Game #5 - Samford Bulldogs @ ARC 11/21/17 7PM Savannah Invitational #2

[AranJacobs]

People are upset with Tevonn's three late in the game. I do not understand why people are mad about this. First of all, the game is 40 minutes long, you play until the final buzzer. Second of all, Samford had a full court, trapping, press on. If they want us to stop playing with a minute left, they better stop playing too.

[a3uge]

Here are my three stars:

(*) Markus Golder - 11P/6R. He turned around the game and his dunks really energized the rest of the team.
(**) Joe Burton - 16P/5R/7-8FG. Thought he played good defense and didn't force things. He's just a solid overall player.
(***) Tevonn - 26P/9R/5A/3S. Carried the team in the first half and iced the game at the end. Solid D all game, and controlled the glass. Missed a few open 3s and probably shouldn't have taken that last three, but all is forgiven.

Honorable mention: McMillan - 7P/3-3FG/1B. He nailed a huge three and was a part of the lineup that started the long 2nd half Valpo run.

And three not stars:

(?) Sorrola - 2P/3R. I don't think Smits was much better, but the team wasn't doing much when Sorolla was out there. He had a team low -6 plus/minus.
(??) Hazen - 2P/0R/1A/2TO. He scored on a really nice dunk breaking the press early in the first half. Other than that he was invisible again.
() Bakari - 0-4/1P/3A/3TO. Not a good night for Bakari, who didn't make a FG and coughed it up a bunch of times on the floor. He's still Valpo's best ball handler and 3rd best player, so this was hopefully a one-off.

[valpopal]

I have decided the commercial for Arch Madness this year is as annoying as the Family Express commercials last year. It seems to always come at a poor time in the second half of the game. Tonight, Joe Burton hit his 3-point shot to give Valpo a 16-point lead with 6 minutes left. Samford called timeout and the fans wanted to stand and cheer. Instead, the PA comes on with a hard-to-hear garbled announcement about Arch Madness followed by the annoying commercial on the overhead scoreboard. By the time they finished, the crowd had been subdued and was sitting quietly. Really kills all the momentum, enthusiasm, and energy in the ARC! 

[valpotx]

Kiser looks a lot more athletic this year.  He always had a motor last year, but he looks leaner and much more active

[wh]

One of the Samford board posters said Valpo looked like "a bunch of thugs" (probably in reference to the Golder incident, but I didn't see the game), which is a description I haven't heard used on Valpo since the Capobianco/Anderson incident and Richie Edwards double technical against UWM.

Love the take no prisoners attitude of this team!

[wh]

I have decided the commercial for Arch Madness this year is as annoying as the Family Express commercials last year. It seems to always come at a poor time in the second half of the game. Tonight, Joe Burton hit his 3-point shot to give Valpo a 16-point lead with 6 minutes left. Samford called timeout and the fans wanted to stand and cheer. Instead, the PA comes on with a hard-to-hear garbled announcement about Arch Madness followed by the annoying commercial on the overhead scoreboard. By the time they finished, the crowd had been subdued and was sitting quietly. Really kills all the momentum, enthusiasm, and energy in the ARC! 

Amateur hour at its finest. Totally embarrassing.

[wh]

People are upset with Tevonn's three late in the game. I do not understand why people are mad about this. First of all, the game is 40 minutes long, you play until the final buzzer. Second of all, Samford had a full court, trapping, press on. If they want us to stop playing with a minute left, they better stop playing too.

Exactly right!

[wh]

High praise from the Samford board:

"Valpo killed us on the boards, pushed us around like we were punks, and taunted our coaches like they had no respect for us. Really, Valpo looked like a bunch of thugs and we looked like their +itch down the stretch. This team needs to circle the wagons and get some attitude or everyone is going to push us around expecting us to wilt. We did tonight."

[vufan75]

One of the Samford board posters said Valpo looked like "a bunch of thugs" (probably in reference to the Golder incident, but I didn't see the game), which is a description I haven't heard used on Valpo since the Capobianco/Anderson incident and Richie Edwards double technical against UWM.

Love the take no prisoners attitude of this team!

Agreed. Something about Golder I've noticed is it seems good things happen when he is on the court. An aggressive player for sure. Love his tenacity on the court.
 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[VU2014]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l8Uv0-7eBg

[VUBBFan]

Too many offensive rebounds given up for easy put back.  Smits needs punched in the gut on rebounding, boxing out.  I know it's hard because his waist and arms are so much higher than everyone else, but had his thumb up his _______ while Samford grabbed O-rebound and easy putback on numerous occasions. Great to see Tevonn getting his.  Let's get some defensive stops!

Still he ended up tied for 2nd in rebounds with 6 in less than 20 minutes of play

[FieldGoodie05]

Too many offensive rebounds given up for easy put back.  Smits needs punched in the gut on rebounding, boxing out.  I know it's hard because his waist and arms are so much higher than everyone else, but had his thumb up his _______ while Samford grabbed O-rebound and easy putback on numerous occasions. Great to see Tevonn getting his.  Let's get some defensive stops!

Still he ended up tied for 2nd in rebounds with 6 in less than 20 minutes of play

Ended up being the key words.  I should have put a game time stamp on my post.  I believe my post was a bit before halftime.

I really enjoyed seeing big portions of the game with a smaller lineup.  Against this team it was the right choice.  Sadly, against many of our early season opponents it's been more effective.  Driven by the structure of our competition.

[usc4valpo]

Hopefully we should root a team whose university is named after Redd Foxx.

[crusaderjoe]

That game was probably the closest 21 point victory in Valpo basketball history. 

A tale of two games really IMO, the line between the two being the 14:00 or so minute mark in the second half when things finally started to break open a little bit for VU. It seemed to me that they had some pretty good looks down the stretch during that period of separation but just couldn't hit them.  Mix that in with a few defensive breakdowns on their part with Valpo's quick strike athleticism and the game opened a little.  Samford is a good team.  They're going to win some games this year.

I loved Padgett's response as a coach when his player was teed up for walking toward the official on the double technical.  Fantastic job by him taking control of the situation with his player.  Truth be told it looked like to me that the Samford player had every right to be upset for being thrown down.

5-0.

[bbtds]

Is the Bulldog the most over used college mascot?

Well, maybe.


Adrian College (Mascot name: Bruiser)
Alabama A&M University
Allan Hancock College (Mascot name: Spike)
Arkansas Tech University (Mascot name: Jerry)
Ave Maria University
Bellevue College
Barton College (Mascot name: Bully)
Bowie State University (Mascot name: Butch)
Brooklyn College
Bryant University (Mascot name: Ironclad Tupper)
Butler University (Mascot name: Butler Blue III; Costumed mascot: Hink)
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) (Mascot names: Timeout, Victor E.)
Centennial High School (Pueblo, Colorado)
The Citadel (Mascot names: General, Boo V)
College of San Mateo
Concordia University, Nebraska
Dean College (Mascot name: Boomer)
DeSales University
Drake University (Mascot name: Spike)
Ferris State University (Mascot Name: Brutus)
Fresno State University
Gardner–Webb University (Team name: Runnin' Bulldogs, Mascot name: Barney the Bulldog)
Georgetown University (Team name: Hoyas, Mascot name: Jack the Bulldog)
University of Georgia (Mascot name: Uga, Costumed Mascot: Hairy Dawg)
Gonzaga University (Mascot name: Spike Q. Gonzaga)
James Madison University (Mascot name: Duke Dog)
Kettering University (Mascot name: General Determination)
Louisiana Tech University (Mascot names: Tech XX, Champ)
McPherson College (Mascot name: Ben the Bulldog)
University of Minnesota Duluth (Mascot name: Champ)
University of Montana Western (Mascot name: Charge)
Mississippi State University (Mascot name: Bully)
North Carolina A&T State University (Team name: Aggies)
Union University (Mascot Name: Buster)
University of North Carolina at Asheville (Mascot Name: Rocky)
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (Mascot name: Tarzán)
University of Redlands (Mascot name: Thurber)
Samford University (Mascot name: Spike)
South Carolina State University
South Suburban College
Southwestern Oklahoma State University (Mascot names: Brandi and Duke)
Texas Lutheran University
Truman State University (Mascot names: Spike, Simone)
Western Illinois University (Team name: Leathernecks, Mascot name: Colonel Rock)
Wilberforce University
Wingate University (Mascot name: Victor E. Bulldog)
Yale University (Mascot name: Handsome Dan)

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/Valpo_Hoops/status/933194877931683840

[wh]

As someone mentioned earlier, Valpo and Loyola beat Samford by identical scores.  The difference is Valpo shot 52% from the field and 30% from 3; Loyola shot 62 and 48.  They probably won't shoot that well again this season.  Our numbers were much more typical of our norm.  Interpretation: Valpo is probably about 10 points better than Loyola on a neutral court on a typical shooting day for both teams. 

I'm kind of  , kind of not.

[VU2014]

Quote from: VU2014 on November 21, 2017, 06:53:59 PM
The last time Valpo played Samford was Dec. 14, 2002 at the ARC. Valpo won 87-79 (2OT).
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/a-needed-change-of-pace-for-valpo/article_d30c78ea-a74c-5f90-a4ff-b153cd3c5f12.html

Attendance (according to ESPN): 3,913 (saturday) http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game?gameId=223482674

That is a really good turnout for a Non-Con game.

Quote from: valpotx on November 21, 2017, 09:18:45 PM »

That was the norm .  We were pretty full for every home game, regardless of opponent.

Do you think we can ever get back to this level attendance consistently?  I know times have changed and there are WAY more entertainment options then there use to be even just 10 years ago.

What would need to happen to push us over the average 3,500 attendance mark every season?
-A big tourney run like the 1998-99 season to get grab the communities interest?
-ARC renovations?
-Fix the parking situation around the ARC? 
-Consistently putting together a better* (more interesting) Non-Conference schedule every season? (The scheduling is a tricky one because a lot of P5/BE/AAC teams don't want to come play at the ARC because its a very difficult environment to play in & they'd rather just play a buy game to reduce the risk of a loss & they can generate more revenue that way).
-A big marketing push within the NWI community?

[Valpo89]

Answer: Don't charge $12 for bleacher seats.

[M]

Mileek is going to be the best of this group of freshmen.

[VULB#62]

Answer: Don't charge $12 for bleacher seats.

..... or replace with good chairbacks and stay at $12 

[valpo84]

I have attempted to be patient and observe a number of games before commenting on the current team. Before they embark to Savannah, a few observations:

1. T Walker and the Millennial Mob. This team needs a nickname. The comparison of this team to the "Young Guns" team of 98-99 (still have the tshirt) is likely the most accurate, although the brief "Tony Falu Experiment" team also has some parallels as that group exploded on the scene with almost wins at Kansas and Arizona.  We have had a major turnover of roster and the expectations were uncertain.  The initial results are very positive. (who's complaining about the schedule and building confidence now???) This team is scoring and ppp and other data analytics are trending well. I am surprised by the scoring and the wide distribution of it. Surprised by the contributions of the frosh and newcomers.   However, despite improvements with Bradford and T Walker on shooting 3s, plus adding Burton and Golder (and surprising McMillan 3s), I am concerned about the 3 shooting.  If that can be consistent and with the driving abilities of Joseph, Golder, Bakari, this can be a very scary offensive team (already averaging 85+ points).  Golder's acceleration to the hoop reminds me of Hammink, but Golder seems to be able to finish better and doesn't shy away from the contact, in fact encouraging it (the one finish last night).  I am concerned with the offense against zones.  Samford last night (and maybe the 2d non-D1 school) threw zone at us and we struggled first half.  Matt adjusts well and we started attacking middle and baseline and hit a couple 3s and we were better, made them come out of it, small balled them and boom 20 pt lead.

2. The Freshmen and newcomers are alright.  Surprising is how polished Hazen, McMillan, Linssen have been.  Burton, Bakari and Golder have been consistently good and brilliant at times.  There will be struggles (Bakari last night) but the effort is there, and 1-12 this is the deepest team I ever remember in the Drews and post-Drews era.  There are not Brian Smiths or Livingstons at the end of the bench (good guys) who would have been in at the end of some of these games, instead of additional scoring options like McMillan at the end of the SELA game.

3. Improved sophomore play. Smits is improving. Sorolla seems to have some soph slumping going on, but the drop step the other night showed he is evolving.  Bradford is playing with more confidence (maybe too much on some of the 3 attempts).

4. Defense, defense, defense. I have been surprised how well we have held teams down.  Aggressive man and switching is working well now. However, this is the area I am most concerned about.  We are giving up too many easy baskets, people are going to the hoop without a lot of obstacles, and we are playing D from behind (guys trying to block shots after people pass).  We are defending the 3 ok but the over aggressive nature is going to open 3s to better shooting teams. Samford was warm early last night and were able to stick around longer than they should.  Rebounding has been good but we have been more athletic and taller than the teams we are playing so far.  As competition improves, in December, we will need to be better in controlling the glass.  Smits is improved but still waiting for the hungry gene to kick in.  Matt is still experimenting with lineups and it has been enjoyable to see the combinations and how they have responded.  Kizer is the energizer bunny and you need that.  He is ok at 15 mins a game.  He's like Delly, you are ok with that energy level in small bursts but you do not want him playing 30 mins a night.

5. Attitude.  I like that this team has come in and is establishing its own identity -- led by Walker, they are tenacious but fun.  Walker looks healthy and the shot form is back.  He quietly stat stuffs and with the depth, he will not need to play 36 mpg and can go harder for 30 mpg.  Golder has that irritability quotient, which we have needed -- Tony V, Wille, Jubril, Jenkins -- were past contributors, but they did not have the spurtability and microwave nature of Golder.  Stalin Ortiz comes to mind. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalin_Ortiz). 

Good luck in Savannah.  They continue playing this hard, they should win this tourney. 

[oklahomamick]

Mileek best this year out of the current freshman or best in years to come? 


I agree that Mileek was a steal recruit and has the highest ceiling


Who else recruited Mileek? 

[VU2014]

Mileek best this year out of the current freshman or best in years to come? 


I agree that Mileek was a steal recruit and has the highest ceiling


Who else recruited Mileek? 

Mileek received offers from Valpo, EIU, & UMKC. Mileek was a very late bloomer and he was also play out of position in High School because he needed to full time Center in high school. He's never really been the "the guy" on any of his teams. Also keep in mind that Mileek had a massive growth spurt over the last 3 years. He was a guard his Freshman and Sophomore year.

Mileek had a good last AAU season and that when he started to get noticed and thats when VU noticed him. He committed pretty quickly once he was offered by Valpo. I'd definitely would agree that Mileek has the highest ceiling of all the freshman. You can tell he's a little green out there but he can definitely see the flashes. He has a really nice 3 point shot for big guy and he's pretty good at handling the ball (skills that transferred from his days of playing guard his freshman/sophomore years when he was still below 6'5".

Merrillville's Mileek McMillan sparks spurt as Valparaiso prevails in invite
Michael Osipoff
Post-Tribune
Nov 21, 2017

When Samford called a timeout Tuesday night, Valparaiso coach Matt Lottich made a beeline for freshman Mileek McMillan to celebrate.

The 6-foot-8 forward from Merrillville has been experiencing the anticipated growing pains in his first season with the Crusaders. But McMillan showed several glimpses of his ability in an 88-67 win at the Athletics-Recreation Center as part of the Savannah Invitational.

"Mileek has struggled a little bit, been a little frustrated, so I was overjoyed to see him have some success," Lottich said. "We all know it's there. To see him do it, it's a proud moment for me."

............... http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-mens-basketball-samford-valparaiso-st-1122-20171121-story.html



Listen to Coach Lottich talk about Mileek during the post-game press-conference. Coach Lottich is genuinely very happy for him. It sounds like McMillan was a little frustrated at times this season but this could be a break through for him in his development.

[M]

I thought Hazen would come in the most ready to contribute, but Mileek has got better and better every game.

I feel like his ceiling is the highest and he might reach it quicker then I thought (maybe early season excitement but I'm a fan and allowed to do that).