronounces Sorolla like a hick yet he pronounces Valparaiso like a Chilean.  Reaaaally backwards.

I decided to voice my dissatisfaction with the color guy directly to the NKU AD.  Here is my email and the response I received:

Dear Sir,

I just finished watching the nationally view game on ESPN3.  I presume you were equally mortified that the color commentator didn't bother to even understand how to properly pronounce the name of the opponent, the team in first place in your newly found conference.  In case you didn't know, ( which I highly doubt) Valparaiso is pronounced "ValparAso" NOT ValparIso, as was the case for the entire game, this in spite of the fact that the game day announcer had it right or simply short cut it to a very acceptable  "Valpo".

If you are trying to alienate  the fan base for the conferences number 1 team you are on the right course.  If not, I suggest you, at a minimum, assign a person with some knowledge of college basketball or,  assign a person capable of reading and understanding the pre-game information.

With best wishes,



Certainly no disrespect was meant. To be honest, I'm not sure I always followed the pronunciation guide myself, and I've been connected to the Horizon League for many years.  We will do a review with everyone and make sure we make any necessary corrections with our crew.

Good luck in the tournament!

Ken Bothof
Director of Athletics
Northern Kentucky University
Intercollegiate Athletics
500 Nunn Dr, BB&T 133
Highland Heights, KY 41099
859-572-6539
bothofk1@nku.edu

I will immediately follow up with Spectrum Sports, who produced yesterday's game and syndicated it through ESPN3. Under no circumstances do we want to represent any of our Horizon League brethren in a manner that reflects poorly on the league, our league counterparts or NKU. We all benefit from proper and consistent representation of our universities and programs.

I also empathize with you on this matter. Prior to joining the department at NKU, I spent several years at Xavier where we constantly battled being called "egg-zavyer."

Thank you for watching the game.
Bryan

Bryan McEldowney
Assistant Athletic Director
Communications and Media Services
Northern Kentucky University
133K BB&T Arena
500 Nunn Drive
Highland Heights, KY 41099