Valpo First HL Tournament Game Saturday

[VUOR63]

Matt Lottich is a sharp enough coach to put these guys in a position to win.  Some things to look for:

-A different zone defense--maybe a zone press to speed up the game and utilize our guard heavy roster.
-Try and get some 1-on-1 match ups on the perimeter that can allow for Hammink/Walker/Joseph to take the ball to the rack

Smits and Sorolla need to play like beasts for three days.  I anticipate that they both will have effective games.

The other guards need to bring some energy and come out shooting well.

Put up or shut up time.  Or, like Reggie Miller says...it's winning time.   

[agibson]

2

Was this recorded before the ANNOUNCEMENT or was the subject just avoided? 

I'm sure the whole board in in the dumps over the ANNOUNCEMENT cuz it is quite evident no one is interested in the lead up game twixt UWM and UDM that feeds into our Saturday night game.

I believe this was taped the day before the Alec being out for the season announcement.

I've not thought about the timeline. But, I thought the video could be perfectly consistent with all the info we have today. He talks about prepping without Alec. He's just focusing on the future, on winning without Alec, and not reflecting on the loss.

[VULB#62]

We get the winner of the UDM-UWM match-up today.

Comparative scores (all with Alec in the lineup)

1/8 - VU 81-UDM 74 (+7)
2/2 - VU 71 @UWM 53 (+18)
2/19 - Valpo 83 @UDM 63 (+20)
2/12 - Valpo 67 - UWM 61 (+6)

Both home games against these teams were relatively close (7 and 6 point wins) and we crushed them on the road ( 18 and 20 point wins).  What does that say about a "neutral" court result for each of these opponents?  Do we average the H and A score differentials and assume that will be our margin of victory (sarcasm)?  BTW, That would mean we'd beat UDM by 13.5 and UWM by 6.5.  That's with Alec.  How do you account for Alec's absence and the "X factor" of others taking up some of that slack?   Seeking better evaluators of opposing talent and ours than me to actually figure this out.

[agibson]

Detroit was down by 15 or so in the first half, but apparently made a run at the beginning of the half. Milwaukee's up by 27 now with 5:28 to play. They didn't win in February.

Sophomore guard Jeremiah Bell, wears #1, with a career high 27, 20 points above his average.

74-47.

[hailcrusaders]

Milwaukee is going to win this game going away. I wasn't all that impressed by them and would rather play UWM than Detroit at the Joe (yes, I'm aware of the home/road splits). Obviously can't look past them tomorrow.

[FWalum]

Video was recorded on Wednesday March 1.

[Valpower]

It's interesting to approach the tournament as a relative underdog as the 2 seed. I'm not necessarily liking it, but I'm also recognizing that it's not a death knell.  Furthermore, I'm already relishing the thought of pulling a "Green Bay" on someone. Regardless, we're already experiencing a theoretical windfall in that we are facing an opponent with a weaker record than the 1 seed faces.  I don't think the difference is huge and it certainly shouldn't be a big challenge for Oakland but, matchup differences aside, we probably couldn't have done better than drawing a team that lost 10 of their last 10 regular-season contests (compared to YSU, who lost 8 of their last 10).  May the better teams win, I'll state--rather obviously.

[valpotx]

I am glad to be playing Milwaukee over Detroit.  I think that Detroit matched up better with a non-AP led Valpo team, whereas we can still control the game against Milwaukee.  We just need to watch that Skall kid.

[valpo84]

If you're not watching YSU and Oakland, you need to be.  Fighting Penguins giving everything.  Morse is on pace for 40+.

[vu72]

OAKLAND TAKES A DIVE!  81-80!!!  UNBELIEVABLE FOLD!!!!!

[FieldGoodie05]

OAKLAND TAKES A DIVE!  81-80!!!  UNBELIEVABLE FOLD!!!!!

WHAT A GAME!!!

[valpo84]

Morse with the ultimate team play. Only needed 2 made the pass! And I saw STL on TV

[hailcrusaders]

Oakland's streak of luck this season (no-call UIC game, missed FTs UWM game, all the stuff that's torpedoed Valpo) finally ran out.

[NativeCheesehead]

loloakland

[FieldGoodie05]

OAKLAND TAKES A DIVE!  81-80!!!  UNBELIEVABLE FOLD!!!!!

WHAT A GAME!!!

Jalen Hays is a GREAT asset, tonight solidifies that in my mind.  OU played a good game, just didn't have an answer for pure heart from YSU big man and Morse.  Sort of felt like how OU played us this year with big heart.  We just didn't have this type of answer for them.

I strongly believe OU was our poison pill this year.  We had a chance with them even without Peters (slight as it may have been).  I think we now have an even better chance as I'm sure many of you also believe.

[FieldGoodie05]

Morse with the ultimate team play. Only needed 2 made the pass! And I saw STL on TV

I look forward to hearing his thoughts on the Oakland game. It sounded electric for the last 10 minutes.  Prior to that YSU had the home town fans silent.

[Valpo Joe]

The MIRACLE begins - OAK takes a dive - Valpo has what it takes to win three and go to the DANCE 

[hailcrusaders]

I'm sure Lottich used the Oakland Youngstown game as an example of how the Cru cannot get complacent.

[a3uge]

Oakland's streak of luck this season (no-call UIC game, missed FTs UWM game, all the stuff that's torpedoed Valpo) finally ran out.

I thought it was weird how Oren and Parker were declaring Oakland the winner of the CSU / YSU game on USH. They didn't mention Oakland already losing to CSU by 11 at home and only winning by 2 on the road. They've been a really vulnerable team all year and more recently should have lost to Milwaukee a few weeks ago. Even in their last game vs YSU, they had been playing Oakland fairly close.

I'm not all that surprised Oakland lost. Good luck to them in the NIT, they'll get a winable game vs a weak bubble team.

[FieldGoodie05]

Are we going to score 15 pts in the first half?

[hailcrusaders]

10 minutes into the game and there have been a total of 7 points scored. This is...bizarre. Never seen anything like it at the college level.

[govalpogo]

What's the over/under on this game hitting double digits...in combined score!   Man oh man.  Much credit to the Valpo faithful who stood for 7 game time minutes.

[valpo64]

This is one of the most painful things I have ever watched in a college basketball game!

[valpo84]

Need to press and change tempo of this game.

[vu72]

wE WILL SET A RECORD FOR FEWEST POINTS IN A HALF...